Meltingly tender, this Morrocan Instant Pot Lamb Tagine is aromatic and flavorful and so easy to make using an Instant pot or pressure cooker . Serve it over Basmati Rice, Cous Cous or Everyday Quinoa and optional Tfaya for a hearty delicious meal.
Happy Valentines Day! This recipe for Instant Pot Lamb Tagine came about after our recent trip to Morocco. Fragrant spices, lemon zest, green olives and herbs infuse the lamb with flavor. The best part is how tender the lamb shoulder comes out after only 35 minutes in the pressure cooker.
This Lamb Tagine is tangy and savory, rather than sweet, and traditionally made with Ras el Hanout– a Moroccan spice blend that varies greatly from region to region (or even from household to household). For this tagine recipe feel free to use your own favorite blend of Ras el Hanout, or the easy substitution in the recipe below.
Serve it over Cous Cous with optional Tfaya – a Moroccan condiment made with caramelized onions and raisins. A simple delicious meal that will take you away to warm and far-off places.
This month I’ve partnered with the American Lamb Board to create some new lamb recipes for you to try out.
To give the meat a little bit of color after its cooked and tender, place it under the broiler for a couple of minutes, just before serving.
For a little burst of flavor, remember to save little of the olive brine to mix into the stew or try preserved lemon!
Delicious and easy, the pressure cooker setting, makes this Instant Pot Moroccan Lamb Tagine a snap to make.
PrintInstant Pot Lamb Tagine
Meltingly tender, Instant Pot Lamb Tagine is aromatic and flavorful and so easy to make using the pressure cooker setting. Serve it over Cous Cous and optional Tfaya for a hearty delicious meal.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Moroccan
Ingredients
- 2–3 tablespoon olive oil, butter or ghee
- 1 extra large onion ( or two small onions), cut into thick wedges.
- 4 extra large carrots, peeled and sliced into 1 ½-2 inch thick rounds ( at a diagnol)
- 6 cloves garlic, rough chopped
- 2 pounds lamb -stew meat (shoulder) cut into 1 -2 inch cubes
- 3 wide strips lemon zest ( use a vegetable peeler) 2 inches long
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup chicken stock (or water and 1 boullion cube)
- lemon juice from one medium lemon
- 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons coriander
- 2 teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon chili flakes
- 2 bay leaves
Garnish:
- 2 cups green olives ( save brine)
- 1 tablespoon chopped preserved lemon ( optional)
- ¼ fresh Italian parsley chopped
- 4–6 cups cooked cous cous
Tfaya ( Caramelized Onion Raisin Relish) – Optional
Instructions
Set Instant Pot to saute function and begin adding all the Tagine ingredients in order, ending with the bay leaves. Give a good stir. Set to Pressure cook on high for 35 minutes. Let pressure release manually or naturally. Drain the olives reserving liquid. Add the olives to the pot and stir to warm.
Taste, and if needed at a few teaspoons of the olive brine to the tagine, (or the optional preserved lemon) for a punch of flavor.
To deepen the color of the lamb, use a slotted spoon to scoop it out of the pot and on a sheet pan and place it under the broiler for a few minutes.
Serve the lamb over a platter of cous cous, spooning a little of the flavorful broth over top. Sprinkle with fresh parsley, chili flakes and optional Tfaya. Slivered almonds are also nice.
To make the optional Tfaya ( Caramelized Onion Raisin Relish)
Place the raisins and water in a small pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Saute the onion in the oil over medium heat, stirring often until golden and tender, about 10 minutes. Add the raisins and their water. Add the spices, salt and honey. Cook on medium low heat, uncovered, adding more water as necessary to get the onions meltingly tender and soft. Once tender, reduce the liquid until it is thick and syrupy.
Notes
Feel free to sub 3 tablespoons Ras el Hanout for the spices.
Keywords: lamb tagine, instant pot lamb tagine, instant pot lamb recipes, lamb stew, lamb instant pot, moroccan lamb, instant pot lamb stew, instant pot recipes, lamb recipes
Great recipe, thank you! Very quick and easy to make…
I added a tin of tomatoes and a few chopped apricots to the tagine. I also used chopped apricots in place of the raisins which was OK but a little too sweet. A small dash of vinegar may have brought it back a bit…
We served it with salad, flat bread and cauliflower rice…
Delicious! x
★★★★★
We’ve made this with lamb shank and lamb shoulder steaks, I suspect it works with any available cut….it has exceptional flavor and could not be more simple.Make this!!!!
★★★★★
This was delicious! I didn’t have any ground ginger, but it came out wonderful! I added potatoes and extra chicken stock so it would be more of a stew and it was perfection!
★★★★★
What is the long brown with yellow middle thing that is in your images, I can’t work it out. Looking at the ingredients list has left me clueless. Thanks, and thanks for recipe.
They are carrots- just a different variety!
I have a boneless leg of lamb. Will this work or is it too tender a piece?
It should work!
This turned out really tasty. Love how tender the lamb gets in the instant pot. Served it over quinoa and skipped the raisin part.
★★★★★
This looks delicious. Do you have instructions on how to cook if you don’t own an instapot ?
Kate I think you could cook it exactly the same way in a dutch oven on the stove but it would take 1.5 -2 hours to get the lamb tender.