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This Moroccan Chicken and Cauliflower Stew Is the Flavorful Dinner You Need

2020-09-10
This Moroccan Chicken and Cauliflower Stew Is the Flavorful Dinner You Need
Hands On Time:
20 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 40 mins
Servings:
4
Yield:
6 to 8 cups stew

Don't we all love a little flexibility in the kitchen? Though most of the total time for this one-dish meal is considered hands-off prep, you can speed up the time it takes to get to the dinner table or slow it way down to cook while you work. On the busiest of days where you need to make a hearty one-pot meal in a hurry, rely on the instant pot (pressure cooker). Though we don't often capture the amount of time it takes this appliance to come up to pressure (because it varies among cookers), we can guarantee once the cooker is at full pressure, it should take only 12 minutes plus another 15 minutes (for pressure release) to land this stew in bowls on the table within an hour.

Conversely, if you need to let this savory stew cook low and slow so that its heavenly aroma greets you at the door at the end of the day, give it 20 minutes prep time in the morning to brown your chicken and toss the rest of the ingredients into a slow cooker. After seven hours you'll be rewarded with the most delicious deep flavor.

Finally—when you do have the time and energy to babysit a pot of stew, let this Moroccan-spiced dish simmer away in a Dutch oven on the stovetop. For about an hour and a half, you have to watch the heat, add ingredients in stages, and stir and taste a few times, but it's a satisfying way to spend a few hours in your kitchen.

Ingredients

  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin

  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne or 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

  • 2 pound chicken thighs and/or drumsticks, skinned if desired

  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil

  • 3 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

  • 1 ½ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

  • 2 cup small cauliflower florets and/or halved green beans

  • 1 15 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

  • ¼ cup coarsely chopped dried apricots

  • ¼ cup coarsely chopped pitted green olives

  • 3 cup hot cooked couscous or rice (optional)

  • Chopped flat-leaf parsley and/or toasted slivered almonds (optional)

Directions

  1. In a small bowl combine cumin, ginger, cinnamon, cayenne, and 1/2 tsp. kosher salt. Rub chicken with half the spice mixture.

  2. In a 4- to 6-qt. Dutch oven heat coconut oil over medium. Cook chicken 6 to 8 minutes or until browned, turning once. (Cook in batches if necessary to prevent crowding.) Add garlic around chicken; cook 1 minute more. Add remaining spice mixture, the crushed tomatoes, and broth. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 45 minutes. Add cauliflower, chickpeas, apricots, and olives. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 25 minutes. Uncover; cook 10 minutes more or until chicken is tender, stirring occasionally. Remove and shred chicken, discarding skin and bones. Stir shredded chicken into stew. If desired, serve over couscous and top with parsley and/or almonds. Serves 4.

    Test Kitchen Tip: For a thicker stew, stir together 1/4 cup water and 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Stir into Stew for the last 5 minutes cook time.

How to Make Moroccan Chicken and Cauliflower Stew in the Pressure Cooker

Rub chicken and brown as above using saute setting for 6-quart electric cooker or brown in pot for 4- to 6-quart stove-top cooker. Add garlic around chicken; cook 1 minute more. Add remaining spice mixture, crushed tomatoes, broth, cauliflower, chickpeas, and apricots. Lock lid. Set electric cooker on high pressure to cook for 12 minutes. For stove-top cooker bring up to pressure over medium-high heat according to manufacturer's directions; reduce heat enough to maintain stead (but not excessive) pressure. Cook 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand to release pressure naturally for 15 minutes. Release any remaining pressure. Open lid carefully. Remove chicken and shred as directed. Return chicken to mixture. Serve the Moroccan stew with chicken as above.

How to Make Moroccan Chicken and Cauliflower Stew in the Slow Cooker

Rub chicken and brown as above. Add garlic and cook as above. Transfer mixture to a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. Add remaining spice mixture, crushed tomatoes, broth, cauliflower, chickpeas, and apricots. Cover; cook on low for 7 hours or on high for 3 1/2 hours. Remove chicken and shred as above. Return chicken to mixture. Serve as above.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Do I need to use bone-in chicken or can I use boneless chicken breasts in this recipe?

    Regardless of the way you choose to cook this Moroccan Chicken and Cauliflower Stew, bone-in chicken pieces like thighs and drumsticks are more flavorful and more forgiving. Thighs and drumsticks are made of dark meat and will stay more moist and tender even if you overcook them slightly. Boneless chicken breasts are leaner but will cook too quickly and dry out before the rest of this dish is cooked. Also the marrow in the bones offers rich flavor to the stew broth.

  • Do I have to use coconut oil in this recipe?

    The short answer is, no. You can choose any neutral flavor vegetable oil for this stew.

  • What is a Dutch Oven?

    The traditional way to cook this stew is in a Dutch Oven on the stove top. A Dutch oven is essentially a shorter, heavier stockpot with the a double-handle style but made of cast-iron instead of stainless steel or another metal, a Dutch oven is designed to be an ace at retaining heat. The tightly-filling lid, thick base, and sturdy walls help keep the internal temperature fairly steady throughout the cooking process. This even heat can radiate through the pot to cook what’s inside evenly, whether you employ the Dutch oven on the stove or in the oven.

    Modern day Dutch ovens come in a wide variety of sizes and styles, nearly all of which are attractive enough to be able to double as serving vessels. You may have heard of—or perhaps already own—a Dutch oven from one of the most popular Dutch oven brands, such as Le Creuset, Staub, Great Jones, Our Place, Caraway, Lodge, or Cuisinart.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

418 Calories
11g Fat
48g Carbs
34g Protein
Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 4
Calories 418
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 11g 14%
Saturated Fat 4g 20%
Cholesterol 90mg 30%
Sodium 1317mg 57%
Total Carbohydrate 48g 17%
Total Sugars 19g
Protein 34g 68%
Vitamin C 50.5mg 56%
Calcium 155mg 12%
Iron 6.3mg 35%
Potassium 1329mg 28%
Folate, total 136.4mcg
Vitamin B-12 0.3mcg
Vitamin B-6 1.2mg

*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

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