Easy Moroccan Chicken Tagine: easy to make without a tagine, loaded with green olives, apricots, and bacon. Sure to become a favourite.

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What Is A Tagine?
Do I Need A Tagine Cooking Vessel To Make This Dish?
Chicken
Fruit
Serving Suggestions
Recipe
More Recipe Inspiration

This easy Moroccan chicken tagine has become one of my very favourite recipes. It's easy to make and brings back memories of Morocco at Epcot centre, the closest I've come to the real Morocco -haha! It is even better the next day, and I think it might have to inspire a Moroccan themed dinner party in the near future. It's also great for a potluck, and always receives ohs and ahs from everybody. It's a great one pot dish. We like to serve it over plain couscous for a great dinner. If you're a fan of Moroccan food, you will love this easy chicken tagine.

What Is A Tagine?

A tagine is traditional cooking pot and the stew inside from North Africa. The tagine pot is a ceramic or clay cooking vessel with a large base, and a conical lid. The tagine's unique cone-shaped lid allows for steam and condensation as part of the cooking method. The steam and condensation rise to top of the cone shaped lid, and the condensation drips down the walls of the vessel and back onto the food creating a moist dish. The food inside, also called a tagine, is a stew-like dish, that often includes both savory and sweet elements, and rich Moroccan spices. It is traditionally cooked at a low heat for a long cooking time to create a tender and flavorful stew.

Do I Need A Tagine Cooking Vessel To Make This Dish?

No, you don't need to use a tagine cooking vessel to make this delicious dish. The tagine cooking method is very similar to a dutch oven. You can make this dish in a regular casserole dish with a tight fitting lid or a dutch oven. It won't be as authentic looking as a real tagine, but it will still be very delicious.

Chicken

Tagines are traditionally made with any meats or fish, or just vegetables. Ours is a chicken version. We are using skinless chicken thighs. Because the meat is braised during a slow cooking, you will want to remove the skin. The chicken skin won't have a chance to crisp up with this cooking method, and is best removed. We like to use bone-in chicken thighs, because it adds more flavor to the dish. We choose chicken thighs because of their flavor, and how moist they are with this cooking method. You could use different chicken parts in your Moroccan tagine, if you prefer, or even a whole chicken cut up up and skin removed.

Fruit

It's tradition to have a mix of sweet and savory in your tagine. Meat is often paired with a dried or preserved fruit. Our recipes uses dried apricots. These add a wonderful sweetness to the dish. And after a long cooking time the dried fruit becomes rehydrated and plum and juicy. They offer a wonderful contrast to the savoury chicken and salty olives and bacon bits.

This recipe makes great leftovers, since all the flavours just meld together better overnight. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Serving Suggestions

I like to serve this Moroccan chicken recipe over simple couscous. The cooking liquid soaks into the couscous making it so delicious. It's also great served with Moroccan bread to soak up all the chicken stew juices. If you can not find it, try using pita bread as an easy substitution.

This easy moroccan chicken tagine has tons of flavor. And the unique combination of sweet from the apricots, and salty from the bacon and olives, combined with the juicy chicken thighs and aromatic spices make this traditional slow-cooked moroccan dish a real winner. Your taste buds will thank you for trying this dish. This is one of our favorite chicken tagine recipes because of the wonderful blend of ingredients and the moroccan spice blend. The tagine seasonings add so much to the dish. It's a good idea to add this middle east inspired dish to your dinner table. If you've never tried Moroccan cooking, this is a great recipe to try.