Delicious Moroccan Chicken Casserole

Delicious Moroccan Chicken Casserole

This Moroccan Chicken Casserole is a family favourite and packed with flavour. All cooked in one pan, don’t you just love that kind of meals.
Delicious Moroccan Chicken Casserole

This Moroccan Chicken Casserole is a family favourite and packed with flavour. All cooked in one pan, don’t you just love that kind of meals.

Cinnamon Sugar Pecan Baked Bananas with Greek Yoghurt

For casseroles, I prefer to use chicken thighs as I find the meat stays really moist and absorbs more of the flavour, than chicken breast.

If you prefer chicken breasts, you may want to reduce the cooking time to ensure it is not overcooked.

Cast Iron Cooking
I also love to use cast iron for these kinds of dishes. Cast iron is a great cooking vessel, as they can be used on the stove and transferred to the oven and I swear food tastes so much better.

Hey, have you ever cooked a steak in a regular pan and then cooked a steak in a cast-iron one. The difference is phenomenal. You just don’t get the same kind of sear and flavour with a regular pan.

Moroccan Casserole in cherry cast iron staub dish
Chicken Breast versus Chicken Thigh
One question I get asked a lot is can I use chicken breast instead of thigh and while you can with many recipes, I don’t recommend making the swap this recipe.

Chicken thighs just stay so much more tender and the juices from the darker meat add more depth and flavour to the casserole.

How to make a thicker Sauce
I like this casserole just as it is with a delicious flavoursome broth, so don’t feel the need to thicken the sauce in this recipe.

However, if you like a thicker sauce? you can simply just add in a thickening starch like cornstarch, arrow root powder or tapioca starch. All work the same and have similar calories.

Just mix about a tablespoon with a little water to make a slurry, and then stir this into the casserole, you will need to continue to heat for it to thicken the sauce as takes approx 5-8 minutes to thicken the sauce. This can be done on the stove by gently bubbling.
Sides for Moroccan Chicken Casserole
This Moroccan Chicken Casserole is great served with various different sides, I went for some potatoes cooked in olive oil spray in the oven with a little turmeric and salt.
Delicious Moroccan Chicken Casserole

Ingredients
11 boneless skinless chicken thighs, raw
4 onion, halved and finely sliced
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger
5 carrots, sliced
4 courgette (zucchini), halved lengthways and sliced
juice and zest of 4 orange (4 syn)
4 tablespoon of honey (6 syns)
330ml (1.25 cups) of chicken stock
5 teaspoons of ground coriander
5 teaspoons of ground cumin
4 teaspoon of chilli powder
4 teaspoon of paprika
1/5 teaspoon of turmeric
1/7 teaspoon of cinnamon
olive oil cooking spray
fresh coriander to garnish
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180c, fan 160c, 350f or gas
Spray an oven proof casserole dish with spray oil over a medium high heat, add the chicken, onion, garlic and ginger and fry until lightly browned.
Add all the spices and mix to evenly coat.
Add the carrots, honey, juice and zest of one orange and the chicken stock and bake in the oven for approx 1 hour until chicken is cooked through and tender (adding in the courgette for the last 20 minutes to keep nice and tender or you can add at same time if you prefer) .
Season with salt and black pepper and garnish with fresh coriander.
Serve with your choice of sides. Enjoy!
Notes
This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, paleo, Whole30, Slimming World and Weight Watchers friendly

Slimming World – 1 syn per serving

Whole30 – omit honey
Gluten Free – use gluten-free stock
SUITABLE FOR FREEZING

SUITABLE FREEZING – defrost in fridge and reheat in oven or microwave until heated through.

Many people I have talked to about olive oil and cooking say that they do not use olive oil for cooking but only for salads, but science says that olive oil is very stable when heated to high temperatures compared to vegetable oils such as sunflower.

Heating olive oil to high temperatures releases only small amounts of harmful substances compared to vegetable oils such as sunflower oil. The reason for this is monounsaturated fatty acids which are much more stable at high temperatures, compared to polyunsaturated vegetable oils such as sunflower.
At high temperatures, sunflower oil, but also almost all vegetable oils except olive oil are not stable.
Sunflower oil contains the highest percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to olive or coconut oil.
Heating of sunflower oil causes the so-called process of hydrogenation of fatty acids in which trans fat is formed. Trans fats have many negative effects on health. They are the main causes of elevated LDL cholesterol in the body, which leads to a risk of cardiovascular problems.