Moroccan Chicken with Ras El Hanout, garlic, and lemon – a simple North African recipe, bursting with flavor! Fast and easy! Keep it basic or top it with this zesty Preserved Lemon Gremolata!
Looking for a recipe for Moroccan Chicken? Look no further! While organizing my spice drawer a few weeks ago, I found the Ras El Hanout spice blend I purchased in a winding little spice market in Marrakech. I had forgotten all about it!
While in Marrakech, we experienced some of the most flavorful Moroccan Chicken at a street vendor, who was grilling up chicken kabobs to the locals. He seasoned the chicken with Ras El Hanout. Simple yet amazing!
I decided to replicate grilled Moroccan Chicken and wanted these spices to shine through, therefore I kept it very simple. It turned out flavorful, juicy with layers of complexity from all the different spices.
You can make the Ras El Hanout from spices you have on hand or purchase this lovely Villa Jerada Ras El Hanout – made in Seattle!
If unfamiliar, Ras El Hanout is a blend of spices (most often ginger, coriander, cumin, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, turmeric, pepper, paprika) that varies from region to region in the Northern countries of Africa- Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria often used to season tagines, stews and meats. No two are the same.
In Arabic, ras el hanout translates to “top shelf”, originating from North African spice dealers who would blend the very best of their spices, to create an aromatic “signature” blend—sometimes upwards of 30-40 spices! I wish I could tell you the exact spices in the blend I found in Marrakech, but my palate is not that discerning. It tasted so layered and nuanced, lovely!
And YES, you could absolutely turn this grilled Moroccan Chicken into kebabs which would grill up beautifully! Which was my plan, until I realized we had no skewers. So plan B. Either way, delicious, I promise!
Toss the chicken with the flavorful Ras El Hanout paste, then grilled it and keep it warm in the oven until ready to serve. So very easy. Using chicken thighs ensures the chicken stays moist and juicy.
Serve the Moroccan Chicken with a squeeze of lemon and sprinkle with fresh parsley and mint just before serving. Keep it basic or top it with this zesty Preserved Lemon Gremolata!
Moroccan Chicken- a quick and flavorful dinner. Serve with zesty Preserved Lemon Gremolata, Fluffy Basmati Rice (or everyday quinoa, or cauliflower rice) and Grilled Veggies or a big leafy green salad.
Related! 20 Grilling Recipes from around the Globe!
Moroccan Chicken Recipe with Ras El Hanout
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: Chicken, main, grilled
- Method: grill
- Cuisine: moroccan
Description
Grilled Moroccan Chicken with Ras El Hanout, garlic and lemon – a simple healthy recipe, using skinless chicken thighs, bursting with North African flavor! Delicious, fast and easy!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons ras el hanout spice blend
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- lemon zest from one small lemon, plus juice for the end
- parsley or mint for garnish or Preserved Lemon Gremolata!
Instructions
Pre-heat the grill to medium-high.
Make a paste with the olive oil, ras el hanout, salt, garlic and lemon zest, mixing together in a small bowl.
In a medium bowl, toss the paste with the chicken, coating all sides well. You could do this a day before and refrigerate.
Grill the thighs over medium-high heat, getting good grill marks on both sides. Move to a cooler side of grill, cover, and grill until cook through ( to 170 F), or place in a warm 350F oven to finish.
Right before serving, Squeeze with lemon and sprinkle with fresh herbs (mint and/or parsley).
Or make the Preserved Lemon Gremolata, and spoon over top.
Notes
If baking, bake on a sheet pan, on the middle rack, uncovered in 425F oven for 30-35 minutes or until internal temp reaches 165 F.
If buying- this Villa Jerada Ras El Hanout is lovely!
Keywords: moroccan chicken, moroccan chicken recipe, grilled moroccan chicken, ras el hanout chicken, ras el hanout recipes, best moroccan chicken
It smells amazing! I’m excited to try this recipe, have it marinating. I’m going to attempt to roast it on top of baby potatoes and red onion. Fingers crossed!
★★★★★
Another delicious “Sylvia recipe”! When my girls ask for menu ideas, I say, “Sylvia has a great recipe for (fill in the blank)!” Now I can add this Moroccan chicken dish, preserved lemons, and the ras el hanout blend to my list of excellent recipes. The preserved lemon gremolata elevated this dish to new levels. Wow!
★★★★★
Thanks Cheryl!
I used this base recipe to marinade some chicken thighs in the paste. I then made a breadcrumb mix with a blend of herbs and spices(coriander powder, garlic, cayenne, salt, pepper, chilli flakes, lemon zest, chopped parsley) and a splash of olive oil. Coat each thigh in flour, dip in beaten egg mix, then cover in the breadcrumb mix and bake in the oven until crisp and golden brown. Genuinely one of the best things I have ever made. Delicious!!
★★★★★
This recipe looks amazing – would it be possible to do with chicken breast? My family don’t like the texture of thigh (which is annoying).
Yes, of course breast would be fine, just adjust cooking time.
Just want to say thank you for the Ras El Hanout recipe I decided to use it in a vegetarian style dish which allows it to be set up as little bites My bottom layer could be rice or pasta. I chose to have everything separate for personal choice, as my vegetarians wanted Made steamed asparagus and spinach water slightly seasoned with garlic and ginger water was used in pan for spinach to wilt Set aside
Then veggies like onion mushrooms peppers etc stir fried with only a hint of REH garlic etc set aside Topped with seasoned tofu seafood or meat with REH. Done as your recipe for chicken thighs suggest Set it up so everyone could enjoy with no cross contamination whether they were or were not vegetarian I did another version with more REH in veggies and a strong garlic teriyaki to marinate topping Just in case it was too spicy
Thank you so much for the inspiration Finding your ERH recipe and your suggestions was such fun
Great to hear!
Hi Sylvia,
I can’t believe it! I was looking for a chicken thigh recipe with ras el hanout and I found yours! I recognized your face immediately… you catered my wedding 5 1/2 years ago and I don’t know if I ever got a chance to say how perfect it was! THANK YOU!!! I still get compliments all these years later on the menu and presentation! You blew me away and it was NOT an easy crowd! Thank you thank you thank you!! I hope you are well and I can’t wait to try this recipe tonight for dinner!
★★★★★
Oh my goodness Colleen!!! Hi!!! You are so sweet. Glad you found us! xoxo
Gonna have a go at this & serve it with chickpea tfaya
Yum!
This recipe is added into our permanent rotation. Marinated it overnight, adding Lemon EVOO. Didn’t have preserved lemons so made a standard gremolata. Serviced with Trader Joe’s Tzatziki. Family and dinner guests raved about it and requested recipe. Can cook in summer or winter. Delicious – thank you Sylvia!
★★★★★
Awesome, glad this worked for you!
This was another super delicious chicken dish! The flavor was amazing. Thank you again.
★★★★★
Wow, this was fantastic! Followed the recipe exactly and served alongside your Moroccan Lentil Salad. The flavors were so delicious, and it was lovely to eat outside with a delicious glass of wine.
★★★★★
Awesome, glad this worked for you! 🙌
I give this an enthusiastic 5🌟!! So great!! This was a wonderful experience to put all these spices together! I followed the recipe exactly, except used a lime instead of a lemon, with mint over all!!
★★★★★
Sounds perfect!
This was a very tasty recipe. The only criticism I have was that it was too salty. The
Ras el Hanout I used had sea salt as the fourth ingredient, so I would caution cooks
to look at the ingredients in the Ras el Hanout they are using. This recipe is definitely a
keeper, but next time I will eliminate the 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Thank you for
a wonderful and exotic chicken.
★★★★★
Good to know! Thanks for sharing!
Amazing recipe! I served it with Persian style rice.
★★★★★
This was devastatingly delicious !!!
We have an unknown jar of Ras El Hanout spice in the pantry. The lemon zest pulls this together. I love salt and what it does for chicken but next time I may cut the salt by a 25-50 percent. Ah heck no. Leave it salty. The paste marinade was applied about 6 hours before cooking. Used charcoal BBQ which adds character. Served it with brown rice mixed with chopped figs, scallions, and grape tomatoes, and a Raita of yogurt cucumber and garlic. Holy cow !!
★★★★★
Perfect! Also some Ras El Hanout has salt in it…
It was delicious but also super quick and easy. Perfect!
★★★★★
Great recipe but I cannot tolerate all he ads. Too distracting. As I type this there are seven all in motion. Popping up and down. I’m not up for the challenge of fighting to get a recipe. Sorry,
★★★★
ARe you on a desktop of or phone?
I made this a couple of nights ago and cooked it in the oven. It was so delicious and easy! I also made your labneh recipe to go with the chicken – also easy and so very good. Your approach to food and cooking is very closely aligned with how I do things, except you are a trained chef – so my cooking is getting seriously elevated. The photography is beautiful! My only wish is that I could pay somehow for your expertise and get rid of all the super annoying ads.
★★★★★
Sorry about the ads -I know they are annoying. Having the site set up this way makes the recipes accessible to everyone, so that is why I do it. I’m happy you liked the recipe. OH! Kathryn, use the Skip to Recipe button at the top to avoid most of the ads. 🙂
So quick and yummy! We ran out of ras el hanout that we bought in Morocco. Your recipe for the spice blend is perfect!
★★★★★
Great to hear, thanks Teresa!
I have no access to a grill in my downtown condo but started this on sauté in my Instant Pot, pressure cooked it for 4 minutes and finished it on sauté. It was delicious! I did a relish with carrot, red onion and a bit of rice vinegar and topped it with a yogurt, dill and honey sauce.
★★★★★
Love this Beth- way to get creative!!! So proud of you. And great to know others can do this too!
So delicious and flavorful, we made these again as soon as we could. I’m curious if it would taste good with some type of yogurt sauce on the side as well!
★★★★★
Awesome Skye, glad you liked it!
Snd yes, i think it would be great with something yogurty- tzatziki would be yummy.
Delicious! Made for company – everyone loved it! I seared on grill to get marks then transferred to oven. Yum!
★★★★
Made this last night for dinner and everyone loved it. I served it with corn on the cob, watermelon and cucumber salad and a shirataki noodle stir fry. The entire dinner fit together perfectly for a hot summer night. I would have loved to see if the chicken would have tasted better the next day but there were no leftovers! Another winner Sylvia!
★★★★★
Thanks Trudy! Appreciate it!
I really want to make this for some friends who have just had a baby but wondered, how would I need to adapt the cooking time and temp for ‘boned’ thighs?
★★★★★
I would just give them a good sear on the grill- deep grill marks on each side- and finish in a 400 F oven (uncovered) until cooked through (internal temp 170F).
This recipe looks really good! My favorite part is that is looks pretty easy to make. I think it’ll be a food recipe to add to my meal prep. Thanks!
★★★★★
Easy and out of this world! Whole family enjoyed!
★★★★★
Made this tonight in the oven! Propane was out on the grill and I already had the chicken marinating in the fridge. Out of this world delicious!!! Thanks so much for your inspiring recipes!
Thanks Missy! I appreciate this so much and so glad you liked it!!! Hey If you get a chance could you rate the recipe? (using the “stars”?) Thanks… it helps Google find it. 😉
Absolutely!!! 5 stars hands down. Already sent the link to some friends!
★★★★★
Please provide details of how to bake in oven.
★★★★★
Done!
I used to have ras el hanout but I ran out of it. Trader Joe’s used to carry it but they no longer do. Do you know where we could get some of this locally, I live in Spokane.
I wonder if Huckleberries has it? Or bulk section of Rosauers? I will put a recipe out for it in the next day or so!
Order it like everything else, on Amazon. If you have prime it will be there the next day, or the day after that.
This one is a winner in my kitchen!!! I absolutely love it.
Thanks Victor!
Do you have a recipe for the Ras El Hanout paste?
Yes, putting it on this weekend!