Chicken cooked in a rich sauce of tomatoes and olives is a traditional Moroccan dish. What makes it special is the addition of preserved lemon.
But to make it right it’s really so much better to use homemade preserved lemon. If you have not preserved yours yet, I actually think it’s better to add (washed) thinly sliced fresh lemon, peel on. Store bought preserved lemon have a strong after taste, and the fresh sliced lemon is a much better substitute.
Moroccan chicken in olive, tomato and lemon
Course: Main courseCuisine: MoroccanDifficulty: Easy6
servings30
minutes1
hour30
minutes2
hoursChicken cooked in a rich sauce of tomatoes and olives is a traditional Moroccan dish. What makes it special is the addition of preserved lemon.
*Note: For this recipe it’s muchbetter to use homemade preserved lemon. If you have not preserved yours yet, I actually think it’s better to add (washed) thinly sliced fresh lemon, peel on. Store bought preserved lemon have a strong after taste, and the fresh sliced lemon is a much better substitute.
**Note: You can use skin on -bone in chicken breast instead of the thighs, or a combination of both, just reduce the cooking time in 15 minutes.
INGREDIENTS
- 6-8 chicken thighs, skin on (**see note above)
Kosher salt
Black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon turmeric
1-2 teaspoons dried chili flakes
28 oz. (large can) canned peeled tomatoes, chopped
1 cup pitted olives, any kind you like (but not canned!)
1 preserved lemon, chopped (¼ cup) or 1 fresh lemon, peel on, thinly sliced (see note above)
1 cup chopped cilantro leaves
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Have a wide oven proof pan ready.
- Generously salt and pepper chicken thighs on both sides. Put wide pan on medium-high heat. When pan is hot add 2 tablespoons oil and fry chicken skin side down until golden, about 5 minutes. Flip chicken and fry for another 3 minutes, then transfer to a tray. You may need to fry the chicken in 2 batches, depending on your pan, in order to not crowd the pan too much.
- Add 1 more spoon of oil to the pan and sauté onion and garlic just until golden, about 5 minutes.
- Add tomato paste, mix and cook for 1 minute. Add paprika, turmeric and chili flakes (start with 1 teaspoon), mix and immediately add canned tomato and mix. Add olives and preserved or sliced lemon and 2 teaspoons salt, mix and bring to boil.
- Put chicken in the sauce, skin side on top, pushing it inside, and spoon some of the sauce on top.
- Cover pan with lid and transfer to the oven. Roast for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and continue to roast for another full hour, until skin is nicely golden-brown and crispy. Let stand for 5 minutes. Sprinkle chopped cilantro on top and serve.
- Chicken can keep in the fridge up to 4 days.
Looks delicious. Can I use Dutch oven instead of a pan?
Thank you! You can definitely use a Dutch oven, it will just a little longer for it to heat up. But it would be perfect actually.
Hope you’ll enjoy it!
I am making this in a tagine!
That’s perfect! I should do that too!