Moroccan Tagine Cooking and Recipe

Tagine 101

Tagine Tips

Begin on low heat. – Make sure there is always some liquid in your tagine when cooking. – If necessary, add a small glass of water. – The tagine steam cooks the food, so keep the lid on while cooking. – Cook for long periods of time on low heat for best results.  – Marinating your meat with Moroccan spices the night before will provide extra flavour.

How to Eat

Moroccan food is often eaten directly from the Tagine, however, eating from an individual plate is fine. Use naan bread to mop up sauces and to pick up foods. Rice is very tasty, too, served on the plate as it soaks up the juices and sauce left behind.

Tagine Trivia

In Morocco, the cooking pot, or tagine, is given as a traditional wedding gift to new couples. But instead of giving newly purchased pots, families hand down their oldest, most treasured tagines as something special. It is believed that, after many years of use, each one imparts its own special flavor to the stew within.

Chicken Tagine Recipe

(Chicken Tagine Recipe from Emile Henry, Photo by Belazu)
  • 1 (3.3 lb) chicken cut into pieces
  • Preserved Belazu Lemons
  • 1.5 cups green olives
  • 3 onions, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ginger (fresh or dried)
  • 1 teaspoon saffron
  • 1 bunch flat parsley
  • 1 teaspoon coriander / cilantro, chopped
  • juice of 2 lemons
  • 5 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • salt, pepper

Recipe for 6 servings

  1. In a hot Emile Henry tagine, fry the pieces of chicken in the olive oil and butter, adding the onions, bunch of parsley, ginger, saffron, salt and pepper.
  2. Add three glasses of water and the sliced preserved lemons. Cover and cook for 30 minutes. Add a little water during cooking if necessary and stir occasionally.
  3. Add the coriander / cilantro and lemon juice and cook for another 15 minutes.
  4. At the end of cooking, add the olives, and serve directly at the table.