Tagine-Style Lamb Stew

By John Willoughby

Tagine-Style Lamb Stew
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
2 hours
Rating
5(1,620)
Comments
Read comments

Traveling in Morocco 30-some years ago, I had eaten tagines — stews distinguished by being cooked in the pot of the same name — that I did not recall as involving any browning.

This method is described as “starting the tagine cold.” It involves heating the lamb gently along with spices and other aromatics, allowing the flavors to fully penetrate the meat. At that point it is covered and cooked until tender.

When I tried the “cold start” approach, substituting a low heating of the lamb with aromatics and a little butter for the usual hard sear in olive oil, it worked like (well, kind of like) magic. The overall flavor of the dish was less robust than one that began with browning, but it was equally flavorful, in a gentler way.

Featured in: Deep Flavor, No Browning Required

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
    Subscribe

  • Print Options

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings
  • 2pounds lamb shoulder
  • 2tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1small onion, grated (about ⅓ cup)
  • 4cloves garlic, minced
  • 1teaspoon black pepper
  • 1teaspoon salt
  • 1teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • ¼cup apricot preserves
  • ⅓cup red wine vinegar
  • 120-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 2cups chicken stock
  • ¼cup raisins
  • ¼cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 2tablespoons lemon juice
  • Cooked couscous, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

531 calories; 30 grams fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 12 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 38 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 11 grams sugars; 27 grams protein; 631 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by
Cooking Newsletter illustration

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Trim excess fat from the lamb and cut into 1-inch cubes.

  2. Step 2

    In a Dutch oven or other large, heavy-bottomed pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the lamb, onion, garlic, pepper, salt, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, red pepper flakes, apricot preserves and vinegar and cook, stirring frequently, until the aroma of the spices is strong, about 5 to 7 minutes. (Do not allow the meat to brown.)

  3. Step 3

    Add chickpeas and stock, bring just to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer gently until the lamb is very tender, about 1 hour 15 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Add the raisins and continue to cook, uncovered, until they are nicely plumped, about 10 minutes more. Remove from heat, stir in the parsley and lemon juice, and serve with couscous.

Ratings

5 out of 5
1,620 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Comments

Conibral

Great recipe but 1.5 hours is no where near enough time to make the lamb tender enough to create "ohs and ahs". We had a Saturday night party - I cooked the lamb for 2 hours on a low boiling simmer on Friday night and let cool overnight. I put the dish (uncovered) in a 200 degree oven for 10 hours on Saturday. One probably doesn't need to cook it that long, but I will say that it was the most tender lamb I've ever had. I'd definitely make it again, and cook it low and slow for a few hours.

Nina V

Another way to serve this delicious lamb stew is over rice served the Lebanese way: break up a bit of angel hair pasta into little pieces and saute in butter until they turn brown, add rice and saute a bit and then add water and proceed cooking. It's delicious served with stews.

Anthony

Used olive oil for the butter, diced dried apricots instead of preserves, added a cup of green lentils and an extra cup of chicken stock. Transcendant!

papa pete

Delicious! Next time I will add more raisins. Not too spicy, could kick up the red pepper a bit. I added a half a bag of spinach in my fridge that was not getting any younger. Cous Cous was good but other grains should work fine.

JKNYCBK

Wow, this is fantastic. I did as other commenters said and replaced the preserves and raisins with chopped dried apricots (maybe 8 of them), and cooked for twice as long.

Anne

Well-balanced and very tasty. I adhered to the recipe with a few differences: could not find shoulder so I used semi-boneless leg of lamb at butcher's recommendation. Also adjusted the sweet - cut to 1 Tbs of apricot preserves, and 3/4 cup of dried fruit (raisins and apricots) - and used Aleppo pepper instead of red pepper flakes. Meat was tender after simmering for 90 minutes. I also chilled the stew long enough to be able to skim off the fat, otherwise too oily for me. Guests loved it!

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

Advertisement

or to save this recipe.