Halal-conscious recipe
Moroccan chicken with lemon couscous
The Good Food team's Moroccan chicken with Halal chicken: honey-glazed breast strips fried golden, then simmered with cinnamon, cumin, tomatoes, Halal or vegetable stock, green beans and lemon, served with lemony couscous.
Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.
Why Halal checks matter here
The dish is 4 chicken breasts, which are Halal only from Halal-slaughtered birds, simmered with 150 ml chicken stock, which is a chicken product.
Strips of chicken breast are glazed with honey and fried until golden, then simmered with cinnamon, cumin, chopped tomatoes, stock, fine green beans and lemon while couscous soaks with the rest of the lemon. The source tags it Moroccan. Two things need a Halal source: the chicken, and the stock, for which a Halal-certified chicken stock or a vegetable stock works (see stock cubes).
It follows the Good Food team's Moroccan chicken with lemon couscous for BBC Good Food, which serves four. The couscous soaks while the chicken cooks, so it is all ready in about half an hour.
Fluff the couscous with a fork and serve with the chicken.
Halal-critical ingredients
- Chicken breasts Chicken is a Halal bird, but slaughter decides, and chicken without a Halal mark doesn't say how the bird was slaughtered. Buy the chicken from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Chicken.
- Chicken stock Bought chicken stock is a chicken product, and the UK's mainstream stock cubes contain uncertified chicken or meat fat. Use a Halal-certified chicken stock or a vegan vegetable stock. See Stock cubes.
Safe substitutes
- Chicken breasts of unknown slaughter → Halal skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- 150 ml chicken stock → 150 ml Halal-certified chicken stock or vegetable stock
Allergens
gluten (couscous)
Ingredients
Couscous
- 250 g couscous
- 1 lemon, zest and juice (half for the couscous)
- 400 ml boiling water
Chicken
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp clear honey
- 4 Halal skinless, boneless chicken breasts, in large strips
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 400 g can chopped tomatoes
- 150 ml Halal-certified chicken stock, or vegetable stock
- 200 g fine green beans, trimmed
Method
- Soak the couscous. Put the couscous, half the lemon zest and half the juice in a medium bowl and pour over 400 ml boiling water. Cover with cling film and leave to soak while you cook the chicken.
- Fry the chicken. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Drizzle the honey and some seasoning over the chicken and fry over a medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes until golden.
- Simmer. Mix in the spices, then the tomatoes, stock, beans and the rest of the lemon zest and juice. Bring to the boil and simmer, uncovered, for 8 to 10 minutes or until the beans are tender.
- Serve. Fork through the couscous to fluff it up, then serve with the chicken.
How this recipe was researched
Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Moroccan chicken with lemon couscous' by the Good Food team, tagged Moroccan (serves 4: 250 g couscous with half the zest and juice of a lemon covered with 400 ml boiling water and left to soak under cling film; 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts in large strips drizzled with 1 tbsp honey and seasoned, fried in 1 tsp olive oil in a large non-stick pan over a medium heat 5 to 6 minutes until golden; 1 tsp each ground cinnamon and cumin mixed in, then a 400 g can of chopped tomatoes, 150 ml chicken stock, 200 g trimmed fine green beans and the rest of the lemon zest and juice, brought to the boil and simmered uncovered 8 to 10 minutes until the beans are tender; the couscous fluffed with a fork and served with the chicken). We specified Halal chicken breasts and a Halal-certified or vegetable stock; the last step is split at its natural break. Nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.
Technique and ingredient sources
-
Moroccan chicken with lemon couscous — BBC Good Food
Retrieved:
By the Good Food team, tagged Moroccan. Serves 4, prep 10 minutes, cook 20 minutes: couscous soaked with lemon in boiling water; honeyed chicken strips fried 5 to 6 minutes; cinnamon, cumin, tomatoes, stock, green beans and lemon simmered 8 to 10 minutes. We specified Halal chicken and stock.
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Chicken analysis — isithalal.food
Retrieved:
What makes chicken Halal: the slaughter.