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Here is a stew made for fall! This Chicken Stew with Walnut and Pomegranate Sauce recipe is a classic preparation in Persian cooking, going by the name “Fesenjan”.
Chicken pieces are first browned and then slowly cooked in a sauce with ground toasted walnuts and pomegranate molasses. You might not normally think to make a sauce with walnuts and pomegranates, but it’s a perfect combination!
Video! How to Make Persian Pomegranate Chicken
The toasted walnuts are rich and warm and the pomegranate molasses sharp and berry toned. Cooked slowly with the chicken, the sauce is spectacular. Bowl-licking good.
The only ingredient that might be a little unusual is the pomegranate molasses. You can make your own with pomegranate juice (see our recipe for pomegranate molasses), or look for it at Whole Foods or a store that carries Middle Eastern ingredients.
Persian Pomegranate Chicken (Fesenjan) Recipe
Make your own pomegranate molasses by simmering 1 cup of pomegranate juice until it reduces to 5 Tbsp of syrup.
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 large yellow onions, chopped, (3 cups)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 5 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- 1/2 pound walnut halves (about 2 cups)
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs and/or breasts, trimmed of excess fat, cut into medium size pieces, patted dry and salted
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Salt
- 1/2 cup fresh pomegranate arils for garnish (optional)
Method
1 Toast and grind the walnuts: You can toast the walnuts in one of two ways. You can either spread them out in a single layer in a large skillet, and toast them on medium high heat, stirring frequently until lightly toasted, OR you can spread them out in a single layer in a baking rimmed baking sheet, and toast at 350°F in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes.
In either case, once toasted, remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cool enough to handle, pulse in a food processor or blender until finely ground.
2 Brown the chicken pieces on all sides: In a large pan, heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat.
When the butter has melted, pat the chicken pieces dry again and place the chicken pieces in the pan, working in batches if necessary to not crowd the pan, and cook until golden brown on all sides. Sprinkle the chicken with salt while they are cooking.
3 Sauté the onions: Use a slotted spoon or tongs to remove the chicken from the pan, set aside. Add a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of oil to the pan. Lower the heat to medium low. Add chopped onions to the pan and sauté until translucent, stirring on occasion to release the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
4 Add chicken and stock: Return the chicken pieces to the pan with the onions. Pour 2 cups of chicken stock over the chicken and onions. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes.
5 Add ground walnuts, pomegranate molasses, sugar, spices, cover and cook: Stir in the ground walnuts, pomegranate molasses, sugar, and spices. Cover and cook on very low heat for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes or so to prevent the walnuts from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Remove from heat and adjust sugar/salt to taste. At this point the chicken should be fall apart tender.
Garnish with pomegranate seeds. Serve over parsi pulao or other favorite rice.
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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Persian Pomegranate Chicken (Fesenjan)
Absolutely delicious. I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs and I added a diced honeynut squash. It is so simple to make, yet so flavorful and comforting. Also I finely chopped my walnuts instead of blended them and really enjoyed the texture they added to the stew. Thank you!
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Hi, thank you so much for the nice food you make. I am Persian just want to let you know that in fesenjan we great the onion nd there is no need of oil inside your food as walnut itself has enough. The fesenjan is combination of walnut and pomegranate paste. To make sure it tast nice you add the chicken almost at the end (cook it separately). The original food has no spice except tumeric. No need of salt instead use more pomegranate paste and if you like it sweet add some sugar. This food can be prepared with meatballs as well. The walnut should be cooked on low heat for while for better result.
Anyway thank you so very much for making Persian food. Enjoy❤️
Thank you for your feedback Maryam!
Hi Maryam and Elise, my husband is Persian and as such came to love Persian food (and people). For the Fesenjan, I do not roast the walnuts, and cook ground nuts and pomegreanate juice or diluted paste for at least 3 hours on a low flame. I add the browned onions, chicken and saffron last and continue cooking until chicken has been well impregnated with the flavors. No additional condiments used. I make the walnut/pomegranate sauce in large batches and freeze. My question is how long can I keep the sauce (without chicken) in the fridge? thank you. Giovanna
Hi Giovanna, thanks for sharing how you make fesenjan. That’s a great idea to make batches of the sauce ahead of time for freezing! How long would one keep in the fridge? Hmm, I’d say no longer than 5 days.
Can you slow-cook this. Want to cook today.
Hi Susan, we’ve not tried it, but a reader named Sherry has. She commented: “You can absolutely cook it in a slow cooker. Just transfer it in the slow cooker after chicken is browned and onions fried. I then added boiling stock, covered and waited until it started to simmer. Added spices, walnuts and molasses after about 20min and left it on a low for about 2h. Kept it on warm until guests arrived!”
Hi Elise,
My husband is allergic to all tree nuts (so basically everything but peanuts). What would you suggest is place in walnuts or other nuts? Thanks!
Hi ECor, the walnuts are so fundamental to this dish, I cannot think of a substitution that would work, sorry!
I am also allergic to tree nuts & agree you need some comparable substitute. I’m going to try it with flaxseeds. I tasted them alone & feel like they would provide similar texture & nutty warmth as ground nuts. Mine already taste toasty so I may add without toasting.
How did this turn out with the flax seeds? Since they get mucilaginous in liquid, I hope a large amount didn’t get gluey in the stew. I’m guessing pumpkin seeds might be a better sub.
I use coconut sugar instead. Mega on point!!!! We let this slow cook longer and very amazing. Not much Iranian food around me. Only one place makes fesenjan but the best closed down years ago. This is amazing for at home make it all the time
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Great idea to use coconut sugar, Barton, thanks for sharing!