This Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken dinner is another super easy one that will have your house smelling amazing by the end of the day. And there’s nothing wrong with getting out of your dinner rut with these tasty Moroccan flavors. This dish has been a family favorite of ours for many years, so I’m excited to share it with you today! Enjoy :)
Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken
Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup onion, diced
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger, fresh, peeled and minced
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup apricots, dried and halved
Instructions
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Put the diced onion in the bottom of the slow cooker and place the chicken on top.
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Mix together the cumin, coriander, cinnamon, salt, and pepper and sprinkle on top of the chicken.
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Sprinkle the garlic and ginger on top and pour in the chickpeas all around the chicken.
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Add the broth to the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours.
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Ten minutes before serving, stir in the dried apricots until heated all the way through. Serve over whole-wheat couscous with veggies on the side.
Recipe Notes
We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.
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I haven’t had chicken in awhile, because it’s gotten a little boring, but this sounds like just the recipe to mix it up a little! Thanks! :-)
This recipe looks delish! I can’t wait to give it a try! I’m always looking for ways to change-up my chicken! ;-)
What side of veggies do you recommend to go with these flavors?
Cooked carrots or a salad would be great!
so with the cinnamon, would you consider this more sweet or savory? Never cooked Moroccan before!
I would definitely not describe the dish as sweet even with the cinnamon in there.
I don t have apricots. But I think I will try it without
Wondering if mushrooms would also be good in this??
Hi Linda. I love mushrooms in almost anything savory. :) Let us know if you try.
Sounds yummy, just pinned this one.
After living in Morocco, it took me a long time to replicate the flavors of the food. I would recommend adding some tumeric to the recipe. I also use prunes in my moroccan dishes as an alternative to apricots.
Love your recommendations, Melanie! Thank you :-)
This is a wonderful recipe. For one, chicken is always a safe bet (and less expensive than so many other proteins). Second, slow cookers are really the way to go…especially with a toddler under foot :-) Thanks for this!
Can you double this and freeze the extras?
Hi Rachel. Sure, I don’t see why not.
This looks good. The recipe I’ve used for years takes prunes and it’s delicious!
Do you think I could use breasts instead of thighs? I know it might not be quite as tender, but do you think it would be ok? It’s what we have on hand.
Hi there. You will definitely not a dish that is as tender or moist with the breasts.
This looks really good. I am excited to give it a try.
Thanks
I made this yesterday- smelled delicious and tasted great! Also, minimal prep (which is a plus for our 12 hour work days). However, the chicken was extremely dry after cooking (we cooked for just under 6 hours). I did use breasts (I didn’t notice that the recommendation was thighs)- I wonder if that has anything to do with it? Maybe next time I should start with more chicken broth?
Yes, chicken breasts will definitely come out a little dryer than thighs!
What sized can of chickpeas do you recommend?
Thanks
Hi Rachel. 15oz.
How would bone-in chicken thighs change the outcome? It seems that’s what I’ve got on hand. Thanks!
Did u try the bone-in thighs? Curious to know how they turned out. Thanks :)
Hi Jess. The chicken would be falling off the bones by the time this is finished cooking. I would go boneless.
Sounds Yum!
This recipe was delicious and super easy to make! Chicken turned out so tender and moist. I think I only cooked it for 6-6.5 hrs. I took the recommendation of another commenter and added turmeric. I wasn’t sure how much to add so I only put in a 1/2 tsp. Might try a little more next time.
Thank you for this recipe!!
Is there anything you can do to improve the moistness if you want to use breast? Add more broth? Cook less? Cut into chunks for cooking?
Hi Liz. Lisa has not made this recipe with breasts. The key to the moisture is the higher fat content.
We wanted to like this, and didn’t think it was bad, but all 4 in my family ultimately said it was just ok. The seasoning was bland – some may prefer that for young kids or picky palates, but if you like or are used to a decent spice or seasoning level, you’d want to increase the spices in this substantially. I have 2 eaters who really like intense spice, but the other 2 of us just like a nice flavor, nothing too intense, and even we found this bland, though inoffensive.
My husband is at home starting this right now (I wish there was a camera in my kitchen LOL)… he started a lot later than I had planned. I am afraid it won’t be ready in time for dinner. Do you think I should have him put it on high for the first hour then switch to low?
Hello Vicki. We are rarely able to answer recipe questions in real time. How did it go?
It was cooked through but it wasn’t great :( my husband didn’t follow directions at all. (shocker! LOL) He just dumped all the ingredients in so all the spices got “washed” off the chicken. I will have to try again, and do it myself next time ;)
This was delicious! My 5 year old daughter especially loved it! Very easy to make too.
This is delicious, and as a bonus it smells amazing!
This was delicious! I made it with chicken breasts and it turned out great (I am just not a fan of chicken thighs). I’ve never had any problem with cooking breasts in the crock pot and having them turn out dry. They are always moist and shred easily. I will be making this again!
What could I put in here instead of chicken to make it vegetarian? Tofu seems like it would fall apart in a slow cooker.
You could try adding more chickpeas and some mushrooms or other veggies. It would be more of a stew but would probably be great over couscous!
Hi! I am making a menu plan for our family of 7, so I doubled the amounts for the grocery list. Taking out all tomato products for my daughter who has a bladder damaged by dyes and carrageenan, that leaves me with 166 total for the week :) We have venison and grass fed beef already so didn’t have to count any of that! Now then, the question: What can I substitute for tomato sauce, pureed tomatoes, diced tomatoes etc? We have been using white sauce(a lot!) but frankly it is not as good for us and we will all put on 20 lbs if I keep it up. Ideas?
Hi Laurie. That’s a tough one. I did find this thread which might help with suggestions: http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/3716/what-can-be-used-as-a-substitute-for-tomato-sauce-in-typical-italian-dishes. I do agree that a constant white sauce is not an equivalent. ;)
Made this last night for my fiance and a guest we had staying with us. It was a huge hit! I’m not usually a fan of thighs since I think they can be tough but I decided to follow the recipe and they were incredibly tender! Very delicious.
I think next time I’ll add some cayenne or crushed red pepper to the seasoning mix as I think it would be nice to have some spiciness play against the sweetness of the apricots.
Definitely a great recipe to mix up chicken, which I find can get boring.
I found that about 5.5 hours was plenty of time for the chicken to cook and be extremely tender; any longer and I believe it would have been on the dry side. I used dried chickpeas and there was no need to presoak them. I also added prunes rather than apricots as that was what I had on hand. Very good recipe!
The spice mixture in this recipe was a nice change for me, though not everyone liked it as much as me. The leftovers provided for a couple of nice lunches to bring to work. I served over roasted mashed butternut squash one lunch and over quinoa for another lunch. I used prunes and they were delicious. I would make this again.
This recipe is a keeper!! Since I am by myself, I froze half and have been eating the rest. I have used over couscous and also pasta.
Thanks for all the great recipes! Would it be possible to make this one using a whole chicken? Would you recommend any adjustments?
Hi Kaye. We’ve not tried this recipe with a whole chicken.
This was very bland. Tasted like boiled chicken. The only good part were the chickpeas.
I’ve made this recipe a few times now and it is always a hit!
The chicken came out good and moist. I cooked it for 6 hours and served it over couscous with cooked carrots. While I think everything together was delicious, the broth and chickpeas weren’t as flavorful by themselves. Maybe because I pressed the spices into the chicken. Next time I’ll season the chickpeas too.
This recipe is amazing. The flavors really come through, I’m recommending it to everyone! Thank you so much!
This recipe went down really well. Lovely and sweet with a good blend of spice. I chucked in a tin of tomatoes, used cayenne pepper spice instead of normal pepper and a very small amount of tomatoe and chilli chutney. Served up with roasted veg, couscous and garnished with pomegranate seeds- delicious! Guests loved it. Thank you Lisa!
For me, this recipe was just okay. There was too much liquid left in the pot, so it came out a little soupy. I also felt the cinnamon came on too strong (will use less if I make this again).
Made this for the first time this weekend. Smelled amazing all day long, but the chicken was missing something and I’m not sure what. It was sort of bland. I even made sure that the spices stayed on the chicken and were not rinsed off by the addition of the broth. That being said, the sauce with the chickpeas and apricots was amazing over rice. My guests raved about that!
This dish smelled amazing. Even the 5-year old commented on the great aroma. BUT, it was super bland. I may try it again with more spice – maybe double. A good deal more salt and less liquid.
Delicious! Always a hit with our family! I make it with all dried spices instead of fresh, and I serve it with brown rice and baked sweet potatoes
Is it possible to make it over the stove instead of the crock pot?
Hi there. We’ve not tried. Maybe this will help: http://www.thekitchn.com/can-i-convert-slow-cooker-recipes-to-stove-top-227609.
This was delicious. I have tried many different recipes for making chicken thighs in the slow cooker, but never feel compelled to make any of them a second time. This is one that I would definitely make again. Based on other comments, I doubled the spices and added turmeric. It was just the right amount for our palettes. I didn’t have dried apricots, so left those out, but still delicious.
Delicious, I would add a bit more salt when cooking. Will do next time but, def a keeper :) This is my first recipe I’ve tried and I am impressed by the simplicity and tastiness of all the recipes. Yay 100 Days of Real Food!!
Can this be made with bone in thighs instead?
Boneless work best unless you don’t mind picking out the bones.
Is there a way to get around using chicken broth?
You could use water of a veggie broth but it won’t have as much flavor.
This was pretty good for how easy it was. Wish I had read the reviews before making it, because it really needed turmeric.
Also, I served it with brown rice pilaf, because I do not understand how shelf-stable, “whole” wheat pasta counts as real food. It isn’t whole at all – it’s merely white flour with the indigestible bran added back in (right?). The bran provides no more nutrients than the endosperm. I signed up for the sample meal plans on this site, but they call for things like Triscuits and pretzels. I am trying to quit eating nutitionally empty snack foods like that.
The sample meal plans require a ton of from-scratch baking, and yet the recipes all call for shelf-stable flour, which is not truly whole grain. This seems like a huge discrepancy with the whole point of the blog is, unless I am misunderstanding something? Please explain.
Nice Recipe…!!!
we follow all instruction which is given by you in the recipe. Delicious..!!! Really enjoyed.