How to Make Moroccan Chicken Tagine
This traditional Moroccan Chicken Tagine with olives and preserved lemon is one of the best and most flavorful tagines ever! Think juicy chicken thighs marinated in Moroccan spices in a rich sauce served with bread or over couscous.
This post shows you how to make traditional Moroccan chicken tagine with olives and preserved lemon at home. It’s a terrific, flavorful tagine that’s made with juicy chicken thighs marinated in Moroccan spices and a rich sauce. Serve with bread or over couscous.
This chicken version celebrates the flavors of traditional Moroccan ingredients and is one of the most universally loved dishes across the country, along with this Moroccan couscous.
If you’re on a tagine kick, be sure to check out this Traditional Beef Tagine and another favorite: Moroccan Okra Stew.
Featured Review
This has become my mother’s all-time favorite chicken dish! Thank you for such a beautiful recipe. The way you slice and place the preserved lemons works much better than other methods.
Nani
How to make it
For Crispy Chicken Skin: Once the chicken is fully cooked, move the chicken to a baking sheet and broil skin side up for 5 minutes or until the skin is golden brown and crispy. Serve topped with the sauce and olives.
What to Serve with a Tagine
If you want the full Moroccan tajine experience, I recommend serving this with traditional Moroccan bread and side salads.
Bismillah,
How to Make Moroccan Chicken Tajine (Tagine)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hours
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Entree, Dinner, Lunch
- Method: Baked, Tajine
- Cuisine: Moroccan, North African, Mediterannean, African
Description
This post shows you how to make traditional Moroccan Chicken Tajine with olives and preserved lemon at home. It’s a terrific, flavorful tajine (or tagine) that’s made with juicy chicken thighs marinated in Moroccan spices and a rich sauce. Serve over couscous.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 yellow onion, sliced thinly
- 4–6 chicken thighs, skin on & bone in
- 1 tbsp parsley, minced
- 1 tbsp cilantro, minced
- 5–6 strands saffron (optional), bloomed with an ice cube for 15 minutes
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp ginger
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 preserved lemon, sliced thinly
- 1 cup green olives
- 2 tbsp water
- couscous or Moroccan bread (khobz) to serve with
Instructions
- Prep the oven & ingredients. Start by preheating oven to 350 degrees and prepping all ingredients: mince the garlic, onion, preserved lemon, cilantro, and parsley.
- Saute onions and garlic. Add half of the olive oil, plus all of the garlic and onion to the base of the tajine and sautee over medium heat until the onions begin to appear translucent (about 5 minutes).
- Season chicken with herbs and seasonings. Turn off the heat and carefully arrange the chicken in the tajine over the onions and sprinkle with parsley, cilantro, the rest of the olive oil, bloomed saffron, salt, pepper, ginger, paprika, cumin and turmeric. Mix well with your hands until the chicken is coated with all the spices.
- Arrange chicken & veggies in tajine and bake. Spread the seasoned chicken evenly around the base of your tajine. Arrange the sliced preserved lemon and olives over top. Drizzle with water, cover and bake for 1 hour (or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees), checking every 30 minutes or so.
- Broil (OPTIONAL). Remove the tajine from the oven, set the temperature to broil and, using tongs, move the chicken from the tajine to a baking sheet, leaving behind the sauce, olives and preserved lemons. Broil the chicken, skin side up for 5 minutes or until the skin is golden brown and crispy. Serve!
Notes
No tagine? No problem: This dish, like most tagines, can also be made in a dutch oven.
Chicken Thighs: You can use boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Note that they will likely take less time to cook, so be sure to check the temperature with a meat thermometer after 30 minutes to make sure they don’t overcook.
Can we make this together sometime because this looks absolutely life changing
I would love that so much!
Even if I used a dutch oven, this recipe is fabulous.
The only ingredient I wasn’t sure was the ginger, do you use fresh or powered?
Can’t wait to try other tajine recipes you are supposed to publish soon.
Thanks for sharing!
Bernard
Hey Bernard, I use powdered/ground ginger!
Excellent recipe. I had my own preserved lemons and unfortunately, only cheap stuffed olives. But still excellent. I used boneless skinless thighs, folded under. Zapped the whole dish with the broiler at the end. Highly recommend.
Seriously so delicious!! The chicken was fall-off-the-bone tender, so juicy & FULL of flavor. I served it with couscous (cooked in veggie broth) & tossed with fresh parsley, sautéed kale & lots of fresh lemon! Such a perfect dinner.
Cooked in a cast iron skillet & still came out amazing.
Thank you so much for your comment Emily, I’m so glad you enjoyed this tagine!
Where can I get preserved lemons?
Hi Paula, you can make them yourself (using this recipe: https://salimaskitchen.com/moroccan-preserved-lemons/) or buy them at select stores or online (I like this brand: https://amzn.to/41ZDv1u )
I found them at Wal-Mart!
What temperature for the oven???
350 degrees
What kind of chicken thighs? The video looks like boneless and skinless. Also how much? 4-6 would be different weights if bone in.
You can make this recipe with either kind of chicken thighs. It will work for anywhere from 4-6 thighs, bone in or bone out. I recommend using a meat thermometer to make sure the internal temperature reaches 165.
I loved this and so did my adult children. I used a Lodge Dutch oven and bone in skin on thighs. Chicken done in less than 2 hours! The preserved lemons absolutely make this dish!!!
I am so glad you and your family enjoyed this recipe Ellen! Thank you for your comment and review.
So delicious. My new favorite recipe! We added more veggies to the bottom (potatoes, green beans) and dates to give it a sweet contrast. The spices and herbs make it super flavorful. We followed the final step to brown the chicken skin for a few minutes in the over and it was insane. Trying it with fish tonight!
I’m so glad you enjoy this recipe Rosalyn! What a wonderful way to add to it with veggies and dates. Thank you for your support and review.
Absolutely beautiful, I will be making this again and again. I sautéed onion with pearl couscous and added chicken stock to the water and garnished with spring onion. I will be making this again to have with other dishes as it was so yummy.
The flavour of the spices was perfect.
Doing your meatball recipe next.
Thank you for your review Pauline! I’m so glad you enjoyed this family recipe, it’s a favorite in our household as well.
Ajouter des raisins
Very thorough! This will be my second dish (tonight) as I undertake new skills.
The children really like the beef tagine I made, so I am hopeful. I am going to modify this recipe, as I need to use chicken tenders (strips). I will let you know how it goes.’
The best chicken I’ve made in 30 years I’ve been cooking.
This has become my mother’s all-time favorite chicken dish! Thank you for such a beautiful recipe. The way you slice and place the preserved lemons works much better than other methods.
This looks so delicious! Can I also use chicken breasts? I am serving to guests and one doesn’t like thighs?
Thank you,
Rose
Hi Rose, using chicken breasts should work just fine.
Amazing recipe! I marinated the chicken with the herbs for about 4 hours before baking then used a regular oven dish. It came out super delicious and full of flavour! Definitely one of the best chicken recipes I’ve ever made.
Love this dish, but I marinate the chicken overnight in Mchermel sauce first. Greatly enhances the flavors.
Made chicken and olive Tagine today.
Found it very easy recipe to follow.
It was beautiful. I served it with rice.
Very happy with your Moroccan recipes Salima. I’ve also made the Aubergine dip, the spicy potatoes and the rice recipe. Loved them all.
A big thankyou.
Janet.
Delicious, warming, comfort food. I’ll be making this often. I have to say that the preserved lemon is what makes it a 5-star+ dish.
Can you make this dish with skin on chicken legs (thigh and drumstick together)?
Yes!
Absolutely delicious, thank you! Used my dutch oven and served with a quinoa/bulgur pilaf with almonds and raisins.
This recipe is so delicious! I was fortunate to recently visit Morocco, and our group had a chicken tagine prepared for us by local families in Imlil. This recipe was spot on and brought me right back to that wonderful day in the mountains! I also added dates before cooking because I am obsessed with dried fruits marinated in the savory tagine juices. I don’t have a tagine pot but it worked great made in an oven proof skillet. I will make this frequently, to tide me over until I can return to Morocco!
This recipe looks great. A friend recently brought me a traditional clay tagine from Morocco. I am in the process of curing it now (it has been thoroughly soaked and dried and I will oil and bake it tomorrow. Would love to try this out in that tagine (I’ve made many tagine dishes in regular cookware). That said, not sure it is oven safe above 250 and I was instructed never to put it in a preheated oven. Can this be made completely on the stove top over low to medium heat?
Yes you should be good to make this on the stovetop and use a diffuser if needed to protect your tagine! Just make sure the meat reaches 165°F/74°C.
Enjoyed making this and eating it! I used a whole chicken ( in pieces) with the skin on as well as fresh ginger and turmeric along with the other ingredients plus some Ras El Hanout that I bought in Marrakesh last week! Didn’t have saffron or green olived but I added a few sundried tomatoes, black olives as well as fresh lemon. Used sweet potatoes, 🌶 peppers and 🥕 carrots as my veggies. Delicious! I said it’s topped only by the one we ate in the Atlas Mountains, but my daughter said mine’s better!
Aisha, thank you so much for your comment and review! How lucky you are to have Ras el Hanout straight from Marrakech. Shukran ❤️
I bought an unglazed tagine in Morocco on my last visit. Would you recommend the oven over the stovetop? I know I need to soak it overnight before using it.
Hi Dan, apologies for the late response here. I have only worked with glazed tagines from Morocco so I don’t have all the answers, but I found this video helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=042JmMCIp9Q
Hola Salima: just made your recipe…Was scrumptious. Thanks for sharing it!!.
Q’s: how did you cut the Preserved Lemons for them to look as you showed in yr pics.
Did you use a knife bcuz they must be very soft.
Also Could I use FRESH GINGER.
You didn’t mention which other ALTERNATIVE methods could we use to cook this Recipe. meaning if you don’t have or don’t want to use a dutch oven..can you use a convection at what temp & timing. Or an AIR FRYER…temp & timing. Or a STOVE temp & timing.
Also need to know if bathing the Chicken with Herbs and spices needs to be done to BOTH SIDES..and IF we needed to FLIP the chicken at mid- baking.
Thank you kindly for your reply.
Ps: loooove your recipes Lady!!
🤗
I made this last night in a tagine. I’m sad to say I didn’t enjoy it. I found the olives and preserved lemon too overpowering (and I am a huge fan of both olives and lemons). I followed instructions and spice quantities. I had added zucchini and yellow peppers to increase veggies – but that didn’t help. I ended up serving with a side of plain yogurt which helped. I’ll be searching for another tagine recipe to try. Glad others enjoy the recipe, it’s not one I will make again.
Sorry you felt that way Jacqueline. This is a family recipe I was taught from my father, so it’s sad to see you took the time to leave a bad review.
I make this at least once a month. Such an amazing but easy recipe to follow and you can add your own spin to it. I like to caramelize the onions completely which takes longer but so worth it. 10/10 meal
Could I slow cook this in a crock pot as opposed to a dutch oven? If so, how would that change the cooking time?
Hi Sabrina, I don’t own a crock pot so I can’t speak to how this would work out. I’m approving your comment in hopes that someone from the community can share their experience and answer your question!
I’ve made the Moroccan chicken Tagine 4 times..great showstopper for guests! I add artichoke hearts.. nummy!!
Amazing Sally, I’m so glad you enjoy it! Adding artichoke hearts is such a great idea. If you have a minute, I’d greatly appreciate if you could leave a star rating with your comment as it helps to keep the blog running 🙂 Thanks so much for your comment!