This chicken and olives Lebanese food saffron recipe braises chicken with onion, garlic, sweet peppers, green olives, lemon, cumin and saffron. The sauce is light and savoury, with enough citrus to sharpen the olives without overwhelming the chicken.

Lebanese-style saffron chicken with green olives sweet peppers lemon and parsley
Saffron and cumin go in near the end so their aroma remains clear in the lemon-and-olive sauce.

The page retains its Lebanese-food name from the original archive. Because recipes vary between homes and regions, it is most accurate to call this a Lebanese-style chicken and olive dish rather than a definitive national formula.

Chicken and Olives (Lebanese Food) Saffron Recipe

Serves: 4
Preparation: 20 minutes
Cooking: 35–45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 500 g boneless chicken thigh or breast, cut into large pieces
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, sliced
  • 1 red or yellow bell pepper, sliced
  • 10 pitted green olives
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 thin slices of fresh lime or lemon, seeds removed
  • 1 cup (240 ml) unsalted chicken stock
  • 3 tablespoons light olive oil or neutral oil
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon black or mild red pepper
  • 3 tablespoons strong saffron infusion
  • 2–3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • Fine salt, only if needed

Prepare the Ingredients

Pat the chicken dry and cut the pieces to a similar size. Slice the peppers into strips and remove every seed from the citrus slices; a simmered lemon or lime seed can make the whole sauce bitter.

Taste an olive before seasoning the chicken. Brined olives and prepared stock can provide enough salt on their own, so final seasoning is safer than salting heavily at the beginning.

Soften the Onion and Garlic

  1. Heat two tablespoons oil in a wide, heavy pan over medium heat.
  2. Add the onion and cook for five to seven minutes, until translucent and beginning to turn pale gold.
  3. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. It should smell fragrant but not brown.

A splash of water can be added if the pan becomes dry before the onion softens. That is more effective than increasing the oil and prevents dark fried onion from clouding the light sauce.

Brown and Braise the Chicken

  1. Move the onion mixture to the edge of the pan. Add the remaining oil and the chicken. Brown the pieces on two sides.
  2. Stir in the turmeric and pepper, followed by the sliced sweet peppers.
  3. Add the olives, seedless citrus slices, lemon juice and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer.
  4. Cover partially and cook gently for 20–25 minutes. Turn the chicken once so it cooks evenly.

Use prepared unsalted stock or a properly made homemade stock. The older article included a digression about boiling five to 10 kg of bones for six hours; that is not necessary to make this dish and distracts from safe, practical preparation.

Add the Saffron, Cumin and Parsley

During the last 10 minutes, stir in the cumin and saffron infusion. Cumin can become bitter when fried hard for too long, while adding saffron late keeps more of its aroma in the finished sauce.

Check the thickest chicken pieces reach 74°C (165°F), the safe minimum for poultry in the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service chart. Stir in most of the parsley, then taste before adding any salt.

If using saffron threads, cool the infusion slightly before it enters the pan. Our guide to brewing saffron for cooking explains how to develop an even colour.

Adjust the Sauce

The finished liquid should lightly coat the chicken. If it is thin, move the cooked chicken to a clean plate and simmer the sauce uncovered for a few minutes. If it becomes too sharp, remove the citrus slices and add a little stock; avoid balancing acidity with a large amount of sugar.

Very salty olives can be rinsed before they go into the pan. Do not omit them entirely—the briny flavour is part of the dish’s identity—but use the cooking liquid to control their strength.

Serving and Storage

Scatter over the reserved parsley and serve with plain basmati rice, flatbread or roasted potatoes. The original serving note suggested grape pickles; a small amount works well if the olives and sauce are not already highly acidic.

Refrigerate leftovers within two hours and use within three days. Reheat gently until the chicken is piping hot. Remove the citrus slices before storage if they have already given the sauce enough bitterness and aroma.