Traditional Dishes to Look For in Morocco
Year after year, Morocco is one of the most visited countries in Africa. There are many reasons to visit Morocco but one of the best has to be the food. If you’re the type of traveler who likes to experience a different culture through its food, then be sure to check out these 30 traditional dishes on your next trip to Morocco.
WHAT IS TRADITIONAL MOROCCAN FOOD?
Moroccan food is a mix of many influences. It’s a blend of Berber, Andalusian, and Mediterranean cuisines with hints of European and sub-Saharan influences.
Morocco produces a wide variety of Mediterranean fruits and vegetables. Wheat is the staple grain while common meats include beef, lamb, goat, mutton, chicken, and seafood.
Savory, sweet, and sour flavors figure prominently in many Moroccan dishes. They’re typically seasoned with preserved lemon, smen (fermented butter), argan oil, olive oil, dried fruits, herbs, and a multitude of different spices.
Spices are used extensively in Moroccan cuisine. Some of the most commonly used spices in Moroccan cooking include cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, saffron, nutmeg, paprika, ginger, anise, and fenugreek. Ras el hanout, a popular spice blend used in many Moroccan dishes, can be made with 25-40 different spices.
With so many spices and fresh herbs used in Moroccan recipes, it’s impossible to think of Moroccan food without thinking of flavor.
THE BEST MOROCCAN DISHES
Couscous, Morocco’s national dish, It refers to a widely consumed Maghrebi dish of small durum wheat semolina granules.
Friday is the traditional day to eat couscous in Morocco. Friday is a Muslim holy day and the equivalent to a Sunday in Christian cultures. After prayers, families would sit down to a large meal of couscous and stew made with seven vegetables – eggplant, carrots, zucchini, pumpkin, parsnips, tomatoes, and cabbage.
2. Shakshuka (Berber Omelette)
Shakshuka (or shakshouka) refers to a popular Mediterranean breakfast dish of poached eggs cooked in a tomato sauce with peppers, garlic, onions, olive oil, and spices. Popular throughout North Africa and the Middle East.
Similar to shakshuka, taktouka refers to a Moroccan salad made with tomatoes, roasted bell peppers, olive oil, paprika, and fresh parsley. It’s essentially a less saucy and milder-tasting version of shakshuka made without eggs.
Zaalouk is a popular Moroccan dip made with eggplant, fresh tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and spices and herbs like cumin, paprika, parsley, and cilantro. Like taktouka, it’s typically served as a dip with crusty bread or as a side dish to Moroccan fish, chicken, or meat dishes.
Maakouda refers to a type of potato fritter made with deep-fried mashed potatoes mixed with sautéed onions, garlic, cumin, and cilantro.Maakouda can be enjoyed in many ways. It can be eaten as an appetizer, as a side dish, or as a filling for sandwiches. It’s often served as street food in Morocco.
Harira is a zesty tomato-based lentil and chickpea soup popular in the cuisines of Morocco. It can be consumed at any time of the year though it becomes especially popular during Ramadan when it’s served to break the fast.
Recipes for harira vary from cook to cook but it’s typically made with tomatoes, chickpeas, lentils, onions, rice (or vermicelli), eggs, flour, herbs, and spices.
Bissara (or bessara, besarah) refers to a traditional moroccan soup made with dried and puréed split fava beans or split peas. it’s is popular in Morocco, especially in the northern part of the country where it’s often served on its own or as a side dish to fish.
To prepare, the legumes are simmered with garlic, cumin, cayenne pepper, paprika, and olive oil before being puréed to a smooth consistency. It can be enjoyed in different ways depending on how thick it is. Thinner bissaras are eaten as soups while thicker versions are enjoyed as a dip with crusty Moroccan bread.
Often sold as street food in Morocco, bissara is a hearty and comforting dish that’s typically consumed during the winter months.
8. Briouat
Briouats (or briwat) are small Moroccan pastries made with a variety of fillings wrapped in a paper-thin Moroccan dough called warqa. They can be baked or fried, sweet or savory, and rolled in triangular or cylindrical form.
They’re typically made with meat (usually lamb, beef, or chicken), cheese, onions, and various herbs and spices like cilantro, parsley, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, and pepper.
There is also almond briouats. Coated in warm honey and sesame seeds, they’re filled with almond paste flavored with cinnamon and orange flower water.
Almonds briouats are enjoyed throughout the year in Morocco, often with tea, though they become especially popular during Ramadan. Families would make large batches of almond briouats leading up to Ramadan and then serve them throughout the month with other Moroccan sweets like chebakia and sellou.
Spend a day in Morocco and it becomes evident how important bread is to Moroccan cuisine and culture. Bread for Moroccans is what rice is to people from Southeast Asia. It’s consumed at almost every meal and functions both as food and as a vessel for scooping up Moroccan dips, salads, tagines, entrees, and side dishes.
There are many different types of bread in Morocco but the most common is the round loaf called khobz.
Khobz is readily available at neighborhood bakeries and shops though many Moroccan families still prefer to make it from scratch (khobz dyal dar). They’ll bake it in home ovens or in communal wood-fired ovens known as ferran.
Batbout (or mkhamer, toghrift, matlou‘) refers to a type of Moroccan flatbread. Made with semolina, white flour, and whole wheat flour, it’s basically the Moroccan equivalent to the Middle Eastern pita except it’s cooked on a stove top instead of being baked in an oven.
If you like crepes or pancakes, then you’ll surely enjoy msemen as well.
Msemen can be savory or sweet and is often enjoyed for breakfast or as a snack with tea or coffee. When eaten for breakfast, they’re traditionally paired with a hot honey and butter dipping sauce. Savory versions of msemen are often stuffed with various ingredients like ground meat (usually beef or lamb), onions, herbs, and spices.
Like khobz, msemen is readily available at bakeries or from street food stalls but many Moroccans still prefer to make it at home.
12. Meloui
Meloui refers to a type of Moroccan laminated pancake or crepe that’s very similar to msemen. Meaning “rolled” in Arabic, the main difference is in its shape. Unlike msemen which is formed into a square, meloui is shaped into a coil or roll before being flattened and cooked on a stove top.Another difference is that meloui is made with more semolina which gives it a different taste and texture to msemen.
One look at this popular Moroccan pancake and it becomes obvious why it’s called “thousand hole pancakes”. Made with semolina, baghrir are small spongy pancakes known for their many tiny holes that form during the cooking process.baghrir pancakes are made with a crepe-like batter consisting of flour, fine semolina, baking powder, yeast, salt, sugar, and water. It’s the yeast in the batter that creates the holes in the pancake.baghrir pancakes are made with a crepe-like batter consisting of flour, fine semolina, baking powder, yeast, salt, sugar, and water. It’s the yeast in the batter that creates the holes in the pancake.
Harcha (or ḥarša) is a type of pancake or pan-fried bread made with semolina. Popular in Morocco.
When cooked, harcha looks a bit similar to English muffins though they’re closer in taste and texture to cornbread. They’re typically eaten for breakfast or as a snack with mint tea, usually with jam, cheese, or honey-butter syrup. Like baghrir, it’s a common snack during Ramadan.
15. Krachel
Like many of the breads in this Moroccan food guide, krachel is commonly eaten for breakfast or as a snack with Moroccan tea, either on its own or with various spreads like butter, jam, or cheese. It can also be part of an iftar meal to break the fast during Ramadan.
After couscous, tagine is the most well-known dish in Moroccan cuisine. It’s also the most striking because it can refer to both the Berber dish and the unique (and often colorful) cooking vessel used to make it. The word tagine stems from the Berber word tajin, meaning “shallow earthen pot”.
A tagine can be used to slow-cook Moroccan stews made with meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, and fruit. Known for their sweet and sour flavor profiles, spices commonly used in tagine dishes include turmeric, saffron, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, and ginger. Fresh herbs are often incorporated into recipes along with other ingredients like olives, preserved lemon, nuts, and dried fruit.
Skewered meat dishes are common in many cuisines and Moroccan is no exception. In Morocco, kebabs (or qotban) are typically made with lamb or beef marinated in a mixture containing onions, parsley, olive oil, black pepper, and salt. They’re skewered with alternating cubes of fat to keep the meat moist while being grilled over hot charcoal.
Bastilla (or b’stilla, pastilla) is one of the most well-known dishes in Moroccan cuisine.
Poultry bastilla is traditionally made with squab but more modern versions are now made with chicken. The bird is browned in butter and simmered with onions, parsley, and various spices like saffron, nutmeg, and ginger till tender.
Seafood bastilla is known to be more spicy. It’s made with a filling of fish, squid, and shrimp mixed with vermicelli noodles, black mushrooms, and a spicy tomato sauce.
New mothers need nourishing food and chicken rfissa is proof of that. It refers to a popular Moroccan Berber dish of stewed chicken, lentils, and onions served on a bed of shredded trid pastry. In Morocco, it’s typically given to mothers on the third day after giving birth because of its purported health benefits.
It’s made with chicken and lentils stewed with ras el hanout, fenugreek seeds, saffron, and other spices. The chicken, lentils, and broth are traditionally served over a bed of shredded and steamed trid pastry though msemen, meloui, harcha, or even day-old bread can be used as a substitute.
Morocco is located on the northwestern coast of Africa. It boasts over 3,000 km (1,864 mi) of coastline and is home to an abundance of fish and seafood, none more important perhaps than the sardine.
Sardines represent more than 62% of the Moroccan fish catch. Morocco processes about 600,000 tons of sardines each year and is the world’s largest exporter of canned sardines.
sardines are an inexpensive food source in Morocco. They’re a staple food for families living along the coastline and a common ingredient in many Moroccan dishes, one of the most popular being stuffed fried sardines with chermoula.
Stuffed fried sardines is a classic street food in Morocco. It’s made with two butterflied sardine fillets sandwiched together with chermoula, dredged in flour, and then pan-fried.
Chebakia (or mkharka) refers to a deep-fried Moroccan sesame cookie. It’s known for its floral shape and crunchy texture and is traditionally prepared during the month of Ramadan.
Like harira, chebakia is traditionally a dish served to break the fast but it’s often prepared to celebrate other occasions as well.
Like chebakia and harira, sellou is one of the most commonly eaten dishes during Ramadan. Also known as sfouf or zmita, it refers to a unique Moroccan dessert made from roasted flour mixed with butter, honey, fried almonds, toasted unhulled sesame seeds, and spices.
23. Kaab el Ghazal
Kaab el ghazal (or cornes de gazelle in French) refers to these crescent-shaped cookies popular in the cuisines of Morocco.
Gazelle horns are made with a flour-based dough filled with almond paste mixed with cinnamon and orange blossom water. They’re baked till lightly golden and then dipped in orange blossom water before serving. When dusted with powdered sugar.
24. Ghoriba Bahla
Ghoriba refers to a type of Moroccan shortbread cookie made with ground almonds and toasted sesame seeds. They can be made in many different ways but one of the most common is ghoriba bahla, What seem like imperfections or accidents are highly desirable in ghoriba cookies. The cracks indicate that the cookie was made with the right ratio of ingredients and thus possess the desired texture. Without these cracks, a cookie can only be called ghoriba and not ghoriba bahla.
The word bahla translates to “silly” in Moroccan Arabic. No one really knows why😃.
25. Sfenj
Doughnuts are a common dessert in many cuisines and Morocco is no exception. Sfenj (or sfinj) refers to a type of Maghrebi doughnut made from sticky unsweetened leavened dough. A popular street food in Morocco, they’re chewy and fluffy,
If you’re looking for something to pair with these delicious Moroccan desserts, then look no further than mint tea, a type of Moroccan tea made with a green tea base, spearmint leaves, and sugar. It’s an emblematic drink and a central component to social life in the Maghreb.
The preparation and serving of Moroccan mint tea is steeped in ritual. It’s traditionally made by the head male of the family and offered to guests as a sign of hospitality.The tea is poured into glasses from a height to gently aerate the tea and improve its flavor.
Mint tea is typically consumed throughout the day as a social activity in Morocco. Traditionally, it’s served three times per brewing. The amount of time it spends steeping gives each glass a different flavor, hence the Maghrebi proverb:
The first glass is as gentle as life, the second is as strong as love, the third is as bitter as death.
- This Moroccan food list is by no means a definitive guide but we hope it whets your appetite and gets you even more excited to experience the unique flavors of Morocco.
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Moroccan flavors and more
"In this blog, I will introduce you to the flavors of Morocco! Join me on a gastronomic journey through vibrant Moroccan cuisine as I show you the variety of flavors and dishes. From savoury tagines to cooling mint tea, I'll take you on a delicious journey through the unique ingredients, cooking techniques and culinary traditions that set this cuisine apart. Discover the rich history and cultural influences that shape Moroccan cuisine and be encouraged to experiment in the kitchen. Indulge your taste buds and be enchanted by the delicious flavors of Morocco"
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