Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Couscous

Serves 2-4

Lunch, Dinner 

Total Cook Time: Overnight Marination, 1.5 hr cook time 

This week’s recipe will have you travelling to Morocco! How many times have you opened up your fridge to find a pack of chicken and no plans on what to eat for dinner? We sure have... . Instead of just grilling up your chicken with some salt and pepper, you have to give this recipe a go. Plus, winter is coming and we all need a hearty soul-satisfying meal to get us through the cold months. You can also use this spice mix for other meats as well!

Ingredients 

Overnight Chicken Marination

• 1 tsp Ground Cumin
• 1 tsp Ground Turmeric
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Ground Smoked Paprika or Harissa Spice 
• 1 tsp Cinnamon 
• 6-8 Chicken Thighs 

Tagine

• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil 
• 1 Thinly Sliced Large Onion
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Minced Fresh Ginger
• 3 Minced Garlic Cloves
• 4 Carrots Halved and Cut Lengthwise
• Handful of Chopped Dried Apricots
• 1/4 Cup Raisins 
• 1/2 Cup Chopped Dried Prunes
• 1/2 Cups Chicken Broth
• 2 Tbsp Tomato or Harissa Paste
• 1 1/2 Lemons Juiced
• 1 Tsp Ground Cumin
• 1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon 
• 1 Tsp Ground Smoked Paprika or Harissa Spice
• 1/4 Cup Finely Chopped Fresh Mint
• 1/4 Cup Roasted Pine Nuts

 Couscous

• 2 Cups Couscous
• Fresh Mint

Method

Chicken Tagine 

1. Combine all the spices for the marination in a bowl, toss and rub your chicken in the mixture to evenly coat. Let the chicken marinate in the fridge overnight. 
2. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium to high high heat. Add the marinated chicken and cook until brown on  each side for about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the Dutch oven and set aside.
3. Place ginger, garlic, and onion into the same Dutch oven, and cook over medium heat until tender. About 15 minutes.
4. Arrange the chicken beautifully in your Dutch oven, top with the carrots, apricots, prunes and raisins.
5. In a bowl, mix the chicken broth, tomato or Harissa paste, lemon juice and the rest of the spices. Whisk until well combined and pour it evenly on top of the chicken. 
6. Bring the tagine to a simmer, cover and reduce the heat to low (while still simmering). Cook the tagine until tender. About 1 hour.
7. Top the tagine with the fresh mint and pine nuts to serve. 

Couscous

1. Cook the couscous according to the instructions on the packaging
2. Top the cooked couscous with the sauce of the chicken tagine and fresh mint

This is the perfect recipe for weekends where you have a little extra time on your hands to cook up a full dinner for you and your loved ones. So, if you were already thinking of what to cook this weekend, this Chicken Tagine has your weekend dinner plans covered ;) Share your recreacreations of our recipes on instagram with the hashtag #cookingwithgab, we love to see your picture on our daily scroll session through instagram!

We come out with new recipes every week so please let us know in the comments what your recipe needs are and what we should share with you next!