Chicken tagine with couscous recipe

A delicious, golden tagine of tender chicken and soft chickpeas in a fragrant sauce.

This beautiful chicken tagine combines aromatic Moroccan spices with ginger and garlic to create the most fabulous, flavoursome stew. Tagines are traditionally cooked in those conical, earthenware pots that give the dish its name. However, you don't need one for this recipe - just make it in any large stewing pan with a lid. It's also quicker than a traditional tagine, which you would often need to leave bubble away for an hour or more. This version can be on the table in only 40 minutes. Serve it simply with the couscous or, if you prefer, big hunks of crusty bread. This dish works really well for a weeknight supper, and at only 340 calories a portion, is one of our great healthy chicken recipes.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 tsp ginger, finely grated
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tsp Moroccan spice mix (see tip)
• 200g tin chopped tomatoes
• 210g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 tbsp granular Canderel
• 300g chicken breasts, halved or quartered

For the couscous:

• 125g couscous
• 200ml hot chicken or vegetable stock
• Juice and zest ½ a lemon
• Handful chopped coriander leaves

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan and cook the onion for about 3 minutes until starting to soften. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato purée and spice mix and cook for 1 minute, stirring often until everything is well coated.
2. Pour over the tomatoes followed by the chickpeas and Canderel. Bring up to the boil, and then add the chicken and leave to simmer for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened.
3. Meanwhile, to prepare the couscous, tip the couscous into a large bowl. Pour over the hot stock, cover the bowl with cling film and then leave for 10 minutes until the couscous has absorbed all the stock. Squeeze over the lemon juice; add the coriander and then mix in, fluffing up the couscous with a fork. Serve with the chicken stew ladled over the top of the couscous.

Top tips for making chicken tagine with couscous

If you don't have a Moroccan spice mix, you can mix up your own using ½ tsp of cumin and ½ tsp of coriander and a pinch of turmeric.

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