Moroccan Chicken with Lemon and Olives

A traditional Moroccan dish of chicken pieces braised with spices, garlic, onion, olives, and preserved lemon. Cooked in a tagine.

Elise Bauer

Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.

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Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Moroccan Chicken
Elise Bauer

A few years ago, I purchased a tagine, an earthenware cooking and serving pot common in North Africa, with which to experiment.

Have you ever tried cooking with a tagine? Or another type of clay pot?

There's something special about cooking with clay. The heating is more even than what you would get in a regular skillet, and the liquid that gets released from the food while it cooks bastes the food keeping it moist.

A tagine used on a stove-top gives you that wonderful slow, even cooking that you would normally get from an oven-braise. The conical top returns moisture to the food below, and when the dish is done, you can serve it right in the pot.

Tagine for Moroccan Chicken
Elise Bauer

My first foray into cooking with the tagine was with this Moroccan chicken dish which turned out beautifully—succulent, tender, and full of flavor.

I pulled the recipe together from various sources including the New York Times, The New Basics Cookbook, and recipes by Le Souk Ceramique, the maker of my tagine.

Preserved lemon is traditionally called for in this dish (very easy to make, by the way, all you need are lemons, salt, and time), and in my opinion, worth making just for this dish. But if you don't have any, you can easily use thin slices of regular lemon.

Also, you don't absolutely need to use a tagine to make this dish; just use a large, shallow, thick-bottomed, covered skillet.

Moroccan Chicken
Elise Bauer
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Moroccan Chicken with Lemon and Olives

Prep Time 65 mins
Cook Time 60 mins
Total Time 2 hrs 5 mins
Servings 4 to 6 servings

This recipe shines with preserved lemons. If you don't have access to any, you can use thin slices of regular or Meyer lemon, and you'll likely need to add quite a bit of salt to the dish at the end.

If you use a tagine, you will likely need to soak it in water over-night before subjecting it to the heat of the stove. Doing so will help keep the tagine from cracking.

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 chicken, 3-4 lbs, cut into 8 pieces (or 3-4 lbs of just chicken thighs and legs, the dark meat is more flavorful)
  • Salt
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • The rind from 1 preserved lemon, rinsed in cold water, pulp discarded, rind cut into thin strips (if you don't have preserved lemon, use whole thin slices of regular lemon)
  • 1 cup green olives, pitted
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Method

  1. Marinate chicken in spice rub:

    Combine all the spices—paprika, cumin, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper—in a large bowl.

    Pat dry the chicken pieces and put in the bowl, coat well with the spice mixture. Let the chicken stand for one hour in the spices.

    moroccan-chicken-method-1
    Elise Bauer
  2. Brown chicken pieces in tagine or skillet:

    If you are using a clay tagine (if you have one, you must soak the bottom in water overnight before using), place it on a heat diffuser on the heating element to prevent the tagine from cracking, and place the olive oil in the tagine and heat it on medium heat.

    moroccan-chicken-method-2
    Elise Bauer
    moroccan-chicken-method-3
    Elise Bauer

    If you do not have a tagine, you can use a thick-bottomed, large skillet with a cover. Heat the olive oil in the skillet on medium high heat.

    In either case, sprinkle the chicken pieces very lightly with salt (go easy on the salt, the olives and preserved lemons are salty) and place skin side down in the tagine or skillet for 5 minutes, until lightly browned.

    moroccan-chicken-method-4
    Elise Bauer
  3. Add garlic and onions, cover and cook:

    Lower the heat to medium-low, add the garlic and onions over the chicken. Cover and let cook for 15 minutes.

    moroccan-chicken-method-5
    Elise Bauer
    moroccan-chicken-method-6
    Elise Bauer
  4. Add lemon, olives, raisins, water, then cover and simmer:

    Turn chicken pieces over. Add the lemon slices, olives, raisins, and 1/2 cup water.

    Bring to a simmer on medium heat, then lower the heat to low, cover, and cook for an additional 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and quite tender.

    moroccan-chicken-method-7
    Elise Bauer
    moroccan-chicken-method-8
    Elise Bauer
  5. Stir in parsley, cilantro:

    Mix in fresh parsley and cilantro right before serving. Adjust seasonings to taste.

    Serve with couscous, rice, or rice pilaf.