Moroccan food rarely gets the spotlight it deserves outside the country, overshadowed by its more famous Mediterranean and Middle Eastern neighbors, but it’s one of the richest, most distinct cuisines you’ll come across. Here are 12 dishes worth seeking out, and where you’re most likely to find them done well.
1. Tagine
The dish most people already associate with Morocco, named after the cone-shaped clay pot it’s slow-cooked in. Meat, vegetables, and a blend of spices simmer together until tender, common variations include chicken with preserved lemon and olives, or lamb with prunes and almonds. You’ll find a good tagine almost anywhere, but a home-style version at a small family-run spot usually beats anything overly polished for tourists.
2. Couscous
Traditionally a Friday dish, served after midday prayers as a weekly family ritual. Steamed semolina is topped with a rich vegetable and meat stew, often seven vegetables for good luck. If you’re traveling on a Friday, seek it out, it’s noticeably different from the everyday version served the rest of the week.
3. Pastilla
A Fes specialty: a flaky pastry pie traditionally filled with pigeon (now more commonly chicken), almonds, and a distinctive sweet-savory mix of cinnamon and sugar dusted on top. It sounds unusual on paper and tastes far better than it sounds. Fes is the best place to try it in its most traditional form.
4. Harira
A hearty tomato-based soup with lentils, chickpeas, and herbs, eaten year-round but especially central during Ramadan, when it’s often the dish that breaks the day’s fast. Simple, warming, and found everywhere from street stalls to home kitchens.
5. Tanjia
Marrakech’s signature dish and genuinely different from a tagine despite the similar name. Meat is sealed into a clay urn with spices and slow-cooked for hours, traditionally left at a local hammam’s furnace while men were at the bathhouse. The result is meat so tender it falls apart at the touch of a fork.
6. Mechoui
Whole lamb, slow-roasted until the meat pulls easily from the bone, often seasoned simply with just salt, cumin, and butter to let the meat speak for itself. It’s more of a special-occasion dish, but several spots in Marrakech specialize in it daily and serve it by the portion.
7. Msemen
Square, flaky, pan-fried flatbreads, Morocco’s answer to a stuffed pancake. Eaten for breakfast or as a snack, often with honey, amlou (an almond-argan spread), or savory fillings. Street vendors and small breakfast spots are the best places to find them fresh off the griddle.
8. Zaalouk
A smoky, garlicky cooked eggplant and tomato salad, served as a side or dip with bread. It’s a staple at the start of nearly any traditional Moroccan meal, and a good Zaalouk is often a sign the rest of the meal will be excellent too.
9. Bissara
A thick, comforting fava bean soup, popular as a cheap, filling breakfast, especially in cooler months. Drizzled with olive oil and a dusting of cumin and paprika, it’s humble, found mostly at small local spots rather than restaurants aimed at tourists, and worth seeking out for that reason.
10. Moroccan Mint Tea
Not technically food, but essential. Green tea, fresh mint, and a generous amount of sugar, poured from height to create a slight foam on top. It’s a ritual as much as a drink, offered as a sign of hospitality nearly everywhere you go, declining a cup is almost unheard of.
11. Chebakia
Sesame-flavored, flower-shaped cookies, fried and soaked in honey, traditionally made in large batches ahead of Ramadan but available year-round in good pastry shops. Sweet, sticky, and pairs perfectly with mint tea.
12. Sfenj
Morocco’s version of a donut, fried fresh and unsweetened (you add sugar yourself), sold by street vendors usually strung on a palm leaf for carrying. Best eaten within minutes of frying, still warm, ideally as a mid-morning snack.
Want to Actually Cook These Yourself?
Eating your way through Morocco is one thing, learning to make these dishes is another. Several of our tours include a hands-on Moroccan cooking class where a local host walks you through dishes like tagine or couscous from scratch. Check out our tours with cooking classes included →