Life is busy, and as much as I love cooking, a one pot dish made on a dreary Sunday to eat throughout the week is the lifeline I need to get me through those dreaded Mondays. My Moroccan inspired vinegar braised chicken is pure comfort food, bursting with the robust flavors of Moroccan cuisine.

The chicken is seasoned with a fragrant spice blend of cumin, harissa, garlic, paprika, and cinnamon, and braised in a broth that hits all the right notes- sweet, sour, and spicy. Apricot jam, apple cider vinegar, harissa sauce, and chicken stock comprise the base of the broth, and the addition of dried apricots, dates, and preserved lemons round it all out for a sauce that only gets better the longer it cooks. I’ve chosen to use a mild harissa sauce to make this dish kid friendly, but a bit of extra heat would be great here too.

The chicken is then cooked low and slow to achieve fall off the bone tenderness. Halfway through cooking I throw in a mix of carrots, fennel, and red onion to the pot, making sure to not submerge them completely, which keeps the veggies tender but toothsome. Serve it all up with fluffy couscous, a heaping pile of fresh mint and cilantro, and don’t forget a few good spoonfuls of that sweet and tangy sauce.

Your week is about to get infinitely better.

Moroccan Inspired Vinegar Braised Chicken

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp harissa powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp kosher salt

4-5 lbs bone-in skin on chicken, mix of white and dark meat

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 Tbsp mild harissa sauce

3 Tbsp apricot jam

3/4 C apple cider vinegar

2 C low sodium chicken stock

1/4 C dried apricots, halved

3 medjool dates, pits removed and quartered

1 preserved lemon, seeds removed and cut into quarters

1 cinnamon stick

3 carrots, cut into 2-3” pieces

1 large bulb fennel, cut into wedges

1 medium red onion, cut into 1/2” slices

couscous, cooked according to package instructions

mint

cilantro

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Make the spice rub by combining ground cumin, harissa powder, garlic powder, ground cinnamon, paprika, and salt in a small bowl. Generously sprinkle spice mixture onto chicken and rub it in to make sure the chicken is evenly coated. If you have time, you can let the chicken marinate in the rub for 30 minutes or so before searing. If not, it’s fine to sear the the chicken immediately.

In a large dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. It’s really important to not have the heat up too high when searing the chicken, to keep the spices from burning. Sear the chicken in batches, cooking a few minutes on each side, just long enough to give a golden brown color to the skin. Transfer chicken to a large plate and set aside.

Add harissa sauce, apricot jam, apple cider vinegar, and chicken stock to the dutch oven. Stir to combine, making sure to scrape up any of the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add in the dried apricots, dates, preserved lemon, and cinnamon stick. Bring the liquid to a simmer and add chicken back to the pot. Cover and bake for 2 hrs.

Halfway through baking, nestle the carrots, fennel, and onions on top of the chicken, only submerging in the liquid partially. Season the vegetables with a small pinch of salt. Cover and place back in the oven to finish cooking for the remaining hour. The chicken will be falling off the bone and the vegetables tender but not mushy.

Serve the chicken and vegetables over couscous and top with a few spoonfuls of the braising liquid and a hefty sprinkling of fresh mint and cilantro.

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