Moroccan chicken stew with chickpeas
Chicken, chickpeas and sweet potato simmered with cumin, cinnamon and a handful of raisins into a warm, fragrant stew that tastes like far more work than it is.
- 60 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.15 a serving
- 530 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ lb boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1½-inch pieces
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 carrots, cut into coins
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 can diced tomatoes, with the juice
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ⅓ cup raisins
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 1¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Each serving has about 530 calories, 44 g protein, 53 g carbs and 17 g fat, and costs about $3.15 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No boneless chicken thighs? Chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins work.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No diced tomatoes? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No raisins? Dried cranberries work.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Stir the cumin, paprika, cinnamon, turmeric and salt together. Toss the chicken pieces with half of the spice mix in a bowl.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
the onion, the garlic, the ginger, cut the sweet potato into and the carrots into coins, and drain the chickpeas.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Cube. Cubing means cutting food into chunky, even squares, usually three quarters of an inch to an inch. Same-size cubes cook at the same speed and brown on every side.
How you’ll know: Your pieces look like a handful of sugar cubes, a little bigger than diced, all close to the same size.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and the chicken for 5 minutes, turning once. It won’t be cooked through yet.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 5 min
Turn the heat to medium, add the onion and cook for 4 minutes, then stir in the garlic, ginger and the rest of the spice mix for 1 minute, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Add the tomatoes, broth, sweet potato, carrots, chickpeas and raisins and .
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Turn the heat to low, cover and for 25 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the sweet potato is tender and the chicken is cooked through.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 25 min
Dolly’s tip: If it looks too thick, add a splash of water. If it’s too thin, simmer with the lid off for the last 5 minutes.Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Squeeze in the lemon, taste for salt, and serve with cilantro.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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