Moroccan chicken stew is made entirely in the instant pot in less than an hour and features hearty vegetables and chicken in a flavorful broth with warming Moroccan spices.
Healthy, easy dinners are officially back in style and we’ve got the BEST chicken stew filling in that need today!
We don’t make Moroccan food nearly as often as we should around here, so this hearty stew is long overdue, but definitely worth the wait!
If you’ve been looking for an easy stew to put on the weeknight rotation and maybe an excuse to dust off that instant pot, the solution is here.
Our favorite part about this stew (besides the insane ease!) is how warming and comforting it is for this time of the year.
It’s packed full of tender meat and vegetables and has the most FLAVORFUL soup base filled with tons of warming Moroccan spices. Coziest dang thing you’ll ever fill your instant pot with.
This Moroccan Chicken Stew features…
- Tender pulled chicken
- Soft carrot slices and tender chickpeas
- A tomato-based broth with fresh garlic, ginger, and plenty of spices
Making the Moroccan Chicken Stew
(scroll down to the bottom of post for the full recipe)
Ingredients You Will Need
- Chicken breasts
- Vegetable oil
- Carrots
- Onion
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Spices
- Crushed tomatoes
- Chicken broth
- Chickpeas
- Golden raisins
Choosing Your Chicken
We recommend using boneless skinless chicken breasts for this stew. No need to cut them, we’re going to cook them whole in the instant pot and then shred them into bite-sized pieces.
If you don’t have chicken breasts on hand, you can use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead. Cook time will be roughly the same.
Tips for Perfect Moroccan Stew
- Sear chicken breasts – season chicken breasts well with salt and pepper and sear in instant pot using BROWN/SAUTE function until chicken is golden brown on all sides.
- Saute vegetables – remove the chicken from instant pot, add the carrot and onion, and cook until just translucent.
- Saute aromatics – add fresh garlic and ginger to vegetables. Let them cook several minutes until fragrant.
- Cook stew on high pressure – add the rest of the stew ingredients, close steam vent, and cook stew on high pressure 12 minutes.
- Release pressure naturally 10 minutes – turn instant pot off and let sit 10 minutes to release most of the pressure naturally.
- Shred chicken – manually release any steam left in the instant pot, then remove chicken breasts from stew and use two forks to shred. Add back to the stew
- Add golden raisins – you can skip the golden raisins if you don’t care for them, but we love the subtle sweetness they give this stew!
- Keep stew warm until ready to serve – see notes below.
Make Ahead Instructions
If you don’t want to serve the stew immediately, cover instant pot, open vent, and keep stew on ‘warm’ up to several hours.
This stew also reheats wonderfully on the stove or in the microwave if you have leftovers.
What to Serve with Stew
We highly recommend serving this stew with warm steamed rice, fresh lime wedges, and plenty of fresh minced cilantro over top!
This is seriously the coziest stew ever. The chicken is just fall-apart tender, the broth is incredibly flavorful and perfectly spiced, and it’s just heavenly with a big scoop of fluffy rice, a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of cilantro on top.
Leftovers of this stew are KING, but seriously, don’t expect to have ’em!
Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.
More instant pot recipes to add to your menu next!
Instant Pot Moroccan Chicken Stew
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Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-in thick rounds
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- 1 can (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup golden raisins (or regular raisins)
- Hot steamed rice for serving
- Fresh lime wedges and minced fresh cilantro for topping
Instructions
- Season chicken breasts well with salt and pepper. Heat a 4-qt instant pot using BROWN/SAUTE function. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to instant pot and swirl to coat bottom.
- Place chicken breasts in instant pot and sear on both sides 3-4 minutes until golden brown (chicken will not be fully cooked through) Remove chicken from instant pot and transfer to a plate. Set aside.
- Add remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to instant pot. Add yellow onion and carrot and sauté 3-4 minutes until slightly softened. Add garlic and ginger and cook an additional 1 minute until fragrant. Turn BROWN/SAUTE function off.
- Add crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, chickpeas, turmeric, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and seared chicken back to instant pot and stir until combined.
- Seal instant pot lid on and set vent to closed. Cook stew on high pressure 12 minutes, then release pressure naturally for 10 minutes.
- Remove lid from instant pot and use a tongs to remove chicken from pot. Use a fork to finely shred chicken into bite-sized pieces, then add back to instant pot. Stir in raisins and season stew with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve chicken stew with hot steamed rice with fresh lime wedges squeezed over top and minced cilantro. Enjoy!
Michelle says
Delicious and easy to make.
Sarah says
So happy to hear! 🙂