What to eat in Morocco: the dishes to try and how to eat them

Start with tagine and couscous, but do not stop there. Morocco's food is regional and seasonal: pastilla for special occasions, harira at sunset during Ramadan, tanjia in Marrakech, rfissa in Casablanca, msemen and sfenj at breakfast, snail soup and grilled sardines in the street, and mint tea with almost everything. Eat with your right hand and a piece of bread when there is no cutlery, ask the price before you order at street stalls, and follow official hygiene advice on water and raw food, at least for your first days. A simple local meal cost about 25 to 80 MAD in 2026; tourist restaurants charge much more. Here is what to try, how to eat it, and what it costs.

The dishes you should not leave without trying

Tagine

A tagine is both the dish and the conical clay pot it simmers in. Morocco's tourism office describes it as slow-cooked fish, chicken, meat or vegetables, sometimes with nuts, prunes or apricots, seasoned with spices. A meal usually starts with small salads: cooked or raw vegetables, zaalouk (aubergine purée) and taktouka (peppers and tomatoes).

Couscous, on Friday

Couscous has Amazigh roots and is the dish of the Friday family lunch. It is steamed semolina topped with meat, chicken, fish or vegetables, often served with a vegetable broth, and sometimes in a sweet version. Many restaurants serve their best, freshly made couscous at Friday lunch, so that is the day to order it.

Pastilla

A thin, flaky pastry filled with chicken, pigeon, fish or almonds, sweet and savoury at once, often dusted with sugar and cinnamon. It was originally made with pigeon; chicken is now the most common. Pastilla takes hours to make, so for the pigeon version you may need to order a day ahead.

Harira and the Ramadan table

Harira is a soup of pulses, tomatoes, a little pasta and flour. Many Moroccans eat it every week, and during Ramadan it is part of the meal that breaks the fast at sunset, with dates and sweet pastries such as chebakia. A bowl from a simple stall costs only a few dirhams.

Tanjia, the Marrakech speciality

Tanjia is lamb or veal slow-cooked for hours in a tall terracotta jar in the local oven, until the meat falls apart. It is Marrakech's own dish; look for it in the city's simple eateries rather than on international menus. Browse places to stay in Marrakech if you want to be near the medina's food streets.

Rfissa, the Casablanca classic

Rfissa layers torn msemen pancakes with chicken cooked in an onion broth, lentils, fenugreek and spices such as ras el hanout.

Breakfast and mint tea

Msemen, baghrir, harcha and sfenj

Moroccan breakfasts are built on breads and pancakes. Msemen is a flaky, folded, pan-fried pancake, eaten with honey, jam, cheese or eggs, and sometimes stuffed with onion and tomato. Harcha is a semolina flatbread, and baghrir is a soft pancake full of tiny holes that soak up butter and honey. You find them in cafés, at street stalls and in the small dairy shops called mahlaba. Sfenj, a light fried doughnut, sells for small change and is best eaten hot. On cold mornings near markets, look for bissara, a thick pulse soup with olive oil.

Tip: Breakfast in a riad or guesthouse is often the easiest way to taste all of these at once. Ask the day before if you would like something specific.

Mint tea, the welcome ritual

Mint tea is served to welcome guests and accompanies almost every meal and conversation. It is green tea (usually gunpowder) brewed with fresh mint and sugar, poured from high above into small decorated glasses. It can be strong and very sweet. Accepting at least one glass is polite; if you prefer less sugar, ask before it is made. In the north in winter, some people add wormwood (chiba), and around Ouarzazate saffron.

Street food and the stalls of Jemaa el-Fna

At nightfall, Jemaa el-Fna, the main square of Marrakech, turns into a huge open-air restaurant. Rows of stalls under white canopies serve grilled meat, brochettes, tagines, couscous and soups, with printed menus in several languages. It is an experience in its own right, and the stalls are regulated, but a few habits help:

• Check what you are charged for. Bread, olives and small starters may arrive without being ordered and then appear on the bill. Say no to what you do not want, and ask the price of drinks, which are rarely on the menu.
• Decline the greeters politely. Stall staff can be insistent; "we have already eaten" usually works.
• Look for the stalls Moroccans eat at. Smaller stalls without greeters serve snails, lentils, beans and sheep's head for less.
• Orange juice: at the juice carts, check whether you are getting ordinary or blood orange, which costs more, agree the price first, and remember the glasses are not always washed well.

Snail soup, sfenj and other street classics

Snails (babbouche or ghlal) simmer in a spiced broth with herbs, are served in small bowls and eaten with a toothpick. Older listings put a bowl at 3 to 10 MAD. Elsewhere in towns, look for grilled sausage in bread, rotisserie chicken, sandwiches, harira and sfenj from carts and small counters.

Fresh fish and grilled sardines on the coast

Morocco has more than 3,000 km of coastline and is the world's leading exporter of sardines, so fish is everywhere by the sea. In fishing towns, restaurants will often grill the fish you buy at the market for a small fee, with chips, salad and bread. Grilled sardines are the classic order; ask the price per plate or per kilo before they go on the grill.

How to eat: table manners

• Right hand only. Traditionally Moroccans eat with the right hand, using the thumb and first two fingers; the left hand passes dishes or holds bread.
• Bread is the cutlery. Tear a piece of khobz and use it to scoop up meat, vegetables and sauce.
• Eat from your side of the dish. Food is often shared from one plate in the middle; take from the section in front of you and do not reach across.
• Wash your hands before and after the meal.
• Wait for the host, who may start with "Bismillah", and keep finger-licking for the end of the meal.

Moroccans generally make allowances for visitors, especially left-handed ones, so do not worry if you need a fork. But trying the custom is noticed and appreciated.

Vegetarian, halal, alcohol and Ramadan

• Vegetarians do well with the salads that open every meal, vegetable tagines and couscous, lentils, beans and breakfasts. The catch is broth: a "vegetable" tagine or harira may be cooked with meat stock, so ask.
• Halal and pork: pork is rarely found, for religious reasons, and the usual meats are lamb, beef, goat and chicken.
• Alcohol is legal but discreet. Canada's travel advice notes that drinking is only allowed in licensed bars, hotels and restaurants, and that licensed shops sell alcohol for private consumption. Drinking in public is frowned upon, and drink-driving is illegal.
• During Ramadan, avoid eating, drinking and smoking in public between sunrise and sunset. Many restaurants close at lunchtime, except those that cater for tourists, and the evening meal is the moment to try harira and Ramadan pastries.

Food hygiene: what official advice says

Stomach upsets are the most common travel complaint. Official advice is cautious and worth following, especially in your first days:

• Water: France Diplomatie advises drinking only bottled or sealed drinks or water that has been made safe. Check that bottle caps are sealed and ask for drinks without ice, which is usually made with tap water.
• Cooked food: eat food that is well cooked and still hot; avoid raw or undercooked meat, fish and milk.
• Raw food: the same advice is to avoid raw vegetables, shellfish, reheated dishes and cold buffets, and to peel fruit or wash it in safe water. Canada sums it up as "boil it, cook it, peel it or leave it".
• Hands: wash them often, especially before eating.
• Juice and street stalls: busy stalls where food is cooked in front of you are a safer bet than food that has been standing; avoid juice served in glasses that look rinsed rather than washed.

Many travellers do eat salads in riads and good restaurants without trouble; whether you do is your call, but it is where official advice draws the line. If you become seriously ill, see a doctor. In an emergency, call ambulance and fire 150 (or 15), police 190 (or 19), and the gendarmerie 177 outside towns.

What it costs in 2026

Indicative prices, from data updated in October 2026 and from older travel listings (marked). Tourist areas and riads charge more; confirm on the spot.

Regional specialities and a quick checklist

• Marrakech: tanjia, and the evening stalls of Jemaa el-Fna.
• Fes: khlii, spiced preserved dried meat, and taktouka, a salad typical of Fes and Taza.
• Casablanca: rfissa.
• Agadir and the south: amlou, a spread of argan oil, honey and almonds, and local honeys.
• The Sahara: camel's cheese, a rare delicacy.
• The north and the centre: smen, a salted, aged butter; goat's cheese in the north.
• The coast: sardines and fresh fish grilled by the port.

Checklist

• Order couscous on a Friday and harira at sunset in Ramadan.
• Ask the price before you sit down at a stall, and refuse starters you did not order.
• Drink bottled or sealed water; ask for no ice.
• Eat with your right hand and bread when there is no cutlery.
• Vegetarians: ask whether the broth is made with meat.
• Keep alcohol to licensed places, and never drive after drinking.
• Save the emergency numbers in your phone.

Hungry already? Find places to stay in Marrakech, close to Jemaa el-Fna, and read all our guides to Morocco.