Recipe
Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons and Olives
Make chicken tagine with preserved lemons and olives the traditional Moroccan way: golden with saffron and ginger, fall-apart tender and bright with lemon.
Recipe card
Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons and Olives
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds), cut into 8 pieces, or 3 1/2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks
- 2 medium yellow onions, grated on the large holes of a box grater
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled and soaked in 2 tablespoons warm water
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided
- 1 cup water
- 1 large preserved lemon, quartered, pulp removed, rind cut into thin strips
- 1 cup green or violet olives (about 5 ounces)
Method
- In a large bowl, stir together the grated onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric, saffron with its soaking water, black pepper, salt, olive oil and half of the cilantro and parsley.
- Add the chicken and rub the marinade all over each piece, including under the skin. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to overnight.
- Rinse the preserved lemon strips under cold water. Taste an olive: if it's very salty or bitter, cover the olives with water in a small pot, boil for 1 minute and drain.
- Arrange the chicken skin side down in a clay tagine set on a heat diffuser over low heat, or in a heavy Dutch oven over medium-low heat, and scrape in all of the marinade. Cook uncovered, turning the pieces once or twice, until the onions soften and smell sweet, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Pour in the water and swirl to pick up the spices. Cover and simmer gently for 45 minutes, turning the chicken halfway through and adding a splash of water if the sauce looks dry.
- Scatter the preserved lemon strips and olives over and around the chicken. Cover and cook for 15 minutes more, until the chicken is very tender and registers at least 165°F in the thickest part.
- Uncover and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sauce is thick and glossy and the onions have melted into it. In a Dutch oven, you can lift out the chicken while you reduce the sauce over medium heat, then return it.
- Taste the sauce and adjust the salt, then scatter the remaining cilantro and parsley over the top. Serve hot, straight from the pot, with warm bread for scooping up the sauce.
Golden with saffron, fragrant with ginger and bright with lemon, chicken tagine with preserved lemons and olives is one of the best-loved dishes in Moroccan cooking. The chicken simmers low and slow until it slips off the bone at the touch of a piece of bread, while the onions melt into a silky sauce that tastes of spice, salt and citrus all at once.
At MeanTagine, chicken with preserved lemons is one of the tagine choices on the Moroccan tagine feast. Here’s the traditional method, so you can bring it to your own table.
A golden classic: djaj mqualli
In Moroccan Arabic, djaj means chicken. Mqualli is the name of one of the classic sauce styles of Moroccan home cooking: a golden sauce cooked in oil and seasoned with ginger and saffron, often with a little turmeric for color. Its red counterpart, mhammer, leans on paprika and cumin instead.
Two pantry staples give this tagine its personality:
- Preserved lemons. Whole lemons cured in salt and their own juice for about a month, until the rind turns soft and silky. The flavor is fragrant and mellow, more perfume than pucker.
- Olives. Green olives, or the reddish-purple ones often sold as violet olives, add a briny counterpoint that keeps the rich sauce lively.
Why this method works
The onions become the sauce. Grated onion breaks down completely during the long, gentle simmer. There’s no flour and no cream here. The onions thicken the sauce on their own.
The spices get a head start. Cooking the chicken in its marinade before any water goes in softens the onions and warms the spices, which deepens their aroma. Soaking the saffron in warm water first helps it release its color.
Low heat, little liquid. A tagine needs just a cup of water. Under a conical lid, steam condenses and drips back down, so the chicken braises in its own juices. Our guide to what a tagine is explains how the pot and its lid work.
Lemon and olives go in late. Added for the last stretch of cooking, they keep their character and don’t oversalt the sauce.
The sauce is reduced at the end. A good tagine sauce is thick and glossy, never soupy. A few minutes uncovered concentrates it so it clings to the chicken and to your bread.
Tips for the best chicken tagine
- Choose bone-in, skin-on chicken. A whole bird cut into eight pieces is traditional. Thighs and drumsticks are the most forgiving, and the bones enrich the sauce.
- Grate the onions. The large holes of a box grater give you the smoothest sauce with the least effort.
- Taste before you salt. Preserved lemons and olives both bring salt. Rinse the lemon, blanch very salty olives and adjust the seasoning only at the end.
- Marinate if you can. The total time includes a 30-minute marinade. A few hours, or overnight in the fridge, is even better.
- Want it more lemony? Chop a little of the preserved lemon pulp and stir it into the sauce at the end.
- Be gentle with clay. Warm a clay tagine slowly over low heat with a heat diffuser, and never pour cold liquid into a hot one. Clay can take longer than a Dutch oven to come up to a simmer, so give it time.
Variations
- Add potatoes. Tuck thick potato wedges around the chicken for the last 30 to 40 minutes. They drink up the sauce beautifully.
- Go red. Season with sweet paprika and cumin instead of saffron and turmeric for a mhammer-style sauce.
- Mix your olives. Cracked green olives, violet olives or a combination all work. Canned black olives don’t have the same briny punch.
What to serve with chicken tagine
In Morocco, tagine is eaten with bread rather than spooned over couscous. Khobz, the round Moroccan loaf, is the traditional utensil: tear off a piece, pinch up some chicken and sauce, and repeat. Couscous is a separate dish with its own Friday tradition.
Start with a few Moroccan salads, served warm or at room temperature. Smoky zaalouk, lemony bekkoula and carrots with chermoula are classic partners. Many Moroccan salads are naturally vegan, which makes them easy to share with every guest.
Finish with dates or another simple sweet, and a pot of Moroccan mint tea.
Chicken tagine FAQ
Do I need a clay tagine to make this?
No. A heavy Dutch oven or any wide pot with a tight-fitting lid gives excellent results. A clay tagine adds ceremony, and it goes straight from the stove to the table.
Where can I find preserved lemons?
Many Middle Eastern and Mediterranean markets sell them in jars, and so do plenty of well-stocked grocery stores. You can also make your own by packing lemons in salt; they need about a month before they’re ready. Thin-skinned Meyer lemons, common in Southern California gardens, are a lovely choice.
Is chicken tagine spicy?
No. It’s warm and aromatic from the ginger and black pepper, but not hot.
Can I use boneless chicken?
Yes. Boneless thighs work well: simmer them covered for about 25 minutes before adding the lemon and olives. Bone-in pieces make a richer sauce.
Can I make it ahead?
Yes. Like most braises, it reheats beautifully. Warm it gently and add a splash of water if the sauce has thickened in the fridge.
Let someone else do the cooking
If you’d rather sit at the table than stand at the stove, Chef Basmah cooks a chicken and preserved lemon tagine in homes across Los Angeles and Orange County, served with Moroccan sides, a traditional dessert and a mint tea ceremony. She takes care of the shopping, cooking, serving and cleanup. Whenever you’re ready, call or email to book a date.