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Overview

Satsivi

Georgian Chicken in Walnut Sauce, Chicken Satsivi

Poached chicken, cooled and folded into a smooth sauce of ground walnuts, garlic, coriander and blue fenugreek, then served cold with a scatter of pomegranate seeds. One serving is about 370 g.

Satsivi means "cold dish" in Georgian, and it is the centrepiece of the winter holiday feast: boiled chicken or turkey submerged in walnut sauce, served cold. The sauce — walnuts, garlic, fenugreek, dried marigold (Imeretian saffron) and vinegar — is one of the oldest flavour combinations in Georgian cooking, where walnuts appear in dishes across the whole cuisine.

Pairs well with: Warm lavash or crusty bread & a crisp cucumber-tomato salad

Provenance

Georgia flag Georgia

Georgian Festive Table

Nordic & European

Time Dedication

1h 15m

25m prep • 50m cook

Batch Yield

4 Servings

630 kcal per serving

1 serving ≈ 370 g

Technical Skill

Intermediate

Intermediate (Walnut Sauce)

Meal Timing & Digestive Fit

Breakfast

Not Advised

Lunch

Hearty Midday Main

Dinner

Ideal Hearty Main

Snack & Tea

Inappropriate

High Protein Occasions: Festive dinners, winter holiday feasts, family gatherings, cold buffets Cost: Moderate — about $4–5 per serving at home
Tags: Chicken Savory Rich High-protein
A bowl of Georgian satsivi, chicken in creamy walnut sauce topped with chopped herbs, with a slice of bread on the side

Georgian Festive Table

Photo: Francesc Fort, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Heritage Formulary

Measured Ingredients

Estimated cost: Moderate — about $4–5 per serving at home (USD)

A good satsivi sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon, pale ivory, and fragrant with coriander and fenugreek — never grey, gritty or oily.

Execution Methodology & Culinary Technique

Step-by-Step Cooking Guide

Active 1h 15m
P

Prep Stage: Poach, Bone, Grind

25 Mins • Knife Work

Start the chicken poaching first — it needs about 40 minutes at a bare simmer while you grind the walnuts, crush the garlic and measure the spices. Have a bowl ready for the poaching broth: 400 ml of it becomes the sauce, so ladle it out before you discard the rest.

Maestro Tip: Grind the walnuts until they are almost a paste; coarse pieces make a gritty sauce that never turns creamy.

  1. 1

    Poach the Chicken

    40 Mins • Gentle Simmer Bare simmer, ~95°C (203°F)

    Put the chicken in a large pot with 3 litres of cold water, the halved onion and 1 tablespoon of salt. Bring to a bare simmer — never a rolling boil — skim off the foam, and cook until the thickest part of the thigh reaches 74°C (165°F), about 40 minutes. Lift the chicken out to a plate and ladle 400 ml of the hot broth into a jug; discard the rest of the water.

    A hard boil toughens the meat and clouds the broth; the surface should barely tremble.

    Done when: The thigh reads 74°C (165°F) on a thermometer and the juices run clear.

  2. 2

    Make the Walnut Sauce

    15 Mins • Hands On Room temperature

    Pound the ground walnuts with the garlic paste, coriander, blue fenugreek, marigold and cayenne until the mixture turns smooth and slightly oily. Whisk in the warm broth a ladleful at a time, then the vinegar and the teaspoon of salt. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon and pale ivory in colour. Taste and add a little more vinegar if it feels flat.

    Add the broth slowly — too much at once makes the sauce thin and hard to rescue.

    Done when: The sauce is smooth, spoon-coating and ivory, with no grainy walnut pieces.

  3. 3

    Bone and Cut the Chicken

    10 Mins • Knife Work Room temperature

    When the chicken is cool enough to handle, pull off and discard the skin, then cut the meat off the bones in generous bite-size pieces. Keep the pieces chunky — satsivi is not shredded chicken.

    Let the chicken cool for 10 minutes first; hot meat in a cold sauce turns the walnuts oily.

    Done when: Clean pieces of meat with no bone or skin, roughly 4 cm across.

  4. 4

    Combine and Chill

    1 Hour • Chilling Fridge, 4°C (39°F)

    Fold the chicken pieces gently into the walnut sauce until every piece is coated, then cover and chill for at least 1 hour. Satsivi is a cold dish — the name itself means "cold dish" — and the hour in the fridge lets the walnut, garlic and spice flavours settle into the meat.

    Do not add the pomegranate yet; the seeds go on at the very end so they stay bright.

    Done when: The chicken is fully coated, cold, and the sauce has thickened slightly around it.

  5. 5

    Serve Cold with Pomegranate

    5 Mins Serve cold, 4°C (39°F)

    Spoon the satsivi into a shallow serving bowl and scatter the pomegranate seeds over the top. Serve cold, with warm lavash or crusty bread on the side for scooping up the sauce.

    A shallow bowl shows off the sauce better than a deep one.

    Done when: The sauce is creamy and pale, the chicken is cold through, and the pomegranate is bright red on top.

Finishing Touches & Plating

Serve cold with warm lavash for scooping and a crisp cucumber-tomato salad on the side. The pomegranate seeds go on at the last moment — they are the colour and the crunch of the dish.

Nutritional Physiology & Benefits

Nutrition

Energy

630

kcal / serving

Protein

55g

Complete AA

Carbs

17g

Complex

Fats

40g

Healthy

Per serving (4 servings · 1 serving ≈ 370 g)
Energy630 kcal
Protein55 g
Carbohydrates17 g
Fat40 g
Fibre6.0 g
Sugar5.7 g
Sodium751 mg
Per 100g
Energy170 kcal
Protein14.8 g
Carbohydrates4.6 g
Fat10.8 g
Fibre1.6 g
Sugar1.5 g
Sodium203 mg

Nutrition values are estimated — calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for the listed ingredients.

Vitamins & minerals: Vitamin B6 and niacin (chicken), vitamin E and magnesium (walnuts), vitamin C (pomegranate), iron (chicken, walnuts).

High in Protein

About 55 g of protein per serving makes this a genuinely filling main course that keeps you full for hours.

Walnut Goodness

Walnuts supply plant omega-3 (ALA), vitamin E and magnesium — the sauce is rich because of the nuts, not because of cream or butter.

Naturally Gluten-Free

The sauce has no flour or bread in it, so the dish itself is gluten-free — just check your bread choice on the side.

Food Pairings

What to Eat With

To optimize nutrient absorption and elevate the sensory depth, pair with these authentic accompaniments:

Sides

Warm Lavash

Soft, warm flatbread is made for scooping — the walnut sauce is too good to leave in the bowl.

Vegetables

Cucumber & Tomato Salad

Crisp, lightly salted cucumber and tomato cut through the richness of the walnut sauce and refresh the palate between bites.

Drinks

Georgian Saperavi

A glass of dry red Saperavi, Georgia's signature grape, has the tannin and acidity to stand up to the rich, nutty sauce.

Complete menu

Start with the satsivi as the cold main, with warm lavash for scooping and a cucumber-tomato salad on the side; finish with fresh fruit and a glass of Saperavi.

Digestive Guardrails

What NOT to Combine

To prevent digestive distress, sluggishness, or palate clash, avoid pairing the dish with these elements:

Leaving It Out Warm for Hours

Cooked chicken in a creamy sauce should be chilled promptly and kept cold; food left at room temperature for more than 2 hours can grow harmful bacteria. Chill within an hour and eat within 3 days. This is general food-safety information, not medical advice.

Very Spicy Chilli Sauces

Fiery hot sauce overwhelms the delicate walnut, coriander and fenugreek flavours that make satsivi what it is — the dish is meant to be fragrant, not hot.

General information only, not medical advice — consult a doctor for personal dietary decisions.

Who Should Eat It

Who Should Eat

  • General adultsA complete, festive main — rich and filling, best as the centre of a shared table.
  • ChildrenSuitable for children over 3 who can eat nuts; skip the cayenne and check for nut allergy first.
  • ElderlySoft, cold and easy to chew; the walnut sauce is gentle, but keep portions modest because it is rich.
  • Pregnant womenGenerally suitable; the chicken is fully cooked and the sauce is served cold, but skip it if you have been told to avoid nuts.
  • Breastfeeding womenGenerally suitable; the protein and iron support recovery — keep portions moderate as the dish is high in fat.
  • AthletesA strong recovery meal: about 55 g of protein per serving, with walnuts supplying healthy fats.
  • Weight gainA good choice — the sauce is calorie-dense, so a full serving with bread adds up quickly.
  • Weight lossChoose a smaller portion and load the plate with the cucumber-tomato salad instead of extra bread.

Health Conditions — Adjust or Avoid

Conditions

  • DiabetesLow in carbohydrate (about 17 g per serving), but the walnut sauce is calorie-dense — watch the portion and the bread on the side.
  • High blood pressureAbout 751 mg of sodium per serving; go easy on extra salt and salty pickles alongside.
  • Kidney diseaseThe sauce is high in protein and minerals from the walnuts; keep the portion modest and ask your clinician about portion size.
  • GoutEat occasionally and in smaller portions — chicken and rich sauces are moderately high in purines.
  • Stomach issuesUsually gentle, but the raw garlic and vinegar can bother a sensitive stomach — use less of both if needed.
  • Cardiovascular diseaseThe sauce is high in fat, though mostly unsaturated fat from walnuts; keep the portion modest and pair it with salad.
  • Fatty liverKeep the portion modest and favour the salad over extra bread; the dish is energy-dense.
  • Food allergiesContains tree nuts (walnuts) and chicken. The sauce itself is gluten-free, but check the bread served alongside.
  • Special therapeutic dietsIf you follow a prescribed low-sodium or nut-free diet, this dish is not suitable — ask your clinician for an alternative.

If you have a medical condition, consult your doctor before changing your diet.

Storage & Use

Storage & Use

How to store
Cool quickly and store in a sealed container in the fridge; keep the pomegranate seeds separate.
In the fridge
Keeps 3 days refrigerated.
In the freezer
Sauce and chicken freeze together for up to 1 month; the sauce may soften in texture on thawing.
How to reheat
Satsivi is served cold. If you prefer it warm, heat gently to 74°C (165°F) and serve at once.
Freezing recommended
Yes — without the pomegranate garnish, up to 1 month.
Signs it has spoiled
Sour or rancid smell from the walnut sauce, slimy chicken, or a grey, separated sauce — discard if any of these appear.

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