How to make Lavangi with chicken and walnuts

This deliciously baked Lavangi with chicken and walnuts recipe is sure to be your next favorite dish. This recipe makes the perfect tender and buttery chicken dish with a sour-sweet flavor. This is the best comfort food that is simple, healthy, and easy to make.

How to make a chicken recipe taste scrumptious without frying it in tons of oil?

Try this lifelong recipe passed to me through generations of great cooks. This is the ONLY chicken recipe that never fails to impress with how it tastes and looks! Simply delicious!

This is a must-try creamy chicken recipe for you all. It only takes one bite to realize how delicious and irresistible this creamy walnut chicken recipe is. You are going to make this recipe over and over again, I promise!! With a few simple ingredients put together, this mouth-watering delicious dish is ready to serve in no time.

Plus, this homemade creamy walnut chicken recipe is healthy in comparison to all fried chicken in tons of palm oil; Remove all the chicken skin and fat and replace it with grounded walnut. The oil in walnut will do the trick and make chicken taste delicious, with no need to add additional fat.

Walnuts are full of polyunsaturated fats like Omega-6 and Omega-3. A heart-healthy superfood with antioxidant properties. You can read more about the benefits of walnuts.

Find more simple, delicious, nutritious chicken recipes:

• Sweet and sour chicken gluten-free
• Best chicken kebabas in oven
• Best chicken pilau

Jump to:

• What is the Lavangi dish?
• Ingredients to make Lavangi
• Instructions to make Lavangi (Step by step)
• Notes
• Tips for the perfect Lavangi
• Substitutes
• Dish variations
• Equipment
• Storage and reheat
• What to serve with it
• Cooking variations of Lavangi
• How to cook white rice
• Pin it for later
• Recipe

What is the Lavangi dish?

Lavangi (Levengi) is a scrumptious traditional Azerbaijani dish. It is traditionally made by stuffing chicken, duck, or fish cavities with pureed made with walnuts, onion, and various condiments such as pomegranate syrup. And traditionally served with rice.

Ingredients to make Lavangi

• Walnut. Use halves walnuts for the best result. The already chopped walnuts have a bitter taste because their oil is oxidized.
• Onion. Adds lots of flavor and bulk to the dish. I used a white onion which has a little more water which is enough for this dish.
• Pomegranate molasses. It adds lots of flavor and color. I used some thick homemade pomegranate paste. I also recommend this pomegranate molasses (affiliate link).
• Chicken. I used a whole chicken and removed all fat and skin, cut it into medium-sized bone-in pieces. Bone-in chicken pieces make the dish extra delicious and take longer to cook. Alternatively, the walnut paste can be stuffed inside a whole chicken cavity as another variation to this recipe with the exact same ingredients. Bake it at 375 °F for 1 hour and 40 minutes.
• Seasonings. Salt and pepper to taste.

Instructions to make Lavangi (Step by step)

Preheat the oven to 375 °F.

Remove chicken skin and fat and cut it into medium-sized bone-in pieces and place it into a bowl.

Measure other ingredients. Peel the onion and chop it into chunks.

Using a food processor, grind the walnut until a smooth paste forms. Then, add onion chunks and process them with walnut paste until a smooth consistency forms.

Add walnut onion paste and pomegranate molasses, salt, and pepper to the chicken pieces.

Taste the pomegranate molasses to adjust the sweet-sour flavor to your taste. Add honey or sugar if needed. I like this dish sour.

Using your hand, mix all the ingredients well. You may cover the bowl with a plastic warp and leave it in the fridge for two hours to build more flavor before baking. (optional)

Otherwise, place it in a cast iron skillet cover it with aluminum foil, and bake it on the middle oven rack. Halfway through baking, move the chicken around, and if the dish looks watery, you may remove the foil for the other half-time of baking.

Serve this creamy walnut chicken recipe with your favorite side dishes, and enjoy!

Notes

• This dish tends to be dark in color and delicious. The pomegranate molasses and cast iron skillet make this dish darker.
• Adjust for a cooking time depending on the type of cookware you use!
• Feel free to adjust the amount of walnuts and other ingredients. You will end up with a delicious dish no matter what!
• Bone-in chicken pieces make the dish extra delicious and take longer to bake. Adjust the time if you only using chicken breast or chicken with no bone.
• Watch out; walnut tends to burn fast.
• I used a 10-inch cast-iron skillet.
• Alternatively, the walnut paste can be stuffed inside a whole chicken cavity as another variation to this recipe with the exact same ingredients. Bake it at 375 °F for 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Tips for the perfect Lavangi

1. It is impossible not to get this creamy walnut chicken recipe right! Be confident that you will end up with a delicious dish. This is by far the easiest and most delicious version of all Lavangi recipes.
2. Use halves walnuts and grind them in a food processor. Half walnuts taste better and are fresh.
3. Use white onion. It has more water content and purees quickly.
4. Taste pomegranate molasses and adjust the sweetness and sourness to your taste.
5. Substitutes for pomegranate molasses are pomegranate juice with honey, lemon/lime juice with honey, balsamic vinegar with honey, and cranberry juice with honey. Taste and adjust to your preferred sweet-sour balance.
6. Ad sweetness to your taste as needed. Honey or sweet vegetables are great choices. Always taste it first.
7. Season with salt and pepper to your liking.
8. Marinate chicken with marinara. Make sure to distribute all over the chicken evenly. I use my hand to do this.
9. Leave the marinated chicken in the fridge for two hours. This will let the chicken build flavor before baking. Optional.
10. Walnut burns easily. Make sure to cook at a lower temperature.
11. Use a cast-iron skillet. Cast iron skill adds another flavor and texture and darker color to the finished dish.
12. Serve it with whole wheat bread or over rice or quinoa.
13. Any vegetables are a great side dish. I served it with white rice and fermented peppers.
14. Alternatively, the walnut paste can be stuffed inside a whole chicken cavity as another variation to this recipe with the exact same ingredients. Bake it at 375 °F for 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Substitutes

1. Substitute chicken. Red meat and fish are great alternatives.
2. Make it vegan. Leave chicken out and add your favorite legumes like chickpeas, beans, lentils, etc.
3. Substitute walnut. Peanut, cashew, or any other nuts.
4. Substitute nuts If allergic to nuts. You can easily substitute nuts with sesame seeds: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, and flax seeds. Just make sure to puree them well.
5. Substitute pomegranate molasses. Other substitutes are Pomegranate juice with honey, lemon/lime juice with honey, balsamic vinegar with honey, and cranberry juice with honey. Taste and adjust to your preferred sweet-sour balance. Add honey or sweet vegetables if needed.
6. Be creative, add your favorite vegetables, and make it even more nutritious—a complete dish with healthy fats, carbohydrates, and proteins.
7. Omit honey; use sweet vegetables like carrots and corn instead.
8. Use the stovetop for cooking instead of the oven. You need to add some liquid and cook it on low to avoid burning walnuts.

Dish variations

This creamy walnut chicken dish can be very versatile. You can make it completely vegan by substituting chicken with chickpeas, beans, or your favorite legumes. Or keep it half chicken and half legume.

Peanuts, cashews, or pecans are all great substitutes for walnuts. Sesame seeds work wonders if you are allergic to nuts. The next choices are sunflower, pumpkin, chia, or flax seeds.

Through in any vegetables you have on hand. Use sweet potato, carrot, corn, or winter squash to sweeten it up.

This creamy walnut chicken recipe is a great way to get your kids to eat their protein without a fuss. My kids can not get enough of it and always ask for more. They get to eat their vegetables without knowing it.

This dish is our first-picked meal for our guests, and they all have fallen in love with it.

Equipment

I used this 10-inch cast-iron skillet (affiliate link) to bake it. Everything tastes extra delicious when cooked in cast-iron cookware.

Storage and reheat

Store the leftover creamy walnut chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Whenever ready to serve it, let it heat up slowly on a stovetop or microwave for a few seconds.

What to serve with it

I served it with white rice and fermented peppers.

Sauteed vegetables are a great side dish.

A seasonal spring salad is another choice.

Serve it with whole wheat bread, rice, or quinoa.

Serve it with my ultimate easy bread recipes: easy sourdough discard naans or

Easy sourdough discard flatbread

Check out my side dish recipes for more ideas.

Cooking variations of Lavangi

I have added my twist to this Lavangi recipe many times and cooked it using different techniques. They all turned out delicious!

Roast stuffed whole chicken. Alternatively, the walnut paste can be stuffed inside a whole chicken cavity as another variation to this recipe with the exact same ingredients. Bake it at 375 °F for 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Make chicken stew. Or place the whole chicken pieces and walnut paste (same exact ingredients) into a pot. Then, add one cup of water and make stew on a stovetop. Bring it to a boil and then let it cook on low heat for about 1 hour and 40 minutes. Or bake it at 375 °F for 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Substitute the chicken. I even switched chicken with red meat and fish. All came out delicious!

How to cook white rice

1. Rinse one cup of dry rice with water before cooking (optional).
2. Let the rice soak in 2 cups of water for 10 -30 minutes (optional). Otherwise, go to the next step.
3. Next, add 2 cups of water to the rinsed rice in a pot, and season it with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer on medium-low heat until most of the water is absorbed.
5. Then, cover the pot and cook for 10 minutes on low heat or until the rice is soft and fluffy.

Pin it for later

Here you go this Lavangi recipe, my friend! You are hooked on the best and most delicious creamy walnut chicken recipe of all time, guaranteed!!

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Find more simple, delicious, nutritious chicken recipes:

• Sweet and sour chicken gluten free
• Best chicken kebabas in oven
• Best chicken pilau

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