Instant Pot Gizzard Tagine
I have wanted to include more organ meats in my family’s diet ever since I learned about ancestral cooking. They’re affordable and packed with nutrients, but they can feel a little overwhelming when you’re new to cooking them. How do you actually cook them so they taste good?
In this post, I’ll show you one of my most-used ways to cook gizzards for my family: Instant Pot gizzard tagine. It’s made with tender gizzards, plenty of vegetables, and warm Middle Eastern-inspired spices. And the best part? Cooking gizzards in the Instant Pot makes them flavorful and tender every single time.
Why You’ll Love This Gizzard Tagine
- Tender gizzards: Gizzards are one of my favorite organ meats, and pressure cooking makes them wonderfully tender and flavorful. On the stovetop, they can take up to 2 hours to reach the same tenderness.
- Full of flavor: Onions, garlic, and warm Moroccan spices give this tagine plenty of flavor without making it complicated.
- Budget-friendly: Gizzards are very inexpensive, making them an easy way to add more nutrient-dense organ meats to your family’s diet without spending a lot of money.
- Great for meal prep: The flavor gets even better after sitting overnight, and this tagine freezes beautifully, just like most stews. Make a double batch and freeze some for another day.
What Are Chicken Gizzards?
Gizzards are part of a chicken’s digestive system — essentially, its stomach. They help chickens grind up their food since chickens don’t have teeth, which means they are quite muscular and naturally firm.
When cooked properly, like in this Instant Pot gizzard tagine, they become tender and flavorful with a pleasant bite — not tough or chewy at all.
While gizzards aren’t as nutrient-dense as chicken liver, they are still a good source of protein and other nutrients, making them a great addition to a real food diet. My goal is to serve organ meats to my kids at least once a week, and gizzards are one of my favorite ways to do it.
Ingredients
- Chicken gizzards: To prepare the gizzards, remove any large pieces of fat, as they can make your tagine quite oily. Give the gizzards a quick rinse under running water before cooking. You can also use turkey gizzards instead; just cut them into a few smaller pieces before cooking.
- Bone broth: Any broth will work in this recipe. The tagine is well seasoned, so you can use chicken, beef, lamb, or another type of broth depending on what you have on hand.
- Chickpeas: I soak my dried chickpeas ahead of time and cook them right in the Instant Pot with the gizzards. If you’re using canned chickpeas, add them later with the carrots and potatoes so they don’t overcook.
- Vegetables: I use potatoes and carrots, but feel free to swap them for other vegetables. Rutabaga or turnips would both work well here.
- Spices: This is a North African-inspired dish, so I use a combination of cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric, and a dash of cinnamon.
- Tallow: I use tallow for sautéing the onions, but butter works just as well if that’s what you have.
How to Make Gizzard Tagine Step By Step
Step 1: Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode. Add the tallow or butter and sauté the onion for about 5 minutes, until softened and lightly golden. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds, stirring constantly so it doesn’t burn.
Step 2: Add the paprika, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper, and salt. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until the spices are fragrant and the tomato paste is well incorporated.
Step 3: Cancel the Sauté mode and stir in about 1 cup of bone broth. Use an immersion blender to blend everything until smooth. This creates a rich, creamy base for your tagine.
Step 4: Add the gizzards, soaked and drained chickpeas, and enough bone broth to just cover everything. Stir well. Secure the lid and cook on High Pressure for 40 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes, then carefully release any remaining pressure.
Step 5: Open the lid and stir in the carrots and potatoes. Secure the lid again and cook on High Pressure for 4 minutes. When the cooking time is up, quick release the pressure.
Step 6: Taste the tagine and adjust the salt if needed. Stir in some chopped cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, if you like. Serve hot over couscous or in bowls with some flatbread for dipping.
Serving Ideas
Traditionally, tagines are served with couscous or flatbread to soak up all that flavorful sauce. Couscous is my favorite way to serve any tagine because it soaks up the sauce beautifully. Tagines are a little like stews, but they aren’t usually thickened with flour or cornstarch, so they tend to have quite a bit of liquid — almost like a hearty soup.
If you don’t have couscous or flatbread, you can serve this gizzard tagine in deep bowls with some soft dinner rolls for dipping, or simply enjoy it on its own like a hearty, meaty soup.
To finish, sprinkle the tagine with some chopped cilantro and squeeze a little fresh lemon juice over the top. The lemon brightens up all those warm spices and adds a lovely contrast to the rich broth.
How to Store
Store leftover gizzard tagine in an airtight container or mason jars in the refrigerator for 3–4 days. It tastes even better the next day, so I usually make a large batch and get 2–3 dinners out of it.
You can also freeze the tagine for up to 3 months. Let it cool completely before freezing, and thaw it in the refrigerator before reheating.
Recipe FAQ
Enjoy Your Tagine
I hope you enjoy this Instant Pot gizzard tagine! It’s one of my favorite dinner dishes to make in the Instant Pot, and it’s so easy to customize depending on what you have on hand. Don’t have chickpeas, potatoes, or carrots? Try it with turnips, rutabaga, or even zucchini. Just add the zucchini toward the end of cooking so it doesn’t turn mushy.
Chicken gizzards have been one of my favorite organ meats since I was little, when my grandma used to cook them for us in broth. They’re so mild that I think they’re a much easier introduction to organ meats for kids than liver or kidneys, and they work beautifully in all kinds of soups and stews.
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More Family Friendly Organ Meat Recipes
Mexican Tripe Soup (Red Menudo)
Instant Pot Gizzard Tagine
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp tallow or butter
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp salt, or to taste
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 3-4 cups bone broth
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) chicken gizzards
- 1 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight and drained (or use canned)
- 3 medium carrots, cut into chunks
- 2 medium potatoes, cut into chunks
To serve (optional)
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- A squeeze of lemon juice
- Cooked couscous or flatbread
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode. Add the tallow or butter and sauté the onion for about 5 minutes, until softened and lightly golden. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds, stirring constantly so it doesn't burn.
- Add the paprika, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper, and salt. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until the spices are fragrant and the tomato paste is well incorporated.
- Cancel the Sauté mode and stir in about 1 cup of bone broth. Use an immersion blender to blend everything until smooth. This creates a rich, creamy base for your tagine.
- Add the gizzards, soaked and drained chickpeas, and enough bone broth to just cover everything. Stir well. Secure the lid and cook on High Pressure for 40 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes, then carefully release any remaining pressure.
- Open the lid and stir in the carrots and potatoes. Secure the lid again and cook on High Pressure for 4 minutes. When the cooking time is up, quick release the pressure.
- Taste the tagine and adjust the salt if needed. Stir in some chopped cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, if you like. Serve hot over couscous or in bowls with some flatbread for dipping.
