Lamb Tagine {Easy Moroccan Style Stew}

A large casserole dish filled with homemade lamb tagging, with flakes almonds on top.

4.75 from 28 votes

Lamb Tagine {Easy Moroccan Style Stew}

This fragrant Lamb Tagine recipe is a simple version of the classic dish from Morocco. It's an easy one pot favourite - it’s perfect for batch cooking too.

Prep Time10

Cook Time2 45

Total Time2 55

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Family Food

Servings: People

Author: Sarah Rossi

Ingredients

2 tsp Olive oil
900 g Lamb pieces Cut into 4cm pieces
1 Onion Peeled and finely chopped
3 Garlic cloves Peeled and crushed
2 tsp Fresh ginger Peeled and finely chopped
2 tsp Cumin seeds
3 tbsp Ras el hanout spice mix See notes
500 ml Lamb stock
500g Butternut squash Peeled and cubed (or frozen)
400 g Chickpeas Tinned, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp Cornflour (if needed) See notes

To serve:

25 g Flaked almonds
20 g Fresh mint Finely chopped (Optional)

Metric - Imperial

Instructions

To cook on the hob:

In a heavy saucepan, heat half of the oil over a medium heat and brown the meat in batches, moving aside when browned.
Add the remaining oil to the empty pan and lower the heat. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, cumin and ras el hanout. Cook over the low heat for 10-15 minutes until everything turns sticky and fragrant.
Add back in the meat and stock, put a lid on and continue cooking over a low heat for about 1.5-2 hours until the meat is almost totally softened.
Add in the butternut squash and drained chickpeas and cook for a further 30 minutes with the lid on. (If, when the squash is cooked, you’d like your sauce to be a little thicker, make a slurry with the cornflour and a little of the sauce, then stir it back into the tagine and cook for just a few minutes to thicken.)
Give everything a good stir, check the meat is very soft and serve sprinkled with almonds and mint.

To cook in the slow cooker:

Fry your lamb on the hob to brown (unless you have a slow cooker you can sear in, in which case, do it in this), then add all of your ingredients, except the chickpeas, and cook on HIGH for 4-6 hours or LOW for 6-8 depending on which suits your timings best.
Pop the chickpeas in about an hour before the end.

To cook in the oven:

Preheat your oven to 180℃ fan/200℃/Gas Mark 6/350F.
Follow all of the steps as outlined in the hob method above, but rather than simmering on the hob, cook the tagine in the oven for around 2 hours or until the meat is very soft.

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Notes

Lamb: I like to use lamb leg steaks cut up to keep it lean, but lamb shoulder cubes will give a softer texture. Any cut that is suitable for slow cooking works well here.

Ras el hanout: A good quality ras el hanout spice mix makes all the difference. I like the Bart brand.

Onion, garlic and ginger: You can either use fresh of these or the type in a jar or frozen. All are fine.

Butternut squash: I like to use frozen because it comes already peeled and chopped, so saves so much time. You can also use fresh if you prefer though.

Cornflour (corn starch in the US!): If, when the squash is cooked, you’d like your sauce to be a little thicker make a slurry with the cornflour and a little of the sauce then stir it back into the tagine and cook for just a few minutes to thicken.

Nutrition