This elegant Moroccan Chicken Tagine is perfect for the slow cooker. The chicken braises low and slow, tenderizing and soaking up all the delicious flavors of garlic, honey and fragrant North African spices. The result is falling-off-the-bone deliciousness! A truly spectacular dish with minimal time and effort in the kitchen.
If you've ever visited Morocco, you've surely had a tagine or two. It is one of the most celebrated Moroccan dishes, along with couscous and pastilla.
What is a tagine?
A tagine is a North African stew that's named for the pot it's cooked in - a tagine. It's a conical earthenware pot that works a lot like a slow cooker, using low temperatures and long cooking times for an exceedingly moist and tender outcome.
How To Make Chicken Tagine in a Slow Cooker
To create layers of flavor in this dish, there's a bit of sautéing before throwing everything in the slow-cooker. Here's how the recipe goes:
- First season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and brown them for a few minutes in a skillet.
- Set the chicken aside and add onions and garlic to the pan.
- When the onions are nice and soft, add broth, honey and spices to the pot.
- Stir to loosen any brown bits and pour the whole mixture into the slow cooker.
- Stir in the apricots and chickpeas.
- Place the chicken on top.
- Cover, and cook on low for 6 hours.
Life is hurtling by at warp speed. My slow cooker is about the only thing that's slow in my life right now. At times like this I love to make delicious meals that draw the family around the table.
I'm turning to my slow cooker a lot lately, and loving it. I spend a half hour or so in the morning, chopping and sautéing, and come dinner time I can rock a beautiful meal like this scrumptious slow cooker Moroccan chicken tagine.
How to serve Chicken Tagine:
- Serve this chicken tagine on a bed of plain couscous or rice to soak up all the flavorful sauce
- Garnish with toasted almonds, chopped cilantro and lemon wedges. Garnishes are an integral part of this dish. The tender, sweet and spicy long-cooked stew is complemented beautifully by lots of fresh bright lemon juice, crunchy almonds, and the unique and exciting flavor notes of cilantro.
- On the side, I love to serve a simple green salad with citrusy dressing or a Moroccan raw carrot salad or both.
How To Cook Chicken Tagine For A Crowd
If you're cooking this for a big group or if you want leftovers, this recipe can be "one and a halfed" (not sure how else to say this?) For one of my test runs, I made it with 12 thighs instead of 8. I increased all the other ingredients accordingly. I arranged the chicken in the crockpot, with some pieces overlapping, and it turned out great.
If you're looking for another amazing slow-cooker chicken recipe, this chicken with dried cherries and leeks is my long-time favorite. For this one there's no sautéing - just throw everything in the slow-cooker and 6 hours later you will be in for a big treat.
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Here's the recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Chickpeas. If you make this I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!
PrintRecipe
Slow Cooker Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Chickpeas
- Total Time: 6 hours 25 mins
- Yield: Serves 4-8 (1 or 2 pieces of chicken per person) 1x
Description
Tender chicken and chickpea stew with North African flavors.
Adapted from Cooking Light
Ingredients
- The Chicken and aromatic vegetables:
- 1 ½ tablespoons canola oil
- 8 bone-in chicken thighs with the skin removed
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 ½ cups chopped yellow onion (2 ½ medium onions)
- ¼ cup finely chopped garlic (10-12 med cloves)
- The Spices:
- 1 ¼ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Remaining Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups low salt chicken broth (I use Swanson)
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 2 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
- ⅔ cup chopped dried apricots
- 2 (15-ounce) cans organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- Garnishes:
- 3 tablespoons oil (to cook almonds)
- ¾ cup whole blanced almonds
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
- 2 lemons, cut into wedges
- Suggested Accompaniment: Couscous or rice
Instructions
- Season the tops of the chicken thighs with ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to the pan and swirl to coat. Add chicken to pan, top/seasoned side down. Cook for 5 minutes, until nicely browned on the top side only. Transfer to a plate.
- Add onion and garlic to pan and sauté 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add spices: cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric, ginger, red pepper and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add broth and honey, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Bring to a simmer. Carefully pour hot mixture into a 6-quart electric slow cooker. Stir in apricots, chickpeas and cinnamon sticks. Arrange chicken on top, browned side facing up. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours. Discard cinnamon sticks.
- To toast the almonds, heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook the almonds, tossing constantly, until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels.
- Serve chicken tagine over couscous or rice. Sprinkle generously with almonds and cilantro and place a couple of lemon wedges on each plate.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 6 hours 10 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Method: slow cooker, crockpot
- Cuisine: Moroccan
[Originally published May 23, 2016. Updated March 1, 2019. Same delicious recipe with added nutritional information and some tweaks to the written post]
David
Followed recipe exactly. After 5 hours in slow cooker chicken measured only 134°F. I boosted slow cooker to high. After 6 hours chicken internal temp was still only 145° so I canceled the slow cooker and started pressure cooker (Instant Pot) at high heat and high pressure. Result was tasty.
Tinskip
Quick question: Does the caloric count include the couscous/rice?
Lisa Goldfinger
No, it doesn’t include the rice or couscous.
Arielle Kennedy
Hi Lisa,
I was wondering what’s your take on just put it in the oven for a few hours? lower heat?
Lisa Goldfinger
I suggest an hour and a half or 2 in a 325F oven. Or you can simmer it gently on the stove for an hour or so. Hope you enjoy!
Kay
Hi Lisa, I love love your chicken and cherries recipe, the taste to effort ratio is great. Excited to try this other slow cooker recipe - just wondering if I can add dried (pre-soaked) chickpeas given it cooks for so long, or does it have to be tinned? Thanks again
Lisa Goldfinger
Hi Kay, That's a great question. I've never tried using dried soaked chickpeas in this dish but I did a quick google search on how to cook chickpeas in a slow cooker and, based on what I read, I believe it would work well. If you end up trying this, I'd love to know how it turns out.
Deb Nemetz
Hi Lisa. It's Deb Nemetz. I hope you are well. To cook in a dutch oven, on the stove top, how long should I cook? Don't have an electric slow cooker. thanks so much! Love your recipes for dinner parties!!
Lisa Goldfinger
Hi Deb - I'm so glad you're loving some of my recipes 🙂 Here's how to cook this in a Dutch oven. Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Follow the directions but use a Dutch oven instead of a skillet and use an extra 1/2 cup of chicken broth. In step 3 after you bring the broth to a simmer, return the chicken to the Dutch oven and spoon the sauce over. Cover the pot and get it back up to a simmer. Then put it in the oven, covered, and braise it for an hour and a half. That should do it - let me know how it turns out!
Barbara K
Hi again Lisa, my people love this recipe. I’m using organic skinless and boneless thighs this week. I wasn’t able to get bone it because Whole Foods electric was out and they were pretty much out of business. Do I need to change the cooking time for the slow cooker or make any other revisions?
Thanks as always,
Barbara
Lisa Goldfinger
Hi Barbara - I'm so glad to hear your people are loving the tagine. I think it will work well with boneless thighs. I'm guessing it will take only 3-4 hours with boneless thighs. I suggest you check for doneness at 3 hours. Enjoy!
MicheleP
Great recipe easy to do and with great flavour. Enjoyed by all.
Barbara Krafchin
Hi Lisa, my friend who ordered the chicken tagine for a family dinner last night sent me this text-“It was perfect. They loved it! Thank you and goodnight. ????????????????????????”.
????B
Lisa Goldfinger
Excellent news! Thank you for sharing it with me 🙂
Barbara Krafchin
Hi Lisa, I’m making this for 15 people this week. Just to confirm, your photo looks like the thighs are with skin on, but your directions say otherwise. Please confirm. I also use fewer chickpeas and Trader Joe’s toasted sliced almonds. Very delicious and saves a step or two.
Thanks again for you wonderful recipes.
Happy Holidays,
Barbara
Lisa Goldfinger
Hi Barbara - I like to use bone-in thighs and remove the skin but it's just personal preference. I'm sure this dish will be delicious with skin-on thighs, too - whichever you prefer. Thanks for your kind words about my recipes. Happy Holidays!
Barbara Krafchin
Thanks Lisa. I’ll go with skin off, less fat. Also, your slow cook chicken with dried cherries and olives was wonderful as well, but for my people, the tagine is the winner. ????????B
Barbara K
This is a wonderful recipe, so delicious. I didn’t have two cans of chickpeas, but in the end one can seemed perfect and I think I will continue that way. I am preparing it for 12 people this week, can I do it on the stove top or in the Instant Pot? Thanks again for your wonderful recipes. Next I’m trying the chicken thighs with cherries and olives. Will let you know how it came out. ????????
Lisa
Hi Barbara - Thanks for coming back to let me know how the tagine turned out. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I'm not an expert on the instant pot so I can't advise you there but yes, you can absolutely cook it on the stove top in a Dutch oven or heavy pot. Simmer it over very low heat and the chicken will be nice and tender. I look forward to hearing what you think of the chicken with dried cherries.
Barbara Krafchin
Hi Lisa, thanks for replying. What should the cooking time be for the Stove top Tagine? Thanks again ????Barbara
Lisa
Hi Barbara - 45 minutes at a low simmer should do the trick. Check for doneness. You may need to go another 5-10 minutes. Enjoy!
Katie
This is the tastiest Moroccan chicken recipe we’ve tried. Followed the recipe with only one substitution (used boneless skinless chicken thighs) and one addition (added carrots) and received rave compliments from the whole family! Most recipes seem to have some sort of tomato base and was worried it be missing but made it extra delicious. Paired with pearl couscous and served four hearty portions.
Mick
I followed this recipe and the results were delicious
Edgar
This recipe amazing and so authentic. I was in Morocco a few years ago and this dish transported me right back there. I especially liked the crunch of the almonds. I have been looking for great dinners out of my slow cooker and this one is the best so far!
Nicki A
I made this for Rosh Hashanah and my guests and I loved it!! I will definitely make this again. I will say that the chicken was a tiny bit dry, so I might consider shortening the time to 5 hours.
Joycelyn
No offense but. In a proper Tagine, if you remove the skin from the chicken before cooking, you are also removing most of the authentic flavour of the chicken tagine. If you don't want to eat the skin because you are on another diet, simply remove the skin from the chicken when the Tagine is done. There is also an excessive amount of whole Almonds and chickpeas in this recipe too which could result in the the whole almonds being hard on the teeth for youngsters and the elderly. A bit surprised creator of recipe made no mention of thinking about changing name of recipe to Chickpea and almond Tagine so readers would know what to expect since the recipe is also missing the olives found in Tagine recipes. .
As for the "lemons" You need preserved lemons for Tagine, a very important ingredient that is missing from this recipe. True, regular lemons and lemon juice will give you a tangy lemon flavour, but they will never give you or match the flavour of preserved lemons ( which are easy to make yourself) that are found in authentic tagines.
Recipe creator might also want to inform readers that there is a difference between Kosher Salts. If Diamond Crystal Kosher salt is used, salt amount called for in this recipe is sufficient. . If Morton Kosher salt is used which has more salt per tablespoon Than Diamond Kosher salt and of which contains a powdery caking agent, the amount of Morton Kosher if it's used in this recipe will result in a saltier dish and should be cut back by a half tablespoon or via your taste. That is, I should add, unless you happen to love the taste of salty foods.
Cheers!
Hollis Ramsey
You asked everything I wanted to! I’m keeping the skin on (because YUM), and adding preserved lemon and olives. Sorry Lisa, but Joycelyn is 100% correct.