This Moroccan Chicken Couscous is super flavorful and healthy loaded with exotic spices but still simple enough to make any night of the week.
I’m so excited to share with you today’s recipe because it’s so good, loaded with delicious flavors and best yet, it’s healthy! Today we’re going to Morocco with all these exotic spices, fluffy couscous, and perfectly plump golden raisins. Did I mention you can make it all in one pot?
What Is Couscous?
Did you know that couscous is just small beads of pasta made from semolina? It’s very popular in places like Turkey, Greece, Spain, France, and lots of Arabic countries. Traditionally, it is served with meat and vegetable stew. It cooks very quickly, so it’s perfect for a hectic night when you want a quick and healthy dinner.
If you cook couscous properly it’s very light and fluffy. Luckily, in most western supermarkets, couscous is instant, which means it’s been pre-steamed and dried. Otherwise there’s no science to cooking couscous, usually you just follow the package instructions, one cup of boiling water to 3/4 cup of couscous. You can also add some butter or olive oil to it and some salt. And really, that’s all there is to it.
Ingredients
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Moroccan spice blend
- Spices – Ground cumin, cinnamon, ginger, paprika, allspice, coriander, turmeric, cayenne pepper, cardamom.
- Seasoning – Salt and pepper.
Moroccan couscous
- Moroccan spice blend – Listed above, all ground and whisked together thoroughly.
- Chicken – Breasts boneless and skinless.
- Olive oil – A neutral tasting oil to brown our chicken and veggies in.
- Onion – We want a large onion that cooks down well like white or yellow.
- Garlic – Use as much or little as you like.
- Raisins – Golden raisins as they’re nice and sweet.
- Broth – Chicken broth low sodium or no sodium added.
- Chickpeas – Just an entire can for some great chew and lots of fiber.
- Tomatoes – I used fire roasted tomatoes, they may not be traditional but they pack so much more flavor than regular diced tomatoes.
- Couscous – I used pearl couscous today, more information written below.
- Kale – Rinsed thoroughly and chopped. No need to massage the kale as we are going to cook it down.
What Is Pearl Couscous?
Pearl couscous, sometimes also called Israeli couscous, can be found anywhere now, I find mine in my local grocery store. Pearl couscous is the same as regular couscous but just a bit bigger and sometimes as you can see here it comes in various colors. Too cool and I thought it would be perfect in this dish. I was right, as usual!
How To Make Moroccan Chicken Couscous
- Preheat the oven: Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.
- Create the spice blend: Combine all the Moroccan spice blend ingredients together. The recipe should yields about 8 to 9 tsp or about 3 tbsp. Season the chicken breasts with 2 tbsp of the Moroccan spice blend thoroughly.
- Brown the chicken: In a large Dutch Oven or an oven safe pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot add the chicken breasts and sear on both sides until browned, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. The chicken will not be cooked through at all, it will just be crispy on the outside. Transfer the chicken from the pot to a plate and set aside.
- Saute the sauteables: Add the onion and garlic to the pot and saute for about 3 minutes until onion softens and becomes translucent and garlic is aromatic. add the remaining 1 tbsp of the Moroccan spice blend and stir.
- Incorporate the rest of the ingredients: Add the golden raisins, chickpeas, fire roasted tomatoes, chicken broth, couscous and stir well. Gently stir in the kale. Bring to a boil, then add the chicken breasts back.
- Cook the dish: Cover the pot with a lid and place in the oven. If your pot doesn’t have a lid, cover with aluminum foil. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
Want To Test Out That Tagine?
This is a perfect dish to make in your new tagine! For more information on this cook ware and please refer to this recipe. You can follow the instructions just the same as they’re outlined here.
Leftovers
This Moroccan chicken couscous will last for 3 – 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge. This dish also freezes well for those of us who like to make our dishes ahead of time, just place in a sturdy freezer bag and it’ll keep for 3 – 4 months. Allow it to thaw fully overnight in the fridge before reheating to temperature on the stove top.
Craving More One Pot Dishes? Try These:
- Hamburger Helper Lasagna
- Beef Ragu Pasta
- Chili Mac And Cheese
- Chicken And Mushroom Tetrazzini
- Turkey Wild Rice Soup
- Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper
- No Peek Chicken Rice Casserole
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Moroccan Chicken Couscous
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon Moroccan spice blend recipe below
- 4 chicken breasts about 1 1/2 lbs, boneless and skinless
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 14 ounce chickpeas (1 can) drained and washed
- 14 ounce fire roasted tomatoes (1 can)
- 3 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 1 cup pearl couscous dry
- 4 cups kale rinsed and roughly chopped
Moroccan Spice Blend
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.
- Combine all the Moroccan spice blend ingredients together. The recipe should yields about 8 to 9 tsp or about 3 tbsp.
- Season the chicken breasts with 2 tbsp of the Moroccan spice blend thoroughly. Use more as preferred.
- In a large Dutch Oven or a oven safe pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot add the chicken breasts and sear on both sides until browned, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. The chicken will not be cooked through at all, it will just be crispy on the outside. Transfer the chicken from the pot to a plate and set aside.
- Add the onion and garlic to the pot and saute for about 3 minutes until onion softens and becomes translucent and garlic is aromatic. add the remaining 1 tbsp of the Moroccan spice blend and stir.
- Add the golden raisins, chickpeas, fire roasted tomatoes, chicken broth, couscous and stir well. Gently stir in the kale. Bring to a boil, then add the chicken breasts back.
- Cover the pot with a lid and place in the oven. If your pot doesn’t have a lid, cover with aluminum foil. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Heat oven to 160C/340F. Put 5-6 tomatoes on a baking sheet with 2 crushed cloves of garlic. Sprinkle with 2 tsp thyme, drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, add some salt and pepper and roast for 1 hr. Remove and set aside to cool. You can also use store bought Moroccan spice blend instead of making your own, you can find it on Amazon here. You can also use chicken breasts with skin and bones for additional flavor. Chicken thighs or drumsticks are also fine. I used a large Dutch Oven Braiser that is oven safe. A tagine would also work great with this recipe. This recipe will last for 3 – 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge. This dish also freezes well for those of us who like to make our dishes ahead of time, just place in a sturdy freezer bag and it’ll keep for 3 – 4 months. Allow it to thaw fully overnight in the fridge before reheating to temperature on the stove top. Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
I’ve got a few questions about the couscous…
I have some “golden” couscous I’ve used before. They’re very pretty — a mix of yellow and orange (my wife loves them) — but they’re quite small (fine-grained).
1. Will those work in this recipe, or just gum things up? I can get some bigger (“pearl”) couscous if these are too fine.
2. I’ve made these golden couscous before (easy, I can boil water..). But for this recipe, it sounds like you just toss them in the pot along with the other items (chickpeas, chicken broth, etc.)? I’m concerned that after 60 minutes in the pot (in the oven) the little fine-grained couscous I have might not stand up very well, and might get mushy.
I could omit the couscous from the pot, cook them separately, then serve the chicken over them — but then I worry the couscous might be bland and the chicken mixture might be too thin and runny. Or I could just get bigger couscous and not worry about it. Maybe I’m over-thinking this.
What do you think?
Love your recipes — Thank you!!!
Yes, and yes! 🙂 The couscous will hold, it won’t be mushy at all.
I don’t do kale. 🙂 Any suggestions for a substitute?
You can try some spinach instead.
Thank you for the prompt and helpful response. I will give this a try in the next few days and will report back on the results!
I followed this recipe exactly using boneless/skinless chicken thighs. The kitchen smelled amazing cooking this. We used the whole kale bunch. Don’t leave out the raisins, the sweetness adds so much to the overall flavour. We loved it, thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this!
I made this 10 x already and it’s always amazing. Even the kids eat it
You know it’s a keeper when the kids love it too!!
Was very good! I’ve made other Moroccan chicken but this one was the fastest !! A splash of lemon at the end would go nice too!!
This recipe was so so good!! Made a few small adjustments, and it was still gorgeous. Thank you!!
I’ve made this many times. It’s so easy and soooo delicious! I don’t like raisins so we leave those out, then I add some feta as I’m serving it. Makes great lunches too!
Love love love this recipe thank you.
This recipe was recommended by a cooking enthusiast friend. By contrast, I am not highly skilled in the kitchen. It came out well! (Even with minor substitutions.) My family enjoyed it.
Flavour is fantastic, but I found the cook time to be way too long. My chicken was very dry and the couscous was mushy. I followed the directions exactly. The only difference was that I used regular coucous, but Jo said that would be fine in the comments. I will make this again but will use different timing in the oven or just cook it separately.
Made this for dinner tonight with chicken thigh instead of breast, and it was delicious! I’m glad to have leftovers so I can have it again for lunch tomorrow 😁
Any difference if using regular couscous, and not the pearl?
Absolutely not! 🙂
Using the lamb, would you follow the same directions?
What cut of lamb are you planning on using?
Can you use lamb in this recipe? If so, what cut of lamb, and how would you adapt it to this recipe?
I would use a cut like lamb shoulder that you can slice into smaller pieces.
I made it with quinoa instead of couscous because my son is gluten free. I otherwise followed the recipe exactly. It came out really well! Thanks!