If you’re anything like me, you’re like, “What on earth is Moroccan seasoning?” Well, I gotta tell you – before I made this recipe, I didn’t know either. So, I looked it up. Moroccan seasoning is a blend of nutmeg, cumin, coriander, allspice, ginger, cayenne pepper, and cinnamon. Yummy, right? If you like those seasonings, you’ll LOVE this recipe. Trust me.
Victoria Taylor’s Gourmet Spices sent me a sampling of their spices to try and review. I asked them to also send me a crock pot recipe that I could try. This one arrived in my inbox…and I’ll admit I was skeptical. It calls for cubed butternut squash and Moroccan seasoning – which I had never used before…and chickpeas. It seemed like an odd combination. But buddy, let me tell ya – this stuff is GOOD. If I loved butternut before, now I love it a lot!
You’ll be using one medium butternut for this recipe. If you need a tutorial on how to cut butternut squash, I’ve got you covered. Butternut is a favorite around here, hence the Butternut Ice Cream recipe, so I try to get several every fall to last me through the winter. Please be careful cutting your squash – lest your husband come home and wonder how you mutilated yourself. Been there – done that.
Other veggies present in this stew include carrots, peppers, onions, chickpeas, and tomatoes. I know – it sounds weird…but just go with it. You put all your cut veggies down in the crock and add some Moroccan Seasoning (I give a link for a homemade version in the recipe printable at the bottom). Toss the veggies. I started to get nervous…see how full my crock is?
Lay some chicken thighs on top and sprinkle with the rest of the Moroccan Seasoning. Now my crock is REALLY full….my crock runneth over. Ha! I used my 5 quart size, but started to wish I had broken out my 6 quart. As you can tell, this feeds a lot of people.
I got a little more nervous when I realized we’re only 2 ½ people here…so, I called Mama and told her and Daddy to come to dinner. Whew. Problem solved. Too much stew = invited guests.
Ta da! And pardon the terrible pictures for this post…it was cloudy and rainy all day and I had to use the flash. I hate the flash. I hate being flashed too, for the record.
You could serve this by putting the veggies in soup bowls and a whole chicken thigh on top…or you can do what I did.
I shredded the thighs and stirred them back into the soup. I like shredding chicken. It’s soothing…and fun. And I get to eat it while I’m doing it. The truth comes out.
I served our stew with these biscuits.
These are all the seasonings I was sent by Victoria Taylor Gourmet: Moroccan Seasoning, No Salt Lemon Pepper, New Orleans Seasoning, Pizza Seasoning, Roasted Garlic Slices, Pie Spices, and Sicilian Spices.
Crock Pot Moroccan Chicken Stew
Modified from Victoria Taylor’s Gourmet Blog
- ½ pound baby carrots
- 1 cup chopped green peppers
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 medium butternut squash, cut into 2 inch cubes
- 1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained
- 2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or chicken breast
- 3 tablespoons Moroccan seasoning (homemade version here)
- In a 5-6 quart crock pot, combine carrots, peppers, onion, lemon juice, ginger, squash, chickpeas, and tomatoes.
- Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons Moroccan seasoning. Toss veggies to coat.
- Lay chicken thighs on top of veggies. Sprinkle with remaining seasoning.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove chicken and shred. Stir back into stew. Or serve thighs whole on top of veggies in a soup bowl.
Yield – 8 servings
Hi there. I just discovered your crockpot Moroccan stew recipe. It looks fabulous! Is the recipe calling for one teaspoon of ground ginger or fresh?
I see there is also ginger in the Moroccan seasoning mix
Ground ginger for the win!
Oh wow!! This sounds awesome! I’m strictly paleo and I could have this. Don’t like chick peas but I love everything else! Will try for sure! So nice and rare to find non processed crock recipes! Tks so much for sharing!
I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Do you think I could cook this on high for 4 hours? Maybe precook the squash? We do a monthly slow cooker lunch at work and have a limited time to cook.
I usually have good results by halving the time on high versus the longer low option. So, I think it should work fine. 🙂
I’m cooking this tomorrow and am so excited!!! I’ve always wanted to try something Moroccan, and this is doable for me and my not so wonderful cooking skills. Plus, I’m guessing this is going to smell amazing cooking all day tomorrow! Can’t wait for my house to smell Moroccan! ? Thanks so much for the recipe!!!!
I love Moroccan chicken anything…I’m wondering if the stew/soup makes enough juice to be able to serve over cous cous (regular little grains, not Israeli pearls)?
It’s not overly juicy, but I think it has enough to serve like you’re suggesting.
I’m not the biggest fan of butternut squash, I know I’m weird, but I love zucchini. Do you think zucchini would be a good replacement? Love your site!
They won’t cook at the same time frame. Squash takes a lot longer than zucchini. If you make the switch, I would probably add the zucchini half way through. 🙂
Do we need to add water to this recipe?
Nope! 🙂
This sounds so delicious! I was thinking about trying sweet potatoes in this recipe – how do you think they would hold up in the crock pot? I also think I might add golden raisins!
They do very well! Crock on. 🙂
I have many Moroccan friends and have visited there twice. I haven’t tried this yet but it looks pretty close. It’s on my to do list. Try it over steamed couscous some day. For authentic couscous, don’t just add boiling water like they tell you too. Ick. Add some boiling water and let it sit ten minutes. Then put it in a rice steamer for 20 min. Take it out and work out the lumps. Repeat that 3 times and your couscous is melt in your mouth tender… and authentic. Since I have gluten issues I use corn grits to make corn couscous like they do in the Sahara. Yummy.
About how many cups is one butternut squash? I live in SE Asia where they are not available, so I bought a small pumpkin to substitute.
I wish I could tell you – but I have absolutely no idea. They really vary in size. 🙁
Do you think frozen butternut squash would work or would it be too watery?
It might work…you could cut back a little on other liquid to compensate for that. 🙂
nevermind, the option appeared once i submitted my question. then i got a pop up with it too. lol
maybe i’m blind or it’s just the lack of sleep, but could you direct me to exactly where the “get my daily emails” option is? thanks
🙂 I see your other comment.
This looks really good. We have butternut squash to use, so I’m always looking for recipes. Thank you for posting this!
Lisa :o)
I <3 butternut!
My slow cooker kicked the bucket last week—and I cried.
I’m going slow cooker shopping this weekend, any suggestions?
This recipe looks so good, I would make it tonight if we had a slow cooker and didn’t abstain from meat on Fridays
I really like my Hamilton Beach nesting set – it comes with three different sizes. 🙂 It’s easy to store and it cooks very well. I would buy it again in a heartbeat.
I love the blend of spices in Moroccan cooking. If you want to go “authentic” next time you have this, try serving it with couscous! SOooo good! 🙂 I love couscous! I also have a recipe for Moroccan chicken that I just love! It could probably be easily adapted to the crock pot, since you simmer the stew on the stove for a while. It doesn’t have all of the above veggies, but it includes raisins which go so well with all of the spices. I like the idea of the butternut in this recipe – I just might add that to my own version. 🙂
I’m still not sure how I feel about couscous. 🙂 I like rice. LOL
I am trying to enter the contest to win the spices and cannot figure it out. Unless I did what I was supposed to do and it worked. How do I find out? Sara
Sara, did you click on the Do It button on the right of the Rafflecopter widget? If so and then you entered your information you should be all set. 🙂
I need to grab a couple ingredients, but as soon as i do I will be making this, it sounds great!
I <3 chickpeas! 🙂
Oh my, this recipe includes all my favorites. Thank you! You are so good to us.
🙂 Just passing on the recipe! It is very tasty.
As one of our children has numerous food allergies (including chicken)I am always on the lookout for recipes that we are all able to eat. I’m going to try this with pork as I have an abundance of butternut squash in my kitchen.
You can never have too many butternuts. 🙂
Goldmine on the recipes. Thanks for sharing.
Woot! Crock on! 🙂
I really want to try squash! I purchased an acorn squash this summer and it’s still sitting on the counter :- I just don’t know what to do with it or even how to go about preparing it. I love spices!
If you’re looking for a kickin’ acorn squash recipe, check out this one from Pioneer Woman: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/10/delicious-baked-acorn-squash/
Thanks Stacy! I guess it isn’t and acorn squash! Not sure what kind of squash it is :-, lol. I took a picture of it, I will email it to ya! 🙂 Then you can “school” me on it! 🙂
Thanks!
Teri
Let’s figure it out. 🙂
That recipe looks amazing! And I know my husband would love to try the New Orleans spices 🙂
I haven’t tried those yet – but I know they’ll be delicious!
I love to try new spices and different recipe. Would love to win these.
I just tried the lemon pepper on some chicken the other day and it was amazing!