This Chicken Mince Tagine recipe with apricots and chickpeas is very easy and a great alternative to a lamb or beef tagine. A delicious North African dish with dried fruits, spices, and chickpeas. Using minced chicken or ground chicken means we can cook this in just 20 minutes. You can also use leftover cooked chicken. This tagine recipe is full of flavour and quick and easy without compromising on taste.
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A tagine is a North African spiced dish. It's traditionally cooked for a long time in a special tagine pot. Tagine is often cooked with lamb, but I've swapped it for chicken mince as it has a much lower carbon footprint than lamb. This chicken mince version pairs well with my Fruity Moroccan Couscous recipe. For a delicious Vegan Tagine, check out my Aubergine and Chickpea Tagine Recipe.
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Why cook with Chicken Mince?
- Chicken creates considerably fewer carbon emissions than beef, lamb, or pork so swapping to chicken can help reduce your carbon footprint. I've more information about how to eat a Sustainable Diet on my Eco Living Page.
- Chicken is leaner than beef, lamb, or pork and has fewer calories, less saturated fat, and cholesterol.
- Chicken mince cooks quickly so saves time and reduces energy costs.
- You can substitute chicken mince in most recipes that call for beef, lamb, or pork mince.
- Buy chicken mince from most supermarkets or butchers or make it yourself with a food processor.
Ingredients
- Minced or Ground Chicken - buy this in stores or see below for how to easily turn chicken meat into minced chicken. I've used boneless chicken thighs as they are slightly more moist than chicken breast meat. They are also usually cheaper.
- Spices - tumeric, ground cinnamon, and cumin are traditional North African spices used in tagines.
- Dried Apricots - dried fruits are traditional ingredients in a tagine.
- Chickpeas - use chickpeas in water not dried chickpeas as the cooking time is not long enough to rehydrate them.
- Tinned or canned tomatoes - use good quality tomatoes. Be aware that cheaper varieties have a higher water content so will give a runnier sauce.
- Stock - I use a ready made chicken stock cube.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Mince Chicken at home.
If you can't find minced chicken or ground chicken in the shops, you can easily mince it yourself at home. The best way to do this is with a food processor.
Add boneless chicken meat to the food processor and pulse it for a few seconds. You still want some texture to it so don't overdo it.
Chicken breast meat or boneless chicken thighs are best. Chicken thighs are often cheaper. The thighs also are slightly more moist than chicken breasts.
If you don't have a food processor, slice the chicken meat lengthways, then chop it into very small pieces using a sharp knife.
Instructions
Add the oil to a large pan and fry the onion over a medium heat for 2 - 3 minutes.
Add the chicken mince and fry for 3 - 4 minutes. Keep stirring and break it up with a wooden spoon.
Stir in the cumin, turmeric, and coriander, so the chicken is well covered, and fry for 1 minute.
Add the chicken stock, drained chickpeas, apricots, and tinned tomatoes, bring it to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Hint: Use a non-stick pan to fry your chicken mince. Chicken meat is very lean so can burn more easily. Keep moving the meat around the pan.
Equipment
This quick tagine recipe just needs a large frying pan. You won't need a special tagine pot.
If you are mincing the chicken yourself, ideally you need a food processor. Alternatively use a sharp knife, although this will take longer.
Use a measuring jug to correctly measure out the quantity of liquid needed.
Sustainability
Many of the ingredients for this fruity chicken tagine can be bought from Fairtrade. The tumeric, ground cumin, dried apricots, and chickpeas are all available as Fairtrade as well as couscous and lemons that you can serve on the side. Fairtrade is a global movement. It works to make a difference in the lives of the farmers who produce our food and ensures they are paid a fair price. As well as this, the Fairtrade movement works hard to tackle climate change and promote sustainable farming practices. Check out my most popular Fairtrade recipes.
Serving Suggestions
A chicken mince tagine goes well with a side of Fruity Couscous or Flatbread. There are different types of couscous available. I recommend Moroccan couscous as it has the smallest grains and rehydrates in around 5 minutes. Israeli or Pearl couscous have much larger grains and take longer to cook. You can also serve it with rice, yellow rice, quinoa, or crusty bread.
Roasted vegetables or grilled halloumi are more options.
Top your chicken tagine with fresh mint, pomegranate seeds, flaked almonds, or a slice of lemon. You can also add some green olives.
Green Tip! Did you know when cooking rice, you only need to bring the water to a boil, cover with a lid and turn off the heat. The rice will steam and cook without using any more energy.
Storage
You can keep this dish in the fridge for 2 -3 days. A chicken tagine can be frozen for 3 - 4 months.
Top tip
Don't overcook the chicken mince or it will dry out. The total cooking time needed for chicken mince is about 10 minutes.
FAQ
A Tagine is a traditional stew-like dish from Morocco that is slow-cooked in a tagine pot. The stew is made with native African spices such as turmeric, cinnamon, saffron, ginger, and cumin. It can also contain nuts or dried fruits such as apricots as well as herbs. A lamb tagine is probably the most common, but you can cook a tagine with any meat. You can also cook fish tagine or vegetable tagine.
As well as the actual name of the dish, a Tagine is also the name of the Moroccan cooking pot the dish is traditionally made in. The pot has a round base, low sides, and a cone-shaped lid that you put over the base during cooking. The cone-shaped lid is so that all the flavours that go up in the steam when the tagine is being cooked, fall back down and into the dish adding to the flavour. Whilst a traditional cooking pot is nice, you don't need one to make a tagine.
More Recipes for using Leftover Chicken
If you made this with leftover chicken and are looking for more recipe ideas, try these.
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📖 Recipe
Easy Chicken Mince Tagine
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon sunflower oil fairtrade available
- 1 onion organic, peeled and chopped
- 500 g chicken mince
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin fairtrade available
- 1 teaspoon ground tumeric fairtrade available
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 200 ml chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 75 g dried apricots fairtrade available, chopped
- 240 g chickpeas drained weight, rinsed.
- 800 g tinned tomatoes canned
- 4 tablespoon fresh mint chopped, optional
Instructions
- Add the oil to a large pan and fry the onion over a medium heat from 2 - 3 minutes.2 tablespoon sunflower oil, 1 onion
- Add the chicken mince and fry for 3 - 4 minutes. Keep stirring and break it up with a wooden spoon.500 g chicken mince
- Add the cumin, tumeric and coriander, stir in so the chicken is well covered and fry for 1 minute.1 tablespoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ground tumeric, 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- Add the chicken stock, drained chickpeas, apricots and tinned or canned tomatoes. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve.200 ml chicken stock, 75 g dried apricots, 240 g chickpeas, 800 g tinned tomatoes, 4 tablespoon fresh mint
Notes
Nutritional Information
The nutritional information is an estimate and is just for the tagine (ie. does not include sides) as you can choose a variety of side dishes.Recipe Notes
-
- Minced or Ground Chicken - buy this in stores or see below for how to easily turn chicken meat into minced chicken. I've used boneless chicken thighs as they are slightly more moist than chicken breast meat. They are also usually cheaper.
-
- Spices - tumeric, ground cinnamon, and cumin are traditional North African spices used in tagines.
-
- Dried Apricots - dried fruits are traditional ingredients in a tagine.
-
- Chickpeas - use chickpeas in water not dried chickpeas as the cooking time is not long enough to rehydrate them.
-
- Tinned or canned tomatoes - use good quality tomatoes. Be aware that cheaper varieties have a higher water content so will give a runnier sauce.
-
- Stock - I use a ready made chicken stock cube.
Storage
You can keep this dish in the fridge for 2 -3 days. A chicken tagine can be frozen for 3 - 4 months.Nutrition per serving
The Nutritional Values are computer generated estimates based on industry standards and are provided as a helpful guide only.
Philippa Lewis
A really easy, quick and healthy mid week meal. Tasty, and satisfying as well.