Moroccan Rooster – The Huge Man’s World ®

With fall-apart hen and a wealthy, fragrant sauce, each chunk of this Moroccan hen is healthier than the final! Pair it with heat couscous for a memorable one-pot hen dinner.

My Moroccan hen is all the time a stable choice every time I want to vary up my household’s normal hen dinners. Everybody can’t assist however indulge within the tender and juicy hen stewed in a vibrant, full-bodied sauce. Each chunk of hen falls off the bone, whereas a gentle mattress of couscous makes this timeless dish nothing in need of a masterpiece!

Desk of Contents

1. What’s Moroccan hen?
2. Components wanted
3. How you can make Moroccan hen
4. Different cooking strategies
5. Recipe suggestions and variations
6. Storage directions
7. Extra one pan hen dinners
8. Continuously requested questions 
9. Moroccan Rooster

What’s Moroccan hen?

This recipe is a spin on the basic tagine, which braises spice-rubbed hen, olives, garlic, preserved lemons, and generally dried fruit in a heavenly stew. However as an alternative of cooking the whole lot in an genuine clay pot (the tagine), I’ve cooked it on the range.

Every serving is sort of a heat hug in a bowl. It’s satisfying, cozy, and bursting with taste! It’s a favourite household dinner of mine, and also you’re certain to adore it, too.

• It’s hearty and healthful. I can’t recover from how satisfying this dish actually is. That includes juicy hen paired with nourishing elements and heat spices drenched in an opulent sauce, it’s too good to move up!  
• One-pan dinner. Like conventional tagine, this recipe is straightforward to place collectively in only one pot. It additionally cooks in lower than an hour.
• Versatile. In my family, we take pleasure in this as an on a regular basis household dinner. Nevertheless, you may simply scale it as much as serve massive events or tons of hungry mouths.
• A number of cooking choices. My most well-liked technique is the stovetop, however I do know lots of you want to make use of the oven and even a gradual cooker so I’ve additionally examined these choices out too, so nobody misses out!

Components wanted

The fantastic thing about this dish is that you simply don’t want any difficult elements to recreate the dimensional Moroccan flavors. Right here’s the whole lot you’ll want:

• Rooster thighs. I particularly love this dish with bone-in, skin-on hen thighs, however skinless thighs work, too. They’re a preferred alternative in genuine Moroccan hen recipes, as are hen drumsticks.
• Dry spice rub. I made my very own Morocco-inspired spice combination utilizing salt, paprika, cumin, black pepper, chili flakes, floor ginger, coriander, cinnamon, and cloves. To avoid wasting time, you need to use Ras El Hanout as an alternative. It is a conventional Moroccan spice mix that you need to be capable to discover in any well-stocked grocery retailer. 
• Olive oil. To brown the hen.
• Aromatics. Nothing fancy right here. DIced onion and minced garlic cloves are all you could give the dish a candy and savory depth.
• Pitted inexperienced olives. These add a burst of briny, barely tart, and tangy taste to each chunk, however you may omit them when you don’t like olives. 
• Lemon. It simply wouldn’t be a Moroccan-inspired recipe with out lemon. Contemporary lemon slices not solely add a refreshing citrusy taste however the pop of yellow additionally makes this dish eye-catching!
• Rooster broth. Use high-quality store-bought broth or make your personal! 
• Tomato paste. This elevates the umami taste and helps create a thick sauce with a velvety mouthfeel. 

How you can make Moroccan hen

No shock, right here – this one-pot dinner comes collectively simply in simply 5 steps! Right here’s the way it’s carried out:

Step 1 – Season the hen. Combine the spices in a small bowl. Dredge every hen thigh within the spice combine, including a beneficiant layer to every aspect. Put aside to marinate.

Step 2 – Sear the hen. Sear the hen in an oiled skillet over medium-high warmth till evenly browned. Put aside.

Step 3 – Add the aromatics. Cook dinner the onion within the now-empty pan. Subsequent, stir within the garlic, then the lemon and olives.

Step 4 – Pour within the sauce. Whisk the inventory and tomato paste in a bowl till clean. Return the hen to the pan, pour within the liquid, and convey the sauce to a boil. Cut back the warmth and prepare dinner till the hen is tender and the sauce thickens. 

Step 5 – Serve. Garnish with sliced almonds and recent coriander, and serve with couscous. Take pleasure in!

Different cooking strategies

You’re not restricted to the stovetop on this hen recipe. As talked about above, I’ve efficiently examined this within the gradual cooker and the oven. Listed here are these choices for you:

Sluggish cooker directions

To make crockpot Moroccan hen, sear the seasoned hen in a skillet, then switch it to a gradual cooker. Subsequent, add the onions, garlic, lemon, olives, and the broth and tomato paste combination. Now, prepare dinner on Low for five to six hours or Excessive for two to three hours.

Oven-baked directions

Start by searing the seasoned hen in a big oven-safe pot or Dutch oven. As soon as it’s browned, encompass the hen with the onions, garlic, olives, lemons, and broth-tomato paste combination. Now, cowl and roast for about 1 hour at 375°F or till the hen is cooked via and tender.

Recipe suggestions and variations

• Plan prematurely. The hen tastes greatest when marinated for a minimum of 1 hour earlier than you begin cooking. After I’m working low on time, I’ll let the hen soak within the spices in a single day within the fridge so I don’t have to consider it the subsequent day. 
• Don’t skip the sear! I extremely advocate searing the hen items in a scorching scorching pan to lock of their flavors.
• Add dried apricots. These are sometimes added to conventional tagines, the place their pure sweetness balances the daring flavors. They’ll rehydrate and develop into gentle and juicy throughout cooking.
• Sneak in additional veggies. I wish to sneak additional veggies into this meal for extra diet generally (the children don’t discover!). I’ll add bell peppers, carrots, eggplant, potatoes, or every other veggies I want to make use of up.
• Add extra lemon. You may add a splash of lemon juice or recent lemon zest to provide this dish a zingy enhance. Nevertheless, preserved lemons provides you with a extra genuine Moroccan expertise. 

Storage directions

To retailer: Let the leftover Moroccan hen cool to room temperature earlier than storing it in an hermetic container within the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

To reheat: Reheat the hen in a pan over low warmth, including a splash of water or hen broth to maintain it from drying out. Or, warmth it within the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, till heated via.

To freeze: You may freeze the leftovers in an hermetic, freezer-safe container for two to three months.

Extra one pan hen dinners

Continuously requested questions