Saturday, 27 June 2026
Moroccan Food You Need to Try — Dishes, Vegan Options, and Drinks
طعام
Moroccan Food Guide · Ouarzazate
What to Eat in Morocco —
Dishes, Vegan Options, and Drinks
Moroccan food is one of the most complex and underexplained cuisines in the world. Visitors arrive expecting tagines and go home having eaten tagines — and missing almost everything else. The cooked vegetable salads brought before the main dish. The bread that serves as spoon, fork, and plate simultaneously. The bissara eaten at dawn by workers before a long day. The sfrioui pastry still warm from the pan at the street corner. The lben poured cold into a glass on a Friday afternoon.
This guide covers what actually exists on the Moroccan table — the classics, the vegan dishes you did not know were vegan, and the drinks that hold the whole thing together. Organized by category, written from Ouarzazate, where the south's food culture meets the desert.
"Morocco has a reputation as a meat-lover's destination. But its cuisine has deep vegetarian roots — a tradition of vegetable tagines, lentil soups, and grain-based dishes that predate the meat-heavy tourist menus by centuries."
Contains meat
Vegan-friendly
Drink
The Classics — Every Table
National Dish · Friday
Couscous
كسكس · Seksu
Steamed semolina served with slow-cooked broth, seven vegetables, and meat — lamb, chicken, or beef. Moroccan couscous is typically made from semolina, steamed in a couscoussier until plump and fluffy. The vegetable version is naturally vegan and just as good. The Friday family dish — the most important meal of the week.
Main · Iconic
Tagine
طاجين · Tajin
Slow-cooked stew in the famous conical clay pot. Combinations include lamb with prunes, chicken with preserved lemon, kefta with egg. Pretty much any Moroccan restaurant or guesthouse will make a vegetable tagine — made with whatever fresh vegetables they have and spices. Everything is made fresh, so it is no problem to make without meat.
Street Food · Evening
Kefta Brochettes
كفتة · Kefta
Spiced minced meat — beef or lamb — mixed with cumin, paprika, coriander, and onion, packed onto skewers and grilled over charcoal. The smell reaches you before you see the grill. One of the great street food experiences in any Moroccan medina, especially Ouarzazate's evening market.
Celebration Dish
Mechoui
مشوي · Mechui
Whole lamb roasted slowly in a clay oven — the Eid dish, the wedding dish, the feast dish. The meat becomes so tender it falls from the bone. Eaten by hand, seasoned only with cumin and salt. If you are invited to a Mechoui in the south, go. You will not forget it.
Celebration Pastry
Pastilla (Bastilla)
بسطيلة · Bastila
Thin warqa pastry layered with pigeon or chicken, almonds, eggs, and cinnamon — then dusted with powdered sugar. Sweet and savory in the same bite. A sweet pastry filled with pigeon or chicken — the marriage of sweet and savory is one of the most unique things about Moroccan cuisine. A feast dish, extraordinary.
Soup · Ramadan
Harira
حريرة · Harira
Morocco's most important soup — tomato, lentils, chickpeas, vermicelli, coriander, and spices, thickened with a flour slurry. Traditionally eaten to break the fast during Ramadan, but served year-round. Skip the meat to make this classic all plant-based — a vegetarian harira with chickpeas is just as rich and filling.
Vegan Dishes — Naturally Plant-Based
What vegan travelers need to know in Morocco
Often, before lunch or dinner, a display of at least seven cooked vegetable dishes is brought to the table — almost all of them are vegan (always double-check before you dive in). The word "vegan" does not translate cleanly into Darija — it is more effective to list what you do not eat. Say: "Ma kanakol-sh lahm, djaj, hut, bid, wa la lben" — I do not eat meat, chicken, fish, eggs, or dairy. Write it on your phone and show it. Most hosts in Ouarzazate and across the south will immediately understand and adapt. From 15 MAD bessara bowls to gourmet vegetable tagines — vegan eating in Morocco in 2026 is genuinely manageable.
Vegan · Street Food
Bissara
بيصارة · Bissara
A comforting dish made with puréed split peas or dried fava beans, seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic, often served with paprika and cumin on the side. Traditionally served for breakfast, especially popular during winter. Available from 15 MAD at street stalls. The best cheap meal in Morocco, period.
Vegan · Cooked Salad
Zaalouk
زعلوك · Zaalouk
Smoky roasted aubergine and tomato, cooked down with olive oil, garlic, cumin, and coriander until thick and spreadable. Zaalouk is a common cooked salad made of eggplant and tomato. Eaten with bread at the start of a meal as part of the salad course. One of the most delicious things on any Moroccan table.
Vegan · Cooked Salad
Taktouka
تكتوكة · Taktouka
A combination of roasted peppers and tomatoes similar to shakshuka. Cooked slowly in olive oil with garlic and cumin until the peppers break down into a deep, sweet sauce. Served warm with khobz. One of the most purely Moroccan tastes — simple ingredients, extraordinary result.
Vegan · Street Food
Makouda
معقودة · Makouda
Traditional potato fritters popular throughout the Maghreb. Usually prepared plain — crispy outside, soft and spiced inside. Eaten in a bread roll as a sandwich, or solo from the fryer. One of the best street snacks in any Moroccan city. Sold at stalls from morning to midnight.
Vegan · Flatbread
Msemen with Amlou
مسمن · Msemen
Flaky, layered semolina flatbread, folded and pan-fried in oil. Eaten for breakfast with argan oil and almond paste (amlou), honey, or jam. Msemen with amlou or honey is one of the highlights of the Moroccan breakfast. Amlou — toasted almonds, argan oil, honey — is one of the great inventions of the Amazigh south.
Vegan · Bread
Khobz — Moroccan Bread
خبز · Khobz
The round, flat, daily Moroccan bread — baked in a communal oven, brought to the table in every home and most restaurants. Made from semolina and wheat flour, leavened simply. Bread is sacred in Morocco — never throw it away or place it on the floor. Used as a spoon, a scoop, a wrap, and an offering of hospitality.
Drinks — From Dawn to After Dinner
Atay — Moroccan Mint Tea
Gunpowder green tea · Fresh spearmint · Sugar · Vegan
Mint tea — known as Atay — is consumed throughout the day, sometimes more frequently than water. There is a strong culture surrounding tea, especially in the Sahara, as it is a gesture of hospitality. Poured from height to create a froth. Served in ornate glasses. Three rounds minimum. Refusing it refuses the hospitality itself. Usually served with sugar; most places will give it to you sugar-free if you ask.
Lben — Buttermilk
Fermented milk · Cool · Tangy · Vegetarian
After the Islamic noon prayers, Moroccan families gather for couscous served with glasses of lben — buttermilk. A tradition across the entire Maghreb. Cool, slightly sour, and deeply refreshing after the richness of Friday couscous. Most commonly drunk at lunch in the south. Available at every dairy stall in the souk for a few MAD.
Café Nous-Nous
Half coffee · Half warm milk · Morning · Vegetarian
The standard Moroccan café order — nous-nous means half-half in Darija. Espresso cut with hot frothy milk, served in a small glass with three sugar cubes on the side. The morning ritual of every Moroccan café, from Ouarzazate to Casablanca. Order it and you will fit in more than any guidebook phrase.
Fresh Orange Juice
Squeezed to order · Street stalls · Vegan
Morocco grows extraordinary oranges — small, deeply sweet, with thick peel. Every souk has stalls of pyramided oranges and a juicer. Pressed fresh in 90 seconds for 5–10 MAD. One of the great simple pleasures of any Moroccan city. In Ouarzazate, the best stalls are in the central souk on the main street.
Khliaa (Spiced Milk) / Halib bil A'tr
Warm milk with orange blossom · Evening · Vegetarian
Warm milk perfumed with orange blossom water and a pinch of cinnamon — a traditional evening drink in southern Moroccan homes. Given to children before sleep, drunk by adults after dinner. Simple and calming. Rarely seen on menus, but always available in homes. If you are staying at a riad or guesthouse in the south, ask.
Herbal Infusions — Louiza, Jaoui, Za'atar
Verbena · Mastic · Thyme · Hot · Vegan
Alongside mint tea, Moroccan cafés and homes serve infusions of dried herbs: louiza (verbena, floral and calming), jaoui (mastic, resinous and warming), za'atar (thyme, medicinal and sharp). Each has a season, a purpose, a tradition. In the south's winter evenings, a glass of louiza with honey is the right answer to most questions.
Jus d'Avocat — Avocado Smoothie
Blended avocado · Milk or water · Sweet · Vegan option
Morocco produces some of the best avocados in North Africa. The thick, creamy avocado smoothie — blended with sugar and sometimes milk — is one of the most unexpected delights in any Moroccan juice bar. Order it at a hanout juice counter in the afternoon. Ask for it without milk (bla lben) for the fully vegan version.
Quick Reference — All Dishes
| Dish | Type | Vegan? | Price (approx.) | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bissara | Vegan | Yes | 15–25 MAD | Breakfast, winter |
| Couscous (veg) | Vegan | Yes | 40–80 MAD | Friday lunch |
| Zaalouk | Vegan | Yes | Starter — free/cheap | Any meal |
| Taktouka | Vegan | Yes | Starter — free/cheap | Any meal |
| Makouda | Vegan | Yes | 10–20 MAD | Street, any time |
| Msemen + Amlou | Vegan | Yes | 10–20 MAD | Breakfast |
| Khobz (bread) | Vegan | Yes | 2–5 MAD | Every meal |
| Harira (veg) | Vegan | Yes | 15–30 MAD | Ramadan, winter |
| Tagine (meat) | Meat | Ask for veg | 60–150 MAD | Lunch, dinner |
| Kefta Brochettes | Meat | No | 30–60 MAD | Evening street |
| Mechoui | Meat | No | Celebrations | Eid, weddings |
| Pastilla | Meat | No | 80–150 MAD | Special occasions |
| Atay (mint tea) | Drink | Yes | 5–15 MAD | All day |
| Orange Juice | Drink | Yes | 5–10 MAD | Morning, afternoon |
| Café Nous-Nous | Drink | With milk | 8–15 MAD | Morning |
| Lben (buttermilk) | Drink | Dairy | 5–10 MAD | Friday lunch |
| Avocado Smoothie | Drink | Ask bla lben | 15–25 MAD | Afternoon |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Moroccan food vegan-friendly?
Morocco is big on vegetables and olive oil, which opens up the possibilities considerably. The starter salad course before any Moroccan meal is almost entirely vegan — zaalouk, taktouka, cooked carrot salads, and fresh tomato salads all qualify. Bissara, khobz, msemen, and makouda are also fully plant-based. The main challenge is that meat is often cooked into broth and used to enrich dishes — always ask specifically what is in what you are eating.
How do I say vegan in Moroccan Arabic?
The word "vegan" does not really translate in Arabic — it is more useful to list the food you do not eat. The most effective approach: say or show in Darija — "Ma kanakol-sh lahm, djaj, hut, bid, wa la lben" (I do not eat meat, chicken, fish, eggs, or dairy). Save this on your phone in Arabic characters: ما كناكلش لحم، دجاج، حوت، بيض، ولا لبن. Moroccans are extremely hospitable and will adapt once they understand.
What is the national drink of Morocco?
Mint tea — known as Atay — is consumed throughout the day in Morocco, sometimes more frequently than water. There is a strong culture surrounding tea, especially in the Sahara, as a gesture of hospitality. It is gunpowder green tea brewed strong, poured over fresh spearmint and sugar. Refusing it is refusing the hospitality of the host.
What is bissara and why is it significant?
Bissara is a comforting Moroccan dish made with puréed fava beans or split peas, seasoned with olive oil, lemon, garlic, paprika, and cumin. Traditionally served for breakfast, especially popular in winter. It is sold from street stalls from 15 MAD and is one of the most purely Moroccan things you can eat — ancient, nourishing, completely vegan, and almost never mentioned in travel guides.
What Moroccan dishes are accidentally vegan?
Many of the starter salads are vegan: zaalouk (aubergine and tomato), taktouka (roasted peppers and tomato), matbucha, and fresh salads. Bissara, makouda (potato fritters), sfenj (doughnuts with no egg), khobz (daily bread), msemen with amlou, and vegetable couscous or tagine are all naturally or easily made vegan. The typical Moroccan salad served before the main course is entirely vegan-friendly — tomato, onion, cucumber, and bell pepper with olive oil.