Moroccan food has always interested me as well as Middle Eastern food due to it’s exotic use of spices, dried and pickled fruits like Preserved Moroccan Lemons. You can pair your preserved lemons with olives in this traditional Moroccan tagine, which is braised.
Typically, a tagine is a rich stew of lamb, chicken, or fish, and usually includes vegetables or fruit. A tagine is a unique type of ceramic or clay cookware that’s popular in Morocco. The bottom is a wide, circular shallow dish used for both cooking and serving, while the top of the tagine is distinctively shaped into a rounded dome or cone. If you do not have a tagine a Dutch oven will do, like my trusty Le Creuset.
In this tagine all the typical players are here: preserved lemons, green olives and chickpeas. Chickpeas are also known as garbanzo beans. The addition of saffron along with toasted, ground coriander and turmeric creates a wonderful base when sauteed with onions. I like to brown the chicken first to get a deeper flavor and the slow simmer fills your kitchen with an amazing, mouth watering aroma.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
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Chicken Tagine with Chickpeas, Olives and Preserved Lemon
Ingredients
- 1 onion sliced
- 3 tbsp olive oil separated
- 5 tbsp butter separated
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 0.5 gram saffron
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 bone in chicken breasts 4 legs
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 cup chopped preserved lemons
- 1 cup chickpeas
- 1 cup green olives
- 4 tbsp chopped parsley separated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Sauté the onions in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter. When almost translucent, add ginger, coriander, turmeric, saffron, white pepper and kosher salt. Cook for several minutes and remove from pan. Set aside in tagine base.
- Add 1 tablespoon of butter and brown the chicken, skin side down first. Season with salt.
- Add the chicken stock to the onion and spice mixture. Simmer on the stovetop in the tagine on top of stove burner with a heat diffuser for several minutes. You can’t place the clay glazed tagine on direct flame or it will crack and ruin the tagine.
- Next, nestle the chicken in the onion mixture, put tagine lid on and place in the oven for 50 minutes.
- Remove tagine from oven, remove chicken and keep warm. Next, add the diced preserved lemon, 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley and chickpeas. Stir in 2 tbsp butter, then olives and nestle the chicken back in. Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes. The chickpeas and olives will be heated through (this is hot).
- Serve with a garnish of chopped parsley and preserved lemon quarters on top over couscous or rice.
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Just made this first time and already addicted
Good stuff right? Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know! It’s a favorite of mine, too. 🙂
If I didn’t have something to cook it in the oven with, could I convert this to stove top pot cooking?
Certainly, this was just using the traditional method.
What would be the conversion?
I do state in the recipe to use either the tagine or a Dutch oven. No time changes Elizabeth.
OH Kevin dear, how much have I enjoyed your recipes. My family loves the chicken tajine and I fix it often!
Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know Louisa!
Hello Kevin,
thank you for sharing this excellent recipe! After returning from Morocco with a traditional tagine pot in our bag I was so anxious to find a perfect chicken with lemon tagine recipe – and yours turned out to be just delicious! I can say that our first attempt to make dish in a tagine was just a complete success – thanks to you! 🙂
There’s nothing like traveling and picking something up that reminds you of the trip, right? What a fantastic purchase for yourself. Thanks for coming back to let me know Ibi!
Kevin, after chickpeas are added and the chicken is returned to the dish, does it not cook a bit longer?
Hi Eric, thanks for visiting and the question.
I updated the recipe to reflect “Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes. The chickpeas and olives will be heated through (this is hot).” No more cooking in the oven is necessary. After the initial browning in the pan and then the 50 minute simmer in the oven, the chicken is cooked through and mighty tender.
Wow! Such a gorgeous and flavorful dish Kevin!
Thank you Kecia!
What a gorgeous dish Kevin…so full of rich flavors! Thank you for sharing your tagine cooking tips and techniques so that more of us can learn how to recreate this authentic Moroccan dish in our own kitchens.
Thanks for stopping by and the kind words Linda. Let me know how yours turns out.