Pomegranate Stew with Chicken (Khoresh Fesenjan)

Personally, I thought this dish was a nice change from the ordinary. Let me tell you what I did differently... I replaced half of the pomegranate juice with chicken broth. I used boneless chicken breasts instead of the bone in chicken. My recommendation would be to take others advice and use the boneless chicken thighs. (The chicken was a little dry.) This stew deffinetly could use some brightening at the end. I garnished with some chopped parsley. It was still a little sweet for my taste though so I added a few sliced green olives. I have to say, it was delicious with the olives. It had the sweet/salty thing going on! I served with flatbread and rice trying to decided which would be better. The flat bread was the winner, in my opinion. All in all, I would make it again.

I've tried several Fesenjan recipes on this site and THIS is the one I've been looking for. This is about as good as it gets, aside from it being cooked by a Persian mom (which by default will always be better). I don't really like chicken legs, but I used them anyways based on the reviews. SO good! I used really fresh walnuts, and I found that after a couple of hours of simmering a lot of oil went to the top. It was easy to blot the top of the stew before serving and that cut back on the grease factor somewhat. This isn't the most aesthetically pleasing dish, but it definitely makes up for its presentation in taste. I will definitely be making this one again! Thanks a lot for the recipe:)

Wow! I made this with pomegranate paste/Molasses found in Jon's, simmered for about 2 hours over LOW heat, walnuts start releasing its oil by the end, It has a brownish purplish color that taste amazing, don't forget to stir it occasionally. I served it with white rice and sour pickles.(We like tart stuff so I didn't add the sugar either). Thanks!

I modified this somewhat. I doubled the recipe for a Persian New Years Eve Party and after I began making it realized that I had forgotten to buy double the Pomegranite Juice - so for the additional 4 cups juice that I needed I added Chicken Buillion - so I ended up with 4 cups of each for the double recipe. What a hit this was! (and not purple this time without the extra juice! I had made this dish before using a different recipe that also called for cubed Summer (is that the Orange?) Squash. The Orange Cubes give it a nice touch of color and flavor! People raved! Yum!

This is one of my favourite dishes. I usually remove the meat from the chicken once it's cooked ... kind of like pulled pork, you just sort of shread up the chicken, then return the meat to the pot. That way there are no bones in the stew, just serve it over your rice and enjoy. Always good with a side of plain yogurt.

First, thank you SO much for sharing this. My friend and I made this the other night, and it came out DELICIOUS! I have had fesenjan before made in my favorite restaurant and by family, but it beats both(although my aunts does come close).We only used 1/4th the pomegranate juice though, because we didn't have anymore >.<! Thanks for the great recipe!

I really wanted to like this, but found the tart flavor too strong and overpowering. I wish I had followed other reviews and used half pom juice, half chicen broth.

Delicious. My children and husband loved it. It could not have been easier. I used a hand blender to puree the nuts which left a few larger pieces, but when the stew was done I used the hand blender directly in the pot, and it worked perfectly. I let my walnuts get a bit too brown which made the dish a darker color, but it tasted divine. This will definitely be in the rotation. I served it with rice (I like the Brazilian white rice recipe on this site).

Ever since I tried this dish a few weeks back, my husband and friends have been asking for the recipe. I took the advice of others and went with 3 cups of pomegranate juice (freshly juiced because we have a tree) and 1 cup of chicken broth. Also, instead of cardamom I read somewhere online that I could use cinnamon. Since I had cinnamon on hand I used that instead. I also omitted the sugar. I ground the walnuts in a blender and then added the juice, broth and cinnamon. It looked like Pepto Bismol at first but the color changed as it stewed. Also, my first batch was with chicken breast which was good during the first serving but toughened with leftovers. Second batch was with cut up chicken legs but I didn't like the bones. Next time I will have to try something boneless and add up to 2 lbs of chicken to the recipe. Thanks for a great recipe.

Amazing! Just made it last night for diinner. A few simple ingredients and a bit of patience - and you'll get yourself a tangy-tasting, unbelievably tender and juicy chicken. My boyfriend is very basic-food guy, and i wasn't sure that he would like this exotic taste, but he just couldn't get enough. I also added some black pepper to give it a bit of a kick.

WOW! I had never had Fesenjan or tried making Middle Eastern cuisine before, but I was feeling adventurous and exotic. I took the advice of many reviewers and cut back on the pomegranate juice (2 cups Pom Wonderful 14oz chicken broth) and actually wish I had not. It was delicious, but seemed a little too westernized, less bold and unique than it could have been. Used boneless chicken thighs. There have only been a few times where my wife has RAVED about my cooking and this was one of those dishes. Smells great cooking, but looks a little questionable with it's brown/purple hue. Don't cut the pomegranate, go big or go home.

If will become much darker and more flavorful if you use one cup of pomegranate paste instead of the pomegranate juice. I usually make this with meatballs instead of chicken. I make the meatballs in advance and add them to the stew when the walnuts leave their oil. Some people had complained that it is greasy. Yes it is, but all the oil comes out of the walnuts, you don't add any oil to the stew. We never remove the walnut oil from this stew. It tastes really good.

I had a best friend in undergrad who is Persian and this recipe was just as good as I remember it! So delicious and so very simple to make!!!! I didn't use Cardamom and it was very tasty without it! You will love this dish!

actually its not traditional Fesenjan,in original recipe it has oil (not olive oil)and pomegranate Rob(i can say a kind of pomegranate sauce),and we serve it in 3 taste ,sweet,sour or - sweet and sour,and using sugar is depends on your pomegranate Rob,and how much you like it sweet or sour,you can use Duck instead of chicken,it taste amazing...

Very good, will make again. Served with saffron rice and green salad.

I made it without the sugar and half of the pom juice. Fantastic. The meat drips off the bone with a tang that impresses instead of curling the toes and cramping the tongue.

WOW!!!!!!!!!! First I thought the chicken would dry out because of the initial dry cooking. Then I thought the combination smelled kind of weird. I was worried. Then when it was finally done and i tried it... Delicious!!!! My husband is persian and he loved it. Don't forget to serve it with basmati rice.

I was not pleased when my wife served this. It was way too sweet/tart.

Absolutely delicious! The flavors all steep together gloriously, and it's got the same distinctive flavor you find in fine Persian restaurant fesenjan. I mixed chicken breasts and thighs, but to my surprise I found the thighs much tastier, as the cooking time was too long for the drier breast meat. I will definitely make this again!

I really like this recipe. I had this dish in restaurants and the color was much darker. After trying this recipe I found another site online that had step by step direction with photos. I think the site was called mastering persian cooking. Anyhow I tried that recipe and it turned out darker in color the way I like it. All in all this was a good recipe.

This is really good, but it is unusual. I only had about three cups of pomegranate juice so used water for the last 8 ounces. I also thought it was sweet enough without the sugar so I left it out. I did use a 1/4 of a teaspoon ground cardamom, but might use a 1/2 teaspoon next time. You really do need to simmer it for about 90 minutes if not two hours. I used chicken thighs and the chicken was very tender and moist. Very easy recipe and I will definitely make it again.

I made this last night. My sauce did turn out a nice brown color. I used chicken thighs (took the skin off). I am wondering when reading other's reviews if they did not use PURE pomegranate juice? Maybe this is why it was too sweet or an odd color!? Omitted the sugar as well. It can be confusing because in the Juice shelves of most grocery stores there will be "Pomegranate Juice 100% Juice" but it's mostly grape juice and other fruit juices! What I did is get 2 pomegranates and juice them myself, so that was time consuming to do. I had to look up a Youtube video "How to Juice a Pomegranate" Anyway, the juice was tart and gave the dish a good flavor. 2 pomegranates = 1.5 C of juice and I did use Organic chicken broth 3/4 C of that. Great suggestion from others! I added to my liking in addition to the Cardamom: 1/2 tsp of Tumeric, and I also seeded a small Serrano pepper and tossed that in whole to give the dish some heat. I liked my additions, it was super good over Indian Basmati Rice! Another reviewer suggested shredding the chicken off the bone and I did that right in the saucepan after it had been simmering for an hour or so. It was unique, very flavorful. I also made the Persian Cucumber Yogurt salad and got some store bought Wood Fired Naan flatbread to go with it. YUM. I only gave it 4 stars because the time consuming issue of the pomegranates and not finding the juice in the store, so this recipe might not be very convenient for some people to make.

Excellent Fesengan recipe! I've tried making this Persian dish before using other recipes and pomegranate paste, but this turned out much better. It's also a lot easier to find pomegranate juice than paste. My only complaint was that the sauce was runny, but that might be because I used chicken breasts. Next time I'll try cooking it longer.

This recipe was delicious and healthytoo!

I used chicken thighs but too fatty so will try chicken breast instead. Also could easily make this vegetarian by eliminating meat and adding different veggies like sweet potato, peas, carrots.

I don't understand why this is coming out so light.. I'm Persian myself and I've never had this stew this light before.. It's usually a dark brown. Any ideas on how I can make it dark?

We had high hopes for this dish which, unfortunately, were not met. Of all of the dishes on the table with this for dinner, this was the only item not only not finished but left virtually untouched. The rice, raita, palak paneer, naan & yellow daal luckily were enough for a meal despite the resounding flop of the main dish. We just wound up having an unplanned vegetarian night.

This recipe was a delightful surprise. Doubled the recipe, sed boneless chicken thighs, half broth and half juice as suggested by others and served with naan bread - super flavours! Highly recommended

too sweet

Great recipe. Moved to a place where there weren't any Persian restaurants. I was jonesing for this. Easy to make.

Ummm...YUM! I admit that this recipe SOUNDS a little strange, but it's really delicious! As it was cooking up and the flavors hadn't yet come together, my husband and I were still a little iffy about the whole thing, but served over rice after cooking for 1.5 hours it was really good. My *only* complaint is that it was really oily. The walnuts, I guess, caused there to be a pretty generous layer of oil floating over the whole thing. My husband used a spoon to get as much of it as he could. But, really...very tasty!

Wow...taste just like the restaurant version! I was truly surprised how easy it was to replicate!!! I substituted cinnamon for cardamom. I put mine in the crockpot after cooking the chicken and onions. I did it for 8 hours on low which ended up burning the top, but the rest was still great.

Very delicious and the leftovers were equally as impressive. I used brown sugar and really liked the result. Thanks for a terrific recipe.

Even our terribly picky 7 year old liked this. If you're lookng for something different for chicken, give this one a try. The pomegranate gives this a wonderful tangy flavor

Terrific! Just as I remembered it tasting when prepared by my Iranian friend. I used spoons to shred the chicken, and loved the way it tasted with pita. Also, I added a little pinch of saffron at the end (during the time the basmati cooked). This will now be a staple in my house!

What an interesting colour and taste! We didn't add the sugar, and the pomegranate juice was tangy yet still sweet. We added a bit less of the walnuts than called for. I'm sure this recipe could be altered in many ways if you wanted to bulk it up and make it more 'stew-like', by adding potatoes and carrots, however we quite enjoyed it as it was!

I made this for the first time tonight. Neither my husband or I have had this before. It was really good. I really didn't change the recipe except to add some garlic. I served it with basmati rice and pita bread. I thought it was a bit sweet by my husband thought it was just right. It also came out a very dark purple almost black color, much different than the picture.

I substituted two cans of whole chickpeas for the chicken and it came out as a really nice vegetarian meal.

Althought it didn't taste like the fesenjan I get at my favorite restaurant, the flavor of this was excellent and the sauce was incredibly rich. I will definitely make this again. After reading other reviews, I subbed chicken broth for 2 cups of the pomegranate juice. However, I used POM juice and I think it is sweeter than what other people have been using. Next time I will use 4 cups of juice - no way it would have been too tangy. It needed more pomegranate flavor. Don't be afraid to use it all if you are using POM. Besides, you can always add sugar to sweeten it, but adding more juice would have made the sauce too thin. Also, the chicken cooked down so much, next time I will use 3-4 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs. Absolutely delicious and rich. What a keeper.

I really loved this - easy and exotic. But I did make some changes and would do more tweaking if I make it again. I followed the suggestion of others to use 2 cups pomegranate juice and two cups chicken stock. I think, in the future, I'd tend towards a little bit more pom juice than chicken stock. I imagine it really depends on the juice. I didn't use the sugar. It was sweet enough. There was so much sauce, that I regretted not having added veggies. And in fact, for leftovers, I sauteed some mushrooms and carrots and threw in a handful of pearl onions. It's just begging for veggies. Also added parsley at the end. Cilantro might be nice, too. But it definitely needs some color, so add one or the other. I think it would be terrific over couscous, though we used leftover rice. And crusty bread to sop up the sauce, a must. I have a feeling this dish will become a regular meal at our house, particularly when cooler weather comes around again.

This was very good! I followed the recipe almost exactly (left the chicken drumsticks whole) and it turned out great! The chicken was very tender, and practically fell off the bone. It's a nice sweet and savoury dish that goes well over rice. I'll make no changes to this dish the next time I make it, it's perfect as is.

AWESOME!! I make this receipe almost every week.

This was pretty good. I'm used to Indian food so even though they aren't the same I was hoping it would have had a bit more spice (flavor not chili hot). It wasn't bad though and I would probably make it again. It certainly doesn't look the prettiest, but did taste better than it looked. Even better the second day.

I thought it was easy to make and tasty, but you have to check while you are cooking that the molasses added don;t make it too tangy.I added a bit of brown sugar and it was perfect.

The chicken was very good, but I didn't have enough pomegranite juice. Next time I will make sure I have enough and try again.

This recipe was so easy and so filling.

There are 2 types of Fesenjan, sour and sweet. I like the sour one better. If you are like me skip adding sugar and enjoy the sour taste

This was absolutely delicious. I used chicken thighs and substituted 4 whole green cardamom pods for the 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom. I also added 2 cups of fresh carrot chunks, which nicely balanced the tartness of the pomegranate juice (instead of using sugar). The sauce didn't thicken sufficiently for my taste so I boiled it down to the desired thickness.

I make this dish whenever I get the chance. Using full pomegranate juice defintely results in a tart end product, but the sugar and spices really work well with it. I generally use drumsticks, but boneless/skinless thighs reduce the work and chicken breast can be cooked with it a little later in the process (so they don't dry out). Sometimes I add a little cinnamon/ground cloves as well. Paired with rice and/or flatbread and some plain yogurt it makes a fantastic meal. Everyone who has tried it has raved and asked for the recipe. Can also be converted to a crockpot cooking method, though the flavors don't seem to come through as well. Leftovers are also very good. Just an all-around winner!

I made this because I had about 5 lbs of walnuts I wanted to use and had this in Persian restaraunts in the past. I rated this as three stars because of the amount of oil that comes to the top. It was kind of a mess, but the flavor was authentic to Persian food, so if you're a fan of this, make it. I also used Pom Molasses that I found at our local Middle Eastern grocery and had for another recipe, so it was a good way to use things in my pantry, but wasn't a winner for us. I did end up adding a few tablespoons of sugar in the end because it was so tart that I had to take some of the bite out of it. I also used fresh cardamon pods that I threw in with the walnuts when I ground them in my Cuisinart. Was just okay.

Very nice, unique flavor. Chicken looked like beef once the pomegranate juice worked it over.

This was very easy to make and it turned out great. I highly recommend this recipe.

Very good. Extremely tender. Will make again.

I've always loved fesenjan but had no idea it'd be so simple to make. This turned out great! Thank you!

My husband liked this a lot, i found it a bit too tart myself, but it is still a very good recipe. I used a bit less pomengranate juice b/c i drank some of it :) It took about 2 hours to cook down to the consistency I wanted. I did use chicken breast b/c it is what i had but i also recommend using thighs instead, dark meat would just taste better, or better yet, make this sauce and put it on a ROASTED DUCK- the tartness would be divine with a duck. This recipe is really simple and if you are uncertain about if you will like it just cut it in half and give it a go, it does not have too much of a peculiar Middle Eastern spice flavor at all.

Amazing flavor and texture. My kids gobble it down. Made a substitution of 1 part cinnamon and 1 part ginger since I couldn't find cardamom in my local grocery store. Making it again tonight for dinner!

yeowza, you have got to try this! my husband and I ate this at a now-closed Persian restaurant in D.C. for our first date, and this brings back the memories. fabulous!

Nobody liked this dish. It was too sweet, it looked odd, and it was grainy. The ground nuts gave it a weird texture, and nobody could stand to eat more then a few bites of it.