⏱ Marinate: 2 hrs 🔥Cook: 50 min 👤Serves: 4 🌍Origin: Senegal (Casamance)
Chicken yassa, poulet yassa in French, is Senegal’s most internationally recognised dish. Bone-in chicken is marinated in lemon juice, Dijon mustard and garlic, seared until the skin is golden, then braised low and slow in a pot of deeply caramelised onions until everything collapses into a tangy, sweet, savoury sauce. It originates from the Casamance region in southern Senegal and is eaten across West Africa and the wider Francophone world.
The flavour logic is simple: the lemon and mustard cut through the richness of the chicken, the caramelised onions provide sweetness, and the habanero adds background heat without dominating. The onions are the work of the dish, they need a proper 20–25 minutes to go from raw and sharp to soft, golden and jammy. Everything else follows from that.
Ingredients
- 1kg bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, thighs are the right cut, they stay moist through the long braise. Drumsticks also work. Breast dries out.
- 3 large yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced, yassa is an onion dish as much as a chicken dish. Do not reduce the quantity.
- Juice of 3 lemons (about 90ml), fresh only. Bottled lemon juice produces a flat, chemical flavour.
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, the defining flavour of yassa. Do not substitute with yellow mustard or grain mustard.
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 habanero or scotch bonnet chili, left whole, pricked with a fork. It infuses gentle heat without making the dish fiery. Remove before serving if heat-sensitive. For more heat, slice it open.
- 200ml chicken stock
- 3 tablespoons peanut oil or vegetable oil
- 12 green olives, optional but traditional in the Casamance version. Their brininess adds another layer to the sauce.
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Steamed white rice, to serve
Step by step
- Marinate. In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. Add the chicken pieces and sliced onions. Toss well to coat everything. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight, overnight produces a noticeably more developed flavour.Marinating the onions alongside the chicken is traditional and important. The onions absorb the lemon and mustard as they sit, which deepens the sauce during the braise.
- Sear the chicken. Remove the chicken from the marinade, scraping any onions back into the bowl, reserve the marinade. Pat the chicken pieces dry. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken skin-side down for 6–8 minutes until deeply golden. Flip and sear the other side for 4 minutes. Remove and set aside.Dry skin = proper browning. Wet chicken from the marinade will steam rather than sear. Pat firmly with paper towels before it goes in the pan.
- Caramelise the onions. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the same pot. Add all the marinated onions with their marinade liquid. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 20–25 minutes until the onions are completely soft, deeply golden and jammy. This is the heart of the dish, do not rush it. If the onions start sticking before they are fully caramelised, add a splash of water or stock and scrape up the browned bits. Those bits are flavour.
- Braise. Return the seared chicken to the pot, nestling it into the onions. Pour in the chicken stock. Add the whole pricked habanero and the olives if using. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Cover and cook for 25–30 minutes until the chicken is completely tender and pulling from the bone.
- Finish. Taste the sauce and adjust salt and lemon. The sauce should be tangy, savoury and slightly sweet from the onions. Remove the habanero before serving. Serve over steamed white rice with the sauce spooned generously over the top.
Claire’s note
The onion stage is where yassa is won or lost. Twenty minutes feels like a long time when you are standing over a pot. It is not long enough if you rush it, pale, under-caramelised onions produce a sharp, thin sauce that tastes of little beyond lemon juice. Golden, collapsed, jammy onions produce the sweet depth that makes the dish. Set a timer, stir every few minutes, and do not touch the heat until they look the way they should.
Serve with
Always served over plain steamed white rice, long-grain or jasmine. The rice is there to absorb the sauce, which is the best part. Alongside: braised hibiscus leaves (zobo/bissap) is a traditional Senegalese accompanimen, see the zobo recipe for the hibiscus preparation. For more West African cooking: the complete African food collection and the Nigerian recipes pillar.
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Chicken Yassa
- Total Time: 170 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Chicken Yassa is a traditional Senegalese dish featuring marinated chicken thighs braised with caramelized onions, lemon, and mustard, served over rice.
Ingredients
- 1kg bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 3 large yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
- Juice of 3 lemons (about 90ml)
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 habanero or scotch bonnet chili, pricked with a fork
- 200ml chicken stock
- 3 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
- 12 green olives, optional
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Steamed white rice, to serve
Instructions
- Marinate. In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper. Add the chicken pieces and sliced onions. Toss well to coat everything. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
- Sear the chicken. Remove the chicken from the marinade, reserving the marinade. Pat the chicken pieces dry. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken skin-side down for 6–8 minutes until golden. Flip and sear the other side for 4 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- Caramelise the onions. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the same pot. Add all the marinated onions with their marinade. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 20–25 minutes until the onions are soft and jammy.
- Braise. Return the seared chicken to the pot. Pour in the chicken stock. Add the whole pricked habanero and olives if using. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Cover and cook for 25–30 minutes until the chicken is tender.
- Finish. Taste the sauce and adjust salt and lemon. Remove the habanero before serving. Serve over steamed rice with sauce spooned generously over the top.
Notes
The onion stage is crucial; do not rush the caramelization for the best flavor.
- Prep Time: 120 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Braising
- Cuisine: Senegalese
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 550
- Sugar: 7g
- Sodium: 600mg
- Fat: 20g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 15g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 35g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 40g
- Cholesterol: 150mg
