0:00
Produce and herb stalls
Shop for what's in season with your cook: tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, courgettes, pumpkin, fresh coriander and parsley, and dried fava beans and lentils.
Fes, Morocco· Concierge · Mon–Sat · 09:00–18:00 GMT+1
Vegetarian and vegan Moroccan cooking
Cook Moroccan home food without meat: bissara, zaalouk and taktouka, a vegetable tagine with preserved lemon, and seven-vegetable couscous with tfaya. You shop the Fes el-Bali produce lanes first, then cook in a riad for about 4 hours with olive oil instead of smen. The class is vegan unless you ask for eggs or dairy.
- Private or small-group
- Menu agreed with you
- Recipes to take home
What the class is like
Meat is the centre of the festive Moroccan table, but everyday home cooking is full of pulses and vegetables: bissara for breakfast, lentils and white beans at lunch, a spread of cooked salads before any meal. This class is built around that repertoire from the start, so nothing is a stripped-down version of a meat dish.
It begins at the vegetable and herb stalls, because the quality of the produce decides the menu. Everything is cooked with olive oil rather than smen, and the class is vegan unless you ask for eggs or dairy.
Best for: Vegetarians and vegans; Mixed groups where some don't eat meat; Travellers who want lighter Moroccan food.
- How long
- About 4 hours
- Where
- The produce lanes of Fes el-Bali, then a riad kitchen
- Diets
- Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-free on request
- Families
- Children welcome
How the class runs
A typical running order. Times are from the start of the class and shift with your group and the season.
0:50
Bissara and the salads
Put the split fava beans on to simmer for bissara, and start zaalouk and taktouka, which need time to reduce.
1:40
Vegetable tagine
Layer a tagine of seasonal vegetables and chickpeas over onion with preserved lemon, olives and saffron.
2:20
Couscous with tfaya
Steam couscous over a seven-vegetable broth and make sweet tfaya of onions and raisins. (Gluten-free guests get the tagine with rice or bread-free sides.)
3:15
Lunch
Eat everything together with olive oil, cumin and mint tea.
What you cook
Bissara
A thick soup or purée of dried split fava beans with garlic, finished with olive oil, cumin and paprika. A cheap, filling breakfast across northern Morocco.
Zaalouk and taktouka
Two cooked salads: smoky aubergine with tomato and spices, and roasted peppers with tomato. Served warm or cold before the main dish.
Vegetable tagine with preserved lemon
Seasonal vegetables and chickpeas slow-cooked with saffron, ginger, preserved lemon and olives.
Seven-vegetable couscous with tfaya
Couscous steamed over a broth of seasonal vegetables, topped with onions slow-cooked with raisins and cinnamon.
Private or small-group
Private
Your party and your cook, with the menu tuned to the season and your preferences.
Small-group
A shared vegetarian class with a few other travellers. Everyone at the table eats the same plant-based meal.
Dietary needs
Vegan by default, using olive oil throughout. Gluten-free guests skip the couscous; everything else on the menu is naturally free of wheat. Tell us about any other allergies, such as legumes, before the market visit.
Good to know
Smen (aged butter) is common in Moroccan cooking; this class doesn't use it unless you ask. Honey appears in tfaya; we use sugar or date syrup for strict vegans. The menu changes with the season, especially for tagine vegetables.
Before you knock
The questions people ask us most before they plan a trip.
Is Moroccan food vegan-friendly?
More than people expect. Bissara, cooked salads like zaalouk and taktouka, lentils, white beans, vegetable tagines and couscous are all naturally plant-based if cooked with oil instead of smen. This class teaches exactly those dishes.
Is this class gluten-free?
It can be. Everything except the couscous is naturally free of wheat, and gluten-free guests skip that step.
Can meat-eaters join a vegetarian class?
Of course. Mixed groups often choose it so everyone eats the same meal. A private class can also add one meat tagine alongside.
Keep cooking
Riad class + souk shoppingShop the Fes el-Bali food souks with your cook, then carry the bags back to a riad kitchen and cook a full Fassi lunch from what you bought.See the class
Tagine & couscousThe two pillars of Moroccan cooking, done properly: a sweet lamb tagine and a kefta tagine on the fire, and couscous rolled by hand and steamed three times.See the class
Countryside farm dayLeave the medina for olive groves and farmland outside Fes: pick vegetables, bake bread in a clay oven and cook a country tagine over charcoal with a rural family.See the classPair it with: Moroccan cooking classes: what to expect, Moroccan food and drink, Fes food tour of the medina.
Send your dates, group and diet. We'll set the menu with you.
- Tell us what drew you in. Your dates, who is travelling and what you want to see.
- A person reads it. We write a day-by-day plan for your group, private or small-group.
- You change anything. Then we confirm the guides, drivers and riads.