This Moroccan-Inspired Chicken Tagine Recipe is a delicious one-pot dinner packed with colorful vegetables, tender chicken thighs, and a lightly spiced harissa sauce.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Here’s why we love this Moroccan-inspired chicken tagine recipe:
- It’s a one-pot recipe, which means fewer dishes to clean up after dinner! Just like our One-Pot Chicken Fajita Pasta.
- There’s only 15 minutes of hands-on time to make this dish, so you’ll have time to whip up a refreshing side dish like our Cold Green Bean Salad.
- The dish is full of Moroccan flavors from harissa paste, garlic, ginger and turmeric, which are all full of antioxidants.
- You can easily switch up the ingredients if you don’t have everything on the list for this easy chicken tagine recipe. It’s a very forgiving recipe!
What Goes Into This Easy Chicken Tagine Recipe
Here’s what you need for this chicken and vegetable tagine recipe:
- Vegetables. The colorful veggies in this tagine are carrots, zucchini, potatoes, bell pepper, and onion.
- Harissa paste. This is a blend of peppers that’s a bit spicy, so you may want to use more or less, depending on your preference for spice.
- Garlic. You’ll want plenty of fresh garlic to flavor this dish.
- Salt and pepper to season the dish.
- Olive oil for cooking the chicken and vegetables in the pot.
- Chicken. I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
- Spices. To round out the traditional Moroccan flavors, add ginger, turmeric, and a pinch of saffron.
- Olives. These add a nice pop of salt flavor to the finished dish.
- Water to simmer everything together.
- Parsley for a nice herby garnish.
Ingredient Swaps
If you don’t have everything you need to make this Moroccan-inspired chicken tagine recipe, here are some easy swaps:
- You can add a sweeter flavor by stirring in chopped dried apricots, prunes, dates, or preserved lemon to the chicken when you add the spices.
- For added protein and heartiness, you can stir in a can of drained chickpeas.
- Feel free to swap the veggies with your favorites! Try aubergine, sweet potato, butternut squash, or pumpkin. Just make sure to cut them more or less the same size, so they can cook evenly.
- You can also swap the spices with your favorite ones, such as ras el hanout or garam masala.
- If you don’t have chicken thighs, you can use breast or turkey.
- For an extra kick of flavor, add some chopped chorizo when cooking the meat. It’s a nice spin on this tagine.
How to Make this Moroccan-Inspired Chicken Tagine Recipe
Here’s how to make this easy chicken tagine recipe:
First, cut all of your vegetables into equal-sized pieces. Then combine them in a large bowl with the harissa paste, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss everything well to thoroughly coat the vegetables.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a tagine pot on the stove over medium heat. Then add the chopped chicken and cook until it is no longer pink. Season the chicken with ginger, turmeric, and saffron, then stir well to coat.
Next, reduce the heat to low and add the vegetables to the tagine pot, arranging them in circles around the chicken. Add in the olives and a cup of water.
Now cover the pot and cook over low heat for 35 or 45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are fork-tender.
Before serving, garnish the dish with chopped fresh parsley. Enjoy your delicious Moroccan-inspired chicken tagine!
FAQs
To use a slow cooker, simply cook the meat in a pan as mentioned in the recipe, then transfer it to your slow cooker. Alternatively, you can cook it directly in the crock pot if it has a Saute option.
Next, top with the veggies like you would in a tagine. Cook at LOW for 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours.
Yes! To use a pressure cooker, use the SAUTE option and cook the chicken until it’s no longer pink.
Then top with the spiced veggies, olives, and water.
Cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 5-7 minutes, then manually release the pressure.
Yes, start by preheating the oven to 375°F.
Then add the chicken, spices, and oil to a large (round would be nice) baking dish and stir to combine. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink. Then arrange the spiced vegetables in a conical shape on top of the chicken in the baking dish. Sprinkle with the olives and pour in 1 cup of water.
Cover the dish and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked through and the veggies are tender.
Serve it alongside cooked couscous, quinoa, or jasmine rice. I love it with crusty bread, or with a light quinoa tabbouleh salad.
Yes, it tastes great even when reheated. Reheat in the microwave or oven until warm.
Since this dish is full of bold flavors, I would serve it with a mild white wine like a Chardonnay or a sauvignon blanc.
Expert Tips
Keep these tips in mind when cooking this one-pot Moroccan-inspired chicken tagine:
- Be sure to chop the chicken into equal bite-sized pieces. It will cook to perfection in the tagine or a heavy bottom pot and will form a nice sauce with all the seasonings and juices dripping from the veggies.
- Apply the same chop for ingredients of the same texture. For instance, potatoes take a bit longer to cook than zucchini. So, chop the potatoes into thinner wedges and only halve the zucchini. This way, they’ll all cook at the same time.
- Before storing leftovers, let them cool fully to room temperature.
More Easy Chicken Dinners
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Moroccan-Inspired Chicken and Vegetable Tagine
Equipment Needed
Ingredients
- 4 medium carrots - peeled and cut in half lengthwise
- 2 small zucchini - cut in half lengthwise
- 2 large potatoes - cut into 8 wedges each
- 1 red bell pepper - cut into thick strips
- 1 large onion - cut into wedges
- 1 tbsp harissa paste - or to taste
- 3-4 garlic cloves - pressed
- Sea salt and ground pepper - to taste
- 3 tbsp olive oil - divided
- 2 lb (900g) boneless skinless chicken thighs - chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 2 tsp ginger powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 pinch saffron
- 1 cup (180g) pitted green olives
- 1 cup (240ml) water
- 1 small bunch parsley - chopped
Instructions
- Place all the prepared vegetables in a large bowl. Add the harissa paste, pressed garlic, 2 tablespoons of oil and a generous pinch of salt and ground pepper. Mix with your hands to combine, then set aside.
- Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in your tagine pot, over medium heat.
- Add in the bite-sized pieces of chicken and cook, frequently stirring, until no longer pink.
- Sprinkle with ginger, turmeric powder and add in saffron. Stir to combine with the spices.
- Reduce the heat to a low and start arranging the vegetables in a conical shape on top of the chicken.
- Sprinkle with olives and pour in 1 cup of water.
- Set the lid on and cook over low heat for 35-45 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked through and the veggies are tender.
- Garnish with freshly chopped parsley.
Recipe Notes
- You can swap out the chicken thighs for breast, or even turkey breast, just be sure to cut the meat into equal bite-sized pieces.
- It’s also important to cut the vegetables evenly so they cook evenly. But longer-cooking veggies like potatoes should be smaller than quick-cooking veggies like zucchini.
- You can switch up the spices by using garam masala, or another spice blend instead of the dried spices and harissa paste called for.
- You can also make this Moroccan-inspired chicken tagine recipe on the stove, in an Instant Pot, or a slow cooker. So don’t worry if you don’t have a tagine pot. See the post above for detailed instructions.
- Serve this it with a cooked grain, flatbread, or Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad.
Nutrition
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