Djaj Mqualli (Moroccan Preserved Lemon Chicken Tagine)
Moroccan Preserved Lemon Chicken Tagine brings fall-off-the-bone tender chicken together with a bright flavor from preserved lemons and a savory burst of green olives. This recipe creates a perfectly comforting dish that is full of bright, spring flavors.
If you've browsed our Moroccan recipes, you know that we're huge fan of tagines. From salmon tagine to meatball tagine, Moroccan tagine recipes are always wonderfully moist and full of flavor.
What is a Tagine?
A tagine (or tajine) is a Moroccan cooking vessel with a cone-shaped lid that perfectly channels the cooking steam back into the ingredients, keeping everything moist and juicy. If you don't have a tagine, don't worry. (As you can see from our pictures, neither do we.) A high-sided, cast iron skillet with a lid works quite well as a tagine replacement.
Preserved Lemon Tagine
Today, we're diving once again into the wonderful world of tagines, but we're taking the robust tagine flavor in a lighter a brighter direction with some Moroccan preserved lemons. You can buy preserved lemons from specialty food shops or you can make preserved lemons yourself.
Preserving lemons in a salt brine has been used since the 1800s (and maybe earlier) as a way to keep the fruits fresh for long journeys. The salt adds a unique savory element to the tartness of the lemons which brings a distinct bright flavor to any dish that they are used in.
Moroccan Preserved Lemon Chicken Tagine
Moroccan Preserved Lemon Chicken TagineOne of the most well known Moroccan tagines is probably the chicken tagine with preserved lemons and olives. The lemons add a springy brightness to the chicken and the olives add an extra savory punch to the dish.
If you're not a huge fan of green olives, try the dish with black, Kalamata olives for a slightly different, but just as tasty flavor.
By slow cooking the chicken in the tagine, you end up with meat so tender you can cut it with your fork. Add some of the lemony and herby sauce and a piece of moroccan flatbread and you are in for a real North African treat!
Djaj Mqualli (Moroccan Preserved Lemon Chicken Tagine)
For best flavor, season the chicken a minimum of 3 hours before cooking.
Ingredients
For the Rub
- 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled
- 1 (3-4 lb) whole chicken* , skin removed, cut into serving-size pieces
For the Dish
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 onions, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ - ⅓ c green olives, pitted
- 2 preserved lemons, quartered and seeds removed
- 2 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
- ½ c water or chicken stock
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together ginger, turmeric, and saffron. Rub the spice mixture into the skinned chicken pieces. Place the chicken on a plate and cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the seasoned chicken for 3-4 hours or overnight.
- Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 1 hour before you would like to start cooking.
- When you are ready to cook your chicken, heat the oil over medium high heat in a tagine or high-sided cast iron skillet with a tight fitting lid. Add the diced onions and garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes, until fragrant and soft.
- Layer the chicken pieces over the bed of sautéed onions. Add the olives, lemon pieces, and water (or stock). Scatter the chopped parsley and cilantro over top of the ingredients in the skillet).
- Cover the skilled and reduce the heat to medium low. Simmer the mixture, covered for 2 hours, checking occasionally and adding extra water or chicken stock if the mixture looks too dry after an hour of cooking.
- After 2 hours, remove the skillet from the heat and let it stand, covered, for 10-15 minutes before serving with Moroccan bread, rice, or couscous.
Notes
DISCLOSURE: This post does include Amazon affiliate links. These links are provided to help you find some of the more specialty ingredients we mention in the recipe. If you make a purchase on Amazon after following our affiliate links, we do receive a small commission from Amazon, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting Curious Cuisiniere!
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
Thank You sooo much for this delicious chicken!!!
A M E friend gave me the recipe for the preserved lemons & the tagnie. you provided here.
I love different cultures cooking because I love different tastes from different cultures. And I just love good food
I believe if we all eat could eat everyone’s foods we could probably get along with eachother
Your recipe was easy & fast to make
I used 3 boned chicken thighs & kalmata olives & cooked slowly til fork tender. Marvelous!
So glad you enjoyed the chicken taking Margaret!
I love this dish and it never occurred to me that a tagine is nothing more than a braise. Thanks for the info.
Thanks Wendy! That really is so true! It's interesting the walls that can be broken down when we start to realize how common cooking methods and techniques are across the world. We just have different names!
Mmmm looks delicious.
Thanks Nicole!
This looks delicious! I love the briny and bright flavors!
Thanks Jennifer! They go so well with the chicken!
I keep wanting to experiment with preserved lemons, but haven't gotten to it yet. This looks amazing!
They add such a fun flavor! We love them with the chicken, and we're looking forward to trying them with fish next!
I've made something very similar and it was delicious so sure this would be too - it's such a classic tagine. Yum!
Thanks Caroline!
I'd never even heard of preserved lemons till a few years ago, and now I love them. So many fabulous flavors in your tagine!!
Thanks Liz! They're relatively new for us too. But, we love them!
Yum! Lemon, green olives, tangine. You two can cook. I'm on my way over! Save me a seat. Seriously though, your dish looks beautiful. Great pics.
Thanks so much Kim! We'll have place set for you! 😉