Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons and Olives

A flavorful weeknight chicken tagine recipe made in nearly 30 minutes. With just a handful of bold spices, salty preserved lemons and buttery olives.

Weeknight Chicken Tagine

There is nothing I love more then a simple roast chicken but we are always finding ways to make the flavors pop.

Chicken tagine has some serious bold flavors and you don’t need a traditional tagine pot to create something fantastic. I took inspiration from Moroccan flavors of turmeric and cinnamon and made a colorful spice rub for the chicken.

Once seared, the spiced chicken is settled on top of sliced onions and carrots and simmered with preserved lemons, olives and apricots.

Spices and Ingredients

Spices: cinnamon, turmeric, coriander, paprika

Preserved Lemons: Homemade preserved lemons are used in this recipe which may be less salty than store bought. Either way, taste a piece to know how salty your lemons are.

Olives: Buttery castelveltrano olives are used in this recipe for their mildness, though other olive options would be green manzanilla olives and/or kalamata olives.

Dried Apricots: Or other dried fruit that has a bit of tartness.

Side Dishes to go with Chicken Tagine

Lemon Herb Couscous

Lemon Rice Pilaf with Dill and Pistachios

Homemade Pita Bread

Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad

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Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons and Olives

A flavorful weeknight chicken tagine recipe made in nearly 30 minutes. With just a handful of bold spices, salty preserved lemons and buttery olives.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time35 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mediterranean, Moroccan

Keyword: chicken tagine, chicken tagine with olives, easy chicken tagine, weeknight chicken tagine

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 733kcal

Author: Samantha Ferraro

Cost: $10

Equipment

Cast Iron Skillet

Ingredients

• 2 pounds chicken thighs bone in and skin on

Chicken Marinade

• 2-3 garlic cloves grated
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon liquid saffron or pinch of saffron threads
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 preserved lemon seeds removed and chopped finely
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1-2 tablespoons preserved lemon juice

Tagine

• 1 tablespoon olive oil for drizzling
• 1 small red onion sliced thin
• 2 carrots sliced thin
• 1-2 garlic cloves chopped finely
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 cup whole castelveltrano olives
• 1/2 cup dried apricots roughly chopped
• 1 preserved lemon sliced thin for garnish
• Parsley chopped for garnish

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

• Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels and set aside.
• In medium sized bowl, add the grated garlic, olive oil, saffron, spices and chopped preserved lemon and whisk to combine. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and rub the marinade all over the chicken and set aside.
• Heat a medium sized cast iron skillet on medium heat and drizzle with olive oil. Place chicken thighs, skin side down into the skillet and brown until chicken skin is deep golden, about 5-7 minutes. Then turn chicken over and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
• While chicken is cooking, add 1 cup of water and preserved lemon juice to the same bowl you used to marinate the chicken, and give it a quick whisk to pick up any leftover marinade and set aside.
• Once chicken is done cooking on both sides, remove from skillet and set aside on a plate.
• In the same skillet, add sliced onions and carrots and sauté until onions are just softened, about 2-3 minutes.
• Add the garlic and turmeric and sauté for another 1-2 minutes.
• Nestle chicken on top of vegetables, skin side up and pour chicken stock and preserved lemon juice mixture into the skillet and bring chicken up to a simmer and cook until chicken is cooked through, for another 15-20 minutes.
• Towards the last 5-10 minutes of cooking, scatter the olives, chopped apricots and sliced preserved lemon. Once done, garnish tagine with fresh chopped parsley and serve.

Notes

This recipe uses both the pump and peel of the preserved lemon, however if your lemons are store bought, which are usually saltier, you may want to use half the amount

Nutrition

Calories: 733kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 54g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 224mg | Sodium: 811mg | Potassium: 893mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 6237IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 3mg