This Moroccan chicken stew packs a lot of complex flavor into a one-pot meal. It’s traditionally made in a tagine (a clay pot with a conical lid), but a Dutch oven works just as well. The combination of harissa, preserved lemons, olives, and warm spices produces complex flavor without complicated technique. f you’re following a slow carb diet, this recipe is fully compliant. It has protein, vegetables, and spices with no added sugar or starches.
Quick Summary: Moroccan chicken thighs braised with harissa, preserved lemons, olives, fennel, and warm spices. Traditionally made in a tagine, but a Dutch oven works perfectly. One-pot meal with complex flavor and minimal hands-on time. Slow carb friendly. Prep: 15 min | Cook: 1 hour 10 min | Serves: 5
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What Makes Moroccan Spice Blends Special?
The spice combinations are what really distinguish Moroccan dishes, with an emphasis on the blend found in harissa. The trio of ”cumin, coriander and caraway” spices are the traditional spice medley found in harissa (many include cinnamon also).
This “stew” recipe includes harissa paste along with a range of Moroccan dry spices. In addition to the cumin, coriander and caraway, harissa includes several different chile peppers which are up to the cook’s discretion. You can purchase harissa paste in small quantities or you can make your own with this homemade version.
Instead of the harissa paste you can opt for a powdered spice blend (recipe is in the Notes section of the recipe below).
If you are making your own spice blends, it does make a difference to buy the spices as whole seeds, give them a quick toast in a dry frying pan and then grind fresh in a coffee grinder. You will definitely notice the difference.
Ingredients for Moroccan Chicken Stew
The following photo shows you all the ingredients you will need for this recipe. For details on measurements, see the recipe below.
Most of the ingredients are readily available. The only key ingredient that might be a little difficult to find is the harissa. The recipe includes a DIY harissa spice blend that you can use instead of the paste.
Fennel is easy enough to find in most grocery stores (but not Walmart). If you have trouble finding fresh fennel, just grind up some fennel seeds and use the ground fennel instead. It will enhance the flavor quite a bit however, if you lightly toast the fennel seeds first before grinding.
How to Make Moroccan Chicken Stew
This is really a very easy dish to make with a lot of unique flavor. The recipe is detailed in the recipe card below, but here are a few pictures to further illustrate the individual steps.
One Pot “Dump” Stews vs Layered Stews
I have likened this low carb Moroccan stew to a “dump” type of recipe where you just toss everything into a pot after the chicken is browned and turn on the heat for an hour. Not the most appealing phrase, but it speaks to the ease of this dish.
If you are the type of cook that likes to spend some time bringing out the full flavor of each ingredient you may want to layer the ingredients into the pot after browning or sauteing them one by one.
This layering approach takes a little longer, but it brings out the flavor of the individual spices more thoroughly. An example of layering would be this Basque Chicken and Chorizo dish:
Similar Moroccan Dishes
Probably my favorite Moroccan recipe is a North African beef and sweet potato stew. I love anything with sweet potatoes and this stew is awesome!
This North African Shakshouka (baked eggs) has become somewhat trendy as of late and you will find many versions of it on the internet (as well as my version).
Lastly this South African Bobotie (meat pie) is a recipe that is more unique and a little more complicated than a stew. I made it everyday for a week trying to get the recipe the way I wanted it. Needless to say my husband got pretty darn tired of ”that bobotie”.
FAQ
Yes. The recipe uses chicken, vegetables, and spices with no added sugar or starches. If you include the dried apricots, note they add some natural sugar—omit for strict slow carb.
No. A Dutch oven or any large covered pot works perfectly. The tagine’s conical lid helps with moisture circulation, but the flavor is essentially the same in regular cookware.
Harissa is a North African chile paste made with dried peppers, cumin, coriander, caraway, and cinnamon. You can buy it prepared or make your own. The recipe includes a DIY harissa spice blend if you can’t find the paste.
Thighs work better for braising because they stay moist during the long cooking time. Breasts tend to dry out. If you must use breasts, reduce cooking time to 30-40 minutes.
Fresh lemon wedges work fine (the recipe uses them). For closer to the traditional flavor, add extra lemon zest along with the wedges.
Interested in the Slow Carb Diet? Check out this comprehensive E-Guide on Fat Loss through a Slow Carb Diet.
Low Carb Moroccan Chicken Thighs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ½ lbs. chicken thighs and/or legs About 6 thighs
- salt & pepper
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 3 Cups chicken stock
- 3 Tablespoon Harissa paste or 2 tablespoons harissa spice blend
- 1 Tablespoon ground cumin toasted and freshly ground
- 1 Teaspoon turmeric optional
- 1-2 fresh lemons cut into wedges
- 8 garlic cloves slightly smashed
- ½ Cup coarsley chopped fennel bulb can se 1-2 tablespoons ground fennel
- 1 onion coarsley chopped or 2 leeks, white part only, sliced
- ¾ Cup black olives
- 1-2 inches ginger root grated
- 1 Cup fresh mint leaves
- ½ Cup dried apricots optional
Instructions
- Heat oil and butter in dutch oven (or large skillet). Salt and pepper chicken thighs and brown in the hot oil (skin side down). Remove chicken thighs and drain some of the oil out of the pot.2 1/2 lbs. chicken thighs and/or legs, salt & pepper, 1 Tablespoon olive oil, 1 Tablespoon butter
- Add all of the remaining ingredients except mint into the pot and stir together thoroughly. Reduce heat to a low simmer and add back in the chicken. Tear up about 1/2 cup mint and add to the pot. Cover and simmer for about an hour.3 Cups chicken stock, 3 Tablespoon Harissa paste, 1 Tablespoon ground cumin, 1 Teaspoon turmeric, 1-2 fresh lemons, 8 garlic cloves, 1/2 Cup coarsley chopped fennel bulb, 1 onion, 3/4 Cup black olives, 1-2 inches ginger root, 1 Cup fresh mint leaves, 1/2 Cup dried apricots
- Just before taking the pot to the table, scatter the remaining mint leaves over the chicken.1 Cup fresh mint leaves
Notes
- 2 parts powdered chile peppers (mixed hot and sweet peppers)
- 1 part cumin (toasted seeds & then ground)
- 1 part coriander (toasted & ground)
- 1 part caraway (toasted & ground
- 1 part salt
- 1/2 part cinnamon
Making this now! Any idea on the serving size – protein count?
Hi Melanie! Re serving size, I make this for our family which is 4 people. I recently updated it to include the nutritional analysis. Thanks for asking!
I cut out the apricots (higher carb) and reduced the lemon to one to save even more cals + carbs.
It was a lovely meal to entertain a new immigrant family and show them some true Canadian hospitality.
Good going on the apricots Linda. I usually cut those out myself, but as they are such a mainstay of Moroccan food, I left them in for people to decide. I had not thought of excluding the lemon however.
query about the carbs: is this total carbs or nett carbs (i.e. total carbs less fibre)? Vital to know for keto dieters.
Looks great, by the way, and I’ll make it as soon as I know the answer.
Hi Shirley, I only use total carbs on my recipes. I find there is too much debate about the nuances of fibre and carbs so I stick with total carbs.