This slowly simmered, tender Moroccan Lemon Chicken is infused with complex flavors… exotic spices, lemon essence, and salty olives. When I make it, I feel like I’m taking a trip into the heart of Morocco. It’s a flavor journey.
The Jewish Moroccan version of this dish is almost identical to traditional Moroccan Lemon Chicken, but it omits an ingredient called smen—Moroccan preserved butter. Butter and meat don’t mix in a kosher diet, so olive oil is used as a parve (neutral) substitute. This is typical of many regional Jewish dishes; creative substitutions and “tweaks” are made in order to make these types of dishes kosher. If you’re not keeping kosher and you can track down smen, feel free to use it instead of the olive oil.
Traditionally this dish is made in a tagine, which is a ceramic Moroccan cooking dish. Since most of us don’t have a tagine laying around, I’m giving instructions for cooking it in a saucier or sauté-style pan (like a skillet with high walls).
Also traditional to this dish are preserved lemons, which are simply lemons that have been preserved in brine made from salt and their own juice. Preserved lemons are really easy to make at home – to learn how, check out my tutorial here. Local gourmet markets sometimes stock them, too. If you can’t find preserved lemons and don’t want to make them yourself, you can use fresh lemon peel. The flavor won’t be as complex, and you’ll need to salt the dish a bit more to compensate. But don’t worry, even with fresh lemon peels this is a very tasty dish.
If you do use preserved lemons, know that they have a lot of salt in them which will naturally flavor the sauce in this dish. If you’re watching your salt intake, use a low-sodium chicken broth and don’t add any additional salt; the preserved lemons and olives will give the dish all the saltiness it needs.
Choose firm, good quality green olives for the sauce. You can usually find better quality olives at the deli counter, rather than jarred or canned. It can be tough to find quality green olives that are pre-pitted, so feel free to sub the kind with pits, or pit them yourself.
Serve this Moroccan Lemon Chicken with sauce on a bed of couscous, basmati rice or mashed potatoes topped with fresh cilantro. It’s absolutely delicious. Enjoy!
Passover Note: Can be cooked for the holiday if all packaged products are certified Kosher for Passover. If cooking for Ashkenazi Passover, serve over parve mashed potatoes (or another non-kitniyot starch).
Gluten Free Note: This dish can easily be made gluten free. Just make sure your chicken stock is GF, and that your preserved lemons are from a GF source (or homemade). Pair with a GF starch like mashed potatoes or rice.
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Moroccan Lemon Chicken with Olives
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 pounds bone-in chicken pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- Pinch cinnamon
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 quart chicken stock
- 2 preserved lemons (or sub fresh lemons), peel only, pulp discarded
- 1 cup pitted green olives
- 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro for garnish
- Salt and pepper
NOTES
Instructions
- For the chicken pieces, choose your favorite cut of meat. You can use a whole chicken cut into pieces, or buy specific pieces that you like. I usually use whole leg/thigh pieces because I find the dark meat more flavorful.Remove skin from chicken pieces (freeze the skin for stock or use it to make schmaltz!), then rinse and dry the pieces. You may wish to salt the chicken lightly; do not salt if you are cooking the dish with preserved lemon and/or with kosher chicken meat (both have a lot of salt already, so you won’t need more). Grind the saffron threads into powder using a spice mortar and pestle. Mix saffron powder, cumin, paprika, turmeric, ginger, cayenne pepper and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture evenly onto the chicken pieces.
- Heat olive oil in deep skillet or sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the onion in the oil till it turns translucent. Add the garlic and continue to sauté till lightly browned. Arrange the chicken pieces snugly inside the skillet. Pour chicken stock over the pieces; they should be almost covered with stock. You probably won’t need the entire quart depending on the size of your pan.Remove pulp from the 2 lemons. With preserved lemon this is easy, the pulp will be softened and you can just scoop it out. For fresh lemon, I find it’s easier to slice the peel off of the lemon (if a little pulp clings to the peel it’s no big deal).
- Cut the peel into thin slices and arrange it evenly spaced in the pan.
- Bring stock to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer and cover the skillet. Let the chicken simmer for 60-75 minutes, periodically ladling the seasoned stock over the chicken pieces, until the meat is fork-tender. I usually cook it closer to 75 minutes because I like the meat very tender.
- Remove chicken pieces from the broth using tongs or a slotted spoon; arrange the pieces on a serving dish or bowl.
- Add olives to the sauce in the skillet. Bring sauce in the skillet to a boil and let it reduce and thicken for a few minutes. Remove skillet from heat and taste the sauce. Season with more salt and pepper, if desired. If you've subbed fresh lemons for preserved, add 1-2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice to the sauce, or to taste.
- Serve on a bed of couscous, basmati rice or mashed potatoes; pour the sauce over the chicken and the starch. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro. Can also be served with flatbread or pita bread to dip in the sauce. Serve warm.
Nutrition
I made your Moroccan Lemon Chicken & loved it. I am now going to make your Moroccan Couscous. For the lemon chicken I added more spices to taste. I also had pimento olives. I look forward to more recipes. You should check out Jewish Foods x What Jew Want to Eat on Facebook. You may see some of your Recipes shared👍♥️Meryl
Years ago I traveled to Morocco and I’ve been a fan of their cuisine ever since. I’m not sure if I tried preserved lemons in any of the dishes while I was there, but a few years ago a friend introduced me to them and I’ve been making them ever since using Meyers lemons and Himalayan salt. They are so good! Perfect mix of salty and sour.
Wow! I’d love to try preserving some organic lemons some time and trying this recipe. This looks delicious. I’m going to save it in my list of “to try”
I am going to be making this recipe for Rosh Hashana for a large group. I adore the fact that I can change the servings and select both metric and US measuring options. Brilliant.
Thank you for the recipe.
Do you think this recipe would work well in the slow cooker or the instant pot? (The stove top will be a busy place on Passover) If so, would I need to change anything? Thank you so much!
Hi Laura! It would work in a slow cooker, I think. An instant pot would create too much liquid and make it soupy. Good luck!
Did anyone try making this in the slow cooker?
WOW, so amazing, truly this dish was absolutely superb! I omitted the olives bc my picky hubby will not eat them under any circumstances (but I love olives and would imagine they would be amazing; I’m open to suggestions on possibly adding olives to individual plates at plating). The chicken was succulent and tender, perfectly cooked after 75 minutes! The mix of spices is aromatic and truly makes the dish amazing. I sliced off the pithy part of the fresh lemons, as I did not have time to make the preserved version. It worked great and I’m already looking forward to trying the preserved version next time I make this dish. I was conservative with salt, as I do add much, generally, for health reasons and yet I imagine the preserved lemons will take this already amazing dish to the next level! Do not hesitate, make this elegant and moderately easy dish for your family dinners, as well as, special occasions, alike! It is perfect and even my picky eaters LOVED it! Tori, thank you so much for this amazing recipe; it was a huge hit and going into my staple recipe book as my newest “go to” morracan chicken! LOVE LOVE LOVE ❤️
So happy you like it Linda! It’s my husband’s favorite 🙂
Would it be okay to make this ahead for tomorrow?
I had pickled some lemons a while ago for a dish from an Israeli cookbook for a very un-kosher shrimp recipe that I never tried in the end (mine come out chewy every time). So I had these two big jars sitting on my counter and I was happy to find this recipe to use them finally. The saffron/lemon/olive combination is just divine and the dish has a celebratory taste to it. I was going to cook it for Rosh Hashanah, but then I found the orange/Silan chicken recipe and now of course I have to try that one… Did I mention I just love this site?
Tory, this is the third time I’ve made this Wonderful, Flavorful, Colorful and Beautifully seasoned Morraccain dish. The first time I made it, was for a special dinner party for 15 people. I looked at the recipe and knew it would be sensational without even trying it out ahead of time. And, of course it was.
I used meyer lemon rind and juice. Oh I love it- love it. It is a saucy soulful
and satisfying dish. And it it easy to make. Thank You – Your recipes really do rock.
I made this dish last night for 14 people. I followed almost to the tee –
used less chicken broth, and used meyer lemons and juice, because I live in rural area and could not get preserved lemons. When I was prepping everything I thought of browning the chicken first. But I had so many other dishs to get ready, and short on time. It turned out fantastic ! And it is quiet an easy dish to make. Thank you for this – I’ve noticed that your recipes are true and tested, time and again, they have worked for me. By the way; served the chicken with roasted whole carrots rubbed with spices, and glazed with pomegranite mollasses, topped with mint. And – Saffron rice studded with dried fruit and almonds and pine nuts. It was a Great party – everyone was so happy & joyous.
I’m so happy you are enjoying the recipes Surati!
Can I also add that I intend to cook it next in the pressure cooker, I think it will be nice.
Made this yesterday for dinner, yummy!!!
It reminded me of the chicken tagine I’ve learnt to make in a cooking school I’m Marrakech . I would add some tomatoes next time. Excellent recipe. Thank you!
I am making the shawarma tomorrow again, everyone is looking forward to it. Tory, you are a star! Love your site!!! Xxx
Jessica you are so kind, thank you! So happy you liked the chicken. Enjoy the shawarma!
Wow! Will make after Thanksgiving. Looks fantastic!
does the other spices overwhelmed the precious saffron flavor?
such as cumin which is very strong.
I cooking this chicken already many years, and I use just ginger powder and saffron. Comes delicious.
I think this is amazing just as it was written. Without every spice, as notated, it would not be as aromatic and amazing! Trust it as is and enjoy!! Best of luck ?
I’m thinking of cooking this in the oven in one of those clay pots. What do you think? Any adjustments? Same amount of liquid? When would you add the olives?
Thanks. Great work, Shiksa.