Spinach tagine is an everyday Moroccan home dish, made with spinach or Swiss chard, chicken or lamb, chickpeas and garlic. It belongs to the family of simple greens-and-meat tagines that feed Moroccan families on weeknights, and it is most common in spring when greens are abundant. Swiss chard, called elsewhere 'foreign artichoke,' is often used in place of spinach because it is cheaper and more readily available in Moroccan markets. The dish is quick to cook, unlike the slow-braised festive tagines, because greens need only minutes once the meat base is ready.
The greens are wilted and savory, steeped in the garlic-and-cumin broth; the chicken is tender, the chickpeas earthy. It is lighter than most Moroccan tagines, almost like a stew.
Greens cook so fast that they must be added at the very end, after the meat and chickpeas have had their full braise. If they go in early, they dissolve into a dark, stringy mush that coats everything in an unappetizing green film. Added in the last 5-8 minutes, they wilt into the sauce without losing their identity, contributing their iron-rich flavor and their texture. Garlic is the essential pairing for greens in Moroccan cooking, more so than for any other vegetable.
Variations
Swiss chard replaces spinach when spinach is unavailable. Some add preserved lemon. A vegetarian version with just chickpeas and greens is common in Ramadan.
On the Palate
Where Spinach Tagine sits in the Moroccan flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 5
How it's made
6 steps · 20 min
- 18 min
Brown 500 g chicken pieces or lamb chunks in 2 tbsp olive oil; add 2 sliced onions, 4 crushed garlic, 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp paprika, salt; cook 5 min.
- 210 min
Add 1 cup cooked chickpeas, 1 chopped tomato, and water; simmer covered 25 min.
- 35 min
Wash and drain 500 g spinach or chard; add to the tagine.
- 45 min
Cover and cook 8 min until the greens are wilted.
Watch outAdd the greens only in the last five to eight minutes — go in early and they dissolve into a stringy dark mush that films everything; you want them just wilted.
- 53 min
Stir gently; scatter chopped coriander.
- 63 min
Serve with bread.
Archive tool suggestions — not reviewed
These legacy suggestions have not been evidence-reviewed and are not presented as required tools.
