Instant Pot Moroccan Style Chicken

Posted on by Julia

When I posted about making preserved lemons, I got many comments wondering what I was going to do with the preserved lemons.

With the preserved lemons being ready, I decided to make a Moroccan style chicken in my Instant Pot.

I started out by making the recipe for the Moroccan spice blend (Ras el Hanout) on the “Silk Road Recipes” website with some modifications.

After looking at several recipes online for Moroccan chicken aka chicken tagine, I used The Spruce Eats recipe for Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Olives and Preserved Lemons as a starting point.

The lemon peel is meant to be eaten and gives this dish a lovely bright flavor.

Serves 4

Ingredients

Ras el Hanout (Moroccan Spice Blend)

  • 2 Tablespoons of freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled

Moroccan Style Chicken in Instant Pot

  • 1 to 2 preserved lemons, quartered and seeds removed (I used 2 lemons.)
  • 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast (2 halves), cut into 4 to 6 pieces
  • 1 large sweet onion, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced (I used my garlic press.)
  • 2 small handfuls of cilantro or parsley
  • 2 tablespoons Ras el Hanout (Moroccan spice blend)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoons butter (optional)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup Kalamata olives or green olives
  • 1/4 cup water

Tools:

Cutting board, knife, small bowl, fork, medium size bowl or gallon freezer bag, airtight container to store leftover Moroccan spice blend, measuring cups and spoons, Instant Pot

Instructions

Ras el Hanout (Moroccan Spice Blend)

  1. Combine the spices into the small bowl and mix together with a fork.
  2. Store the spices in an airtight container for up to six months.

Instant Pot Moroccan Style Chicken

  1. Remove the flesh from the preserved lemons and finely chop it. Set aside the rind for use when cooking the chicken.
  2. Add the lemon flesh to the medium sized bowl or gallon bag. Add onion, garlic, cilantro (or parsley), two tablespoons of Ras el Hanout, and salt to the bowl or gallon bag. Mix well.
  3. Add the chicken to the bowl or gallon bag and mix well with the lemon flesh and onion mixture.
  4. Cover the chicken mixture and let sit in the refrigerator for 2 hours, up to 16 hours.
  5. When ready to cook the chicken, add the 1/4 cup of olive oil to the Instant Pot’s inner pot.
  6. Add the onion mixture to the bottom of the Instant Pot’s inner pot. Add the 1/4 cup of water over the onions.
  7. Arrange the chicken over the onion mixture in a single layer.
  8. Add the saved preserved lemon rinds and olives over the chicken. If using, add the butter.
  9. Close the Instant Pot lid, and make sure the vent is set to sealed. Pressure cook on high for 10 minutes.
  10. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes, then vent to release the rest of the steam.
  11. Serve with Moroccan bread, couscous, or rice.

Notes:

I cooked rice to serve with this at the same time it was cooking by using the Pot in a Pot method.

To eat, slice the cooked preserved lemon peel and chicken to eat together.

Preserved Lemon Rinds and Flesh
Chicken Marinating
Preserved Lemon Rinds on Top of Chicken before Cooking

22 thoughts on “Instant Pot Moroccan Style Chicken”

      2. Having a chronic condition is just awful. I can sympathize with you since I also hate it when my face goes numb or gets the pins and needles feeling or the burning sensation. 😩

        Liked by 1 person

      4. I have postherpetic neuralgia. I had shingles and my damaged nerve fibers send confused and exaggerated messages of pain from my skin to my brain. I also developed complex or compound migraines, which are very scary. I’ve been in situations where I wasn’t able to control my body and collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

        Liked by 1 person

      6. Most people don’t realize how bad shingles can be. My boss’s mother lost her sight in one eye due to shingles. I am at least fortunate it didn’t get in an eye. I take medicine to help control the nerve pain and to prevent another collapse.

        Liked by 1 person

      8. I did get my shingles vaccine before we left Colorado. As soon as my doctor told me I could get it, I got it. I don’t want get shingles again. I am really scared of what it might do to me if I have another outbreak. It has been 17 years since I’ve had shingles.

        Liked by 1 person

      9. Yikes. When I developed Bell’s Palsy, they thought it was due to herpes. However, I’ve never had an active herpes virus. Not even chicken pox. Part of me wants to get the vaccine, but you aren’t supposed to if you never had CP.

        I hope you are able to keep that nasty virus away forever.

        Like

      10. Well, you can be tested to make sure you never had chickenpox. Bruce wasn’t sure and his doctor ran a blood test and it came back positive for chickenpox.

        I also have palsy on and off. It runs in my family.

        Liked by 1 person

      12. My hands, mostly my right. I’ll be preparing ingredients and my hand will start shaking with the knife. It can be a challenge to eat something when the shaking starts.

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a reply to BACK ROADS AND OTHER STORIES Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Unknown's avatar

Published by Julia