What to Eat in Morocco: 12 Dishes to Try

By the RedCity travel team · Updated September 26, 2026 · 6 min read

Moroccan cuisine is one of the great food traditions of the Mediterranean world: slow-cooked, fragrant and generous. Here is what to look out for.

Main dishes

• Tagine — named after the conical clay pot it is cooked in. Classics include chicken with preserved lemon and olives, and lamb with prunes and almonds.
• Couscous — traditionally served on Fridays, steamed semolina topped with vegetables and meat.
• Pastilla — a Fassi specialty of flaky pastry filled with pigeon or chicken, almonds and cinnamon, dusted with sugar.
• Tanjia — Marrakech's slow-cooked meat in an urn, traditionally cooked in the embers of a hammam furnace.
• Rfissa — shredded msemen with chicken, lentils and fenugreek.
• Mechoui — slow-roasted lamb.

Soups, snacks and street food

• Harira — tomato, lentil and chickpea soup, especially popular during Ramadan.
• Msemen and baghrir — flaky square pancakes and "thousand-hole" semolina pancakes, perfect at breakfast.
• Grilled fish — in Essaouira, pick your catch at the port stalls.
• Moroccan salads — zaalouk (eggplant) and taktouka (peppers and tomato).

Sweets and drinks

• Mint tea — green tea with fresh mint and sugar, a symbol of hospitality.
• Pastries — cornes de gazelle, chebakia and almond briouats.

Tips

• Tell us about dietary requirements — vegetarian options are easy to find.
• Traditional meals are often eaten with bread rather than cutlery, using the right hand.
• Drink bottled or filtered water.

The best way to understand Moroccan food is to cook it — see our cooking classes and food tours.