Moroccan Chicken Tagine

Name: Chicken Tagine
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 120 min
Yield: 5
Cuisine: African
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon of smen; 2 pounds of skinless and boneless chicken thigh; 2-3 cloves of minced garlic; 2 chopped onion; 2 preserved lemon; 1/4 cup of olive oil; 1 cup of chicken broth; 1 teaspoon of rock salt; 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper; 1 teaspoon of red chilli; 1 teaspoon of cumin; 1/2 teaspoon of ginger powder; 1/2 teaspoon of cilantro (coriander); 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon; 1/3 cup of green olive

Traditional Moroccan dish Chicken Tagine is an easy and delicious recipe that you can prepare in one pot! Enjoy the unique combination of juicy chicken thighs and spices.

African Cuisine

October 29, 2021

Difficulty Medium

Servings 4-6 people

Preparation 30 mins

Cooking 90 mins

Total 120 mins

Recipe Contents

Ingredients Directions Nutrition Equipments Tips

Ingredients

2 pounds of skinless and boneless chicken thigh
2-3 cloves of minced garlic
2 chopped onion
2 preserved lemon
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 cup of chicken broth
1 teaspoon of rock salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1 teaspoon of red chilli
1 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of ginger powder
1/2 teaspoon of cilantro (coriander)
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/3 cup of green olive
1 teaspoon of smen

Directions

Gather the ingredients onto the counter, so you don't waste your time while cooking up this delicious recipe of Traditional Chicken tagine.
Gently peel the skins off the lemons, then finely chop the lemons and save the skins for cooking.
Take the bowl and start adding the chicken, cilantro, onion, garlic, pepper, parsley, salt, turmeric, and ginger. If you have the saffron, ras el hanout, and smen in your house, then add them too.
Add the chopped lemon peel into the same bowl and mix them all.
If you have extra time at this stage, leave the chicken to marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.
Take the Tagine and coat the bottom with unrefined olive oil.
Let the bowl you left for marinating in your refrigerator out and add the chicken so that the flesh side should be down, and spread the onions all over the chicken.
Add the lemon peels and onion of the preserved lemons we kept for cooking into a tagine and drizzle the leftover oil over the chicken.
Add 1/4 cup of water to the Tagine, cover it thoroughly, and keep it on a heat diffuser over medium flame. Now let the Tagine over the heat diffuser for some minutes till you hear it simmering. If Tagine didn't simmer within 20 minutes, increase the flame slightly for a few minutes, and then you can switch to the low heat flame for maintaining a smooth, not quick simmer.
Let the chicken cook for 80-90 minutes without peaking in between and then turn the chicken upside down so that the flesh side remains up and then again cover it up and allow it for 45 minutes to cook so that chicken becomes tender.
Your chicken is ready. Turn off the flame and wait for it to cool down. Serve it with brown rice or pearl couscous and enjoy the delicious recipe.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 Chicken Tagine

Serves 4-6

Amount Per Serving

Calories330

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 16 g20.5%

Sodium 69.6 mg3%

Cholesterol 57.1 mg19%

Protein 17.1 g34.2%

*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Tips

You can use whole cut chicken, but for traditional Chicken Tagine, chefs around the world only use boned, skinned chicken legs as the bones and skin will add depth to the flavor and will be tender even if slightly undercooked.
Marinate the chicken at least 2 hours in advance. You can marinate the chicken the night before to make it more delicious.
When cooking Chicken Tagine, always use lemon as it has a sweet sourness to the dish.
Cooking times may vary depending on the size of the chickens. Slow cooking (about 2 hours and 30 minutes) is important in this recipe. This prevents the chicken meat from drying out.
Do not add too much liquid to the food. Use enough liquid to steam the ingredients. Be careful not to have the consistency of soup.
Use a thermometer to make sure the chicken is cooked through. Check your chicken's core temperature is 165 -175 °F.
If you are using cast iron cookware, let the tajin cool naturally for a while after cooking.

Rate This Recipe

Chicken Tagine recipe from African cuisine is traditionally made in the cone-shaped ‘Tagine’ that gives the dish its name. This dish is a kind of stew.

Chicken legs are prepared with lemon and rich spices such as saffron, turmeric and ginger. Chicken Tagine, an authentic dish with Moroccan spices, can also be made in a crock pot or oven.

It is a delicious dish that can make even a full-bodied person hungry. This dish will only take a few hours and will delight the whole family. Try this chicken stew recipe on the stove or in the oven. Bon Appetit.

Equipment for this recipe

Measuring Cup

Dutch Oven

Mixing Bowls

Lemon Juicer

What is Tagine?

Tagine is both the name of the dish and the vessel in which the dish is cooked. The pot, tajin, is a shallow clay pot for cooking with a cone-shaped lid. Cooking the food in the Tagine dish imparts all the different flavors of spices and ingredients that are often lost in moisture. The moisture inside the tagine rises at the edges of the lids and gives the dish all the flavor.

How To Make Chicken Tagine In The Oven?

Making chicken in the oven usually has the same technique with few differences. Follow the following steps for making a chicken tagine recipe:

Preheat oven to 425 °F/ 220 °C and coat the bottom of the baking dish with enough oil
Add the sliced onions and garlic from the marinade and then add chicken to the top.
Add lemons and olives and drizzle the remaining olive oil over the chicken.
Bake the chicken in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the chicken is light golden brown.
Reduce the heat gradually to 350 °F/180 °C and bake the chicken for 20 more minutes. Remove from the oven when the chicken is dark brown.
Your chickens are ready. Let it cool for a few minutes. Then serve it.

What To Serve With Chicken Tagine?

You can serve the traditional Chicken Tagine with white or brown rice. You can also serve it with couscous.

Here are some our delicious recipes that you can serve with Chicken Tagine:

How To Store Chicken Tagine?

Like all stews, Tagine is stored the best in the refrigerator. You can keep tagine for two days in the fridge, and as all the flavours get time to mingle with each other, it tastes better the next day.

Recipe Variations

Chickpea Chicken Tagine: Chickpeas and Chicken Tagine are always the best partners, so adding boiled chickpeas when cooking chicken tender with some honey and cinnamon will give a pleasant creating taste to the recipe.
Sweetcorn Chicken Tagine: Sweet Corns and Chicken Tagine look and taste good together. You can add sweetcorn to the chicken while cooking it on tagine with a bit of teaspoon of honey will create an excellent recipe.

Recipe byPetite Gourmets