North African chicken tagine

North African chicken tagine

Easy and freezable, this chicken tagine will be a family favourite in no time

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 25 mins

Freezable

Method

  1. Heat oven to 180C/160C/gas 4. Cut each chicken breast in half, then season all the chicken. Heat the oil in a mediumsize ovenproof casserole dish. Add the chicken, skin-side down, and brown well all over - you can do it in batches. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  2. Lower heat slightly, add the shallots to the pan and cook until golden brown all over. Add the garlic and grated ginger and cook for 30 secs before adding all the spices and cooking for 1 min more.
  3. Throw the butternut squash into the pan and stir to coat in the spices. Arrange the chicken, skin side uppermost, on top of the shallots and squash. Pour over the stock and drizzle in the honey. Bring to a gentle simmer, then transfer to the oven to bake for 40 mins until tender. Scatter with the coriander and serve with couscous and a bowl of harissa, if you like.

PER SERVING

630 kcalories, protein 58.0g, carbohydrate 16.0g, fat 38.0 g, saturated fat 10.0g, fibre 3.0g, sugar 10.0g, salt 0.86 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, February 2011.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • 22 January 2011

    grumpykoala rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    I tried this recipe a couple of nights ago with a friend and we had mixed success. The chicken was really nice and crispy, and the butternut squash was cooked perfectly. However, my main complaint would be the fact that the sauce is very watery. Without anything to thicken it, it is like a very thin gravy rather than a sauce. The taste of the sauce was also overwhelmingly of saffron, despite only using a small pinch. I have to say that it was much nicer the next day, heated up in a saucepan which caused the butternut squash to break down and thicken the sauce, as well as a good helping of crushed almonds. I would be interested to hear if other people had similar/different experiences.

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  • 22 January 2011

    grumpykoala commented on this recipe

    Oops! I meant to give this three stars, not two!

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  • 24 January 2011

    DrFabio rated and commented on this recipe

    1 stars

    1 star for recipe, 4 for flavour. Disappointing - pleased I didn't try this out for friends first. Chicken - used 6 thighs. Skin turned into nasty gelatinous mess - though I poured the stock around it lost all crispiness, I think because it must have steamed. Will skin next time - and will probably use thigh fillets. Ridiculously (and disgustingly) fatty, despite pouring off most of what had rendered out. Got about 150ml of fat off at the end before giving up. Skinning will hopefully solve this next time. Far too watery. Not a sauce so much as a giant pool of stock. Ended up thickening with 3 dessert spoons of cornflour. Will use 300ml instead. Didn't like the chunks of spice which came from "lightly crushing" - will grind more finely next time. Flavour was good. Butternut was delicious, and I liked it with lots of chopped coriander. Served it with crusty bread. Will make again, but with some major tweaks.

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  • Binder photo Ali

    04 February 2011

    Ali rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I took note of the comments made by Grumpy Koala and DrFabio and adjusted my recipe accordingly. I used skinless chicken breast and boneless and skinless thighs. I also used less stock and added some sweet potato along with the squash. Everyone enjoyed it and as I made twice the quantity I have more in the freezer for another time. Oh yes, I didnt put the saffron in as I thought the recipe didnt warrant the additional cost.

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  • 07 February 2011

    Four Candles rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    Went straight for skinless chicken - I never have any success with skin-on in this kind of recipe as it just doesn't stay crisp. I put a tablespoon of cornflour in to make it a bit thicker, but the thinness is definitely more authentic (from my limited experiences of Moroccan restaurants). I also left out the saffron and put in a smidge of turmeric instead for the colour. Like Ali, I need saffron to be a major player in a recipe before splashing out on it. If I make again will put half the honey in as I found just slightly too sweet.

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  • 09 February 2011

    amanda commented on this recipe

    The skin should be removed , it does not stay crisp due to the sauce. also I advise halving the stock, 500ml is by far to much and add 2 chopped plum tomatoes and a bit of juice , the sauce will be slightly thicker, though sauces for theese kind of tajines are not meant to be thick. good luck!

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  • 19 February 2011

    karend rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    We loved it - made as per recipe except I used all boneless, skinless meat. The sauce was thin but I felt by serving with couscous it was fine. Will be making this tasty dish again.

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  • 21 February 2011

    sherrie commented on this recipe

    very disappointed cooked for tonights dinner as everyone said much too watery added cornflour next time will add a couple of fresh chillies with ginger and garlic as there was no spicy heat ! does anyone have an authentic recipe for tagine as every recipe i come across has a different set of ingredients ! sadly this tagine was lacking flavour anyone any suggestions ?

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  • 21 February 2011

    sherrie commented on this recipe

    just realised might have made a mistake by putting a lid on it before i put it in the oven the sauce would have reduced better without the lid any comments about it ?

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  • 25 March 2011

    williamsgran rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Have made this 4 times for dinner parties, everyone loved it and I have had requests for the recipe.... I used skinless boneless chicken breast, which I cut up into chunks. I don't use the butternut squash, although I have used sweet potato or sliced carrots. I thicken the sauce with cornflour, as yes it is too thin, then serve with lashings of creamy mash....yum.

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  • 07 January 2012

    Kelly rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    After reading some reviews I was unsure if this would be nice. However I found it easy, full of aromatic flavour and enough warmth to enhance the spices. I did thicken just a little and added chick peas, just because I like them and served with farro grain. Really enjoyed it and will freeze a portion which I guess will taste even nicer. I thought the lightly crushed spices was perfect and for a tagine it was not too sweet as no dried fruits in recipe. I would make this for guests. :)

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  • 08 March 2012

    samjlynch rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Beautiful! I took note of the previous comments and took the skin off the chicken, omitted the honey, cooked for an extra ten minutes to break down the butternut squash a bit more and used 200ml of the stock from the casserole part way through instead of water for my cous cous... Was really yummy, will definitely be making again!

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 25 mins

Freezable

Ingredients

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PER SERVING

630 kcalories, protein 58.0g, carbohydrate 16.0g, fat 38.0 g, saturated fat 10.0g, fibre 3.0g, sugar 10.0g, salt 0.86 g

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