Moroccan Style Chicken Stew
Packed with bold spices and a variety of veggies, this Moroccan Style Chicken Stew is not only delicious but also healthy! Serve up a big bowl of this comforting stew for an ultra-flavorful dish the whole family will devour.
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- ½ cup chicken broth, low sodium
- ½ cup raisins
- 1 tablespoon yellow curry powder
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 4 oz thick cut bacon, chopped
- 12 chicken thighs and/or drumsticks, skin and bone on
- 2 ½ cups carrots, sliced
- 2 cups celery, thinly sliced
- 2 cups yellow bell peppers, diced
- 2 cups onion, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon ginger powder
- 3 teaspoons Kosher salt, plus more to taste
- Optional: Serve with cooked white rice, garnish with slivered almonds and chopped parsley or chives.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Pour chicken stock into microwavable dish and microwave on high for 1 minute.
- Pour raisins into hot stock, and let sit to plump up. In another small bowl, combine curry powder, garam masala, 3 tsp salt, and 1 tsp black pepper. Set aside.
- Sauté chopped bacon in large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Cook until bacon is golden brown, about 5 min. Transfer bacon to a small bowl and set aside.
- Using bacon grease still in heavy pot, brown the chicken pieces in small batches over medium high heat. Do not overcrowd. Cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Repeat until all chicken is browned. Add 1-2 TB light olive oil if needed to finish cooking chicken. Remove chicken from pot and set aside.
- If needed, add 1 TB olive oil. Sauté carrots, bell peppers, onions, and garlic until softened, about 6 minutes. Add tomatoes, honey, curry powder mixture, ginger, and raisins with their stock. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until sauce thickens around the vegetables, about 8 minutes.
- Nestle chicken pieces gently into the sauce, so that skin side faces up and stays above surface. Tent pot loosely with foil and place in lower middle rack of oven. Bake 25 minutes. Uncover, and bake another 20 minutes. Sauce should be thickened and chicken skin should just begin to crisp.
- Remove from oven and skim fat from surface. If needed, season to taste with additional salt and pepper. Spoon 1 cup hot rice into a wide bowl. Arrange a couple of chicken pieces on top, and generously spoon sauce over chicken/rice. Garnish with reserved bacon, toasted almonds, and parsley.
Notes
- While the extra step of plumping the raisins may seem small, don't skip it! Plumping the raisins makes them extra juicy and flavorful. It's also a great technique for Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.
- To add even more flavor to this dish, try toasting the slivered almonds. Simply heat the almond slivers in a skillet without oil, stirring continuously until they become slightly browned and fragrant.
- Although we don't use olives in this recipe, you can definitely add chopped green olives to the sauce.
- Moroccan Style Chicken Stew can be made in the Instant Pot or Slow Cooker. Check out the "Commonly Asked Questions" section above for alternative cooking tips.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 174kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 679mg | Potassium: 702mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 6987IU | Vitamin C: 84mg | Calcium: 91mg | Iron: 3mg