Moroccan Chicken Tagine
Moroccan Chicken Tagine is a beloved dish with tender chicken, briny olives, and zesty preserved lemons for bold, unforgettable flavor.
Servings: 4 Servings
Calories: 263kcal
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken cut into pieces (or 4 legs and 2 breasts)
- 0.33 cup olive oil
- 1 pound yellow onions sliced paper thin, two very large onions
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro tied with twine
- 6 cloves fresh garlic pressed or finely minced
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 0.5 teaspoon sea salt
- 0.5 teaspoon saffron threads crumbled
- 1 cup green and red Greek olives or just green
- 1 - 2 preserved lemon quartered
Instructions
- Place your tagine (or a Dutch oven) over medium heat. Add olive oil and sliced onions. Cover with lid and cook until they’re soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle the minced garlic, ginger, saffron, turmeric, salt, and pepper over the onions. Stir to combine. Place the chicken in the pot skin-side down and brown for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Pour in one cup of water and place tied bundle of cilantro over the chicken. Bring to a boil then cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until the chicken is tender and almost ready to fall of the bones, 45-50 minutes. Do not allow the chicken to scorch, adjust the heat accordingly.
- Once cooked, remove chicken and cilantro from the pot. Transfer chicken to a plate and discard the cilantro.
- Reduce sauce over medium heat until reduced, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the onions from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning.
- Add the preserved lemon wedges and olive to the onion sauce mixture, stir to combine. Heat over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Return chicken to the pan to warm through.
- Place chicken on a serving platter, and pour the sauce over the top. Serve with French Fries, couscous, rice and warm flatbread.
Notes
- Try not to add any water as the chicken is cooking. The chicken will baste in it’s own juices.
- Tagines shine with slow cooking. Low heat makes the chicken tender and gives the spices time to meld beautifully. Don’t rush it!
- Place onions at the bottom of the tagine. This prevents the chicken from sticking and allows the flavors to steam upward.
- This dish is traditionally made with a preserved lemon. I could not find them anywhere so I substituted a fresh lemon with a pinch of salt and it was delicious.
- You can also make this dish in a Traditional Tagine according to manufactures instructions.
Nutrition
Calories: 263kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 0.2mg | Sodium: 824mg | Potassium: 233mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 273IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 1mg
