Moroccan Chicken Tagine Recipe is a flavorful and tender chicken dish that is unique enough to serve guests but easy enough to cook for yourself. Give this salty, delicious chicken a try to dress up some simple chicken thighs!
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Chicken Tagine is a traditional, rich Moroccan stew. It can be made with just about any meat but for today’s purposes, we’re sticking with classic bone-in chicken.
The chicken is marinated in a blend of spices and herbs, including turmeric and saffron, and then slowly cooked with onions until tender and savory, with the meat falling off the bones and the marinade creating a broth full of flavor.
The stew is finished with preserved lemons and green olives which adds a uniquely salty and complex flavor to the dish.
While this dish is traditionally prepared in a Moroccan tagine, hence the name, you can easily make it at home in a pot.
It’s a dish that is relatively easy to prepare and full of complex flavors that will take your taste buds on a ride they won’t forget!
Recipe Origins
The name “tajine” refers to both the recipe you see featured here as well as the pot that it is cooked in. Both are essential elements of Moroccan food culture.
The Tajine clay cookware is often credited to an Islamic empire ruler from the late eighth century, Harun al Rashid. After its invention, the Tajine pot was primarily used by North African nomads, named Berbers, who likely brought it with them to Morocco.
The pot has two parts, a circular dish or plate and a cone-shaped lid. The lid recirculates any liquid that rises from the bottom of the pot, helping the tajine’s contents to cook in a continual stream of liquid. This was useful for nomads who may not have much access to water for cooking over an open fire. It also allowed them to cook tougher meats for a longer time, making them tender and delicious.
The dish cooked in this pot, also called tajine, has evolved over time, with influences from all the colonialists, refugees, and Islamic missionaries who have made their way through Morocco. M’chermel directly translates to the word “marinated” and refers to a style of cooking where the marinade not only adds flavor but acts as the cooking liquid for the meat.
There are about 5 dozen different types of tagines in Morocco. The dish can be made with a variety of ingredients including chicken, beef, dates, prunes, apricots, potatoes, etc.
Why Make This Recipe
- Unique Flavors: If you have never cooked with preserved lemons before, you are in for a treat. This dish is salty savory and unforgettable!
- Customizable: This chicken tagine recipe is a very simple one-pot meal but you can dress it up in a million different ways. Add apricots, dates, or chickpeas for extra protein.
- Taste of Morocco: If you’ve ever wondered what kind of meals you might encounter on a trip to Morocco, this is a great introduction to Moroccan cuisine.
What Do I Need To Make This Recipe
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.
- Chicken: You can use a whole chicken cut into pieces but skin-on chicken thighs and legs work just as well. The bone-in chicken thighs and chicken skin offer a more authentic depth of flavor to the dish but you could use boneless thighs if you want.
- Green Olives: Make sure to use pitted ones. This adds a nice briny flavor to the Tajine M’chermel.
- Preserved Lemon: Preserved lemons come in a jar and are preserved with salt and brine. You can order them online or find them at a specialty grocery store. You can also substitute fresh lemon zest and lemon juice if in a pinch, but you may need to add salt. In my opinion, this is one of those special ingredients that is worth hunting down.
- Saffron: This recipe calls for whole saffron. It looks like rough strings and has incredible flavor.
Tools
- Tagine: You can also use your tagine to make this Lamb Tagine from Algeria!
- Knives
- Dutch Oven
- Mixing Bowls
- Plastic Wrap
- Wooden Spoon
How to Make This Recipe
Step One: Marinate the Chicken
Add the saffron threads to a small bowl. Pour boiling water over the threads.
Separate the pulp from the skin of the preserved lemon. Finely chop the pulp and slice the skin very finely. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the chopped parsley, cilantro, lemon pulp, garlic, paprika, ginger, cumin, coriander, black pepper, 3 tbsp olive oil, and saffron water.
Add the chicken into the bowl with the spice blend make sure that it is covered in the marinade and massage the marinade into the skin of the chicken. Cover the chicken and allow it to refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Step Two: Cook Chicken
Drizzle 2 tbsp olive oil in the bottom of a tagine or Dutch oven. Add the thin slices of onions and sprinkle with the turmeric. Saute over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes until the onions are softened and translucent.
Add the marinated chicken into the Dutch oven on top of the onions, skin side down. Make sure to pour any remaining marinade into the pot.
Turn the stove to medium heat and add the tagine/dutch oven for 5 minutes until the liquid begins to simmer.
Reduce the heat to low and cook for about an hour, until the chicken has an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step Three: Finish and Serve
After an hour, drizzle the chicken with the liquid from the preserved lemons. Add the green olives and the sliced preserved lemon skins into the pot. If you want your chicken to be saltier, you can add more preserved lemon juice (it is very salty).
Cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes until the liquid evaporates slightly and the sauce thickens. Serve your Moroccan Chicken Tagine recipe over a bed of couscous with crusty bread and enjoy!
Variations
As mentioned earlier, there are dozens of different flavorful tajines out there. Feel free to experiment with different additions to make it your own.
I’ve seen different recipes call for:
- Carrots
- Dried Apricots
- Dates
- Chickpeas
- Prunes
- Raisins
- Honey
- Cinnamon Stick
- Sweet Potatoes
You can serve chicken tajine over couscous, rice, or by itself with some crusty bread.
Expert Tips
- Bone-in, skin-on chicken will have a different flavor than boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Some people like to remove the skin part way through cooking and remove the meat from the bone when it is done to make serving easier.
- This meal may not be considered a fast and easy meal, but you could make a portion of it ahead of time and finish it with the final step just moments before serving.
FAQs
Chicken tagine is traditionally served over plain couscous. You can also eat this Moroccan chicken dish by itself with a side of crusty Moroccan bread to help soak up all the delicious broth or over cauliflower rice. You can also try serving it with Israeli Couscous.
This dish has a careful balance of sweet and sour. All the spices and herbs melt perfectly into the tender chicken while the preserved lemons and green olives give the dish a salty kick. It’s a dish that is worth exploring!
Tagine is considered a stew as it is cooked low and slow in its own marinade, but it differs from other stew recipes. Rather than throwing all the ingredients in to cook together, tagine calls for some ingredients to be added near the end, adding a new layer of flavor to the dish.
Tagine also differs from a curry because it does not have the spice that curry is known for. The flavor of tagine is more complex with a hint of sweet and salty.
Did you enjoy this Moroccan Chicken Tagine Recipe (or Tajine M’chermel)? If so, make sure to check out these other dishes I picked out just for you:
Moroccan Chicken Tagine Recipe
Equipment
- Tagine
- Dutch Oven
- Mixing Bowl(s)
- Plastic Wrap
- Wooden Spoon
Ingredients
- ¼ tsp saffron
- ¼ cup boiling water
- 1 Preserved Lemon
- ¼ cup parsley, finely chopped
- ¼ cup cilantro, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, grated
- 2 tsp Ground paprika, not smoked paprika
- ¾ tsp Ground ginger
- ½ tsp Cumin
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ¼ tsp Black pepper
- 6 tbsp Olive oil, divided
- 2.5 lb chicken thighs and legs, bone-in skin-on
- 2 yellow onions, sliced very thinly
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp reserved liquid from preserved lemons
- ½ cup pitted green olives
Instructions
- Add ¼ tsp saffron threads to a small bowl. Pour ¼ cup boiling water over the threads.
- Separate the pulp from the skin of the preserved lemon. Finely chop the pulp and slice the skin very finely. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the ¼ cup chopped parsley, ¼ cup cilantro, lemon pulp, 4 garlic cloves, 2 tsp paprika, ¾ tsp ginger, ½ tsp cumin, ½ tsp coriander, ¼ tsp black pepper, 3 tbsp olive oil, and the saffron water.
- Add 2.5 lbs chicken into the bowl and make sure that it is covered in the marinade and massage the marinade into the skin of the chicken. Cover the chicken and allow it to refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Drizzle 2 tbsp olive oil in the bottom of a tagine or dutch oven. Add the 2 sliced onions and sprinkle with ½ tsp turmeric. Saute over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes until the onions are softened and translucent.
- Add the marinated chicken into the dutch oven on top of the onions. Make sure to pour any remaining marinade into the pot.
- Turn the stove to medium heat and add the tagine/dutch oven for 5 minutes until the liquid begins to simmer.
- Reduce the heat to low and cook for about an hour, until the chicken is cooked to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- After an hour, drizzle the chicken with the ½ tsp liquid from the preserved lemons. Add the ½ cup green olives and the sliced preserved lemon skins into the pot. If you want your chicken to be saltier, you can add more preserved lemon juice (it is very salty).
- Cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes until the liquid evaporates slightly and the sauce thickens. Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!
Notes
- Chicken: You can use a whole chicken cut into pieces but skin-on chicken thighs and legs work just as well. The bone-in chicken thighs and chicken skin offer a more authentic depth of flavor to the dish but you could use boneless thighs if you want.
- Green Olives: Make sure to use pitted ones. This adds a nice briny flavor to the Tajine M’chermel.
- Preserved Lemon: Preserved lemons come in a jar and are preserved with salt and brine. You can order them online or find them at a specialty grocery store. You can also substitute fresh lemon zest and lemon juice if in a pinch, but you may need to add salt. In my opinion, this is one of those special ingredients that is worth hunting down.
- Saffron: This recipe calls for whole saffron. It looks like rough strings and has incredible flavor.
- Bone-in, skin-on chicken will have a different flavor than boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Some people like to remove the skin part way through cooking and remove the meat from the bone when it is done to make serving easier.
- This meal may not be considered a fast and easy meal, but you could make a portion of it ahead of time and finish it with the final step just moments before serving.
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