Moroccan food is a rich blend of flavors and traditions, including Arabic, Andalusian, and Mediterranean influences.
One of the great cuisines of the world, Moroccan cooking abounds with subtle spices and intriguing flavor combinations. Influenced by Andalusian Spain, Arabia and France, Morocco’s cuisine is a delicious combination of mouthwatering flavours that make it unique.
The art is in balancing the flavors, without overwhelming any ingredient. Are you tempted to try some of these delicious dishes?
Iconic Moroccan Dishes
Tagine
Morocco is known for tagine, the quintessential dish named after the conical earthenware pot in which it is cooked.
A tagine is the clay cooking pot with a conical lid that gives its name to a myriad of dishes. Tagines can be seen bubbling away at every roadside café, are found in top notch restaurants and in every home, and are always served with bread.
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This self-basting process produces really tender meat and vegetables, the flavors of which are infused together with the typical Moroccan spice mix.
A distinctive feature of tajines is the contrast of preserved fruit, such as lemon or prunes, with the meat and vegetables.
Try making your own easy chicken tagine and then try our other tagine recipes.
Another dish named after the urn-shaped pot it is cooked in, tangia is simpler than tajine.
Traditionally, the pot was prepared in the morning and left at the local hammam. This slow cooking method blends the rich spice seasoning with the juices of the tenderized meat and contrasting fruit.
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Couscous
If you’re looking for Morocco’s national food, couscous might well be it.
‘Seksu’ or couscous is a fine wheat pasta traditionally rolled by hand. Semolina, meat, and vegetables.
It is steamed over a stew of meat and vegetables. To serve, the meat is covered by a pyramid of couscous, the vegetables are pressed into the sides and the sauce served separately.
The light, airy couscous is then served with toppings of cooked vegetables and tender meats such as lamb or chicken. It is often garnished with a sweet raisin preserve, or in the Berber tradition, with a bowl of buttermilk.
Try our vegetarian Moroccan mushrooms with couscous, or if you can't sacrifice your meat, our Moroccan lamb meatballs with harissa & couscous. Check out our couscous recipes for more inspiration.
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How to Make Couscous with Chef Mourad Lahlou | Williams-Sonoma
Pastilla (B’stilla)
Once made with pigeon but now usually chicken, pastilla-or bastilla-is a savory-sweet filled pastry treat.
This very special pie represents the pinnacle of exquisite Fassi (from Fez) cuisine. Layers of a paper-thin pastry coddle a blend of pigeon meat, almonds and eggs spiced with saffron, cinnamon and fresh coriander, the whole dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon.
The finished pastry is dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon. The dish has its roots in Andalusian cuisine, brought by Moors fleeing Spain in the 15th century.
Try one of our similar spiced chicken & apricot pastilla, chicken & almond pastillas or duck, apricot & pine nut pastillas.
Harira
Harira is a traditional Moroccan soup, a staple for breaking the Ramadan fast but enjoyed year-round.
During the holy month of Ramadan, the fast is broken at sunset each day with a steaming bowl of harira soup. Rich with tomatoes, lentils, chickpeas and lamb, it is finished off with a squeeze of lemon juice and some chopped coriander, and served with a sticky sweet pretzel called chebakkiya.
The soup is thickened with flour and egg, giving it a distinct mouth feel. The addition of fresh cilantro, and parsley-and a dash of lemon-is also key to harira’s appeal.
Try making your own harira chicken soup.
Rfissa
This traditional dish combines shredded msemmen-layered flatbread-or day-old bread with a rich lentil and chicken stew.
Rfissa is a traditional Moroccan dish that's usually made for women who gave birth.
Time-intensive to prepare, rfissa is a special occasion food in Morocco. The slow-cooked chicken and lentil broth, soaked up by the layered bread, gives a satisfying mix of textures.
Flavorful Ingredients and Seasonings
Harissa
Harissa is a red, chili-hot paste, one Algeria claims as its own, but Morocco has its own, milder regional versions. These are all mixed with olive oil to create a distinctive, red paste that is a common seasoning for many dishes.
Every region of Morocco has its own variations, including ones that add ingredients such as preserved lemon. Harissa is a popular filling, with its spiciness nicely complementing the carb-heavy sandwich.
Chermoula
The key to this popular Moroccan dish is a marinade of chermoula. Fresh sardines are stuffed with chermoula and covered in more before being baked in a tajine.
A marinade to flavor fish or seafood, but it can be used on other meats or vegetables.
Chermoula is often made of a mixture of herbs, oil, lemon juice, pickled lemons, garlic, cumin, and salt.
The dish can be served hot or cold, as a main course or as part of a mezze spread.
Try making your own chermoula-marinated mackerel.
Preserved Lemon
Not a dish but an ingredient, preserved lemon is central to many Moroccan dishes. Whole, halved, or quartered lemons are salted, then pickled in lemon juice and salt.
The process brings out extra intensity in the lemon, particularly in the rind.
Bread and Street Food
Khobz
A warm loaf of khobz bread is an essential at every Moroccan meal. Khobz has to be soft enough to tear into chunks, yet firm enough to use in scooping up food, especially juices.
Semolina is added to help give some of that necessary texture.
Msemmen
Another traditional flatbread, msemmen differs from Khobz in having a multi-folded dough, like puff pastry. The basic dough is similar to khobz but is folded into layers with butter or oil between each. Among the popular street foods in Morocco, many vendors will make it fresh in an appetizing display of skill.
Makouda
Moroccan street food is legendary and the best place to sample the wide variety is Djemaa el-Fna square in Marrakech. Here beside the kebabs, calamari and grilled sardines, you will find the more unusual sweet cheek meat of sheep’s heads, snails cooked in a spicy broth that wards off colds, and skewers of lamb’s liver with caul fat.
These deep-fried potato balls are a popular street food in Morocco and throughout North Africa. The result can be eaten as a snack, starter, or as a meal when served in bread.
Makouda are little deep-fried potato balls, delicious dipped into spicy harissa sauce.
Other Notable Moroccan Dishes
- Bessara: A hearty soup with a base of dried fava beans or split peas, simmered to a smooth, thick consistency. Like any soup, long, slow cooking is essential for the best flavor. Comfort food at its best, bissara is often eaten at breakfast with fresh bread. At a few pennies a bowl, this rich soup of dried broad beans is traditionally served for breakfast, topped with a swirl of olive oil, a sprinkling of cumin and bread fresh from the oven. Try our broad bean, yoghurt & mint soup for a twist on this dish.
- Loubia: Stewed white beans might sound very bland, but the addition of Moroccan spices lifts it to another level. The beans are soaked overnight, then slowly cooked with fresh tomatoes, ginger, paprika, and cumin. While loubia is a vegetarian dish, it might also have some meat or meat stock added.
- Zaalouk: Zaalouk is a staple of Moroccan cuisine, based on roasted or grilled eggplant. Flavored with garlic, cumin, and paprika, the dish is then cooked slowly with olive oil while it thickens. Typically eaten as a dip with fresh bread, this vegetable dish is both healthy and delicious. Moroccan meals begin with at least seven cooked vegetable salads to scoop up with bread. They can include green peppers and tomatoes, sweet carrots or courgette purée, and a dish of local olives alongside. Zaalouk is a smoked aubergine dip, seasoned with garlic, paprika, cumin and a little chilli powder. For something similar, try our smoky aubergine & coriander dip. Check out more cooked vegetable salads with our warm salad recipes. Zeldes, Leah A. (Nov 11, 2009). "Eat this! Zaalouk, a cooked salad from Morocco". Dining Chicago. Archived from the original on January 22, 2010.
- Mechoui: A meal for celebrations and festivals, mechoui is a whole roasted lamb. The lamb is marinated in a mix of cumin, paprika, black pepper, and other spices, often with saffron as well. Ideally, the skin is still crisp but not burnt, so careful cooking is needed.
- Merguez: This famous Moroccan sausage is made with lamb, or beef-but usually both-seasoned with harissa, paprika, cumin, fennel, or other spices. The sausage has a distinct red color from the spicy harissa and paprika. While often part of a mixed grill, you will also see merguez in tajines, couscous, and stews.
- Kefta tagine: Beef or lamb mince with garlic, fresh coriander and parsley, cinnamon and ground coriander is rolled into balls and cooked in a tomato and onion sauce. Just before the dish is ready, eggs are cracked into depressions in the sauce and soon cook to perfection. Try our Moroccan meatball tagine with lemon & olives.
Drinks and Sweets
Mint Tea
Mint tea is as much a symbol of Moroccan hospitality as it is a refreshing drink on a hot day.
Known as ‘Moroccan whisky’, mint tea is the drink of choice. It is usually heavily sweetened with sugar chipped off a sugar cone. Gunpowder tea is steeped with a few sprigs of spearmint stuffed into the teapot. It is poured into a tea glass from a height to create a froth called the crown.
The hot tea is also usually made with sugar, although you can ask for it without in a restaurant. Making the tea is a fascinating ritual, using a special pot called a “berrad”.
Try our fresh mint tea recipe for a refreshing warm beverage.
Chebakia
Chebakia is a flower-shaped cookie made from a dough with anise and sesame seeds, cinnamon, and saffron. Folded into the shape of a rose, it is deep-fried until golden.
The result combines crispness, sweetness from the honey and flavor from the spices.
Kaab el Ghazal
“Gazelle Horns” are croissant-shaped cookies now popular throughout the Arab world but originating in Morocco. The curved shape, with a serrated edge, gives these delicious cookies their name.
For weddings, it is traditional for the bride’s family to prepare kaab el ghazal to show off their cooking skills.
Top 10 Moroccan Foods to Try
Here's a quick recap of some must-try Moroccan dishes:
- B’ssara
- Tagine
- Fish chermoula
- Harira
- Kefta tagine
- Couscous
- Makouda
- Zaalouk
- B’stilla
- Mint tea
