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!
Christine says
This turned out so well! Thank you for this recipe!
We didn’t have apricots, so used raisins and lots of spices. Lamb came from farmers market and this was perfect!
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Christine! Delighted you enjoyed our easy lamb stew. Raisins is a nice substitutions for apricots. It needs that little pop of sweet to balance the spices. Wishing you a super week ahead.
Ann says
My pound of ground lamb will likely render some fat as it is browned/cooked. You do not mention spooning off or otherwise removing fat. Is that intentional? This looks delicious and I’l like to make it but my habit is to remove fat as I am browning ground beef…. Please advise!
HWC Magazine says
Hi there Ann! Yes, you will want to drain the fat from the browned ground lamb. If there is just a tablespoon, we leave it for the flavor. Enjoy your day.
Lorna Bolden says
Am making this again!
I substituted Broad beans and they were delicious..
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Lorna! Broad beans sounds like a delicious substitution. Glad you enjoyed our Moroccan lamb stew. Stay well and take care
Mimi Rippee says
Beautiful. I love Moroccan flavors, and I love lamb! Great photos.
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Mimi! We love Moroccan flavors too. The best part of this recipe is leftovers the next day. Just like a good spaghetti sauce Moroccan lamb stew is even better the next day.
Caroline Pinto says
I can tell the potential for this is SO good! I had to make it slightly different as I’m on a specific diet and cannot do dried fruit. It is definitely missing something - needs a bit of sweetness to round out the flavor. Odd thought, but would adding in a chopped apple maybe fill that? I can only do fresh fruit and apricots are not in season :/
So delicious though and will make again once I don’t have any restrictions!
HWC Magazine says
Hi there Caroline! Hope your weekend is going well. You can certainly exchange the dried fruit with chopped seasonal fresh fruits to balance out the flavors of this lamb stew. Apples, pears or even a few fresh grapes that cook down would all work well in this recipe. As you know dried fruits are very concentrated in flavor so you will have to adjust your fruit addition by taste. Stay well and take care.
Liane Rosenberg says
I made this exactly as written and it was fantastic! Spices are perfectly balanced. Enjoyed it with a fruity red wine.
HWC Magazine says
Thanks so much Liane. Delighted you had great results with one of our family's favorites - Moroccan lamb stew. Love your idea of pairing it with a fruity red wine. That sounds delicious. Stay well and take care
Fiona Zilinski says
Very tasty
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Fiona! Delighted you enjoyed our easy Moroccan ground lamb stew. Take Care
Lynne says
Delicious! I amped up most of the spices quite a bit, used Penzey's ground cinnamon instead of sticks and Golden raisins as I find them less sweet than regular raisins, and did not have apricots. Served with NYT recipe for "quick preserved" lemons, also greek yogurt and chopped cilantro as optional garnisesh. Gluten free tortillas made a good accompaniment for our GF family. Easy, fun to make, winner. Will definitely put in the rotation.
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Lynne, Delighted you and your family enjoyed our Moroccan lamb stew. Gluten free tortillas as scoopers sounds like a delicious way to keep recipe gluten free or can serve with rice. Stay well and take care