What are good Moroccan vegetarian options?

Morocco surprises vegetarians with how naturally plant-forward its everyday food is. The salad spread alone — smoky zaalouk, pepper-and-tomato taktouka, cumin carrots, beetroot, herbed chickpeas and lentils — can fill a table before any main arrives, every dish vegetable-based and scooped with bread. I have happily made entire lunches from the starters and never felt short-changed.

For mains, the vegetable tagine is your friend: a slow-cooked, fragrant stew of carrots, potatoes, courgette, pumpkin, peas and tomato, sometimes lifted with preserved lemon or a sweet note of caramelised onion and raisins. Couscous comes in a seven-vegetable version (couscous bidaoui) that is traditionally vegetarian, mounded high and crowned with softened squash, turnip, cabbage and chickpeas. Bissara, the thick split-pea soup with olive oil and cumin, is naturally meat-free and deeply satisfying.

Breakfast and snacks are a vegetarian playground too. Msemen and harcha with honey and butter, baghrir crêpes, bread dipped in argan oil and amlou (that gorgeous almond-argan-honey spread), fresh cheese, olives, and briouats stuffed with cheese or vegetables rather than meat. Add fresh orange juice from the square and a glass of mint tea and you are well fed.

One honest caveat: some vegetable tagines and couscous are cooked with a meat or bone stock for depth, and harira often contains meat, so always ask "sans viande?" or "végétarien?" and confirm there is no broth. Most kitchens happily oblige and many riads will cook a fully vegetarian feast on request. On our culinary trips we flag dietary needs in advance and the cooks build a vegetable-led menu that genuinely showcases Morocco rather than just omitting the meat.