Braised Moroccan Chicken & Olives Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Great chicken, wonderful with couscous.

Katie October 24, 2023

Loved this dish- it was perfect, but borderline too salty for me, so I added a teaspoon of sugar and that tempered it out. Also added young potatoes and carrots during the last half of cooking and they were a delicious addition served over spiced Moroccan cous cous. My husband ate his plate and more than half of mine! Definitely going to make this again.

I loved this dish so did my family...kids too. I often cook with preserved lemon. This was easy to make and has been requested again. The second time I made it, I made a day before and just reheated it and it was out of this world. Great flavors.

Made this today as written-delicious! Well, almost as written-I did add a few more olives. No access to preserved lemons where I live, so I made my own. This dish is so well balanced. Served over couscous as advised and it was perfect!

Haven’t made this yet. If you want to make the day before, where would you stop and refrigerate? And When ready to serve, would you heat uncovered in the oven or covered? 350 for ? 30 min? Worried about overcooking the chicken.

Very easy. Def more time consuming than I had allowed for. Super tasty. Makes lots of leftovers

I can't have couscous so I served this over some Jasmin rice and it was lovely. I added some raisins (since I didn't have apricots as someone else suggested) and still got the salty/sweet effect. The heat was a bit intense when I first tried it but the lemon and cilantro (and rice) all blended perfectly together to cut the heat w/o eliminating it all together.

could you do this in a tagine if you have one?

Arrxx January 4, 2023

Delicious. I suggest removing the skin after browning. If you braise covered with skin on it gets rubbery and really unappetizing. For some reason many recipes don't mention this and it results in rubbery skin after you go to all the trouble of browning. The other option which works is to braise in the oven UN-covered with the liquid half way up the pieces. Don't worry the chicken cooks fully in the hot liquid and the skin stays crisp and not need to broil. Like all braises this tastes better after a day (or even a few hours) in the fridge.

Excellent and very reminiscent of tajines we had in Marrakech and Fez. The spice combination was spot on. I question how much the saffron added because the other flavors are so dominant. I used saffron I bought at the spice market in Istanbul but really couldn't discern its flavor. Next time I'll try it without the saffron and see if I can taste the difference. Because we don't like soggy chicken skin I ran the chicken under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp up the skin. It worked very well. I served it over couscous and agree with other reviewers that it's the perfect complement. I'll definitely make this again.

Margo January 10, 2022

This recipe was easy and super delicious! I used both skin-on-bone-in and boneless skinless thighs - browning was not an issue in an enamel cast iron pan. I did not have preserved lemons (I will make for the next time), but did have Penzey's dried minced lemon peel, which was a perfect substitute! I also added chopped apricots and sliced carrots 1/2 way through the cook time as suggested by other reviewers. Served with Israeli (pearl) cous cous!

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Cook this recipe!! Cook it when you're tired on a weeknight, cook it when you're trying to impress your in-laws, cook it when you feel like there's nothing in the fridge but you find a pack of frozen chicken legs in the freezer! It's still delicious without the preserved lemons (squeeze a fresh lemon on top right at the end), it's delicious with any meat, veg, or tofu, it's delicious over rice, or couscous or flatbread. It's a testament to a well written recipe and it lives on as a family favorite in my home.

Skipped the olives and used only one lemon per personal preference. Next time would double the chicken for the amount of sauce.

Tina February 3, 2021

Love this dish, however whenever I make it I can’t seem to get the browning of the chicken right. The skin falls off and I never achieve a nice “brown”. Any suggestions?

Amazing!

My husband and I adore this recipe. Thank you!! We love to add carrots and zucchini and dried apricots. We also just use the juice of one lemon since we don't usually have preserved lemon on hand. Enjoy!!!

You can make your own preserved lemons. Just make sure you scrub the lemons first to get rid of the wax on the outside. Poke holes in them, pack in a jar, laying with kosher salt and cover, and let sit for a week or two in the refrigerator. Very easy. Good luck and God bless!!!

Made this for dinner when meeting my boyfriend's parents for the first time--knocked it out of the park! So delicious, simple, and more importantly - easy to do most of the work ahead of time so you're not distracted or afraid of burning something when guests arrive. Skipped the saffron as it wasn't readily available - still amazing. Definitely going into my top 20 rotation.

This has quickly become a favorite in our house and our go-to recipe when we have guests over.