Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemon + Olive
Saffron-ginger braise, preserved lemon and green olives.
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Don't skip rinsing the preserved lemon and removing the pulp - the rind is what you want, packed with that fermented citrus perfume. The pulp is too salty and will throw the whole pot off.
Ingredients
Everything below makes 6 servings.
- 3 lbbone-in skin-on chicken thighs and drumstickspatted dry
- 2 mediumyellow onionthinly sliced
- 5garlic clovesminced
- 1 tbspfresh gingergrated
- ¾ tspsaffron threadsbloomed in 3 tbsp hot water
- 1½ tspground cumin
- 1 tspground turmeric
- ½ tspground cinnamon
- 1 tspsweet paprika
- 1preserved lemonrinsed, pulp removed, rind thinly sliced
- 1 cupcracked green olives (Castelvetrano or Picholine)pits removed if desired
- 1½ cupschicken stock
- 3 tbspolive oil
- ¼ cupfresh cilantrochopped (for finishing)
- ¼ cupfresh flat-leaf parsleychopped (for finishing)
- 1½ tspkosher salt
- ½ tspfreshly ground black pepper
- 1½ cupscouscous (for serving, optional)
In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.
Nutrition
Per serving, as written.
- 540calories
- 36gprotein
- 40gcarbs
- 25gfat
Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.
Instructions
Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.
- Pat chicken pieces very dry. Season all over with 1 tsp salt and black pepper.
- Bloom saffron in 3 tbsp hot water; let sit while you prep.
- Slice 2 onions thinly. Mince 5 garlic cloves. Grate 1 tbsp ginger.
- Rinse preserved lemon, scoop out pulp, slice rind thinly.
- Chop cilantro and parsley.
Sear chicken
Heat olive oil in the dutch oven over medium-high. Sear chicken pieces skin-side down 5-6 min until deep golden, then flip and sear 3 min more. Work in batches if needed - don't crowd. Transfer to a plate.
12 min · hands onSoften aromatics
Drain all but 2 tbsp fat from the pot. Reduce heat to medium. Add sliced onions and 0.5 tsp salt; cook 8-10 min until soft and golden. Stir in garlic and ginger, cook 1 min.
10 min · hands onBloom spices
Add cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, and paprika; stir 30 seconds - the spices should smell warm and toasty, not burnt. Pour in the bloomed saffron water and chicken stock.
2 min · hands onBraise
Return chicken to the pot, skin-side up, nestling into the sauce. Add preserved lemon. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook 40-45 min - until chicken is fork-tender and pulling from the bone.
45 min · hands offAdd olives and finish
Scatter olives across the top. Simmer uncovered 10 more min to reduce the sauce slightly and let the olives warm through. Taste - adjust salt (preserved lemon is salty, you may not need more).
10 min · hands offServe
If serving with couscous, prepare per package directions while olives simmer. Shower the tagine with chopped cilantro and parsley. Serve over couscous or with warm flatbread to mop up the sauce.
3 min · hands onMake it yours
Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.
Boneless braise 35 min instead of 50 - pull when fork-tender. Saves about 15 minutes.
Skip sear; add 2 cans chickpeas and 1 head cauliflower florets at the start of the simmer; reduce stock to 1 cup. Saves about 20 minutes.
Warm flatbread in oven during the final 5 min.
Bloom extra pinch of saffron in hot water; cook 1.5 cups basmati with the saffron water. Adds about 20 minutes.
What keeps
Tagine is actually BETTER on day 2 - the preserved lemon and saffron keep melding. Keeps 4 days, freezes 2 months (without herbs).
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