When I think of comfort food, I inevitably think of chicken. Hainanese chicken rice, chicken congee, chicken pho, chicken noodle soup, chicken with mashed potatoes…just give me ALL the chicken + carbs and I am one happy comforted ball of joy. I can forever come up with chicken + carb combinations and lately, lemony pepper chicken with cous cous is the one that has been bringing me joy.

Juicy lemon slices turn jammy and extra sweet in the oven, mixing with savory chicken juices to create the most delicious sauce. It’s perfect for spooning over cous cous. Those fluffy little kernels just soak it up turning into tiny little bits of pure flavor. SO GOOD.

Lemon Pepper Chicken with Lemon and Dill Cous Cous Recipe Step 5

Lemon Pepper Chicken with Lemon and Dill Cous Cous Recipe Step 4

What is Cous Cous

If you’re not too familiar with cous cous, you’re in for a treat. Cous cous are tiny steamed balls of crushed semolina. It’s usually served with stew or in salad. They are light and fluffy and are kind of like tiny tiny little roughly-shaped balls of pasta. Most of the cous cous that’s sold in stores in North American is pre-steamed and dried which makes it basically instant. All it takes is a quick five minute steam, making it way faster than rice, pasta, or other grains. Of course, you could make cous cous the traditional way too –which requires hours of steaming, but it’s actually pretty hard to find un-steamed cous cous.

Lemon Pepper Chicken with Lemon and Dill Cous Cous Recipe | www.iamafoodblog.com

How to Make Lemon Pepper Chicken and Cous Cous

Thankfully this is one of those dishes that does it’s thing in the oven while you can chill out and relax after a long day of work. I used bone in skin on chicken thighs, but if you’re in a hurry, you can use boneless (boneless meat always cooks faster) thighs or you can even go healthy and use chicken breast. All you do is season you chicken all over, then pop it into an oven safe pan with lemon juice mixed with olive oil and oregano. Pop in some whole peeled shallots, then put everything in the oven to cook while you relax. When it’s almost time to eat, make the cous cous. Bring a pot of water up to a boil, then pour in the cous cous, stir, and cover. Fluff it up and mix in some herbs and lemon zest and you’ve got a fluffy cloud of carbs for all those awesome lemony chicken juices.

Do the self-care thing and make some lemon pepper chicken and cous cous. You’ll feel nourished and comforted and so, so cozy.

Happy chicken and cous cous!
xoxo steph

Lemon Pepper Chicken with Lemon and Dill Cous Cous Recipe | www.iamafoodblog.com

Lemon Pepper Chicken with Lemon and Dill Cous Cous

Oven baked lemon pepper chicken thighs served with lemon dill cous cous
Serves 2
5 from 6 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

Lemon Pepper Chicken

  • 4 bone in skin on chicken thighs
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 2 shallots peeled and halved
  • 1 lemon

Dill Cous Cous

  • 1/2 cup cous cous
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tbsp chopped dill
  • 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or to taste
  • lemon zest

Instructions

  • Heat the oven to 450°F. Place the chicken thighs and shallots in an oven proof dish, and season with salt and pepper. Leave the chicken on the counter to temper while you prep the rest of the dish.
    Lemon Pepper Chicken with Lemon and Dill Cous Cous Recipe Step 1
  • Zest the lemon and thinly slice half the lemon. Juice the other half of the lemon in a small bowl. Mix in 1/4 cup olive oil into the lemon juice and stir in the oregano. Season with salt and pepper.
    Lemon Pepper Chicken with Lemon and Dill Cous Cous Recipe Step 2
  • Top the chicken with the lemon slices and pour on the sauce. Roast for 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of the thighs, or until the meat is cooked through.
    Lemon Pepper Chicken with Lemon and Dill Cous Cous Recipe Step 3
  • While the chicken is cooking, make the cous cous: Bring 1/2 cup salted water to a boil. Add 1/2 cup cous cous, stir and cover. Remove from the heat and let stand for five minutes. Fluff and season with salt and pepper. Toss with the olive oil, dill and lemon zest.
    Lemon Pepper Chicken with Lemon and Dill Cous Cous Recipe Step 4
  • Serve the chicken (spoon the juices up as well) on top of the lemon cous cous, finishing with the lemon zest and extra fresh dill. Enjoy immediately.
    Lemon Pepper Chicken with Lemon and Dill Cous Cous Recipe Step 5

Estimated Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Lemon Pepper Chicken with Lemon and Dill Cous Cous
Amount Per Serving
Calories 562 Calories from Fat 330
% Daily Value*
Fat 36.7g56%
Saturated Fat 6.6g41%
Cholesterol 106mg35%
Sodium 168mg7%
Potassium 452mg13%
Carbohydrates 24.6g8%
Fiber 2.3g10%
Sugar 0.6g1%
Protein 32.9g66%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

14 Comments

  1. Kathryn says:

    Wow! We made this for dinner tonight and the flavors were spectacular. The bonus is that it is a simple, quick cook dinner. We have been trying different dinners during our quarantine and this is one we will definitely make again. Thank you for sharing!

    1. Stephanie says:

      hi kathryn,
      so glad that you had a chance to try it :)

  2. this looks amazing, and I love the photos! (we actually had cous cous with schnitzel for lunch!) I wanted to know where your pan is from. it looks perfect for stove-to-table dinner!! thanks!

    1. Stephanie says:

      hi estelle,
      it’s a staub pan! i got it directly from staub online :)

  3. Linh says:

    I just made this for dinner tonight. Very delicious! I dialed back on dill and doubled the cous cous. Thanks for this recipe. Love your blog!

    1. Stephanie says:

      thanks so much for making this linh! i’m happy you liked it :)

  4. Yumi Zaic says:

    Wow! This recipe was so easy with ingredients we had in our house, and came out like something we would have at a fancy restaurant!! I added eggplants to the roast, and served them over garlic butter rice instead of couscous. Absolutely delicious! Thank you!!

  5. Denise says:

    This recipe was amazing! Super easy and soooo delicious. I have shared with a bunch of my friends. Thanks for sharing!

    1. Stephanie says:

      so happy you enjoyed it denise!

  6. Sophia says:

    I made this last night for dinner and we are already looking forward to making it again! I didn’t have shallots so used a red onion and I also tossed in some garlic cloves. I used pre-cut chicken breast cubes as that’s what we had, so the cooking time was on the lower side, closer to 20-23 minutes. The flavor from the lemon and the onion was so delicious! The whole dish came together very simply and the taste was wonderful. Thank you for a great recipe!

  7. Becca says:

    This looks amazing! I couldn’t find nutrition facts. Do you have any?

    1. Stephanie says:

      5 stars
      hi becca,
      the nutritional info has been added :) hope you give this a try soon!

  8. Katie says:

    5 stars
    So yummy and so easy!

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Thanks for reading as always!
-Steph & Mike