This one-pot vegetable tagine combines tender potatoes, carrots, chickpeas, and sweet apricots with warm Moroccan spices for a hearty vegan dinner in about 55 minutes.
A Moroccan Vegetable Tagine Made in a Dutch Oven
Tagine refers both to the slow-simmered North African stew and the clay or ceramic vessel traditionally used to cook it. The pot has a broad base and a distinctive cone-shaped lid that helps circulate moisture as the ingredients cook.
For this easy Moroccan vegetable tagine, I use my Dutch oven instead. It gives the vegetables plenty of room to cook with the onions, tomatoes, broth, and spices, and it makes this classic-style dish easy to prepare in any kitchen.
Potatoes, carrots, and sweet potato make the stew hearty, while chickpeas add substance. Dried apricots bring a subtle sweetness to balance the tomatoes and warm spices, and a squeeze of lemon at the end wakes everything up. The recipe serves six and is gluten-free as written.
Ingredients for Vegetable Tagine
This vegetable tagine begins with familiar vegetables and pantry ingredients, but the spice blend gives it its distinctly Moroccan character.
- Lemon juice and parsley: Add both at the end for a fresh, bright finish.
- Extra virgin olive oil: Use a good olive oil to sauté the vegetables and finish each bowl. I like our Private Reserve extra virgin olive oil here for its rich, peppery flavor.
- Onion and garlic: These aromatics create the savory base for the stew.
- Carrots, russet potatoes, and sweet potato: The mix of vegetables gives this tagine its satisfying texture. As they simmer, they soak up the spices and tomato broth.
- Harissa spice blend: This recipe uses a dry harissa spice blend, not harissa paste. Made with chili, sumac, caraway, fennel, and other warm spices, Harissa Spice Blend is the main flavor-maker here. You can use ras el hanout instead.
- Coriander, cinnamon, and turmeric: A little ground coriander adds citrusy warmth, while cinnamon and turmeric round out the spice profile.
- Whole peeled tomatoes and vegetable broth: These create the savory cooking liquid for the vegetables. Use low-sodium broth so you can adjust the seasoning to taste.
- Dried apricots: Chopped apricots lend a gentle sweetness that plays well with the earthy spices and tangy tomatoes.
- Cooked chickpeas: Stirred in near the end, chickpeas make this vegetable tagine more substantial without changing its vegetable-forward character.
How to Make Vegetable Tagine
This is a straightforward one-pot recipe. Have the vegetables chopped before you begin, then follow the recipe card below for the exact ingredient amounts.
- Finish with lemon and parsley. Stir in the lemon juice and parsley. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt or harissa spice blend if you like. Serve hot with a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
- Sauté the onions. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onions, raise the heat to medium-high, and cook for about 5 minutes, tossing regularly.
- Add the vegetables and spices. Stir in the garlic, carrots, russet potatoes, and sweet potato. Season with salt, harissa spice blend, coriander, cinnamon, and turmeric, then toss well so the vegetables are evenly coated.
- Build the flavor. Cook the vegetables over medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon. This gives the spices time to bloom and brings out the sweetness of the vegetables before the broth goes in.
- Simmer until tender. Add the whole peeled tomatoes, chopped apricots, and broth. Cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
- Stir in the chickpeas. Add the cooked chickpeas and let them warm through over low heat for another 5 minutes.
Tips for This Easy Vegetable Tagine
- Use a Dutch oven or another heavy pot with a lid. You do not need a traditional tagine pot for this recipe; I use a Dutch oven here.
- Give the vegetables time to become tender. The potatoes, carrots, and sweet potato should all be easily pierced before you add the chickpeas.
- Save the lemon for the end. Adding it after simmering keeps its flavor bright and gives the warm, savory stew a welcome lift.
- Taste before serving. The recipe is designed for you to adjust the salt and harissa spice blend to your preference after the vegetables and chickpeas have finished cooking.
What to Serve with Moroccan Vegetable Tagine
Serve this vegetable tagine in shallow bowls with couscous, rice, or warm bread to make the most of its flavorful broth. Homemade pita bread is especially good for scooping up the vegetables and chickpeas.
For a larger Moroccan-inspired spread, add a bright Moroccan-style carrot salad or a platter of five-ingredient yogurt flatbread. If you are planning a meal with both vegetarian and meat options, pair it with my Moroccan lamb stew or one-pot Moroccan chicken.
Can You Freeze Vegetable Tagine?
Yes. The Mediterranean Dish team has confirmed that leftover vegetable tagine freezes well.
More Moroccan Recipes to Make on Repeat
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Easy Moroccan Lamb Stew Recipe
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Moroccan-Style Carrot Salad
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Private Reserve extra virgin olive oil, plus more for finishing
- 2 medium yellow onions, peeled and chopped
- 8 to 10 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
- 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon Harissa spice blend, or 1 1/2 teaspoons ras el hanout
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2 cups canned whole peeled tomatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots, heaping
- 1 quart low-sodium vegetable broth or broth of your choice
- 2 cups cooked chickpeas
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Handful fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Sauté the onions. In a large heavy pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat until just shimmering. Add the onions, increase the heat to medium-high, and sauté for 5 minutes, tossing regularly.
- Cook the vegetables. Add the garlic, carrots, russet potatoes, and sweet potato. Season with salt, harissa spice blend, coriander, cinnamon, and turmeric, then toss to combine. Cook over medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon.
- Add the tomatoes, apricots, and broth. Season with a small dash of salt.
- Simmer until the vegetables are tender. Keep the heat at medium-high and cook for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
- Warm the chickpeas. Stir in the chickpeas and cook over low heat for another 5 minutes.
- Finish and serve. Stir in the lemon juice and fresh parsley. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt or harissa spice blend to your liking. Transfer to serving bowls, drizzle generously with Private Reserve extra virgin olive oil, and serve hot with bread, couscous, or rice.
Video
Notes
- This recipe was developed for a Dutch oven or another large, heavy pot with a lid. We have not tested it in a traditional tagine pot.
- Shop this recipe: Visit our shop for Private Reserve extra virgin olive oil, Harissa Spice Blend, ras el hanout, ground coriander, turmeric, and more Mediterranean pantry essentials.
Nutrition
Try Our Authentic Italian Olive Oil
Hand-picked and cold-extracted Extra Virgin Olive Oil from 100% Nocellara del Belice Sicilian olives.
What can I substitute for chickpeas in recipes? I just don’t care for them. It’s a textural thing as I love hummus.
Loved your question as I feel exactly the same. I did not see an answer. Have you gotten a reply? Thanks so much.
Marianne
Hi, Marianne (and Julie). It kind of depends on the recipe, but in many cases, you can just substitute the chickpeas with another type of legume you enjoy.
I am new to cooking with a tagine; mine is a Kook brand with a cast-iron base and ceramic top. Your recipe is my 1st fully-vegetable tagine. Neither your recipe nor my tagine mentions capacity, The problem? The ingredients do not fit in my tagine! Well, the vegetables do, but only about 1 1/2 cups of broth & 1 can of tomatoes. I’ll have to move the ingredients to my soup pot to add the other can of tomatoes, chickpeas, and remaining broth – which, unfortunately contains some of the spices. If tagines come in various sizes, please state the needed size for your recipe. Thanks.
Hi, Janet. I actually use a dutch oven or similar pot (around 5 qts) for my version as more people have those than tagines.
Made this several times already so at this point I sort of wing it. I typically skip the sweet potato and add mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini and yellow squash (any combo depending on what is on hand). I typically add a little more cinnamon and up the harissa (mine is from a local store and not very spicy). I also play around with the amount of broth and typically I add less than a quart (I like this stew to be thick), but the amount varies depending on the volume of all the vegetables, and I skip the olive oil drizzle at the end.
Solid choice for getting all your vegetables in, and the stew keeps and reheats extremely well for a week (just finished leftovers from exactly a week ago). Thank you, Suzy!
Thanks so much for sharing, Beata! I love hearing other peoples adaptions of recipes!
This is a great recipe! Made it pretty much as written with these changes- Used 1 tsp supermarket Harissa because wife doesn’t like too spicy. Used 2 cans diced tomatoes because it seemed easier. Added 1/2 cup red lentils with the broth, tomatoes & apricots because some of the comments said it sometimes came out thin. Red lentils are a great way to thicken soups and stews without changing the flavor too much. It came out as shown in the pictures. I also stirred it quite a bit near the end and it seemed like that helped it to thicken. I am wondering if the apricots help that by releasing pectin or other polysaccharides.
This dish is delicious. Both my husband and I loved it. I will be making it again.
It took me 1 hour and 35 minutes to prep and cook. My peeling and chopping skills are not at a professional level. 🙂
Keep working on it…. you’ll get there :).
Just made it, absolutely love it! Bit spicy but that’s harissa for you 🙂
I’ve been looking for a recipe like this, and I can’t wait to try it! I have Harissa paste – can I use that in place of the spice blend?
Sure! Hope you enjoy!
Love this recipe! I think it is even better the next day!
My mum is having heart issues. I have been cooking her Mediterranean food per the doctor. I randomly found your website and I have made soooo many of your dishes for her over the last month. This one has been her favorite 🙂 thank you for the time, effort, and love you put into each of your recipes. They are easy to follow and have made a huge impact in our lives. Thank you!
Awww! I love hearing this Jennifer! Thanks for making my day! 🙂
Hi Suzi. Can you make a lot and freeze.
Sure!
This was delicious! I didn’t have enough potatoes on hand so I added some butternut squash to it. Since I didn’t have your harissa spice blend I had another one that was very similar except it had hot pepper in it. When serving, I added dollops of fresh plain yogurt which was a perfect addition to the stew.
Yum! Thanks for sharing, Nancy!
I made this with some modifications. One diner has an allium allergy and another is allergic to cumin. So I made three different versions of this to suit the three diners that enjoyed this, I used a cross between this recap and one I found by Liz Moody. I couldn’t find white potatoes – go figure!- so I just used a large sweet potato and a home made harissa and a package of Tempeh cubed . The directions by Liz, include InstantPot times which worked perfectly and allowed me to make three different versions in less than 1 hour. A version that accommodated all three diners! Thanks for a great recipe!
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing, Pete!
Would it be possible to make this in a slow cooker?
Hi, Sidesel. I haven’t tried this one in the slow cooker before, but it should work. I think reducing the amount of broth a little bit would be a good idea, though. Enjoy!
Delicious and the house smelled like a spice market! Made it as is with 3 minor changes (2 due to a cooking mishap). I used some honey vinegar to get some stuck bits off the bottom of the Dutch oven, added about a 1/2 cup more dried apricots to offset the vinegar, and added a teaspoon of cardamom (just because I love it). This was a great meal and made a lot – more like 8 servings. I shared this recipe with my vegan and gluten intolerant friends.
Thanks, Kristin!
Love this dish. I don’t use Harissa, not a fan of heat, but this has become a regular in our house. I added some green beans one time that needed using up and it was still just as delicious. The spices are excellent.
Thanks, Carolyn!
The flavors in this dish are amazing!! I had never cooked with Harissa before and felt it was a little spicy for me, but will use less next time. I am going to add shrimp next time!! Thank you!!
Thanks for sharing, Stacy!