New York Street Cart Chicken

Plate with chicken, rice pilaf, sautéed peppers, fresh pita bread and spicy dipping sauce on a spoon.

5 from 6 votes

New York Street Cart Chicken

Chicken Thighs are marinaded in a spicy mayo mixture featuring ground cloves, then sautéed until crispy and roughly chopped in the pan. It is served with a spicy dipping sauce, sautéed peppers and onions, rice pilaf, and pita bread.

Prep Time45

Cook Time45

Total Time1 30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern

Servings:

Calories: 585kcal

Author: Lauren Skardal

Ingredients

Chicken and Marinade

2 tablespoon mayo
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ lemon, squeezed
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs

Peppers, Onions, and Sides

2 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 bell peppers, sliced
prepared rice pilaf for serving
homemade pita bread or store bought naan for serving

Dipping Sauce

½ cup mayo
1 large spoonful sour cream
¼ lemon, squeezed
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
¼ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
pinch salt

Instructions

In a large bowl combine the mayo, salt, cloves, cumin, oregano, black pepper, garlic, lemon juice. Add the chicken thighs and toss to coat. Marinate for 30 minutes or overnight.
Bring a large sauté pan to medium heat. Add a couple tablespoons olive oil and add the onions. Cover for 5-10 minutes. Uncover and stir occasionally until they start to caramelize. Remove the onions and add the bell peppers. Sauté for 5-7 minutes until tender. Remove from the pan.
Add the chicken and any extra marinade. Let sit and do not stir, or flip until the chicken starts to cook through and the bottom starts to brown, about 5-7 minutes. Then flip each chicken thigh over and allow to brown for another 5-7 minutes.
Using a stiff spatula (I use a metal spatula, or rather a metal cheese slicer, in a stainless steel pan, but any other spatula that is firm and thin at the end will work) apply pressure to roughly cut up the chicken in the pan. It is this rough chop in the pan that gives the chicken great texture. Toss the chicken and let cook a few more minutes to allow the chicken to get a little crispier, another 5-10 minutes.
Separately, prepare a box of rice pilaf according to the directions on the box. We only use half the spice packet provided as I think the flavors are bit overwhelming. We tried this once without any of the spices, but it turned out a bit bland. So now we just do half or less of the spice packet.
Dipping Sauce: combine the mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, black pepper, smoked paprika, oregano, garlic powder, and salt in a small bowl.
Serve the chicken with peppers, onions, rice pilaf, pita bread or naan, and dipping sauce.

Notes

- Chopping the Chicken: Be careful what utensil you are using to roughly chop the chicken in the pan.
  - - If you're using a stainless steel pan, a stainless steel stiff spatula works very well.
  - - If you’re using a nonstick pan, you'll want to avoid using a metal spatula so that it does not damage the nonstick coating. The best approach would be to cut up the chicken before cooking it when using a nonstick pan.
    - Doubling the Recipe: I always double this recipe (cooking the chicken in batches), and even then, we end up with some but not a ton of leftovers. It's definitely good enough to double - you'll want leftovers - and I have on one occasion made 4x of the recipe.
      - If you are doubling the recipe, be sure to cook the chicken in batches if needed. It will need space in the pan to get crispy.

- Pita Bread: We often make Stovetop Pita Bread with this dish, which in terms of preparation, definitely takes more time than just cooking the chicken. But you could always use store-bought, or better yet, buy naan from the store and warm it up before serving (store-bought pita bread can be dry and brittle, and naan tends to be better). Or serve with these Pull Apart Dinner Rolls.

- Dipping Sauce: When making the dipping sauce, I found that using just mayo wasn't quite right, it needed a bit more acidity and sourness from the sour cream. I've also tried this with varying amounts of plain Greek yogurt, and I didn't love that either. The combination that I like the most is the ½ cup of mayo with a large spoonful of sour cream with the other add-ins.

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