Moroccan Chicken with Preserved Lemons & Olives

A few years ago, I found myself with an abundance of Meyer lemons. They were juicy, fragrant, and far too beautiful to let go to waste, so I preserved them with salt, following the traditional Moroccan method.

As I packed each lemon half into a jar, I had visions of all the things I would eventually make with them. Moroccan tagines. Roasted vegetables. Fish. Chicken.

And then those lemons sat in the back of my refrigerator for nearly a year.

The shame.

Eventually, I decided it was time to actually use them, and I went looking for a recipe that would make those lemons worth the wait. I wanted something Moroccan, savory, and layered with flavor. Chicken, olives, preserved lemon, saffron, garlic, paprika. Done.

I have to admit that I was a little tentative when I pulled the lemons out of the jar. After nearly a year in salt, they looked very different from the fresh lemons I’d started with. But the flavor was nothing like I expected. They were soft and intensely lemony, with a salty, briny complexity and none of the sharp bitterness or acidity of a fresh lemon.

They were perfect with the chicken and olives.

This is one of those recipes where a handful of relatively simple ingredients come together to make something that tastes much more complicated than it actually is. The saffron and spices give the chicken warmth, the preserved lemons bring brightness and depth, and the olives add that salty, savory finish.

And don’t feel like you need to buy three different kinds of olives because I did.

We take our olives seriously in this house. My then-three-year-old could apparently work his way through an entire jar of Kalamatas in a week, so I raided the olive bar and came home with four different varieties. It was completely unnecessary, but also completely delicious.

Use whatever olives your family likes. Kalamatas work beautifully on their own, as would a favorite green olive. You can slice them, halve them, or simply give them a rough chop. There’s no need to make this harder than it needs to be.

If you don’t have preserved lemons, you can make the recipe with fresh lemon, although the flavor won’t be quite the same. Preserved lemons are worth seeking out if you enjoy Moroccan cooking, and they’re surprisingly easy to make at home.

I also like adding potato wedges directly to the pot so they cook alongside the chicken and soak up all those wonderful juices. You could serve the chicken with couscous instead, or simply pair it with roasted vegetables.

Moroccan Chicken with Preserved Lemons & Olives

Serves: 6–8
Prep time: 45 minutes, plus marinating time
Cook time: about 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 medium roasting chicken, about 4 pounds, cut into 6–8 pieces, or about 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 10 Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
• 10 green olives, pitted and sliced
• 10 cured black olives, sliced
• 1½ large or 3 small preserved lemons, seeds removed and thinly sliced
• 1 cup chicken broth or water
• Juice of ½ fresh lemon
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley, optional

Optional

• 2–3 russet potatoes, cut into wedges

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine the garlic, saffron, ginger, paprika, cumin, about ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Add the chicken and rub the spice mixture thoroughly over the pieces. Cover and refrigerate for about 3 hours.
2. When you’re ready to cook, heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and brown it on all sides, working in batches if necessary so you don’t overcrowd the pan. Transfer the browned chicken to a plate.
3. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the onions to the same pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften and begin to brown. Those browned bits from the chicken will work their way into the onions, which is exactly what you want.
4. Return the chicken to the pot, arranging it over the onions. Add the cinnamon stick, olives, and preserved lemon. Pour in the chicken broth and fresh lemon juice. If you’re adding potato wedges, nestle them around the chicken.
5. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the chicken is cooked through and reaches 165°F at the thickest part.
6. Scatter with fresh parsley before serving, if using.
7. Serve with couscous, potatoes, roasted vegetables, or simply some good bread for soaking up the cooking juices.

A note about preserved lemons

If you’ve never used preserved lemons before, don’t be alarmed when you open the jar. They’re supposed to be soft and intensely salty and lemony. For most recipes, you’ll use the rind rather than the flesh, and a little goes a long way.

If you’re using preserved lemons from a jar, give them a quick rinse if they’re particularly salty and remove the seeds before slicing.