What To Eat in Morocco: 15 Moroccan Foods & Drinks Not To Miss
Are you planning a trip to Morocco?! Well, you are in for a real treat! And we truly mean “treat”! From typical dishes of Morocco, like tajines and couscous, to a few lesser-known Moroccan cuisines, we’ll list exactly what to eat in Morocco so you are prepared for your getaway!
Whether you’re looking for Moroccan breakfast dishes or something to eat for dinner, we have you covered. We spent eight days exploring (and eating) our way through Morocco.
From street food to restaurants, we like to think we sampled a lot of the best dishes Morocco has to offer.
Moroccan cuisine is grounded in centuries of influence from Arab and Mediterranean flavors. Having centuries (literally) to perfect the flavors of their cuisine, it’s almost impossible not to salivate at the smells that come from the street stalls and cafes.
Sure, the smells may be new. Or maybe they’re familiar? But one thing is certain, no matter if you’re a meat-lover, vegetarian, or vegan, you’ll find Moroccan foods for you!
So, without further ado, some of THE best foods to eat in Morocco. We can hear your tummy rumbling from here!
What To Eat In Morocco
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About Moroccan Food & Drinks
There are a few things to know about Morocco and its food.
First, pork will be hard to find in Morocco, especially at local establishments. Why? Since Morocco is predominantly Muslim, it’s an Islamic practice not to eat pork.
Now, if you stay at a hotel with an on-site restaurant, you may find pork on the menu. But for the most part, just prepared not to eat pork.
Instead, you’ll find proteins like goat, lamb, chicken, and plenty of vegetables and fresh fruit. In addition, you’ll find lots of dried fruits (like apricots!), which are perfect for snacking on as you walk around the medinas!
Regarding a spice profile, expect to find spices like cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, and coriander in your dishes. Someone told us, “If you don’t like cumin, you won’t like Moroccan food.” Good thing we like cumin 🙂
As far as drinks go, you’ll find mint tea and fresh juices galore! Mint Tea, also called Moroccan Whiskey, is a country staple available everywhere. Literally everywhere – hotels, riads, dars, cafes, street stalls.
Alcohol, on the other hand, may be hard to come by. Cold beer, cocktails, or wine are usually hard to find in Morocco, but not impossible! If you’re looking for a drink, your best bet is to visit a hotel with a bar.
Read our guide on how to spend 7 days in Morocco!
Moroccan Food Tour
Before we jump into the list below, booking a local food tour is one AMAZING way to enjoy Moroccan food, learn about the cuisine, and sample the best foods to eat in Morocco!
Whether you’re visiting Fes, Marrakech, Chefchaouen, or somewhere else in Morocco, partaking in a food tour will allow you to devour some of the best Moroccan foods!
Okay, let’s get into specific Moroccan foods you should plan to eat!
1. Tajine
To be crystal clear, Tajine is not a type of food but a dish/vehicle in which food is cooked and served.
A Tajine is typically made of clay and is the heart of Moroccan cooking.
The food is steamed and slow-cooked in the tajine, pulled straight from the stove and placed on your table for you to enjoy.
The choice depends on what you want to go into the tajine to cook. Typical tajine protein options are lamb and chicken. Both are served over a bed of veggies.
The protein is fall-of-the-bone perfect, and the spices have saturated every vegetable and piece of meat, giving you a flavor-packed fist punch to your mouth.
You’ll find tajines on practically every menu in Morocco, so you’ll have plenty of time to experience this dish once or ten times!
2. Beghrir & M’smmen (Moroccan Pancakes)
Beghrir and M’smmen are two types of Moroccan pancakes and a perfect Moroccan breakfast option to start your day.
The first pancake, Beghrir, is a small spongy pancake typically served with honey, butter, or jam. It’s light, and the spongy-like texture is the perfect vessel for the sweet jam or honey.
The second pancake, M’smmen, can come two ways – stuffed with meat or eaten plain. M’smmen is the more savory of the two Moroccan pancake options.
We highly recommend you try both as your main or as an accompaniment to the next Moroccan breakfast dish listed just below.
3. Khlea (or Khlii)
A tasty way to start your day is with a Khlea (also called Khlii) for breakfast.
Khlea (or Khlii) is spiced and cured beef, or lamb, baked in a tajine along with onions and eggs. It’s served piping hot as a Moroccan breakfast dish and was our favorite breakfast in Morocco!
It’s wholesome and filling, making it the perfect meal to fuel you up for your day or sightseeing.
4. Bissara
The third Moroccan breakfast dish on our “what to eat in Morocco” list is Bissara.
Bissara is a purred bean soup consisting of fava beans, onions, garlic, olive oil, and spices. All the ingredients are cooked slowly before being blended together to make a creamy and flavorful soup.
5. Moroccan Salads (Must Try Zaalouk)
Moroccan salads are what we may think of as appetizers, ordered as shared sides.
Coming either raw or cooked, pureed or whole, are very vegetable-forward and were among our favorite Moroccan foods we sampled.
Moroccan salads are served on several small plates piled high with tasty veggies like beets, carrots, eggplant, and lentils…just to name a few.
Of the Moroccan salads, Zaalouk is probably the most popular. The base of the dish (dip) is eggplant, tomatoes, and garlic seasoned with cumin and paprika. It’s amazing!
6. Khobz (Moroccan Bread)
Khobz is simple and found everywhere in Morocco. From street food vendors and restaurants, you’re bound to run into plenty of opportunities to try khobz.
So, what is it?
It’s delicious white, thick bread that is baked in the form of a circle.
Khobz is served with every meal or used as sandwich bread for some killer minced meat sandwiches. It’s the perfect dipping vessel for any Moroccan salads that are pureed and served in dip form!
7. Couscous (The National Dish of Morocco!)
So nice, they named it twice! Cous-cous 😉
Like tajine, you’ll find couscous on EVERY menu in Morocco. It’s the country’s staple cuisine and a national favorite.
And…honestly, one of our favorites, too! I think we had couscous in every city we went to in Morocco!
While couscous resembles rice or quinoa, couscous is actually pasta.
Taking hours to prepare, couscous is light and airy. It is served with almonds and vegetables, and adding protein is optional, making this a fantastic vegetarian or vegan option for those wondering what to eat in Morocco.
In Morocco, couscous can sometimes come a tad sweet with spices like cinnamon. It’s a hearty meal traditionally served at lunch or dinner and one you should not miss!
8. Pastilla (Chicken or Pigeon Pie)
Pastilla (sometimes spelled bastilla) is a seriously DELICIOUS little pie that is 10 out of 10 in our rating book. We honestly almost missed it, but thankfully, we enjoyed this pie during one of our last meals in Fes.
The pie is made with a flakey warqa dough (really similar to filo dough), and the inside is filled with meat or seafood. The most popular meat-filling options will be chicken or pigeon.
It’s a rustic, sweet-and-savory Moroccan meat pie (also offered with vegetables!) that makes for a perfect dinner entree, and my oh my, it is super good!
9. Harira
Perfectly summed up as a Moroccan comfort food. This hearty soup is made with lentils, tomatoes, chickpeas, fresh herbs, and traditional Moroccan spices like turmeric and cumin.
Harira soup is usually served as a starter and one of the meals used during Ramadan to break the fast.
It’s super delicious and actually pretty filling! Order some Khobz (Moroccan bread) for dipping, and voila, you have a seriously tasty meal!
10. Brochettes (Kebabs!)
Probably one of the most familiar meals to travelers visiting Morocco is kebabs, known in Morocco as brochettes.
As you wander the medina streets of Marrakech or Fes, you’ll run into a few street vendors sizzling up brochettes.
You can choose from lamb, chicken, or kefta (a meat mixture), all of which are grilled and seasoned to perfection! You’ll either be handed the brochettes on a stick, or it can be accompanied by khobz.
11. Snail Soup (Babbouche)
Babbouche, or snail soup, is a popular street staple in Morocco. You’ll find street food vendors simmering up large vats of snail soup, and each street vendor has their own special recipe.
Traditionally, snail soup is cooked slowly in a broth that contains thyme, aniseed, mint, caraway, and anise. The soup is rich and warm and believed to be good for digestion and fevers.
In order to eat snail soup, you’ll use a toothpick to pick out the snails from their shells then drink down the tasty broth once the snail shells are picked clean.
12. Briouat
A briouat (also spelled briwat) is a savory puff pastry. The pastries are like a samosa that you’d find in Nepal.
The pastry is triangular in shape, filled with meat, and then deep-fried before being ready to serve! It’s flakey and oh-so delicious.
Also, you Also, briouat can be made into a desert! The most popular is almond Briouats. The pastry is filled with almond paste and coated with honey.
Speaking of desserts….
13. Cornes De Gazelle & Chebakia (Moroccan Desserts)
Gazelle horns (Cornes de Gazelle) are classic crescent-shaped Moroccan cookies. They are thin pastry shells stuffed with a nutty almond filling and sometimes come sprinkled with sesame seeds or almonds.
Chebakia is another classic Moroccan dessert/pastry. The dough is rolled into flower shapes, deep fried, and then coated in honey and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
14. Mint Tea aka Moroccan Whiskey!
The welcome drink of Morocco is mint tea. Mint tea is offered in every Riad, Dar, and café in Morocco, and it’s undoubtedly the drink we drank the most during our time in Morocco.
Mint tea is a green tea with mint leaves packed into the glass and can come with or without sugar. If you don’t like anything sweet drinks, definitely do not get it with sugar!
And the way Moroccans serve the tea is fun, too! Known as “the tea pour,” your waiter will hold the glass in one hand, while in the other hand (which is lifted as far away from their glass hand), they pour a seamless long stream of mint tea into the glass.
It’s fun, pretty impressive, and a nice little touch before being served your tea.
15. Fresh Orange Juice
A refreshing treat from the heat of Morocco is the fresh orange juice you’ll find throughout the medinas of Morocco, especially in Jemaa el-Fna Square in Marrakech.
It’s sweet, refreshing, and so tangy.
What To Eat in Morocco For Those Adventurous Eaters
Now, in full transparency, we did not partake in the below! However, we were given the opportunity a few times as we walked past street food stalls in the medinas.
Camel Spleen (Tehal)
Think sausage. The spleen of the camel is stuffed with camel meat, olives, a little hump fat, and spices before being baked, placed on bread, and served as a sandwich.
Sheep’s Brain
A delicacy among the locals in Morocco, particularly in Marrakech at the Jemaa El Fna night market. The sheep brain is cooked whole with cumin, coriander, turmeric, and garlic, then diced into pieces before being plated and served with a sauce.
So, what do you think? Are you going to give these a try?! Or will you be sticking to the other Moroccan foods within this guide?!
MORE INFORMATION ON MOROCCO
14 Restaurants in Fes To Not Miss
The Perfect 7 Day Morocco Itinerary
14 Can’t Miss Things To Do in Fes
Morocco Saftey Tips for Tourists
11 Things To Do in Chefchaouen
How To Spend On Day In Marrakech
Need To Know Travel Tips Before Visiting Morocco
20 Amazing Things To Do in Marrakech
Marrakech To Fes by Train: Everything You Need To Know
What Foods To Eat In Morocco – Pin It For Later!
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Happy Travels,
– Lauren & Jesse Stuart (The Stu’s)