African Chicken Yassa Recipe with Mustard and Olives

Do you know African Chicken Yassa? This is a chicken recipe with a mustard, olive and onion sauce. It is a recipe originating from West Africa and more particularly from Senegal.

It is a very easy dish to prepare and will be delicious accompanied by rice, semolina or even fried plantains. You can also use the sauce base and serve it with fish or grilled meat.

In my recipe I used chicken breasts but more traditionally this dish is made with a whole chicken or chicken thighs.

African Chicken Yassa Recipe with Mustard and Olives

What ingredients do you need to make this chicken yassa recipe?

chicken, rather in thighs but you can very well use other pieces such as breasts, if you prefer. Depending on your choice, cooking will take longer or shorter.
some onions
a garlic clove
organic lemons
an organic lime (optional)
a little mustard
green olives
oil
chili if you like
turmeric and/or ginger if you like
pepper

The details of the ingredients as well as the instructions are available further down the page, in the recipe card.

This recipe is very simple but follow the following tips for success:

marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours so that it absorbs the flavors of the marinade (overnight will be ideal),
you can add a little spice to the marinade to spice it up more, like turmeric or ginger,
When cooking, brown all sides of your chicken pieces well so that they are well seared and tender inside,
If your sauce is too acidic for your taste, you can add a teaspoon of sugar to soften it,
the olives are already quite salty, I find that it is not necessary to add salt but you can always adjust the seasoning when serving.

Why will you love this recipe:

its flavors: we have all eaten mustard, onions, green olives and lemon, but it is rather rare to find them together in the same dish. This is really what makes this recipe original. The ingredients are simple, easy to find, but cooking them together will take your taste buds on a journey to the African continent…
its level of difficulty: extremely easy! This recipe is surprisingly simple. To try it is to adopt it ! You won’t be able to do without it…

Other recipe ideas you might like:

African Chicken Recipe with Mustard and Olives

Ingredients

400 to 500 g chicken breasts or 4 thighs
4 onions
1 garlic cloves
2 organic lemons
1 organic lime (optional)
4 tablespoons mustard
20 green olives
Oil
Pepper
Turmeric or Ginger (optional)
Chili pepper (optional)

Instructions

Start by marinating the chicken. Cut it into pieces and place them in a salad bowl with a peeled and pressed garlic clove, 1 peeled and finely chopped onion. Add the mustard and lemon juice. Mix, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Peel and finely slice the other onions. Brown them over low heat in a large pan with oil and a little water. Cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. When they are nicely colored but not toasted, remove them from the heat and keep them in a bowl.
Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade (but be sure to save them for the rest of the recipe). Brown them on all sides in the same pan with a little oil. Then add the reserved onions, the drained olives then pour in the rest of the marinade. Mix, pepper and cook until the meat is cooked.
If you used chicken thighs, cooking will take longer than for chicken breasts, ranging from an additional 15 minutes to 30 minutes (or even more, you will have to check)…
Rectifiez l’assaisonnement et servez bien chaud avec du riz et/ou des bananes plantains grillées.

If you ever make my African Chicken Yassa recipe and you like it, don’t hesitate to tag me on Instagram @tangerinezest so I can see the result and share it myself…

Finally, just to let you know I am French and I translate my recipes, be indulgent if you see syntax errors and do not hesitate to leave me a comment so I can correct it. I hope you will like my recipes and enjoy your visit to my food blog!

African Chicken Yassa Recipe with Mustard and Olives