The Perfect Fall Moroccan Tagine with Chicken, Dates and Squash

Moroccan tagine recipes may seem intimidating at first…..but the concept of “tagine” is similar to what we have in all of our cultures – it’s a slow cooking technique. You don’t need to have a tagine dish to cook and enjoy this recipe – you just need a heavy bottomed cookware dish (think: Dutch oven) and a lid – and you are good to go!

This recipe is a dish that is perfect for Fall. It uses delicata squash – which is a squash variety that is relatively new to me. You can eat the skin – because it is tender – and honestly, that is so fun for me b/c I haven’t ever done that prior to delicata.

This nutrient dense dish is great for your family – it’s heart healthy, nourishing, and comforting. The combination of flavors in this tagine recipe are familiar enough that your entire family will enjoy!

What you need:

• Chicken thighs
• Delicata squash
• Can of Chickpeas
• Dates
• Onion
• Coriander spice
• Turmeric
• salt
• pepper
• ginger/garlic paste
• saffron
• water

Prep your ingredients: Dice the chicken.

Slice the delicata squash – remove the seeds – and dice into small-ish pieces.

Chop up your dates: note: if you like a sweeter tagine/stew – add more dates. My family doesn’t like sweet/savory – so I kept mine to 5. If it was just for me – I’d add probably 10.

Sauté the onions with some neutral oil in the pan until translucent – about 5 minutes.

Add the spices and ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add the chicken, squash, chickpeas, dates, saffron & some water.

Bring to a simmer & then reduce heat to low – cover with a lid for 45 minutes – stirring every 15 minutes.

Serve over rice, with pita, or with lavash bread. Simple, delicious, and hearty. A perfect fall tagine.