Moroccan Potato Tagine
With fragrant spices, vibrant color, and slow-cooked depth of flavor, this easy Moroccan Potato Tagine is everything that makes Moroccan cuisine extraordinary. It’s comforting yet bold, simple yet rich, and perfect as a vegan meal or side dish with chicken, fish, or lamb.
What is a Tagine?
A tagine refers to the earthenware conical cooking vessel used often in Moroccan cuisine and the dish cooked in it. Because of the arid climate in that part of the world and the need to conserve water, the tagine’s conical shape allowed steam from the cooking food to rise and the droplets to fall back on the food. As a dish, it’s a slow-cooked stew or other dish.
Why This Recipe is a Keeper!
If you’re looking for a recipe to shake up your potato side dish routine, look no further than Moroccan Potato Tagine. This humble yet intensely flavorful dish combines fragrant spices, vibrant colors, and slow-cooking magic.
Buttery Yukon Gold potatoes are layered with onions, tomatoes, carrots, garlic, and fragrant spices with the kick of harissa for an easy potato side dish recipe that’s as comforting as it is flavorful.
Whether you enjoy it as a vegan meal or pair it with braised chicken or lamb, this potato tagine is a simple yet satisfying way to bring the flavors of Morocco into your kitchen. Plus, it’s easy to make with pantry-friendly ingredients, making it perfect for weeknight dinners or special gatherings.
This Moroccan Potato Tagine recipe is:
- Super easy! No special knife skills are required. Simply slice, layer, and bake!
- Versatile! Vary the veggies by adding green beans, switching out the carrots for bell peppers, or using sweet potatoes instead of Yukons.
- Delicious! The fragrant spices and harissa paste infuse the dish with warmth and a gentle kick of heat. The potatoes soak up all the rich flavors, resulting in melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
How to Make this Moroccan Potato Tagine:
Recipe Ingredients:
Here’s everything you’ll need to make this potato tagine recipe. The recipe card below has the exact quantities.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions:
- Yukon Gold Potatoes: Yukon Gold potatoes for this potato tagine recipe work well because of their buttery flavor and their “waxy” structure. That characteristic means they’ll hold together and not crumble like Russets. Red potatoes will also work well here.
- Tomatoes: Plum tomatoes are your best option here because of their low water content. I don’t recommend substituting canned tomatoes for this tagine recipe.
- Harissa Paste: This hot chili paste is worth adding to your pantry. Harissa is a fragrant condiment used in North African cuisine. Look for it at Trader Joe’s or, if you don’t mind going to the trouble, you can make your own harissa.
- Coriander: Ground coriander and cilantro come from the same plant. Coriander is the dried seeds of the plant.
- Ginger: Use dried, ground ginger, not minced fresh.
- Vegetable Broth: If you don’t use a lot of vegetable broth, Better Than Bouillon is great to have on hand in your refrigerator for when you need it. If you don’t mind this potato tagine recipe not being vegan, you can use chicken broth.
Step-By-Step Instructions:
- Gather and prep all the ingredients.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, harissa paste, coriander, cumin, ginger, and turmeric.
- Slice the potatoes and toss with the harissa paste and spice combination.
- Place half the onions in a 10-inch round baking dish.
- Arrange half the potatoes over the onions, followed by half the garlic.
- Arrange half the tomato slices over the potatoes and garlic, followed by half the carrot slices.
- Sprinkle with half the salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
- Repeat the layers with onions, potatoes, garlic, tomatoes and carrots.
- Sprinkle with remaining salt and black pepper to taste.
- Drizzle with any remaining olive oil, harissa, and spice combination left in the bowl from the potatoes.
- Carefully spoon the vegetable broth in and around the vegetables without rinsing off the olive oil/harissa paste/spice combination.
- Cover securely with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until potatoes are tender.
- Let stand covered for 10 minutes.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve.
Chef Tips and Tricks:
- While an authentic Moroccan tagine is ideal for tagine recipes, any covered dish, such as a Dutch oven or casserole dish, will do.
- Saffron is expensive, but add a pinch for even more authentic Moroccan flavor if you have it.
- After turning off the heat, let the potato tagine sit covered for about 10 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.
Recipe FAQs:
Yes, you can, but it will be better out of the oven and will still take 30-40 minutes to reheat. The potatoes absorb some liquid, so the tagine will be drier. The vegetables can be prepped beforehand (keep the potatoes in water so they don’t discolor), and the olive oil combination can be blended (refrigerate because of the harissa paste). Let the olive oil blend come to room temperature.
I don’t recommend it, and freezing tends to change the texture of potatoes.
Storage:
- Refrigerate any leftovers and enjoy within five days.
- Leftovers can be reheated in the oven at 350 degrees or microwaved.
Serve with:
More great potato recipes you’ll love!
- Mexican Sweet Potato Wedges
- Potato and Sweet Potato Bake
- German Potato Salad
- Muffin Pan Potato Galette Recipe
Get all my potato side dish recipes at Potato Side Dish Recipes – From A Chef’s Kitchen. Check out this collection of the Best Potato Side Dish Recipes!
Moroccan Potato Tagine
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon harissa paste
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 4 medium Yukon gold potatoes - (1 pound)
- 1/2 large onion - sliced
- 6 large cloves garlic - sliced
- 3 large plum tomatoes - (3/4 pound) sliced
- 2 medium carrots - thinly sliced diagonally
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, harissa paste, coriander, cumin, ginger, and turmeric.
- Slice the potatoes and toss with the harissa paste and spice combination.
- Place half the onions in a 10-inch round baking dish.
- Arrange half the potatoes over the onions, followed by half the garlic.
- Arrange half the tomato slices over the potatoes and garlic, followed by half the carrot slices.
- Sprinkle with half the salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
- Repeat the layers with onions, potatoes, garlic, tomatoes and carrots. Sprinkle with remaining salt and black pepper to taste.
- Drizzle with any remaining olive oil, harissa, and spice combination left in the bowl from the potatoes.
- Carefully spoon the vegetable broth in and around the vegetables without rinsing off the olive oil/harissa paste/spice combination.
- Cover securely with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until potatoes are tender.
- Let stand covered for 10 minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve.
Recipe Notes
- Red potatoes will also work.
- If you don’t mind this potato tagine recipe not being vegan, you can use chicken broth.
- Saffron is expensive, but add a pinch for even more authentic Moroccan flavor if you have it.
- The vegetables can be prepped beforehand (keep the potatoes in water so they don’t discolor), and the olive oil combination can be blended (refrigerate because of the harissa paste). Let the olive oil blend come to room temperature.
Nutrition
These are estimated values generated from a nutritional database using unbranded products. Please do your own research with the products you’re using if you have a serious health issue or are following a specific diet.