If you want to come home to the most amazing aroma from your kitchen, this is the recipe to cook! Slow cooker Lamb Tagine is packed full of fruit, vegetables and spices which all fuse together to create a dish which looks as good as it smells!
What is a tagine?
The word “tagine” actually has two meanings.
Firstly, it refers to the traditional North African earthenware dish. It consists of two pieces – a shallow and wide bowl, and a funnelled top. They’re typically made of clay or ceramic, both glazed and unglazed.
Secondly, tagine refers to the slow cooked dish you see here. It’s not always cooked with lamb – sometimes even poultry or fish, but will usually contain fruit and vegetables.
The ingredients are slowly simmered over a consistent temperature in a little liquid. The tall lid on the dish acts as a means to trap the steam and keep the stew moist. Very similar to cooking in a slow cooker!
There are a large selection of ingredients which can be included, the most popular being sweet and sour combinations which are an amazing blend of fruit, meat and spice (cinnamon and cumin are the signature).
This slow cooker Lamb Tagine recipe is a brilliant example and as well as tasting delicious, is full of colour.
It creates quite an impact when you serve it!
What cut of meat should I use for Slow Cooker Lamb Tagine?
It’s best to use lamb neck when slow cooking things like tagines and stews. It’s really flavourful, and contains plenty of fat to break down and keep the meat moist.
As an alternative, look for offcuts which have a bit of marbling through them, or even lamb shoulder. Bear in mind that shoulder requires a little extra cooking time to ensure you get tender juicy meat!
What can I serve with a tagine?
Rice or cous cous work well served with a tagine, and is usually what we choose. You could also opt for bread and traditional north African side salads if you’re feeling a bit more adventurous!
Can I freeze leftover Lamb Tagine?
Yes, absolutely – freeze once cooled, then it’ll keep in the freezer for three months. To reheat, defrost overnight in the fridge and then heat until piping hot all the way through.
Alternatively you can keep leftovers in the fridge for up to three days.
How to make Slow Cooker Lamb Tagine
Slow Cooker Lamb Tagine
Equipment
Ingredients
- 500 g lamb neck
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 2 carrots quartered lengthways and chopped
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dried coriander
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 400 g chopped tomatoes 1 tin
- 250 ml chicken stock
- 200 g dried apricots
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 400 g chickpeas 1 tin
- 1 cinnamon stick
- fresh coriander
Instructions
- Chop the lamb into 3cm (1¼ inch) chunks, removing any excess fat.
- Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat, then brown the lamb on all sides and transfer to the slow cooker. In the same pan, add the onions and carrots and fry for a few minutes until the carrots are starting to brown, then transfer to the slow cooker.
- Add all of the dried spices, salt, pepper, chopped tomatoes, stock, apricots, fresh ginger, garlic, chickpeas and cinnamon stick to the slow cooker, then stir well.
- Cook for 4 hours on high, or 6 hours on low.
- Sprinkle with freshly chopped coriander to serve.
Hi there Bec.
I have this in the oven now and it’s making the house smell divine!
Can I ask what amount the nutrition is based on please?
Also I’ll be adding some mango chutney instead, as I’m out of apricots. Fingers crossed it works out well ????
Thanks for the recipe
Zk
The smell from this is amazing! Hope that you enjoyed it. The nutrition information is per serving.
Really easy with the preparation
Wouldn’t change a thing
My partner absolutely loved it
Will surely make it again when the future in laws come to dinner 🙂
That’s great to hear and hope that everyone enjoys it the next time you make it! Thanks for the review.
OMG this is absolutely delicious!
Great to hear you liked it! Thanks for the review.
Made the lamb tagine..it was delicious…now have 2portions in the freezer…
Great to hear! Thank you for the review.
I have made this multiple times and every time it’s devoured! Today i also griddled some aubergine, courgette and red peppers to go with the cous cous and turkish flat bread i made. Such a great sunday dinner 🙂
It does make a fantastic change from the usual Sunday roast! Pleased to hear that you enjoyed this. Thanks for the review!
Delicious. Was a real hit with all the Family
Wonderful to hear, thanks for the review!
If you can’t find neck of lamb what other cut can you use
Hi, Lamb shoulder is also great for slow cooking. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Made this yesterday & it was delicious! I used 1kg lamb shoulder as that was what I had. Followed it exactly & was worried whether to add more liquid as there was more meat than the recipe states, but it turned out perfect. Can’t wait to try another recipe. Thank you.
Great to hear and thanks for the review! Hope you enjoy the other recipes equally!
I can’t believe how tasty this turned out. A dish with such simple ingredients and ..WOW. I’m not “greedy” but there’s no way I’m getting six portions out of this…
I used a tablespoon of onion chutney instead of dried apricot..perfect.
Thank you for the great review! Pleased to hear that you enjoyed this and the substitution of the chutney to add that bit of sweetness sounds lovely!
Another delicious slow cooker meal!
The lamb – I used neck fillet – was tender and the sauce tangy and slightly sweet.
I halved the recipe and there was more than enough for 2 people.
Thank you for another great recipe.