Harissa Chicken

This one-dish baked Moroccan-style harissa chicken is warming and earthy with a tangy and mildly spiced sauce. It’s a simple dish that really packs a lot of flavour—the perfect chicken dinner.

Harissa chicken is a dish that delivers on flavour—a spiced, not spicy, warming combination inspired by Moroccan kitchens. Harissa, a spicy chilli paste, is used to great effect to bring warmth without chilli heat when combined with other fragrant ingredients.

Everything is baked in one dish, meaning it's quick, easy and mess-free. It's the perfect recipe to marinate in the morning in the fridge, then straight in the oven in the evening for a fuss-free dinner. The results are juicy roast chicken in a tangy, earthy and utterly delicious sauce.

This delicious chicken dinner is part of my Mediterranean Collection and also my Mediterranean Meat & Seafood Hub, where you'll find more recipes just like it.

What's Ahead?

What is Harissa?

Harissa is a North African chilli paste, most closely associated with Tunisia, where it’s considered a national condiment. Made from dried red chillies, garlic, olive oil, and spices such as cumin, coriander, and caraway, it has a deep, smoky warmth rather than aggressive heat.

In Moroccan cooking, harissa is used with restraint, usually as a seasoning or table condiment. It may be stirred into soups and stews or rubbed onto meats and vegetables. The Le Phare du Cap Bon harissa used here is applied sparingly, adding gentle warmth and depth in a way that reflects Moroccan flavour balance.

Why You'll Love It

• Flavour - This dish really extracts all the flavour from relatively few ingredients, leaving us with a fragrant and flavourful sauce that marries perfectly with juicy roast chicken.
• Quick and Easy - Even if you don't marinate the chicken first, you'll achieve tasty results, but I always tackle this dish the same way; in the morning, before I start work, I prepare everything in the dish I'll cook it in, cover it in plastic and leave in the fridge for the day. Come dinner time, it's straight from the fridge (plastic off, naturally!) and into the oven for an hour. That's stress-free cooking.
• Great with couscous - I love that all I need to serve alongside is some couscous, which is super easy too. Simply boil a kettle and pour over a 1:1 ratio of boiling water to couscous, leave for 5 minutes then fluff with a fork. That couscous soaks up all the delicious sauce.

Stuff You'll Need

This recipe features some key Moroccan flavours that bring the authentic, warm, tangy and fragrant flavours to the dish. Here's what you'll need:

• Chicken - I use marylands (leg and thigh, bone-in and skin-on - often called chicken quarters). You could use skin on thighs too.
• Harissa - comes in many forms, I use Le Phare du Cap Bon variety, but use any you can find (check for spiciness, and add more or less as you see fit).
• Preserved lemon - has a bright and citrusy flavour but more mellow, rounded and fragrant than a sharp, acidic fresh lemon. We use only the skin and it's an essential ingredient to achieve the authentic Moroccan flavour.
• Tomato - to balance out the harissa, I use both tomato concentrate and a fresh tomato - this brings a tang and sweetness to the finished sauce.
• Garlic - adds a savoury back note.
• Cumin - for all its wonderful warming and earthy spice.
• Dried mint - has a unique and fragrant flavour—a more mellow, less vibrant flavour than fresh mint and is used as a subtle enhancement to the flavour, not to overpower.
• Olives - Pitted black or green, added towards the end of cooking, bring a tangy burst of flavour to the sauce - a wonderful pairing.
• Parsley - I like to add a fresh herbal note at the end that won't dominate - finely chopped parsley is perfect.

Step by Step

Making my harissa chicken couldn't be easier. It's a one-pot recipe that never disappoints.

1. Combine all the ingredients (except the olives and parsley) in a baking dish with 1 cup of water and mix well to coat everything. To ensure the flavour permeates, you can make deep slashes with a sharp knife, to the underside of the chicken if you like.
2. Arrange the chicken, skin side up and tuck the tomato pieces into the gaps.
3. Marinate or cook - You can either cook right away or cover in plastic wrap and marinate between 2-24 hours. When you're ready, bake uncovered in a 180ºC/350ºF oven for 1 hour, until the chicken is deep golden brown. In the last 10 minutes of cooking, scatter in the olives.

Sprinkle over the fresh parsley at the end and serve directly from the dish with some fluffy couscous, vegetables or salad.

Suggestions and substitutions

• Harissa - If you can't find harissa paste, then substitute with ½tsp chilli powder mixed with 1 tsp of smoked paprika. This will give a little heat and smoky flavour.
• Preserved lemon - use the zest of a whole fresh lemon with the juice of half. This will give a similar fragrance of preserved lemon without being overpowering.
• Chicken - instead of marylands, use bone-in, skin-on thighs. You can also use skin-on breasts, but reduce the cooking time to 40 minutes to avoid the chicken drying out.

Serving & Storage Suggestions

I always serve mine with some instant couscous, which is simple to prepare and soaks up all the delicious juices and sauce, but I'll often serve a fresh green salad alongside too. It pairs equally well with steamed vegetables or mashed potato too.

• Fridge - Leftovers are fine in the fridge for 3-4 days in an airtight container. Reheat until piping hot.
• Freezer - harissa chicken works well portioned and frozen with a little sauce. I'll reheat from frozen for 5-6 minutes until piping hot, adding a splash of water if it begins to dry out too much.

Ready to get cooking?

As one-pot dishes go, this is one of my favourites - the chicken is golden brown, juicy and full of flavour from the mild and tangy harissa sauce. It's a fantastic dish when you're seeking authentic flavours without slaving over a hot stove, just leave it in the oven for the magic to happen. Hope you enjoy!

More Moroccan recipes

If you liked this recipe, I'm sure you'll love some more of my favourite Moroccan recipes.

• Zaalouk (Moroccan Eggplant Salad)
• Moroccan Blood Orange Salad
• Moroccan Kefta Tagine
• Moroccan Matbucha – Tomato & Pepper Salad

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