Where can I find good vegetarian food in Morocco?

Good news for vegetarians: Moroccan cuisine is naturally rich in plant-based dishes, and you will eat extremely well. The traditional table starts with a spread of cooked and raw salads that are almost all vegetarian — zaalouk (smoky aubergine and tomato), taktouka (roasted pepper and tomato), bakoula (cooked greens), beetroot, carrot with cumin, and more. Pair those with fresh khobz bread and you already have a feast. Vegetable tagine, slow-cooked with carrots, courgette, potato, peas and warm spices under that conical lid, is on virtually every menu.

A few classics to seek out: couscous with seven vegetables (traditionally the Friday dish), briouats (crisp filo triangles — ask for the cheese or vegetable ones), bissara (a warming split-pea or fava-bean soup sold at breakfast, especially in Fes and the north), and msemen and baghrir pancakes for breakfast with honey and amlou (an argan-almond spread that is essentially Moroccan Nutella). Street snacks like roasted nuts, olives, dates and fresh orange juice are everywhere and naturally meat-free.

For dedicated restaurants, the big tourist cities are well served. Marrakech has a genuinely good vegetarian and vegan scene — several entirely plant-based cafés and health-food spots, especially in Gueliz and around the medina, plus famous spots like Earth Cafe. Fes, Essaouira and Casablanca all have veggie-friendly restaurants, and Essaouira’s coastal-bohemian vibe makes it especially easy. Cooking classes, which I often recommend, are a brilliant vegetarian experience because you go to the market and cook a full plant-based menu yourself.

My one honest caution: a dish being “vegetable” does not always mean no meat touched it. Harira soup and some couscous and tagine bases are traditionally made with a meat or chicken stock, and lentil and bean dishes sometimes include a little lamb. The Arabic/French phrase to learn is “bidoun lahm” (without meat) and, for vegans, ask about butter and the broth. In riads and good restaurants the staff are used to the question and will happily prepare a proper vegetarian version — just give them a little notice and you will be looked after beautifully.