A guest post by Julia Jones who shows us how she makes a simple low carb grilled Moroccan chicken. For the recipe, you need chicken breasts and some spices.
There is a saying about how chicken tastes like everything, and it may be right, or it may be that chicken is such a common meal for most people that the taste has grown bland through repetition. Whatever the case may be the fact remains that this quality lends itself greatly to the Moroccan spice mixes.
The flavor you get from most other meats is too strong and, although it can be complimented well by some spices, the flavor of the meat will always take precedence, whereas with chicken you can actually taste the freshness of the mint and coriander, and hotness of the paprika and the zing of the cinnamon, cardamom and other Eastern spice that goes in there.
In fact we would actually recommend that you use chicken breast with this recipe because that is the blandest part of the chicken. You could use the legs or the thighs if you wanted a juicier steak, but we have used breast for this grilled Moroccan chicken recipe. So, without further ado, here are the ingredients you will need for the best grilled Moroccan chicken recipe.
2 large chicken breasts
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon cinnamon, or a quarter of a stick
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
5 tablespoons olive oil
10 leaves of cilantro
5 leaves mint
½ lemon
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
Preparation
The ingredients list might be longer than you would expect for a simple chicken recipe, but the good news is that, once you get everything ready and at hand, and once you go through the recipe a couple of times so you really learn it, you should not have a problem getting everything together in less than 15 minutes.
What you need to do first is decide if you want to make this a quick recipe or an extra quick one. If you have the time you should chop the onion using a mandolin slicer and toss it in a hot pan with a couple of table spoons of oil and a dash of salt.
Leave it to sweat on a small to medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes until the onion starts turning translucent and then toss in the chopped garlic for another minute or so.
You can shave about 5 minutes off the preparation time by using the onion and garlic raw but we have found that it is well worth letting the onion develop its flavors in this way. While the onion is cooking you can take the cumin seeds, the coriander seeds and the cinnamon and crash them together in a fine powder using a mortar.
Next you need to take a big bowl and add the powder you have just created, the onion and garlic, the salt, the turmeric, paprika, chopped cilantro and mint, squeeze the juice from the lemon and perhaps add a cup of chicken stock, water, or, if you are feeling adventurous, yogurt and mix everything thoroughly.
Once you have your marinade, you can add the chicken breast either whole or cut into strips using a well sharpened knife and leave to marinate anywhere between 2 and 4 hours. Can you use let it marinate for less than that?
Yes, 20 minutes should be enough for some of the flavors to develop, but for the full Moroccan grilled chicken experience, you really need to leave the chicken marinate for at least 2 hours. Next all you have to do is let as much of that marinate to drip off the chicken, lightly pat it down, and throw it on a hot grill, ideally charcoal, but the grill pan is almost as good.
Depending on how thick the chicken is you need to leave it for anywhere between 7 and 3 minutes per side on the grill, but the best indicator that the chicken is done is if you have some nice grill marks on both side of the chicken.
The trick is that the more you let the chicken marinate the juicier and tenderer it will be so you should really give this grilled Moroccan chicken recipe a try because it can quickly become your go to recipe for when you need to impress your friends or just enjoy an excellent and yet light dinner.
Julia Jones is an avid food enthusiast who loves everything about cooking and especially using modern tech in cooking that can make even a novice cook look like an expert chef. She occasionally shares her opinion about the latest and craziest kitchen gadgets on the Kitchen Gadgets Wars blog.
Grilled Moroccan Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or a quarter of a stick
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 10 leaves of cilantro
- 5 leaves mint
- 1/2 lemon
- 1 large onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
Instructions
- If desired, chop the onion using a mandolin slicer and toss it in a hot pan with a couple of table spoons of oil and a dash of salt. Leave it to sweat on a small to medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes until the onion starts turning translucent and then toss in the chopped garlic for another minute or so.
- While the onion is cooking, take the cumin seeds, the coriander seeds and the cinnamon and crash them together in a fine powder using a mortar.
- In a big bowl, add the powder just created, the onion and garlic, the salt, the turmeric, paprika, chopped cilantro and mint, squeeze the juice from the lemon and perhaps add a cup of chicken stock, water, or, if you are feeling adventurous, yogurt and mix everything thoroughly.
- Once you have your marinade, you can add the chicken breast either whole or cut into strips using a well sharpened knife and leave to marinate anywhere between 2 and 4 hours.
- Let as much of the marinate drip off the chicken, lightly pat it down, and throw it on a hot grill, ideally charcoal, but a grill pan is almost as good.
- Allow to cook between 7 and 3 minutes per side on the grill, but the best indicator that the chicken is done is if you have some nice grill marks on both side of the chicken.
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Notes
Nutrition
Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
About Lisa
Lisa has been creating low carb recipes for herself and sharing them with others since 2010. She loves to experiment in the kitchen and find new ways to create low sugar foods that taste like high carb favorites! Her recipes have been featured on popular magazine sites including Fitness, Shape, Country Living, Women's Health, and Men's Health. Lisa lives in Southeastern Connecticut. Connect with her and Low Carb Yum at:
James says
Yes, Moroccan grilled chicken requires at leats 2 hrs to get a flavour. I tried this a few weeks ago and our dinner was a blast. Thank you.
Lisa says
Glad it worked out!
Bethany from Athletic Avocado says
This is the type of chicken recipe I love; simple, delicious, fast and easy!
Lisa says
I’m with you! Fast, easy, and delicious recipes are the best!
Roni says
The recipe calls for the seeds of the coriander and cumin but yet in your picture you have the ground in bottles. Does a person use the same amount pre-ground?
Lisa says
I’m not 100% positive, but from my experience, ground is about 1/2 that of whole seeds.