Do you have a meal that is so intimately connected with a memory, it represents far more to you than a collection of ingredients? Fellow food lover that you are, I suspect you do. That is how I feel about this Crock Pot Moroccan Chicken.
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Warmly spiced with cinnamon and cumin, sweetened with golden raisins, and protein-rich with chickpeas and juicy chicken, this healthy crockpot chicken recipe is comforting, filling, and addictive. It’s a fantastic, easy crockpot chicken recipe you should add to your menu this week.
For me, however, it tastes something of more than warm spices: its flavor is one of warm welcome, hospitality, and a joyful night with new friends.
Despite the fact that I haven’t been to Morocco (bucket list!), Moroccan food has been a hallmark in many happy memories.
When I returned to visit my host family France nearly a decade later, my host mom cooked Ben and myself a Moroccan chicken tagine (you can find this stellar recipe in The Well Plated Cookbook, and an old recollection of our little French reunion here).
When I first moved to Minneapolis, a new friend invited me over for Moroccan dinner night. We all sat on the floor, ate too much couscous, and laughed like we’d known each other for years instead of hours.
And most recently when I moved to Milwaukee, another couple I barely knew invited me over to share the simple, healthy meal they’d prepared for themselves that night, this slow cooker Moroccan chicken.
I asked if a) I could have the recipe and b) if I could post it publicly, because, well I have this job that’s kind of hard to explain to people when you first meet them. :)
Fortunately, they agreed and here we are!
5 Star Review
“The only mistake I made with this recipe was not doubling it! So easy to make and yet nutritious. My family and friends thank you!”
— Debra —
How to Make Crockpot Moroccan Chicken
Like many of my favorite healthy crockpot chicken recipes, this one is family-friendly, easy to prep ahead, and tastes excellent leftover too.
The Ingredients
- Chicken Thighs. As with my Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken and Jerk Chicken Tacos recipes, I strongly recommend using chicken thighs. They are less likely to overcook and hold up well to the bold Moroccan flavors in this recipe.
- Chickpeas. Moroccan flavors and chickpeas are a perfect match (just ask this Moroccan Chickpea Salad). Plus, they’re packed with vitamins and fiber.
- Tomatoes + Bell Peppers. Beautiful and nutritious pops of color. The tomatoes help add rich flavor to the sauce.
- Golden Raisins. Delicious little sweet morsels and a classic ingredient in Moroccan cooking. They taste lovely beside the spices.
- Tomato Paste. Helps make the sauce taste like it’s been simmering away all day.
- Spices. Cumin, cinnamon, and paprika bring this dish to life. They’re bold (but not spicy), warm, and earthy.
- Creamy Peanut Butter. Peanut butter gives the sauce body and adds another layer of deep, complex, and nutty flavor. Not a peanut butter fan? You can use any nut butter you enjoy here.
The Directions
- Add everything but the chicken and nut butter to a slow cooker, then stir.
- Scatter the chicken over the top.
- Cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 2 to 3 hours.
- Stir in the nut butter.
- Serve as desired and ENJOY!
TIP!
Crock pot Moroccan chicken cooks in about two hours on high or six hours on low, but you can let it go for even longer if you have a programmable slow cooker like this one that automatically shifts to “keep warm” once the cooking time is finished.
How to Serve Moroccan Chicken
Our favorite way to serve crock pot Moroccan chicken is with a delicious grain. Here are a few ideas:
- With Rice. Brown rice, white rice, or cauliflower rice would all be tasty.
- With Quinoa. The nutty flavor of quinoa would pair nicely with this dish.
- With Couscous. This chicken and Moroccan Couscous would be a fabulous pairing. For tips on cooking couscous, check out my Couscous Recipe!
Storage Tips
- To Store. Refrigerate chicken in an airtight storage container for up to 3 days.
- To Reheat. Rewarm leftover chicken in a Dutch oven on the stovetop over medium-low heat or in the microwave.
- To Freeze. Freeze leftovers in an airtight freezer-safe storage container for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Meal Plan Tip
Dice the chicken, tomatoes, peppers, and onion up to 1 day in advance. Store each separately in the refrigerator.
Leftover Ideas
Pile this Moroccan chicken over a bed of greens for a hearty, easy salad.
What to Serve with Moroccan Chicken
Recommended Tools to Make this Recipe
- Slow Cooker. Easy to use and incredibly versatile.
- Measuring Spoons. Two-sided spoons mean fewer dishes.
- Non-Slip Cutting Board. My go-to cutting board.
This crock pot Moroccan chicken is one of the very first recipes I shared on my blog. I hope that it leads to happy memories for you too!
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Crock Pot Moroccan Chicken
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Ingredients
- 2 cans reduced sodium chickpeas (15 ounce cans), rinsed and drained
- 1 can whole tomatoes (28 ounces), drained and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 large bell peppers seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 medium red onion chopped
- ⅓ cup golden raisins
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¼ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 3 tablespoons creamy unsalted peanut butter almond butter, or other nut butter of choice (I used all natural peanut butter)
- Prepared brown rice quinoa, or whole wheat couscous, for serving
Instructions
- In the bottom of a 4 to 6-quart slow cooker, stir together the chickpeas, tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, golden raisins, tomato paste, water, cumin, cinnamon, paprika, and salt.
- Scatter the chicken pieces over the top.
- Cover and cook until the chicken is tender and cooked through, about 6-8 hours on LOW or 2-3 hours on HIGH.
- Stir in the nut butter.
- Serve over rice, quinoa, or couscous, garnished with fresh cilantro.
Notes
- I strongly recommend chicken thighs over chicken breasts in slow cooker recipes, as chicken breasts tend to dry out quickly.
- TO STORE: Refrigerate chicken in an airtight storage container for up to 3 days.
- TO REHEAT: Rewarm leftover chicken in a Dutch oven on the stovetop over medium-low heat or in the microwave.
- TO FREEZE: Freeze leftovers in an airtight freezer-safe storage container for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Nutrition
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hey girl this looks so good!
This meal is gorgeous! Love the nut butter and chickpeas :)
This looks so delicious… I don’t own a slow cooker but I do have a very pretty tajine (which is Moroccan!) so I’ll be sure to remember this recipe! :)
This is so stunning! I fell in love with Moroccan food when I was there a few years ago but I haven’t tried making it home. I must try this recipe though, it looks amazing and love that it’s made in the slow cooker.
Hi Erin
Great slow cooker recipe. I did not have raisins on hand so used some dry cranberries toward the end of cooking time turned out ok not too spicy but a nice blend, thank you. Louise
Louise, I”m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks so much for trying it and letting me know how it turned out for you.
Sounds amazing (and looks). Love Moroccan food!
I do too Simon, thank you!
I love this!! Looks delicious. How would you be able to add in lentils and omit chicken? I imagine just increase the amount of liquid in the slow cooker??
Hi Jennifer! Since I have never tested this recipe with lentils, I honestly can’t tell you how it would turn out. I would suggest simply omitting the chicken, and you can add more chickpeas as you like. If you would like a slow cooker lentil recipe, I have one that you can check out here: https://www.wellplated.com/cauliflower-curry/
I don’t have any canned tomatoes now. Can I use a few fresh ones? Thank you.
Alla, I have never tried this recipe with fresh tomatoes, so I can’t say for certain. I do know that the liquid in the canned diced tomatoes is very important to making sure the recipe does not dry out. If you use a lot of fresh tomatoes and they are very juicy, it may work, but it would be an experiment. If you decide to try the recipe, I would love to hear how it turns out!
I would love to try this recipe, but any recipe that calls for canned tomatoes does not work for me. So I will get my fresh tomatoes and cook them down enough so I will not need the tomato paste either. This sounds so yummy especially with peanut butter at the end. Will be making this tomorrow. Thanks
Honestly, the only mistake I made with this recipe was not doubling it! So easy to make and yet nutritious. My family and friends thank you!
Debra, this makes my day! Thank you so much for trying it and leaving this wonderful review.
Did not have any golden raisins on hand so omitted. Thought it was a little bland so added cayenne pepper to spice it up a little. Thanks for the recipe:)
I’m glad you enjoyed it Barb!
Can you make this with chicken on the bone instead of boneless?
Hi Eliana, you can definitely cut the chicken off the bone and into pieces. If you are thinking you want to use whole chicken pieces, that will probably work too, but the cooking time may be a little longer to make sure they are cooked through. I’d recommend using a meat thermometer to check.
Amazing recipe! Made it tonight for the first time and my younger kids loved it! Definitely a keeper!!! Only change we did was we had to mix the chicken in to finish cooking it completely. Otherwise it turned out great!
Hooray! I’m glad it was a hit. Thanks for sharing this review, Nichole!
made this today, the whole family loved it! followed the recipe almost to the T (used white onion because we didn’t have red, and did not add the 2 tablespoons water because our crock pot tends to make already-watery dishes). we cut raw chicken thighs off the bone before putting the pieces in the crockpot, and we threw in the bone and skin to infuse flavor. definitely will make again!
Erin, thanks for taking the time to report back! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it.
This is a real crowd pleaser! Every time I have made it, I get a request for the recipe. Thanks for such an easy, healthy, delicious recipe!
I’m so happy to hear that this was a hit, Hannah! Thank you for taking the time to share this kind review!
Thank you so much for your excellent Moroccan Chicken recipe. It was so rich and delicious and unusual. Your recipes always turn out, and I always turn to you for guaranteed delicious food. Thank you Erin!
Thank you for taking the time to share this kind review, Rita! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe!
Hi there
This recipe looks awesome! How would you adjust the amounts for a 3 quart slow cooker?
Hi Aliza! I’ve only tested this recipe in a 6-quart slow cooker, so I can’t say for certain. You could try halving the recipe. If you decide to play around with it, I’d love to hear how it goes!
The beans were flavorless and kind of mushy tasting. Needed whole, unsalted peanuts, some herbs such as cilantro, some heat, like jalapenos. This recipe made a ton, but I threw most of it away. All the ingredients are good and the picture is good, but the taste is just not there.
I’m sorry that this recipe wasn’t to your tastes, Diane. I (and many other readers) have truly enjoyed it, so I wish it would’ve been a hit for you too!
Would you be willing to post the sodium for those of us who watch it for health reasons?
Hi Susan! I stopped including sodium info because it can vary so much depending upon what products you used, and I found a lot of conflicting info online, so ultimately I didn’t feel comfortable publishing it because sometimes it wasn’t even in the ballpark. If you’d like to calculate it yourself, there are lots of free tools online (myfitnesspal.com is popular). I hope that helps!
This was delicious! I was running low on time, so I cooked it on high about 3 hours and it was perfect. I don’t normally keep red onions on hand, so next time I would probably use a sweet yellow one.
I’m so happy that you enjoyed it, Angela! Thank you for sharing this kind review!
Why don’t you include the amount of sodium in your recipes? It would be helpful for a health conscious person.
Hi! I stopped including sodium info because it can vary so much depending upon what products you used, and I found a lot of conflicting info online, so ultimately I didn’t feel comfortable publishing it because sometimes it wasn’t even in the ballpark. If you’d like to calculate it yourself, there are lots of free tools online (myfitnesspal.com is popular). I hope that helps!
This looks so so good! How would you adapt for an Instant Pot?
Hi Megan! You could try this using the slow cooker setting on your Instant Pot. I hope you enjoy the recipe if you try it!
For whatever it’s worth, I did make this in my Instant Pot tonight. My chicken was still slightly frozen (and I used breasts, not thighs — was just what was on hand!), but it worked great. Instead of all whole tomatoes, I used one can of crushed and one of diced, and added an extra 1/4 cup or so of water. I left the chickpeas out too, to stir in at the end with the peanut butter (and then actually decided to make a cauliflower rice-carrot-chickpea bowl and serve the chicken over that instead anyway). I cooked it all on high pressure for 15 minutes, but only because of the frozen chicken — 8 or 9 probably would have been just fine. So just a couple tweaks to make sure there’s enough liquid, and it worked perfectly!
Yay! So happy to hear, thank you Kiley!
I’ve made this 4 times now, minus the capsicum and onion, I used onion flakes instead and it’s delicious! I also put orange kumara in it one time instead of the 2nd can of chickpeas and also very delicious. I’m making it for my friends this weekend and I’m excited for them. Thank you
Glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Bonz!
I don’t usually comment but I felt compelled, not just because this recipe is fantastic (which it is, we all loved it and my 15 month old son devoured it for dinner and lunch the next day) but because, like you, I have warm memories attached to these flavors. this recipe so closely resembles one in my recipe box, given to me by a former patient of mine and cooking it always makes me fondly think of that gentleman. Your version was simpler thanks to the crockpot and even tastier thanks to the peanut butter! Thanks again for a great recipe, we loved it!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed it, Kathryn! Thank you for sharing this kind review!
Delicious!!!! I made this using chicken breast since that is what I had. I added dried apricots and a tiny bit more spice and served it with cauliflower rice. I will add more raisins next time since it really tasted fabulous with them and I had been a bit hesitant about including them.
My husband LOVED it!!!! Will be making this again!!
So great to hear you all enjoyed this dish Mims! Thank you for this kind review!
Are the raisins necessary? I do want to try this but my entire family (including myself) despise raisins so I plan on omitting them but want to make sure I won’t be compromising the flavors.
You can leave them out!
I always forget to pull meat out ahead of time can I start frozen?
Hi Vande. I have never cooked my chicken from frozen in this recipe so I can’t say for sure. I do know that if chicken is added into the crock pot frozen you will have to cook it for a longer time.
I’m excited to try this dish but Where’s the measurements for spices?
Hi Josh! You can find all the information for the recipe in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. You can click the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top of the page to take you right to it.
This turned out pretty good! The only slight tweaks I made were a) I ended up adding in 4 cloves of garlic, b) I didn’t have any cumin so I subsituted it with approximately 1 TB of curry and 1 TB of coriander and c) I browned the chicken with a bit of salt for a few minutes on a frying pan, then added it into the crockpot, then sauteed the onion and bell peppers in a little bit of salt for a few minutes and added it in. It ended up taking closer to about 4-ish hours for the chicken to be fully cooked. It turned out really nice! Will definitely make again :)
Glad it worked out for you Lu!
Served this to my friends at a movie night while watching Casablanca. It was a huge hit. Added some Harissa and served with rice vinegar to cut the sweetness. Everyone was impressed not only by the flavor but the easy preparation. Thanks
Hi Stacey! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
This was delicious and so easy to make! What do you think about throwing in some unsalted peanuts, too?
Hi Marie! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review! Sounds tasty!
You don’t say how to dice the peppers, whether to drain the chickpeas or anything else. Super vague instructions.
I’m sorry to hear you are having trouble with the recipe Alex. Are you viewing it in the recipe card or just looking at the overview of it in the blog post? Because in the recipe card it says for the 1st ingredient “2 cans reduced sodium chickpeas (15 ounce cans), rinsed and drained” and 3rd ingredient in the recipe card says “2 large bell peppers seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces”. Hope this helps!