Morocco Food Tours: Moroccan Cooking Class, Markets and Street Food
Morocco food tours with us take two forms: a private Moroccan cooking class in Marrakech, where you cook a tagine and salads and then eat them for lunch, and private multi-day tours that build food into the route – street food on Jemaa el-Fna, couscous on a Friday, pastilla in Fes and medfouna near the Sahara dunes.
We do not run group tasting walks. Because every tour here is private, food is woven into the days instead: your guide can take you to the evening stalls on the square, stop at a roadside bakery in the Atlas, or plan the route so that Friday lunch is couscous. For a dedicated food itinerary, the team designs one on request through the custom experience form.
The Moroccan cooking class in Marrakech
The cooking class is the one fixed food experience, and the easiest to fit around a city stay. A typical class takes about half a day:
- Spices – cumin, paprika, ginger, saffron, preserved lemon and ras el hanout, the spice-shop blend, explained before you cook with them.
- Mint tea – how to brew it and pour it from a height, which is a skill in itself.
- Salads – cooked salads such as zaalouk (smoky aubergine) and taktouka (peppers and tomato).
- The tagine – often chicken with preserved lemon and olives, or a vegetable version, slow-cooked in the clay pot.
- Lunch – you sit down and eat what you made.
Our article on what to expect from a cooking class in Marrakech answers the practical questions; mention allergies or diets when you book.
What you eat on a multi-day tour
| Dish | What it is | Where you meet it |
|---|---|---|
| Tagine | A stew slow-cooked in a conical clay pot: chicken with preserved lemon, beef with prunes and almonds, kefta with egg | Every day, everywhere |
| Couscous | Steamed semolina under meat and seven vegetables, traditionally the family meal after Friday midday prayers | Friday lunch |
| Pastilla | Thin warqa pastry layered around pigeon or chicken, almonds, cinnamon and sugar | Fes and celebrations; a seafood version on the coast |
| Msemen | Square, flaky griddle bread, eaten with honey or amlou | Breakfast and roadside cafés |
| Mint tea | Green tea brewed with fresh mint and sugar | All day, at every stop |
| Medfouna | The “Berber pizza” of the Tafilalt: flatbread stuffed with spiced minced meat, onion and herbs, baked over embers | Merzouga and Rissani, on desert tours |
| Harira | Tomato, lentil and chickpea soup | Ramadan evenings, and all year on the square |
Our Moroccan food guide lists more dishes. Medfouna is a reason in itself to take one of the Merzouga desert tours, and there is a 7-day private food tour from Marrakech that includes a night in the Sahara.
Street food on Jemaa el-Fna
From late afternoon, rows of numbered stalls set up in the middle of the square, each with benches, a grill and a speciality: kefta and merguez, fried fish, harira, bowls of snail broth, steamed sheep’s head. By day orange-juice carts line the edge; at night, galangal-spiced khoudenjal tea is served with a dense cake. Eat where locals queue, choose food cooked in front of you, and confirm the price before you sit down. Just off the square, a lane of mechoui stalls sells lamb roasted in clay pit ovens, and tanjia – beef or lamb slow-cooked in a clay urn in the embers of a hammam furnace – is Marrakech’s own dish.
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Markets worth a morning
- Marrakech – the spice square of Rahba Kedima in the Medina, and the Bab Doukkala food market, where residents shop.
- Atlas valleys – weekly village souks named after the day they are held, and argan-oil cooperatives on the Ourika road.
- Fes – the food lanes of Fes el-Bali in the city most associated with pastilla; see our Fes guide.
- Essaouira – fish landed in the port and grilled to order beside it; the Essaouira day trip guide has the details.
- Ziz Valley and Erfoud – dates sold by variety on the road to Merzouga.
Eating well with dietary needs
Vegetarians eat well in Morocco: vegetable tagines, couscous with seven vegetables, lentils, bean soups and a dozen cooked salads. Vegans should ask about smen (aged butter) and meat stock, which can hide in sauces. Gluten-free travellers have the hardest time, since bread arrives with every meal and couscous is wheat. Meat is halal throughout, pork is absent, and alcohol is served only in licensed hotels, bars and some restaurants.
Food during Ramadan
During the fasting month, cafés outside tourist areas close by day and the cities come alive after sunset, when the fast is broken with harira, dates and chebakia, a honey-soaked sesame pastry. Visitors are served in hotels and many restaurants, but it is courteous not to eat in the street in daylight. Read our guide to Ramadan in Morocco before you book.
Combining food with sightseeing
The cooking class fits neatly into a city stay: a morning in the kitchen, then an afternoon at the Bahia Palace or the Majorelle Garden. See Marrakech tours to plan the rest of your days there.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a food tour in Marrakech?
The fixed food experience in Marrakech is a private Moroccan cooking class lasting about half a day. Street food on Jemaa el-Fna can be added to a private city tour or arranged on request as an evening with your own guide.
What food should I try in Morocco?
Start with chicken tagine with preserved lemon, couscous on a Friday, pastilla in Fes, msemen with honey at breakfast and harira on Jemaa el-Fna. On a desert tour, ask for medfouna, the stuffed flatbread of the Merzouga area, and drink mint tea everywhere.
Is street food on Jemaa el-Fna safe to eat?
Generally yes, if you are sensible. Choose busy stalls with a fast turnover, eat food that is cooked hot in front of you, and skip raw salads washed in tap water if your stomach is sensitive. Bottled water is sold everywhere and costs little.
How long is a Moroccan cooking class in Marrakech?
About half a day. A class typically covers the spices, mint tea, a couple of cooked salads and a tagine, and ends with lunch at the table, where you eat what you have cooked. Morning classes leave the afternoon free for sightseeing.
More ways to travel
- Morocco Holidays Built as Private Tours
- Merzouga Desert Tours: Erg Chebbi Dunes, Camel Treks and Camps
- Morocco Guided Tours with Driver-Guides and Local City Guides
- Morocco Atlas Mountains Tours: Imlil, Ourika and Berber Villages
- Morocco Family Tours: Private Trips Paced for Children
- Marrakech Tours: Private City Tours, Day Trips and Experiences