Syrian Spice Delight Crockpot Chicken

Submitted by farrangel

"I developed this while trying to create a crockpot friendly Chicken dish made with ingredients similar to those in some Moroccan and Syrian recipes I've seen... I needed something I could prepare in bulk for a holiday party. I only used 1 onion and diced it to make it more kid-friendly. I'm happy with the results and the feedback from the group was VERY positive. Hope you enjoy it!"

 

• Ready In: 4hrs 40mins
• Ingredients: 20
• Yields: 3/4 cup
• Serves: 16-20

ingredients

• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 5 1⁄2 - 6 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, visible fat removed, cut into bite sized pieces & or
• boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 -2 large sweet onion, sliced (or diced)
• 6 -8 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups pitted prunes, quartered
• 1⁄3 - 2⁄3 cup apricot preserves (more for sweeter entree)
• 1⁄4 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 teaspoons ground cumin
• 4 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 teaspoons chicken bouillon
• 2 -3 cups water
• 1⁄2 cup lemon juice
• 3 cinnamon sticks, 3 inch pieces

directions

1. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces, removing all visible fat.
2. Heat 3 TB olive oil to med-high in large skillet to cook chicken pieces. When cooked through (~10 minutes); transfer to crockpot (set at High to cook in 3-4 hours or Low to cook 8+ hours).
3. While chicken cooks, slice/dice onion.
4. Heat remaining 1 TB olive oil to med-high in same skillet and saute onion until translucent (~5 minutes); transfer to crockpot, mixing in well.
5. In 1 quart mixing bowl combine: Minced garlic, prunes, apricot preserves, honey, ginger, turmeric, ground cinnamon, cumin, coriander, white and black pepper, salt, chicken bullion. Add 2 cups water and mix thoroughly; pour over chicken-onion mix in crockpot and stir to combine. Can add additional cup of water, if more soup-y consistency is desired.
6. Stir in lemon juice and cinnamon sticks, cover and let cook desired time (3-4 hours at High, 8+ hours at Low). Can be served soup-y over rice or couscous, left cooking longer to thicken sauce OR --.
7. OPTIONAL QUICK THICKENING: after cooking time, turn crockpot to low; drain liquid to large-ish sauce pan (leave a bit in crockpot to keep chicken/etc. from sticking). Bring to boil and cook 'till reduced to gravy like consistency. Place chicken on platter and serve with rice or couscous and sauce on the side.

Reviews

[shepsters6]

I will try this again with some changes. The spices were just right but it was too sweet! Next time I'll use about 1/2 the amount of Prunes, or I think I'll try golden raisins next time instead of prunes. I can't believe the other review said she'd use more prunes! The chicken was very dry. I used chicken breast but will use boneless skinless thighs next time, and I won't cut it up first but will shred it at the end instead.

 

[hadabee10]

This is really incredible. I use this site all the time, but just finally joined for the sole purpose of leaving this review. I followed the recipe almost to the letter. I used garlic powder (out of garlic cloves at the moment!) and substituted 1/4 cup white wine and 1/4 cup white wine vinegar for the lemon juice (also out of it!). I wish I had used the full two cups of prunes, but I came up slightly short. I can't imagine that these slight changes would make too much of a drastic difference, and I am very pleased with the result. A definite keeper--I'll certainly make this again. Thanks!