Find yourself transported to the warm streets of Morocco with my take on one of the most famous dishes in Moroccan cuisine. This gluten free beef and apricot tagine is comforting and packed with flavour. The sweetness of butternut squash and apricot blending with harissa and spices. Serve with this jewelled rice for a dinner that looks as good as it tastes!
This gluten free beef tagine can be made ahead of time and freezes well too. The flavours develop beautifully and you’ll love being able to grab portions out of the freezer when you want a delicious, no effort meal.
My suggested side dish for this tagine is a jewelled brown rice. You could also serve this with gluten free couscous, but this brown rice with coriander and pomegranate seeds tastes wonderful.
This is a naturally dairy free dish (assuming you skip the yoghurt topping or use a dairy free alternative) and could easily be made vegetarian by leaving the beef out – there’s plenty of other good stuff in this tagine to be enjoyed.
Moroccan Beef & Apricot Tagine Recipe (GF)
You’ll find the method below, plus a couple of photos to help guide you through the recipe. Feel free to email me any questions or comments you might have. You can contact me at laura@mygfguide.com or message me on Instagram/Facebook @myglutenfreeguide.
If you enjoy this tagine, I would be really grateful if you could leave a star rating or review on the recipe card below. Thank you!
Laura xxx
Moroccan Beef & Apricot Tagine with Jewelled Rice (GF, DF)
A Moroccan-style beef tagine with butternut squash and apricots. Served with pomegranate and herb jewelled rice.
Ingredients
For the tagine:
- 1 large white onion
- 400g beef braising steak/chuck steak, chopped into chunks
- 500g butternut squash, chopped
- 1 tbsp ras el hanout (I use Barts)
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 0.5 tsp garlic granules
- 1 tbsp harissa
- 1 tbsp honey
- 100g chopped dried apricots
- 500ml beef stock
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 200ml water
- 1 tin chickpeas
For the rice:
- 300g easy cook brown rice
- A small bunch of fresh coriander (approx 30g)
- 50g pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion and tip into a large saucepan with a couple of tbsp of cooking oil. Place over a medium heat and cook for 5 minutes until the onions have softened.
- Add the beef chunks to the pan and turn the heat up to medium-high. Stir every 30 seconds or so, cooking for a few minutes until the meat is lightly browned on the outside. Then add the butternut squash to the saucepan and stir through.
- Make a spice paste by combining the ras el hanout, paprika, cinnamon, ginger, harissa and garlic granules with 1 tbsp of water. Mix until you have a smooth paste and then tip this into the saucepan, turning the heat down to medium. Stir it through the meat, butternut squash and onions until everything is well-coated and beginning to smell fragrant.
- Add the honey and the apricots to the pan, stir through, then follow with the beef stock, tinned tomatoes and 200ml water. Bring the mixture to the boil, then turn the heat down to a low simmering point. Place the lid on the saucepan and then cook over a low heat for two hours, stirring occasionally.
- After this cooking time, drain the chickpeas and add them to the pan. Turn the heat up to medium and cook the tagine with the lid off for 30 minutes to thicken the sauce. While it is cooking you can prepare the rice.
- The rice is very simple - cook the brown rice according to packet instructions, then drain off any excess water. Remove the stalks from the coriander and chop the leaves roughly before adding to the rice along with the pomegranate seeds. Stir through until evenly distributed, then serve alongside the tagine. Add a dollop of natural yoghurt to your portion of gluten free beef tagine if you like a milder flavour. Enjoy!
I hope you enjoyed making this gluten free beef tagine. Here are a few other gluten free dinner recipes that you might also enjoy:
Bon appetit! x
