A classic Moroccan Tagine of Chicken with Olives and Preserved Lemon – the sharpness of the lemons and the saltiness of the olives pair perfectly with the tender slow cooked chicken thighs – serve with rice or couscous for a deliciously easy peasy dinner.
I was first introduced to this classic tagine whilst reviewing Sabrina Ghayour’s wonderful recipe book Persiana. It was one of the recipes I most wanted to cook for my review. It’s a fairly traditional tagine, which Sabrina has simplified for her book.
I really liked the flavours, but felt it could do with a few tweaks – a little less lemon (I love lemons but Sabrina’s version was too lemony even for me!), shorter cooking time (her version took over 2 hours – I wanted to create a version that could be done in under half that time) and slightly less liquid (Sabrina’s sauce was quite watery – I wanted to see if I could do something a bit more concentrated).
A little fiddling about in the kitchen later and I think I’ve got my version down! It’s super simple, super tasty and fairly quick to boot. I’ve cut down on the lemons quite drastically – from 6 to 1 – and slashed the overall time from 2h 20 to 1 hour (and only 15 minutes of that is prep time – yay!). I’ve used boneless chicken thighs to make things even easier (but feel free to use bone in ones if you prefer) and generally simplified the recipe to make it as easy peasy as possible.
I like to serve this with basmati rice, but you could also serve it with couscous, flatbreads or even mashed potatoes if you wanted to give it a British twist (just call it fusion food!).
If you want a side dish to accompany this Easy Chicken Tagine, I suggest a simple salad would be perfect – either a green salad, or you could make a Middle Eastern Shirazi Salad: a delicious mix of tomatoes, cucumber, red onions and pomegranate seeds dressed simply with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, which looks very pretty and tastes gorgeous – especially if you make the salad ahead of time and allow the flavours to develop.
Wine wise, this Easy Chicken Tagine is perfect with a crisp citrussy Sauvignon Blanc to match the sharp lemon flavours in the tagine. Or, if you fancy something a little different, a Southern French rosé works quite well too.
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Easy Chicken Tagine with Olives and Preserved Lemon
Ingredients
- Pinch of saffron
- 200 ml boiling water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion sliced
- 3 garlic cloves chopped finely, grated or crushed
- 2 cm fresh ginger grated
- 1 preserved lemon chopped finely
- 8 boneless chicken thighs (or bone in chicken thighs if you prefer)
- 150 g pitted green olives I like the larger-sized 'queen' olives
- 2 tablespoons parsley or coriander (cilantro) chopped (plus extra for sprinkling)
- Basmati rice or couscous/flatbreads/mashed potatoes to serve.
- Shirazi Salad optional
Instructions
- Put a pinch of saffron in a measuring jug and add the boiling water. Give it a little swirl with a spoon and set aside to infuse.
- Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a wide, deep saucepan and add the sliced onion. Cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for 5 minutes until the onions have softened but are not brown.
- Add in the garlic, ginger and preserved lemon. Stir, then fry for 1 more minute.
- Add the chicken thighs, stir to coat the chicken in all the wonderful flavours and fry gently for 2 minutes.
- Next, add in the saffron infused water and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down low and pop a lid on. Cook gently for 30 minutes, checking and stirring from time to time.
- After 30 minutes, remove the lid and add in the green olives. Stir everything together and bring back to the boil. Cook for a further 15 minutes with the lid off, stirring occasionally until the sauce is thickened and is coating the chicken nicely.
- Meanwhile cook some basmati rice according to packet instructions / your own preferences.
- When the tagine has had its final 15 minutes. Stir in 2 tablespoons of chopped coriander or parsley and serve with the basmati rice and a side salad, if you like.
- For added prettiness and flavour, sprinkle some extra parsley or coriander over the stew as a garnish.
Notes
- Suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
Pin Easy Chicken Tagine with Olives and Preserved Lemon for later
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Sarah - Craft Invaders says
Looks amazing Eb, am really into Olives at the moment. Pinning and will definitely try. Photo’s look fab 🙂
Eb Gargano says
Thanks, Sarah! I love olives in all their many guises – I particularly love the flavour of cooked green olives at the moment – it somehow makes them taste extra yummy! Aw, and thanks for the compliment on my photos – I was really pleased with how these came out 🙂 Eb x
Jenny Davies says
Mmmmnnn! 😀 This one has gone on my bookmarked list for future reference! I adore anything with saffron – and just the look of this, plus the notion of preserved lemon, had my interest piqued long before I got to the olives bit, which clinched the deal. LOL I reckon it would go beautifully with Ottolenghi’s green couscous (see my version thereof, here : http://jennyeatwellsrhubarbginger.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/ottolenghis-green-couscous-revelation.html) or maybe even the Kosheri! Hmmnn, combinations, combinations. 😀
Eb Gargano says
They really are fab flavours, aren’t they? Just checked out the green couscous – looks amazing! Might have to give that a try sometime. Thanks for your lovely comments. Eb x
Miam Miam & Yum says
Hi Eb,
This dish is one of my favourite to make, especially because the preserved lemons completely elevate it and make it extra special – a flavour that would never be achieved with normal lemons.
Thanks for checking out my preserved lemons recipe on my blog. It is actually surprising how “easy peasy” they are to make, all you need is lemons and salt! Of course, for the preservation process to happen, you will have to be armed with patience but it really is worth it – 10 times better than the shop-bought ones as you can imagine!
Keep up the good work!
Eb Gargano says
It is fast becoming a firm favourite here too and I can’t imagine how lovely it would taste with homemade preserved lemons! I will definitely have to have a go at making those – thanks for pointing me in the direction of your easy peasy preserved lemons recipe and your lovely blog 🙂 Eb x
Charlotte Oates says
I absolutely love the sound of this, and it looks so simple to make.
Eb Gargano says
It is incredibly simple! And super tasty 🙂 Eb x
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
I simply adore all of these lovely tagine meals that you share. I really must have a go, but picking which to try first will be hard! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Eb Gargano says
Haha! I have gone a bit tagine mad lately haven’t I? I do love them though – they are so quick and easy to prepare and then you just leave them to do their own thing for a while – my kind of cooking! Having a week off tagines this week, with some more summery recipes instead…I’m sure the tagines will be back though! 🙂 Eb x
Hayley @ Snap Happy Bakes says
A great tasty dish that I quite fancy for dinner tonight actually 🙂 #CookBlogShare
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Hayley – let me know what you think if you try it! 🙂 Eb x