Originating from North Africa, tagines are flavorful and diverse dishes. They are commonly served as a combination of chicken, beef or lamb, vegetables (or vegetables alone) that are infused with aromatic herbs and spices. For those that don’t have a tagine (a special two-piece stoneware pot with a cone-shaped lid), I was wondering if it would be possible to re-create a similar dish in the crockpot. My goal was to allow the slow-cooking process to produce wonderfully moist tastes and textures typically found with traditional tagine cooking. This is my version which I hope you will enjoy! (View more crockpot recipes here)
Crockpot Chicken “Tagine”
Yield: about 4 servings (with extra sauce)
Click HERE for the full recipe, but in the nutshell, here is what you do:
Instructions
Make the bouquet garni
Lay all ingredients on the cheesecloth. Roll up into a package; tie the ends and middle with kitchen string.
Make the spice rub and coat the chicken
In a small bowl, combine all spice rub ingredients. Coat all sides of chicken with spices, rubbing in well.
Pan-sear the chicken and sauté the onions and garlic to lock in the amazing flavors!
Sear chicken on both sides for about 1 minute until browned. Drain on paper towels.
In same pan (you will have enough oil plus the fat from the drippings), sauté onions and garlic for 5 minutes or until browned, scraping up brown bits, incorporating any spices remaining in the pan.
Assembly
In a 6-quart crockpot, layer carrots, sweet potatoes or butternut squash, eggplant, dates, apricots and chickpeas.
Top with onion-garlic mixture.
Arrange chicken pieces on top of veggies.
Lay bouquet garni on top of chicken.
Next, add tomato paste, crushed and diced tomatoes, wine and pomegranate juice. Sprinkle with minced ginger. (and cayenne if desired)
Cover and cook on High setting for 1 hour and Low setting for 4 to 5 hours or until chicken has reached 170 degrees F and vegetables are soft. (Can also cook on Low setting for about 7 hours.) Reduce heat to Keep Warm until serving time.
As crockpots vary, adjust cooking time if needed. Remove bouquet garni. Taste; adjust seasonings as desired .
Crockpot Chicken “Tagine”
Yield: about 4 servings (with extra sauce)
Ingredients
Bouquet Garni (see MPM Mini-Bites)
- 3 bay leaves
- 6 thyme sprigs
- 4 rosemary sprigs
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 piece cheesecloth large enough to tie up spices in a package-about 12-inches square
- Kitchen string
Spice Rub
- 1 tablespoon dried cumin
- 2 teaspoons dried turmeric
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika or regular
- 1 tablespoon dried coriander
- Pinch cayenne or as desired
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 bone-in chicken thighs with or without skin
- 1 large onion coarsely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 6 carrots peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (or 2 cups butternut squash)
- 1 medium eggplant peeled and cubed
- 1/2 cup dried dates
- 3/4 cup dried apricots halved
- 1 15 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1/2 cup 100% pomegranate juice Like POM
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- Cayenne to taste optional
Instructions
- Lay all ingredients for the bouquet garni on cheesecloth. Roll up contents into a package; tie ends and middle with kitchen string.
- In a small bowl, combine all spice rub ingredients.
- Coat all sides of chicken with spices, rubbing in well.
- Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high setting. Sear chicken on both sides for about 1 minute until browned. Drain on paper towels.
- In same pan (you will have enough oil plus the fat from the drippings), sauté onions and garlic for 5 minutes or until browned, scraping up brown bits, incorporating any spices remaining in the pan.
- In a 6-quart crockpot, layer carrots, sweet potatoes or butternut squash, eggplant, dates, apricots and chickpeas.
- Top with onion-garlic mixture.
- Arrange chicken pieces on top of veggies. Lay bouquet garni on top of chicken.
- Add tomato paste, crushed and diced tomatoes, wine and pomegranate juice. Sprinkle with minced ginger. (and cayenne if desired)
- Cover and cook on High setting for 1 hour and Low setting for 4 to 5 hours or until chicken has reached 170 degrees F and vegetables are soft. (Can also cook on Low setting for about 7 hours.) Reduce heat to Keep Warm until serving time. As crockpots vary, adjust cooking time if needed.
- Remove bouquet garni. Taste; adjust seasonings as desired.
Notes
Notes
Serve your delicious “tagine” over jasmine rice or couscous. (I like brown rice or Israeli couscous which is also called “grande.”) For a low carb option, this dish would also be wonderful served over greens or even spaghetti squash.
Intrigued about tagines? Read more about the traditional method of cooking in a tagine here. And if you are considering creating your own tagine dishes, Le Creuset and Emile Henry make wonderful tagine pots available at stores like Sur la Table and online.
Beautifully colored tagines you may come across in the Moroccan marketplace may look like these:
Read more about what a bouquet garni is here. If you don’t have cheesecloth, you can simply tie the ingredients together with string. However, rosemary leaves tend to fall off the stem during cooking and are not a pleasant addition to the sauce due to their tough texture.
Other ethnic slow cooker dishes you may enjoy are: Crockpot Middle Eastern Meatballs and Crockpot Moroccan Beef Stew.
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Linda Shapiro, Meal Planning Maven
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