Spiced Chicken with Spaghetti Squash, Pomegranate, and Pistachios (2024)

1 medium spaghetti squash (2–2 1/2 pounds), halved lengthwise, seeded

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided

1 medium red onion, peeled, quartered

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice, divided

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided

4 chicken legs (thigh and drumstick)

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses (see cooks' note)

1/2 cup roasted salted pistachios, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup pomegranate seeds

1/4 cup coarsely chopped dill, plus more for serving

1/4 cup coarsely chopped mint, plus more for serving

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Reviews (45)

• This dish is absolutely perfect and is a regular at my house. My veggie-hating husband loves the butternut squash. It tastes so cozy, and the combination of mint, pistachios, and pomegranates is a delight.

  • Anonymous

  • Chicago, Il

  • 12/1/2021

• I’m not sure how to rate this for us. We both liked the chicken. I made the recipe(almost) exactly as directed, substituting spiraled butternut squash for the spaghetti squash since my husband had previously expressed a dislike for the latter. I thought both aspects of the meal were delicious, but DH couldn’t get past the vegetables-as-noodles thing and gave the accompaniment a thumbs-down. He admitted he might have liked it better with real pasta, so I will try serving it again someday.

  • browns19fan

  • Ohio

  • 6/19/2020

• Like a lot of other people, I really enjoyed the chicken. However, I disliked the squash - to me, the dressing was too overpowering. It almost tasted like cole slaw to me, and since I don't like cole slaw, that was more or less dead on arrival. Two stars for the chicken and nothing else.

  • rlgreen91

  • Houston, TX

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  • 11/14/2019

• Very tasty and pretty quick to put together. The chicken was tender and moist with lots of flavor and I loved the brightness and crunch in the spaghetti squash dish. It all kept well for leftovers the following day too!

  • marlysws

  • Phoenix, AZ

  • 1/5/2018

• The spaghetti squash side dish was delicious. I was only cooking for two, so halved the chicken but made the full squash recipe. We devoured the whole thing.

  • jellis14

  • Arlington, MA

  • 12/13/2017

• This recipe was boring at best. I used cut up squash and placed it on the bottom of a roasting pan then placed the chicken on top and baked. Very colorful and easy but not all that interesting even though I sprinkled the top of everything, once cooked, with chopped mint, parsley, pomegranate seeds and pistachios...along with the sauce/dressing. Served with Israeli couscous. Would be the perfect easy meal for guests and/or large family dinner.....if only it had more flavor!

  • leenieloo

  • Mundelein, IL

  • 11/5/2017

• I've made it twice in the last week once with butternut squash and once with spaghetti squash. Butternut squash roasted with the onions won! It could be that my family didn't like the spaghetti squash texture, but it also has much less flavor. The sauce is delightful and the sourness of the molasses and the lemon was great with the chicken and squash.

  • Anonymous

  • Boston, MA

  • 11/4/2017

• Agreed that the chicken was delicious. And I will bake chicken with turmeric and other spices again & often. The dressing overwhelmed the spaghetti squash, pom seeds and nuts. i would either omit it use much, much less. I think I would like to try this with a more robust squash such as acorn but either omitting the dressing or using much, much less.

  • Anonymous

  • 10/31/2017

• entirely unexciting. chicken is OK but not special. I wanted to love the spaghetti squash, but it just didn't work for us. Somehow the flavors just don't come together

  • Anonymous

  • PA

  • 10/31/2017

• Good but not a Persian style chicken or spaghetti squash. Just because it had pomegranate molasses and turmeric does not make it a Persian dish. Persians do not use cayenne pepper and allspice!. If it omitted those and used saffron then it around be more Persian style not to mention that no Persian would know what to do with aspaghetti squash unless like myself grew up here or saw it used somewhere. Sorry but super inaccurate. A true Persian chicken dish would use a ton of lemon juice not 2 tablespoons. Just my two cents

  • azzief1

  • Los Angeles

  • 10/25/2017

• Meh. Edible, but not our favorite. Both the seasoning of the chicken and the squash

  • raynfigi

  • Southampton NY.

  • 6/3/2017

• Unusual flavors, moist and delicious.

  • jellis14

  • Arlington, MA

  • 6/1/2017

• Delicious! I used drumsticks. Substituted Cranberries for Pomegranates.

  • Anonymous

  • 3/30/2017

• The chicken was 4 forks and the squash was 2. I roasted a whole chicken and increased the spices a bit as people suggested, but otherwise, followed the recipe exactly. The chicken was unexpectedly great - very juicy. The pan juices, flavored with the spices, were delicious. The squash, which sounded great, was just OK. I love the herbs, nuts and pom seeds added to the squash, but somehow the whole thing was just ok. I will make the chicken again.

  • dpastor

  • New York

  • 3/27/2017

• I made this dish for dinner tonight for my two house guests. It was delicious. As I do not care for thigh meat I used 4 bone in split chicken breasts instead. Another variation was that I added a little agave to the dressing and probably added a little more of each of the spices including the tumeric to the rub and dressing. As I had 1/2 cup of pomegranate seeds I used them all as well. Otherwise I followed the recipe as directed and it did not disappoint. One last note is that the squash and onions took up the entire large baking sheet and had to use a smaller one to roast the chicken on. Easy peazy. As an aside, although I don't often shop at middle eastern markets it's usually inspiring for future dishes and often get useful advice from the merchant. Bon appetit!

  • mcontrado1

  • Newburyport, MA

  • 2/2/2017

TagsSpaghetti SquashSquashVegetableChicken LegChickenPoultryPistachioNutDillMintMainDinnerDairy FreeNut FreeGluten FreeKetoSheet-Pan DinnersRoastEpicurious