Chicken Tagine with Dried Cranberries

I just bought a Moroccan tagine and had to try it out. After browsing online for recipes, I ventured to prepare something and ended up with my own recipe for chicken tagine with dried cranberries. You can also make this in a slow cooker, see the footnote below. It came out yummy! Enjoy over rice or couscous.

• Preparation Time: 30 mins
• Cooking Time: 1 hr 30 mins
• Total Time: 2 hr
• Calories: 631 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup thinly sliced carrots
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 medium yellow bell pepper, cut into chunks
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided, or as needed
• 1 (3 1/2) pound whole chicken, cut into pieces
• 1 large onion, halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 4 medium red potatoes, cut into thin slices

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Mix lemon juice, 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and pepper together in a large glass or ceramic bowl. Add chicken pieces and toss to coat. Cover and let sit in a refrigerator for 2 hours, up to overnight.

Step 2

When ready to start, line a tagine with sliced carrots.

Step 3

Heat another 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat until hot, but not smoking. Brown 1/2 of the chicken pieces, skin-side down, turning over once, 5 to 7 minutes. You are just browning it, not cooking it through. Take out of the skillet and place on top of the carrots, then brown the remaining pieces of chicken. Once those are browned, but not cooked through, arrange on top of the carrots also. The idea is that the chicken does not touch the bottom of the tagine, only the carrots.

Step 4

Add onion to the same skillet and saute over medium-high heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Add garlic; saute for 30 seconds. Stir in potatoes and saute, 1 to 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, bell pepper, cranberries, and parsley; stir well and keep sauteing over medium heat until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle the chicken bouillon granules over the mixture while it cooks.

Step 5

Pour the mixture over the chicken and carrots. Place the tagine over low heat, making sure any open flames do not touch the bottom of the pot. Drizzle remaining olive oil over top. Pour wine over top and cover.

Step 6

Cook over low heat until potatoes are soft and chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 1 hour. Turn off the heat and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.