Easy Moroccan Ground Lamb Stew is a delicious less than 30-minute meal with irresistible warming spices, chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and apricots for a quick one pot weekday meal.
All Day slow cooked taste in under 30 minutes
This quick and easy recipe has all the depth of flavors that you get from an all-day slow cooked tagine meal in just under 30 minutes. Do you have all day to slave over a hot stove? Currently, we are so busy that our less than 30-minute meals are a required survival tool. How about you? Do you like less than 30 minute meals?
One bite and you will be hooked
The aroma of this Easy Moroccan Ground Lamb Stew will capture your senses. One bite of the spiced easy Moroccan ground lamb stew and you will know that this is a must go for seconds type of meals. You have the warming spices of turmeric, cinnamon, ginger and all spice to make your taste buds sing. The ground lamb is super tender with the little pop of earthy chickpeas give you that extra burst of protein. With the slight sweetness from the dried apricots and the fresh lemon zest, this is one balanced cozy meal perfect for the cooler weather.
Dinner is ready in under 30 minutes!
Your house is going to smell amazing! From the delicious aromatics, spices, lamb, herbs and citrus you are going to have your family asking every minute, “When is dinner ready?” Really, in less than 30 minutes you can have this delicious Easy Moroccan Ground Lamb Stew, over a bed of couscous and a side salad on your dinner table. If you want to keep this recipe gluten-free, serve it with a side of cauliflower rice or basmati rice, instead of couscous.
Spice it Up
Don’t be stingy with the spices! You are not going to sprinkle spices, but you are going to explore the world of spices with bold flavors. Go big or Go home! We know this seems like a long list of spices. However, once you have them in your stocked pantry, we have loads of delicious recipes for you to try. Warming spices are good for individuals that have a cold predisposition. Do you always have cold hands and feet? In Traditional Chinese Medicine, when a person has a cold disposition they may benefit from warming and nourishing foods. Introducing the Five Energies of Foods is a great introduction to this concept.
Cinnamon
Cumin
Turmeric
All spice
Paprika
Cayenne
Coriander
Substitutions for Easy Moroccan Ground Lamb Stew
While lamb seems to be the best option for this hearty stew, you may substitute with ground beef, ground turkey, ground chicken or even tofu to name a few. However, it will change the flavor profile.
We added dried chopped apricots as this is a very traditional ingredient in Moroccan cuisine. Dried apricots impart this delicious natural sweetness to the entire dish. If you do not have dried apricots, you can exchange with a small handful of dried, pitted dates or even raisins.
Tomato sauce is a great option instead of fresh tomatoes when they are not in season. However, you can also use canned tomatoes or even fresh tomatoes if you wish. The only thing you will need to do is adjust the amount of chicken broth to get it to your desired stew consistency. Tomato sauce is thick vs canned or fresh tomatoes.
Check out the photo above for step by step directions on how to make Easy Moroccan Ground Lamb Stew.
Lemon zest vs preserved lemons
We chose to use fresh lemon zest only because there was a sale on lemons 10 for $1.00 at our local market. However, preserved lemons are also very delicious and if you have this ingredient, then this would be a lovely addition to your Easy Moroccan Ground Lamb Stew. Do you prefer to use fresh lemon zest or preserved lemons in this recipe?
More cozy easy Moroccan Cuisine recipes...
Slow Roasted Moroccan Spiced Leg of Lamb
Warmed Spiced Quinoa with Roasted Autumn Vegetables
Grilled Moroccan Chicken with Pine Nut Quinoa
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Easy Moroccan Ground Lamb Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon cumin ground
- 1 teaspoon paprika ground
- 2 teaspoon turmeric ground
- 1 teaspoon allspice ground
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper dried ground - optional
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- 1 pound lamb ground- minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup apricots dried chopped
- 15 oz garbanzo beans (chickpeas) canned rinsed and drained
- 3 sticks whole cinnamon sticks or 2 teaspoon dried ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- Handful of chopped cilantro optional garnish
- 3 cups cooked couscous optional or rice to keep it gluten-free
Instructions
- In a large deep-frying pan or Dutch oven, add olive oil chopped onion, minced garlic, cumin, paprika, turmeric, allspice, cayenne pepper, coriander and sauté until translucent and aromatic about 1-2 minutes.
- Add ground lamb and salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat until the lamb browns. Drain any extra oil as desired.
- Add tomato sauce, chicken broth, dried apricots, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), cinnamon sticks and cook for about 20 minutes or until the flavors have had a change to mingle. Remove the cinnamon sticks.
- Remove from heat. Add lemon zest and chopped cilantro and serve over a bed of cooked couscous or basmati rice. Enjoy!
Sara says
This. Was. So. Good!!!
I had a lb of ground lamb I needed to cook and I was tired of shepherd's pie. This was perfect! Do NOT skip the lemon zest, it adds the perfect citrus notes that compliments the bold flavors of this dish. I had it with rice, avocado and some roasted sweet potatoes. Delicious!
HWC Magazine says
Thanks so much Sara. We are delighted you enjoyed our Easy Moroccan Ground Lamb Stew. It is one of our families' favorites too. Love your delicious choice of sides too. Take Care
Christina says
This is a pretty great dish. A couple things though….you’ll definitely need more broth. A lot more. There was no liquid really with the recipe as is before letting it simmer. Also, I recommend seasoning and lightly roasting the chickpeas first. Always so much better than straight from the can. I added quite a bit more seasoning since I used more broth….just added until it suited my taste buds, also added handfuls of torn fresh spinach. Don’t skip the cilantro and lemon. Dished up my kids’ plates and forgot forgot this until i dished up my own. Oops. It’s not optional, these things make the dish. And I used about 1/4 cup golden raisins and 2 chopped dates because it’s what I had. Another thought - this would be wonderful without meat altogether- I plan to make this again soon using sweet potato and maybe black beans as well as the chick peas. Loved this over quinoa tonight. Kids did too once I stole their plates mid meal and added the lemon zest and cilantro that belong on this dish. 😬
HWC Magazine says
So glad your family enjoyed our Moroccan ground lamb stew. Love all your additions and exchanges. Sounds like you have created your own unique recipe. Well done. Dates will make a sauce thicker compared to using dried apricots as a substitution in the recipe. We mention adding extra broth or water in the notes and it is needed for the simmering process. Stay well and take care
Nancy says
Made this recipe tonight and it was a huge success! Served it over Avocado Lime rice I had on hand. Nothing left. Clean plates. Happy family. We will make this again!
HWC Magazine says
Thanks so much Nancy! We are delighted your family enjoyed our Easy Moroccan Ground Lamb Stew. Love your idea of serving it over avocado lime rice- Delicious. Stay well and take care
Krista says
OMG! We made this recipe last night and it was packed with flavour. Super easy dump and go recipe for those busy and cold days. Even my 7 year old loved it. Will be making again and looking forward to eating the leftovers at work today.
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Krista. Getting picking children to eat dinner is such a difficult task. Glad you were able to make a meal the whole family enjoyed. Stay well and take care
Jim says
10 minutes prep time is ambitious. I spent 35 minutes measuring and chopping. I used cubed lamb shoulder, because that's what I had; it was a fantastic and easy recipe. Great flavors and the aroma from cooking was mouthwatering. Definitely bookmarked to make again.
The only issue I had was adding the spices right away with the garlic and onions. That much spice immediately gummed up the olive oil. I'm not sure if that is the intent, or if the spices should go in after the onions are translucent? The end result certainly did not suffer.
HWC Magazine says
Hi there Jim, so glad you enjoyed our Moroccan Ground Lamb Stew. Thanks so much for your kind comment. We have not tried this recipe with lamb shoulder but delighted to hear that the recipe worked well using this cut of meat. In regards to the spices, the goal is to get them toasty in the oil to release their flavors before you add the lamb. You can do this either before or after the onions are translucent, either way is okay. Stay well and take care
Eha says
Say 'Moroccan' and say 'lamb' and you have me on board ! All pantry items for me so shall definitely try !! Shall copy your spicing exactly as your cumin/coriander proportion somewhat differs from my usual one . . . or, if very busy, may reach for ras el hanout ! . Have an idea this, like curry , may taste belter one or two days after being born . . . !. .
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Eha. We just made our Moroccan ground lamb stew again last night. Saved a little on the side so could have lunches over the next couple of days. This easy stew gets even better when the flavors have a chance to mingle. Stay well and take care
Leslie Schoffelmeer says
I am in love with this stew. The flavors r absolutely delish. I added some chopped carrots and zucchini and served it over brown rice. This is a party in your mouth, you won’t be disappointed.
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Leslie. Delighted you enjoyed our Moroccan lamb stew. Love your vegetable additions. We made this again for dinner last night too. The blend of warming spices is comforting on the cool autumn days. Take Care
Plinio Montano says
This recipe with great for me it came out perfect everybody at the house love it
HWC Magazine says
Thanks so much Plinio. Delighted you enjoyed our recipe for Moroccan Lamb Stew. Cozy recipe for those cool fall days. Wishing you a super weekend ahead. Take care
Penny Lane says
Really lovely recipe. I didn't have tomato sauce so used 1 tin peeled plum tomatoes with tomato puree, doubled the chicken stock and spinach and 2 roast peppers. I used a fresh peach as didn't have apricots :
HWC Magazine says
Hi there Penny! So glad you enjoyed our Easy Moroccan Ground Lamb Stew Recipe. Good for you to try all the substitutions. We are all about using what you have on hand and making due. I am sure the taste was a bit different but good all the same. Stay well and take care
wajobo says
This was fabulous and easy to make. My only question is whether the nutritional values are correct. Is a serving size really 1 gram?
HWC Magazine says
So glad you enjoyed our recipe. Thanks for noting the nutritional values, it has been updated to be 1 serving bowl of easy Moroccan Ground Lamb Stew. Take Care
Diane says
This is relatively low sodium to begin with, and is still fantastic with no salt added garbanzos, tomato sauce, chicken broth. With all the spices the salt is not missed at all (for those of us on a medical low salt diet). I happened to peel a mandarin orange earlier in the day so used that peel instead of lemon. The sharper lemon flavor would have been better, but I think any citrus peel would work nicely if no lemon on hand. We had this for dinner and I'm going to freeze some in single servings for lunch at work. P.S. I had my doubts about the cinnamon but it really does make the dish!
HWC Magazine says
Thanks so much Diane. We are delighted that you enjoyed our easy Moroccan ground lamb stew. The best way to kick up a recipe without adding additional sodium is with herbs and spices. If you enjoy spices, you may also like our ground Turkey Sweet Potato curry. Just make with low sodium chicken broth and exchange salt and pepper with Mrs. Dash or something similar. Stay well and take care