Description
Beef Tagine is a slow-cooked, Moroccan-inspired stew featuring tender spiced beef, sweet prunes, hearty chickpeas, and soft butternut pumpkin simmered in a rich tomato and aromatic spice broth. Deeply flavorful and comforting, this one-pot dish is perfect served over fluffy couscous.
Ingredients
- For the beef tagine:
- 600 g stewing beef, cut into large chunks
- 2–3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- Small bunch fresh coriander (stalks chopped, leaves separated)
- 1 (400 g) tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 (400 g) tin chopped tomatoes
- 800 ml vegetable stock
- 1 small butternut pumpkin (about 800 g), cut into 5 cm chunks
- 100 g prunes, pitted and torn
- 1 1/2 tablespoons flaked almonds, toasted
- Cooked couscous, for serving
- For the spice rub:
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 teaspoons ras el hanout
- 3 teaspoons ground cumin
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3 teaspoons ground ginger
- 3 teaspoons sweet paprika
Instructions
- Combine all spice rub ingredients in a small bowl.
- Massage spice mixture thoroughly into beef. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Heat olive oil in a tagine or heavy casserole over medium heat. Brown beef for about 5 minutes.
- Add chopped onion and coriander stalks. Cook 5 minutes until softened.
- Stir in chickpeas, chopped tomatoes, and 400 ml stock. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat, cover, and simmer gently for 1 1/2 hours.
- Add butternut pumpkin, prunes, and remaining 400 ml stock. Cover and simmer another 1 1/2 hours until beef is fork-tender.
- If sauce is too thin, simmer uncovered 5–10 minutes to thicken.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
- Garnish with coriander leaves and toasted flaked almonds.
- Serve hot over couscous.
Notes
- Marinate beef overnight for deeper flavor.
- Simmer gently for tender, fall-apart texture.
- Sweet potato or carrots can replace butternut pumpkin.
- Freeze without couscous for up to 3 months.
- Flavors improve the next day after resting.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Slow Simmer
- Cuisine: Moroccan-Inspired
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving (approx. 1/5 recipe without couscous)
- Calories: 610 kcal
- Sugar: 14 g
- Sodium: 820 mg
- Fat: 30 g
- Saturated Fat: 8 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 19 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 48 g
- Fiber: 9 g
- Protein: 42 g
- Cholesterol: 95 mg
