Moroccan Chicken And Lentils {with Dirty Couscous}

I'm a big fan of dinners that can be cooked in one pot. It means less cleaning and usually a lot less time spent in the kitchen and this Moroccan Chicken and Lentils recipe is a goodun'. It ticks all the boxes you need it to and the kids love it. And if you are super smart you will make a little bit extra to pop into tomorrows lunch boxes.

Moroccan Chicken And Lentils

Who doesn't love a good curry? Ummm. Most of my family actually.

For me, it's a case of the hotter the better, but my kids and wussy husband (I can say that because he never reads my blog), well they are not too happy with the burn so I have to compromise by cooking spicy dishes like this.. .. without the spicy.

But don't you worry, this amazing Moroccan Chicken dish has all the flavor of a Moroccan curry but with zero burn. Kids are happy and I get to sprinkle a little chilli on my plate to keep my braver taste buds satisfied :)

The recipe calls for a few pantry staples like spices, dried lentils and couscous and I always keep crushed garlic and ginger in the fridge. The only fresh ingredients you need to add are chicken and vegetables. So if you are a little bored with regular ol' chicken & veg meal and want something a little different for dinner - this is the dish to try!

Dirty Couscous

And Why dirty couscous you may be wondering? That's just a little trickery on my side. We used to only purchase standard couscous, not the wholewheat variety. To jazz it up a bit and sell the wholewheat variety to the pickier members of the family, I just called it 'dirty'. And everyone ate it without the fuss. Yip. It was that simple.

Ingredients

I mostly use chicken breasts fo this recipe but you can easily use chicken thighs (see the notes in the recipe). Either are fine. The vegetables and chicken I buy fresh, the rest are store cupboard staples. I'm going to admit right now that I usually buy crushed ginger and crushed garlic ready crushed and keep it in the fridge. It's a little lazy, I know, but in my defence it's Clean, it's easy and it means I don't have to faff about peeling garlic and ginger then crushing them. Lazy, I did tell you.

I've also been known to buy frozen pre diced onions if I see them on offer. But I'll leave that there!

Lentils are one of those ingredients I can get my lot to eat when they're cooked in something, but balk at the sound of their name. I don't know what it is, really. Lentils are pretty flavorless to me. I've used green in these but you can use red if you prefer. Either one is absolutely fine, with the green having slightly more flavor than the red, but not nearly enough flavor to be able to pick them out in this dish. The spices give such a lovely flavor, the slight earthiness of green lentils isn't an issue.

Storing Leftovers

There's two things about a dinner recipe like this. The first is that you get a yummy dinner, the second is...leftovers! This is an ideal recipe to make double of with the intention of a lunch (or two) over the following two or three days. Hot, cold, the flavor tends to intensify overnight and makes lunch the next day something to really look forward to.

You can pack this up while it's hot and let it cool down 'ready packed' before putting it in the fridge.

If you have leftovers and they're not going to be for lunchboxes, simply cover this with food wrap and pop it in the fridge once it's cool. You can then keep it for up to 2-3 days. To reheat this Moroccan chicken with lentils, I pop it in the microwave and reheat for 2 minutes, stirring halfway through until it's piping hot all the way through.

More Clean Eating Chicken Dinner Recipes

• Blood orange chicken
• Lemon spaghetti with chicken
• Dragon chicken
• Sheet pan Caprese chicken
• Healthy chicken stroganoff

How To Make Moroccan Chicken And Lentils

Ingredients

• 2 Chicken breasts (or 4 x thigh fillets cut into quarters)
• 1 Sweet potato peeled and diced
• 1 Onion diced
• 1 tsp Crushed ginger
• ½ tsp Crushed garlic
• 1 tsp Ground paprika
• 1 tsp Ground coriander
• 1 tsp Ground cumin
• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 2 cups Chicken stock
• 1 cup Dried lentils
• 1 cup Uncooked wholewheat couscous

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180.C / 350'F
• Mix together: ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, paprika, oil to make a paste. Mix paste and chicken until chicken is well coated
• Place chicken, lentils, sweet potato, onion and stock in an oven dish. Cover with lid or foil and cook for 1 hour
• Remove from the oven and stir through uncooked couscous. Cover
• Allow to stand for 10-15 minutes until couscous has absorbed all the sauce
• Serve with a spoon of Greek Yogurt and shredded mint leaves (optional)

Moroccan Chicken And Lentils Recipe