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!
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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
- 1 ½ tablespoons cooking oil such as canola or light olive 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)
- 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
- 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
- ¾ cup toasted almonds
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
- 2 lemons, cut into wedges
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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 the chicken to the pan, top-side down, and cook for about 5 minutes, until nicely browned. 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 and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
- Add broth and honey and stir with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen browned bits. Bring to a simmer, turn off the heat and carefully pour contents of the pan 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 the cinnamon sticks. Serve the chicken and juices over couscous or rice. Top with toasted almonds and chopped cilantro and serve with lemon wedges.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 6 hours 10 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Method: crockpot, Slow Cooker
- 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]
It was wonderful. Next time I will use more onions, less chickpeas and double the amount of almonds. When I fried the almonds, I sprinkled them with salt and a little nutmeg. They were FABULOUS. Will definitely make this again!
Before I start on my cooking adventure I have 2 questions 1. Can I use chicken breasts and2. Can I substitute a sugar free sub as I am diabetic?
Thank you
Janette
Hi Janette, Yes you can use chicken breasts. I think they will be tender and delicious, but I recommend checking them for doneness after 4 hours and again at 5 hours, as breasts cook faster than thighs. You can omit the honey and I think the dish will still be delicious. Or feel free to add your favorite sugar substitute. Enjoy!
Just made it tonight and added a few dried figs and prunes along with the apricots. I would add just one can of chickpeas next time or more liquid to give it more sauce. I also added one cut up lemon to the pot which gave it a nice compliment to all the sweetness. Used a dutch oven and it worked very well.So very flavorful. Thanks you!
I agree about the too many chickpeas. And what a good idea to add figs, prunes and lemon! Thank you.
This was off the charts delicious. I used fresh ginger instead of ground, a ground cinnamon instead of cinnamon sticks, and threw in some prunes. Served it with quinoa. The chicken was soft and succulent; my family loved it. This recipe is a keeper.
Very good recipe! We are having it for dinner tonight
I hope you enjoyed!!
Could you use chickpeas that had been soaked overnight?
Hi Anna, from my research it looks like soaked chickpeas need 8 hours in the slow cooker on low, and this dish only cooks for 6 hours. So I would suggest cooking them first or at least cook them halfway first. It takes between 1 1/2 and 2 hours of simmering to cook soaked chickpeas. I bet if you simmer them for 45 minutes or so, they'd cook the rest of the way in the slow cooker with this dish. Let me know how it turns out!
Hi! If I had a smaller slow cooker would you just increase heat or cooking time?
Hi Becky. I would keep the heat and the time the same. It should work well!
Just gone in the slow cooker with some extra stock for an overnight cook. Added some rosewater, carrots and olives. Let's see what comes out!
I made this in my Instant Pot and it turned out great! I plan to also make it in my slow cooker to see if there's much of a difference. Thanks for the delicious recipe!
Hi,
This recipe looks great and I'm definitely going to make it! I have some preserved lemons in my pantry and was wondering if there is a way to use them in this dish?
Hi Rache, I think preserved lemons could be delicious in this dish. Rinse one or two lemons well, remove the peel and thinly slice it and add it to the stew when you add the apricots and chickpeas. Or another option is to make a topping using chopped preserved lemon peel, regular lemon juice and cilantro. Spoon some of that over the chicken tagine for a delicious final layer of bright lemony flavor. Let me know how it turns out!
I just got a Tagine pot.. Could i just everything in it and let it go? I am nervous/ excited to use the pot. Just dont know how to start.
I would prefer to use a brazing pan or dutch oven, rather than a slow cooker. Do you have a recommendation for the oven temperature and timing with this approach for your recipe? Thank you.
I think a Dutch oven would work really well for this. Either a long slow simmer on the stove or in the oven would work well. If you cook it in the oven, I would suggest 325ºF for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Enjoy!
Outstanding recipe! We loved it. Served it over Thai Jasmine Rice sprinkled with browned slivered almonds. Delish!!
So good - loved coming home at the end of the day to the great aroma of all those spices. Loved the way the chicken and the chick peas held their consistency - we served over spaghetti squash (was not the plan) - and it worked so well. This one is an absolute keeper.
As always - thanks!
PS - would be a great video showing off the color of all the spices 🙂
I'm so glad you tried this one Joel, and enjoyed it so much. And I hear you about the aroma of the spices filling the house, I love that too. Serving it over spaghetti squash is genius!
Lisa, just made this. Put it together in the morning, between coffee and my first client, it was that easy, then had it ready for a late lunch. Oh my goodness - it is falling off the bone succulent and flavorful. I LOVE it. I LOVE your recipes - every one is different and right up my alley. I'm so glad we live on the same planet ;))
Lisa, I am all about slow cooker recipes and this one looks awesome!
This looks incredible!!! Thank you!!! Lately anything with chickpeas is so appealing! Yum!