Recipes › Pomegranate › Persian Pomegranate and Walnut Stew (Fesenjan)
Persian Pomegranate and Walnut Stew (Fesenjan)
Fesenjan is one of Iran's most celebrated dishes — a rich, deeply flavoured stew of chicken braised in a sauce of ground walnuts and pomegranate molasses that is simultaneously sweet, sour, nutty, and warmly spiced. Pomegranate is the heart of the dish, providing an irreplaceable tart complexity that builds into a sauce of extraordinary depth over hours of gentle simmering. This is heirloom cooking at its most magnificent.
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Ingredients
- lbs bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed
- cups walnuts, finely ground in a food processor
- cup pomegranate molasses
- cup pure pomegranate juice
- large yellow onion, finely diced
- cup chicken broth
- tablespoons brown sugar or honey
- teaspoon cinnamon
- teaspoon turmeric
- tablespoons olive oil
- salt and black pepper
- pomegranate arils and fresh parsley, for garnish
Contains: nuts.
Method
- Season chicken with salt, pepper, and turmeric. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown chicken on all sides, 5–6 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- In the same pot, cook onion over medium heat for 8 minutes until soft and golden.
- Add ground walnuts and cook, stirring, for 3–4 minutes until they smell nutty and deepened in colour.
- Add pomegranate molasses, pomegranate juice, broth, sugar, and cinnamon. Stir well to combine.
- Return chicken to the pot. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook over low heat for 60–70 minutes until the chicken is very tender and the sauce has thickened and darkened.
- Taste and adjust the balance — add more pomegranate molasses for tartness or more sugar for sweetness.
- Serve over saffron rice, garnished with pomegranate arils and fresh parsley.
Tips
- Grinding the walnuts finely in a food processor is key — they thicken and enrich the sauce as they cook, acting as a natural thickener.
- Fesenjan improves dramatically the next day as the flavours deepen. Make it ahead if possible.
Ring the changes
- Use duck legs instead of chicken for a richer, more traditional version.
- Make a vegetarian version using butternut squash or cauliflower in place of chicken.
Keeping it
Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. The flavour deepens beautifully with time.
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More from the same crop
Fesenjan is one of the great stews of Persian cuisine — chicken slow-braised in a thick sauce of ground walnuts and pomegranate molasses until the flavors become dark, complex, and utterly unlike anything else. A deeply special dish worth the effort.
1 h 20 min · medium · PomegranateChicken thighs are roasted under a sticky, sweet-tart pomegranate molasses glaze that caramelises to a deep, lacquer-like finish with an intensely fruity, slightly tart complexity. This is a recipe where pomegranate is the hero — not as a garnish but as the central flavour of the sauce. Served with jewelled couscous or flatbread and a scatter of pomegranate seeds, it is a stunning and memorable dinner.
55 min · easy · Pomegranate
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