Your own Moroccan feast in 25 minutes! Ras El Hanout Chicken with Tahini Lime Dressing served on a bed of fluffy couscous makes a wonderful chicken dinner with a bit of a difference! Succulent ras el hanout chicken thighs are quickly cooked under the grill, so they stay nice and moist! But the star of the show is definitely the tahini lime sauce! Make a lot of it – it’s the best Tahini Sauce for Chicken out there!
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Ingredients and Substitutes
- chicken thighs: boneless and skinless.
- ras el hanout: you can buy it in most large supermarkets or make your own ras el hanout spice blend at home.
- honey: clear runny honey
- garlic clove: finely chopped. Use less if you don’t like too much raw garlic.
- soy sauce: we used dark soy sauce. Use gluten-free tamari for gluten-free chicken (you will also need to substitute couscous if you want an entirely gluten-free meal).
- tahini: we love Sunita Whole Sesame Tahini or Meridian Light Tahini. The first one is darker and slightly bitter, and the second one is delightfully creamy and milder tasting.
- lime: we will use both the zest and the juice, so choose the freshest juiciest unwaxed limes.
- couscous: regular or wholewheat. Alternatively, substitute with bulgur wheat or quinoa.
- stock cube: vegetable or chicken.
- cucumber: we used half of the long English cucumber.
- red onion: you will only need a small amount, otherwise it will overpower the rest of the flavours.
- fresh mint.
Vegetarian Version
If you are looking to make it vegetarian, this meal works wonderfully with some pan-fried tofu dusted with cornflour and ras el hanout spice mix. Make it vegan by using agave nectar instead of honey for the tahini lime dressing.
What is more, whilst we haven’t yet tried it ourselves, we hear from our friends that chicken can be substituted with cauliflower to make it into a vegetarian meal.
Method: How to Make Ras El Hanout Chicken?
STEP 1: Prepare the Chicken
First, preheat the grill to high. Lay the chicken thighs in a single layer on an oven tray (you can line it with foil to reduce the washing up). Drizzle the chicken with a tbsp olive oil and sprinkle the top with ras el hanout, salt and pepper. You can find a recipe here if you fancy blending your own ras el hanout spice mix. Grill the ras el hanout chicken thighs for 13-15 minutes, until fully cooked through.
STEP 2: Prepare the Couscous
Cut the cucumber in half lengthways. Using a teaspoon, scrape out the seeds. Then slice the cucumber thinly. Peel and thinly slice the red onion. Place the onion and cucumber in a bowl, season with salt and set aside.
Place couscous in a large bowl, crumble in a quarter of a stock cube and mix. Pour 140ml of the boiling water over the couscous and cover with a plate for 5 minutes.
STEP 3: Make the Tahini Lime Dressing
For the tahini lime sauce, mix tahini, honey, soy sauce, garlic, lime zest and juice and 2 tbsp of olive oil in a small bowl. These simple ingredients make the best tahini sauce for chicken!
Step 4: Assemble and Enjoy
When couscous is cooked, fluff it with a fork and add the cucumber, onion, and roughly chopped mint. Mix and season with salt and pepper, if needed.
Divide the couscous between bowls, top with ras el hanout chicken thighs and serve the chicken with tahini lime dressing drizzled all over.
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! Cook the thighs in the oven, preheated to 220°C Fan for 20-25 minutes. The internal temperature of the chicken thighs should be 74°C.
If you don’t mind wheat, farro and bulgur wheat make great alternatives. If you are, however, looking for a gluten-free grain, serve this Ras El Hanout Chicken recipe with quinoa instead!
Other Moroccan Recipes
For other Moroccan-inspired recipes, have a look at our recipes below:
- Moroccan Almond & Pistachio Briouat | Spiced Nut Filo Pastries
- North African Spiced Chickpea & Feta Pie
Recipe Card
Ras El Hanout Chicken with Tahini Lime Dressing
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tbsp ras el hanout
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 garlic clove finely chopped
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 lime zest and juice
- 100 g couscous
- ¼ stock cube
- 1/2 cucumber
- 1/2 small red onion thinly sliced
- 5 g mint roughly chopped
Instructions
- First, preheat the grill to high. lay the chicken thighs in a single layer on an oven tray. Drizzle the chicken with a tbsp olive oil and sprinkle the top with ras el hanout, salt and pepper. Grill the chicken for 13-15 minutes, until fully cooked through.
- Cut the cucumber in half lengthways. Using a teaspoon scrape out the seeds. Then slice the cucumber finely. Place the onion and cucumber in a bowl, season with salt and set aside.
- Place couscous in a large bowl, crumble in a quarter of a stock cube and mix. Pour 140ml of the boiling water over the couscous and cover with a plate for 5 minutes.
- For the tahini sauce, mix tahini, honey, soy sauce, garlic, lime zest and juice and 2 tbsp of olive oil in a small bowl.
- When couscous is cooked, fluff it wth a fork and add the cucumber and onion, and mint. Mix and season with salt and pepper, if needed.
- Divide the couscous between bowl, top with ras el hanout chicken and drizzle the tahini sauce all over.
Notes
Nutrition
A good chicken is nothing without a good dressing… and vice versa. I think. Either way, this recipe is a great proof of it!
Absolutely! 👌
Very nice recipe, I had some tahini on the fridge and had no clue what to use it on other than hummus, and it was delicious!
That’s brilliant that you found a new use for tahini! It’s a wonderful ingredient in savoury and sweet dishes too 🙂
Drooling over this delicious and flavorful combo. Pinned to make this for dinner soon.
Thanks, Kushigalu! Hope you like it.
This is so good! I love how the tahini lime dressing blends well with coucous! Such an amazing flavor combo!
Thanks, Toni! This dressing is definitely our favourite 😍
Oh SO many gorgeous flavours in here, just a wonderful midweek meal. Thank you!
Thanks so much, Kate! 🙂