These bold and delicious grilled chicken thighs are marinated and grilled with big flavors like garlic, lemon, green olives, prunes, olive oil, and a rich spice blend of paprika, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, and turmeric. Serve them with a side dish of couscous studded with chopped pecans, olives, prunes, and sunny lemon.
This post is sponsored by American Pecans.
This summer will feel like a different season for all of us, but there’s one thing that can happily remain the same: grilling. From June through September, I grill just about every fresh food I can get my hands on—from meats to fruits and veggies—and thankfully, I don’t think that’ll change just because we’re in the midst of a pandemic. These Moroccan grilled chicken thighs with pecan couscous have already set the season off with a bang.
They’re outrageously flavorful, thanks to a bold wet rub made with garlic, lemon, green olives, prunes, olive oil, and a rich spice blend of paprika, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, and turmeric. Grilling adds a smoky intensity to the tender thigh meat.
A bed of pecan couscous is the ideal complement, building on the rich Moroccan flavor with tart lemon, fresh parsley, chopped prunes, briney green olives, and plenty of crunchy, naturally sweet pecans.
Why pecans? Well, first of all, our family eats A LOT of pecans. On oatmeal, with veggies, in pies, as an everyday snack…the list goes on. They’re delicious and so versatile. The fact that they’re also extremely nutrient dense makes them that much better to me—a one-ounce serving of pecans gives you 12 grams of “good” monounsaturated fats*, and 3 grams of plant-based protein and fiber. Basically, they elevate the nutrition of whatever you add them to!
*A one-ounce serving of pecans has 18g unsaturated fat and only 2g saturated fat.
Grilled Moroccan Chicken Thighs
The secret to creating bold, rich flavor in our chicken thighs is all in the Moroccan marinade. It’s a thick, wet rub that you’ll make in the food processor and slather all over the chicken before grilling.
Don’t let the list of ingredients intimidate you! Many of them you probably have on hand (like the spices, garlic, and olive oil) and the ones you’ll need to buy are great pantry and fridge staples for a whole slew of other recipes (they won’t go to waste!). Here’s what you’ll need:
Spices: paprika, ground cumin, ground turmeric, cayenne pepper, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, salt, and pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
Lemon juice
Prunes
Green olives
Garlic cloves
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Pecan Couscous
Couscous is one of my favorite sides for a few reasons. It’s incredibly quick cooking; it’s easy; and it goes with everything. Here, the fine grains are mixed with big flavor enhancers like lemon, chopped sweet prunes, chopped olives, bright parsley, and crunchy pecans. It’s interesting in terms of taste and texture and creates the perfect base for our Moroccan chicken thighs.
Grilled Moroccan Chicken Thighs with Pecan Couscous
Ingredients
Moroccan Marinade
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ tsp ground black pepper
- ¾ tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 tbsp lemon juice (juice of 2 lemons)
- ¼ cup pitted prunes, coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup pitted green olives
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed
Pecan Couscous
- ¾ cup fresh pecans, chopped
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ cups dry couscous
- 2 tbsp lemon juice (juice of about 1 lemon)
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- ⅓ cup pitted prunes, finely chopped
- ⅓ cup pitted green olives, sliced
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the paprika, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, ¾ teaspoon pepper, turmeric, cayenne, cinnamon, and ginger.
- In a food processor, pulse the olive oil, prunes, olives, garlic, and spice mixture until smooth paste forms, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Transfer the paste to a large bowl with the chicken thighs and toss to coat them well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day.
- On a gas grill, turn all burners to medium-high, cover, and heat until hot, about 15 minutes. Once hot, oil your cooking grates. Arrange chicken on the grill. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, flip over, and cook for an additional 6 to 8 minutes, until the chicken registers 185 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Transfer the chicken thighs to a platter, tent with aluminum foil, and let rest for 10 minutes.
- While the chicken is grilling, make the couscous: In a medium saucepan, bring the broth, salt, and oil to a boil. Stir in the couscous, cover tightly with a lid, and remove from heat. Let the couscous stand for 5 minutes. Use a fork to fluff the couscous and stir in the lemon juice, parsley, prunes, olives, and pecans. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as desired.
- Arrange the couscous on a large platter, top with the cooked chicken thighs, and serve with lemon wedges, if desired.
Gosh, this is a great recipe Andie. Looking forward to making it. Great flavor combo.
Hi Andie, these look great! For the couscous, I can’t use any nuts or peanuts. Do you think pepitas would work for the crunch?
Hi Miriam! Yes, I think pepitas would be great!
Hi Andie,
You are doing a wonderful job here and I commend you for that! The recipe is great!
Yummy and healthy, thanks!
The Best! I’m so grateful I found this recipe
Hi Andie,
I made this recipe last night… it was so very good, thank you!!
This is a yummy recipe
Great recipe, thanks!
Big platter of Moroccan chicken on a bed of delicious cous cous. I only changed on ingredient in the cous cous and that was to use organs instead of lemon and it was amazingly zingy and fresh. Blitzed the marinade in my Thermomix and I could honestly say it would work with any meat. Extremely delicious recipe and I’m thrilled I’ve found Andie Mitchell. Thank you again. 5 star recipe ❤️❤️
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This grilled Moroccan chicken recipe looks amazing! The spices sound incredible, and I love the pecan couscous idea. I’m gonna try this for sure. Reminds me of something you could play while waiting for it to cook… like game Melon Playground, haha!
Omg, these Grilled Moroccan Chicken Thighs with Pecan Couscous sound amazing! Love the bold flavors and the pecan couscous looks so good. I might have to try this using emojimyface next time I’m feeling creative in the kitchen.
These Moroccan grilled chicken thighs look amazing! Seriously drooling over here. But if I’m too lazy to cook, maybe I’ll just use a Doll Generator to imagine myself eating them lol!
I want to eat through my laptop screen.
Okay, who gave you permission to write this well? Loved it!”
This was such a well-written article—I couldn’t stop reading!
Dude, this article is fire! Loved every bit of it!”
This grilled Moroccan chicken with pecan couscous recipe looks so good! I love the combination of flavors, and the pecans in the couscous sound amazing. Definitely going to try this out for my next BBQ.
This grilled Moroccan chicken recipe looks absolutely delicious! The spices sound phenomenal, and I love the idea of pairing it with pecan couscous. Definitely adding this to my must-try list. It even reminds me of something fun to play while waiting for dinner to cook—like *Melon Playground*, haha!
This Moroccan grilled chicken sounds insanely flavorful, and that pecan couscous is such a fun, crunchy twist! Definitely adding this to my summer grilling lineup.
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This recipe looks amazing! I love the combination of Moroccan spices with pecan couscous. Can’t wait to try it on my grill!
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Wow, this Grilled Moroccan Chicken Thighs with Pecan Couscous sounds like a flavor explosion on a plate! The combination of smoky grilled chicken with that bold Moroccan spice blend—paprika, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric—paired with the sweet and tangy notes from prunes, olives, and lemon in the couscous is pure genius.
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