Get a taste of Moroccan sunshine with this delicious chicken tagine with preserved lemon and olives. Rich and aromatic, juicy chicken pieces in a delicious spicy sauce with the tang of preserved lemons. All made in one pan in less than an hour start to finish.
What’s to love about this chicken dish
- This chicken tagine is an easy midweek meal that is also good enough to serve to freinds for a weekend supper party too.
- Use store-cupboard ingredients to make something truly delicious.
- All in one pan, less washing up, result!
What is Moroccan tagine
Well, it’s two things really. The tagine is a clay cooking pot with a round shallow base that you serve the food in and a conical lid. You use this pot in the oven to make traditional Moroccan stews.
Tagine also means the traditional stews of Morocco. Made from chicken, meat or just vegetables.
Do you need a tagine to make this dish?
No way, I just used a standard pan to make my lemon chicken tagine.
Ingredients for this chicken and lemon tagine
- I’ve used chicken thighs for this tagine recipe. I love the flavour from chicken thighs and they’re really economical too.
- The usual onion and garlic are your base for this stew
- The spices – I’ve used ginger, coriander and cinnamon in my Moroccan chicken stew, together they bring a real warmth of flavour and your kitchen will smell amazing.
- Chicken stock and some saffron strands
- Preserved lemons are a traditional ingredient in Moroccan tagines and they have such a fabulous punch of flavour.
- Olives – Green olives have the tangy bitter flavour that is associated with chicken tagine. Use your favourite types.
Preserved Lemons
Make your own homemade preserved lemons with my Quick And Easy Preserved Lemons recipe. They are super easy to make, keep for ages and are incredibly useful for all sorts of recipes.
How to make chicken tagine with lemon and olives
Heat olive oil in a casserole dish and brown the ckicken on a high heat for about 5 minutes then remove it from the dish and set aside.
Add the onion to the dish and lower the heat to saute this for 5 minutes before adding the garlic and spices for a minute.
Now add the saffron infused chicken stock and return the chicken to the dish. Cover and either pop it in the oven for 30 minutes or cook on the hob at a simmer. Personally I use the oven at this point, I just love a dish that you can shove in the oven and walk away from.
Add the preserved lemon and the olives and cook for a further 10 minutes.
How to use preserved lemons
People can often be confused as to how to use preserved lemons. All you have to do is rinse off the lemons in cold water to remove the salt (that’s what preserves the lemon) and remove the flesh.
That’s the odd thing about preserved lemons, unlike fresh lemon where you eat the flesh and discard the peel. With preserved lemons it is the peel you eat and you discard the flesh.
How to serve this chicken tagine
Tradiitionally a tagine is served with couscous. However you can easily serve this chicken tagine with rice or just with flatbreads to scoop up all that delicious rich and aromatic sauce.
How many does this lemon chicken recipe serve
This tagine will serve 2-3 people depending how hungry you are.
Chicken tagine storage
This Moriccan style chicken with lemon and olives will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days in a covered container.
You can also freeze it for up to 3 months in a freezer-proof container. Defrost completely before reheating till piping hot.
Looking for more super easy chicken recipes to try? Then check these out before you go;
Basque chicken (poulet Basquaise)
Roast chicken traybake with chickpeas and lemon
Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.
Moroccan Chicken Tagine With Preserved Lemons and Olives
Ingredients
- 200 ml chicken stock
- pinch saffron
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 500 g chicken thighs
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 1/2 tsp ginger ground
- 1/2 tsp coriander ground
- 1/2 cinnamon stick
- 2 tbsp preserved lemons
- 100 g olives green
- 2 tsp parsley chopped
- 2 tsp coriander chopped
Instructions
- Soak the safron in the chicken stock
- Heat half the oil oil in oven-proof casserole and brown the chicken over high heat on both sides then remove from pan and lower the heat to medium
- Add remaining oil and saute the onion with all spices for 4 minutes and add the garlic for 1 minute
- Return chicken to the pan and add the stock, cover and cook for 30 minutes
- Add the preserved lemon and the olives and cook uncovered for 10 minutes more
- Serve with the parsley and coriander and couscous or rice on the side
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