After spending 2 weeks in Morocco, we can safely say that it’s possible to travel Morocco as a vegan!
In this travel guide, we’ll show you all the tips we’ve learnt from being vegan in Morocco and the different types of food you can enjoy. We’ll also share a list of restaurants with great vegan options around the country!
We came across amazing vegan options in Marrakech, Fes, Chefchaouen and a few in Tangier. There were even vegan options on our 3 day trip to the Sahara Desert, although we recommend bringing snacks.
Overall we would say it’s not that hard to find vegan food in Morocco, but the options are limited which meant that sometimes we didn’t get a lot of variety.
Vegan food in Morocco isn’t really labelled at most restaurants, but you can still find plenty of vegan-friendly food. The dish we ate the most as vegans in Morocco was vegetable tagine and vegetable couscous. If they’re cooked right, they’re tasty dishes and authentic to Morocco. We were lucky enough to find amazing vegan food in Morocco from the local cuisine to burgers and hummus!
Moroccan cuisine has many vegan-friendly dishes, but the word ‘vegan’ doesn’t really translate in Arabic so it’s more useful to list the food you won’t eat rather than say the word vegan. Most Moroccans understand the term vegetarian, so it’s worth starting there if you’re worried about meat in any dishes.
Luckily Moroccan cuisine isn’t meat-heavy, but they do enjoy adding meat to a lot of dishes and it’s not common to be vegetarian but there.
Anyway, here’s our top recommendations and tips on how to travel Morocco as a vegan based on our personal experience! We would visit again (and we love food) so don’t be put off going if you’re a foodie like us!
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Vegan Food in Morocco
Before we visited Morocco as a vegan we wrote down a list of Moroccan dishes that were naturally vegan-friendly. This really helped us search for the right dishes at restaurants.
One of the best things we did during our time in Morocco was to take a Moroccan Cooking Class at the beginning of our trip. We asked our guide so many questions and he showed us, just how tasty vegan food in Morooco can be!
- Moroccan Mint Tea (mint leaves, green tea, water, sugar)
- Vegetable Tagine (a variety of vegetables in a tagine dish)
- Vegetarian Couscous (similar to a veg tagine with couscous underneath)
- Bissara Soup (white bean soup with oil)
- Hirara Soup (tomato & lentil soup)
- Zaalouk (mashed eggplant)
- Taktouka (roasted tomato & green pepper)
- Various Moroccan Salads
- Moroccan Lentils (lentil dish)
- Vegetable Pastilla (vegetables wrapped in pastry)
- Briwates (triangle pastry with vegetables)
- Sfenj (fried unflavored donuts)
- Cinnamon Oranges (cut oranges with a sprinkle of cinnamon)
Lots of these vegan-friendly dishes use the famous Ras El Hanout spice which is a blend of many different spices.
Nuts and dates are also really popular in Morocco and you can buy them in grams from local vendors in the Medina. You’ll have to negotiate a price, but only pay what you’re happy with.
We also had a lot of Falafel in Morocco from various restaurants. Falafel and hummus aren’t Moroccan dishes, but you can find them at Western restaurants and local vendors with ‘kebab’ style shops. A falafel taco is often the name for a falafel wrap.
Try supermarkets and stalls in the Medina for vegan-friendly snacks. We found Muesli Oat Biscuits from a story called BIM in Morocco, but Carrefour had a lot of vegan options! We bought some peanut butter to use for breakfast.
Vegan Bread in Morocco
We ate a lot of bread in Morocco for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We relied on bread, fruit and jam for our breakfasts, so if you’re gluten-free it’s best to bring some alternatives to fill you up. We found rice cakes in Carrefour.
Khobz are a homemade traditional bread in Morocco and you’ll see them everywhere! We ate Khobz multiple times a day as they’re served with almost every meal. They’re a round bread often cut into quarters and you can have them as a starter or with your meal. They’re also used for sandwiches throughout the Medinas in Morocco.
If a restaurant serves you hard bread, ask for a fresh one (they taste so much better). You can buy Khobz for 1 dirham anywhere, we usually buy them for breakfast.
We tried so hard to find a vegan-friendly msemmen but everyone we asked cooked their msemmen in butter or put butter inside the bread already. It looked so tasty, but sadly we didn’t get to try it and stuck with the Khobz.
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Restaurants with Vegan Options in Morocco
Out of the places we visited in Morocco, all of them had at least one vegan option for food. Our backup is always a vegetable tagine, which is why we ate this dish so many times! If you’re on a budget in Morocco you may be sticking to local food a lot more.
We chose to eat mainly Moroccan food with a mix of Western dishes such as burgers, wraps and a poke bowl! Here’s vegan options for Marrakech, Fes, Chefchaouen and Tangier. We also heard about vegan restaurants in Casablanca, Essaouira and Taghazout:
- NIYA in (Casablanca)
- Le Corail at Latifa (Essaouira)
- Shyadma’s Vegan Food (Essaouira)
- Redclay Cafe (Taghazout)
There are local vegan restaurants serving bean soups called Bissara in most places around Morocco but they’re often not marked on Google Maps. We recommend getting an e-sim from Airalo to have data during your trip.
Vegan in Marrakech
Marrakech is a great place to start your Morocco trip especially if you’re a vegan! There are so options including one vegan restaurant and a few vegetarian restaurants. Henna Art Cafe was our favourite restaurant in Marrakech and we ate there twice during our 3 days in Marrakech.
Henna Art Cafe
Henna Art Cafe is our favourite restaurant in Morocco! They have incredible vegan options alongside creating beautiful henna designs. Although we didn’t get any henna, we did eat here twice during our time in Marrakech and became obsessed with the vegan Amlou cookies!
Worldwide Story Telling Cafe
This is the only vegan restaurant in Marrakech serving up a variety of Moroccan food! They also make smoothies, so even if you don’t eat here, it’s the perfect pit stop on a hot day. We recommend grabbing a few of the side dishes to try the best of Moroccan food.
Broc the Kasbah
Broc the Kasbah is one of the best vegetarian restaurants in Marrakech and most of their food is vegan. Their veggie burgers are lovely and they have rooftop seating! We also ate here twice on our trip. The prices are a little higher than other restaurants around but we think it’s worth it!
Cafe Des Espices
We ate here once for the beautiful rooftop views and it was our first vegetable tagine in Morocco. There’s not a lot of options on here, but it was lovely to experience one of the more popular restaurants. If you can get a spot on the rooftop with a view of the city, order a Moroccan Mint Tea and watch the world go by.
We found so many other restaurants in Marrakech offering vegetable tagines and vegan food so you really won’t struggle if you’re spending a few days in Marrakech. Here’s a few other options in Marrakech:
- Mandala Society – serving up breakfast, lunch and incredible drinks! It’s a little pricey but looks amazing.
- Ayaso Medina – they have a curry, veggie burger and salads!
- Cafe Chez Zara – vegetable tagine, couscous and juices for an affordable price.
- Niam Snack Resto – the perfect spot for cheap food in Morocco!
- Also: Naranj Libinese, Rooftop Zoulchi and Cuisine de terroir
➤ Plan the rest of your trip with our 2 Week Morocco Travel Guide!
Cooking class in Marrakech (Vegan)
We were so excited when we found a cooking class in Marrakech with vegan options! We booked the class on GetYourGuide and chose the ‘Vegan’ option (there was also vegetarian), so when we arrived our guide already knew we were vegan and prepared us vegan-friendly dishes.
The class is 4 hours in total and there were 9 people in our group. We visited a market to pick up fresh vegetables, prepared the food together and then ate the shared meal with our group.
Sadly we couldn’t find an all-vegan cooking class, so we were the only vegans out of 9 and although me and Dan only prepared the vegan dishes, other people in our group were making dishes with meat.
In the end, we got to eat some of the best vegan food in Morocco (it was honestly our favourite) and it helped us to order the same dishes when we were at restaurants. We made a vegetable tagine, zaalouk, taktouka and a carrot dish!
Where to stay in Marrakech: Riad Dar Zaman – This riad is beautiful and offers a vegan menu for free breakfast included. They also offer a cooking class that you can book via their website – Find on Booking.com here!
Vegan in Fes
We visited Fes after our 3 day Sahara Desert Tour where we had to eat vegetable tagines, bread and jam most of the trip. So when we arrived in Fes, we were relieved there were some great vegan options! The first place we visited was Culture Box and it became one of our favourites. Here’s our 2 Day Fes Itinerary!
Culture Box Cafe
The cat near Culture Box is one of the cuddliest cats we’ve ever met, he jumped on our laps throughout our meal and loved being stroked! If you’re not a cat person, he probably won’t bother you if you don’t give him attention.
Culture Box serves Moroccan & international fusion cuisine from soups to burgers! They have vegetarian and vegan labels on their menu, so it’s great for a vegan in Morocco. We loved the falafel wrap and chips along with fresh juice!
Veggie Pause
Right around the corner from Culture Box Cafe is Veggie Pause, a fully vegetarian restaurant in Fes. They have incredible vegan options of pizza, burgers, pasta and Moroccan salads. The price is on the higher side for Morocco but the food looked incredible!
La Casa
The owners of Culture Box recommend La Casa as it’s their sister restaurant. They have a tall building with top-floor seating where you can see the sunset. The vegan options are similar to Culture Box and we highly recommend trying the soup!
Cinema Cafe
Serving tasty Moroccan & international cuisine, Cinema Cafe is another great choice for vegans in Morocco. The prices are affordable here with a vegetable tagine being 55 dirham. Other dishes include a vegetable pastilla, soups and salads.
There’s a few more great options for vegan food in Fes at Fez & Friends (Moroccan & international), Cafe Clock (Moroccan & international) and Nacho Mama Restaurant (Mexican).
Where to stay in Fes: Dar Melyani – They serve the most incredible vegan breakfast! It was our favourite in Morocco, we’re still dreaming of their fresh juices – Find on Booking.com here!
Vegan in Chefchaouen
When we arrived at Chefchaouen, we didn’t realise how small the city was! The residential city itself spreads quite far, but the medina is small, especially compared to Fes (the largest medina in Morocco). The vegan options in Chefchaouen are pretty good and they’re all within walking distance of each other.
➤ Here’s our 2 Day Chefchaouen itinerary!
Bilmos
Bilmos is another one of our favourite places for vegan food in Morocco. We ate here twice because their vegetable tagine is so unique! They add avocado, beans, mushrooms and almonds to the dish alongside the fluffiest Khobz we’ve ever tried. It’s our top recommendation in Chefchaouen!
Hamsa
Right next to Bilmos in the main square is Hamsa serving up delicious vegan food in Chefchaouen! They have falafel, hummus and even a vegan banana bread along with Moroccan salads.
Cafe Clock
Cafe Clock is a Moroccan restaurant in Fes, Chefchaouen and Marrakech. Although they’re not a veggie or vegan restaurant, there’s a few vegan options there that will fill you up for the day! They serve our favourite zaalouk, pastilla and tasty soups. They even have avocado toast for breakfast
Baissara Ansara
We’ve already briefly spoken about bissara soup in this vegan travel guide, but we wanted to highlight an easy place to find it! Baissara Ansara is a local shop run by one owner and he only serves bissara soup. It’s a white bean soup with lots of oil added and you flavour it yourself with chilli powder, cumin and salt.
This place is perfect if you’re on a budget in Morocco as the soup is only 8 dirham each and it’s pretty filling!
Where to stay in Chefchaouen: Riad Mauritania – We stayed here for 3 nights and they offer free breakfast! It was cucumber, tomato, bread and jam for vegans. The rooms were also comfy! – Find on Booking.com here!
Vegan in Tangier
Tangier is a port city in the northeast of Morocco! We only stayed here for one night during our 2 week Morocco itinerary as we had a flight, but it was a lovely city to visit. The promenade is long and there’s beaches!
The vegan scene in Tangier isn’t as big as other cities but we still found some great places.
Abou Tayssir
This little Syrian restaurant is a hidden gem in Morocco. It’s run by the sweetest family that serve some of the best falafel we’ve ever tasted. We were only in Morocco for one night but ate here twice! We can only say good things about Abou Tayssir and highly recommend trying the falafel, hummus and kibbeh!
Alma Kitchen & Coffee – a lovely restaurant serving sandwiches, bowls and a vegan power cookie! the prices are on the higher side here, but the food looks amazing.
Sarayah Food – An Indian restaurant in the heart of Tangier with many vegan options on the menu!
Where to stay in Tangier: Diafa – We stayed here for one night in Tangier. It’s close to the Medina, although it’s up a bit of a hill – Find on Booking.com here!
Vegan in Morocco Tips
As you can see, it’s definitely possible to find vegan food in Morocco and there are a lot of English signs too. Here’s a few ways we managed to eat as vegans in Morocco.
Use Google Translate – Convert Arabic or French to your own language using the camera option on Google Translate. We use this mainly to convert menus to English or check ingredients on packets.
Use Happy Cow – Happy Cow is an app that’s filled with vegetarian and vegan recommendations from veggie travellers around the world. If you’re visiting another place in Morocco, check the app for suggestions! Grab an e-sim from Airalo to have phone data!
Learn Some Words in Arabic or French – The local language in Morocco is Arabic but most locals also know French and some Spanish (in the east). ‘Lahm ma feeha’ means no meat, ‘halib ma feeha’ means no dairy and ‘Lahm ma feeha zibdah’ means no butter’. You can also say ‘Ana Nabati’ which means I’m vegetarian / plant-based / vegan.
Bring snacks from home – We highly recommend bringing cereal bars and other healthy on-the-go food for any time you need a boost. You can buy fruit and nuts in Morocco which will help, but we really wish we had cereal bars with us!
How to be Vegan in Morocco
There’s more to being vegan than just the food, so we also wanted to share our experience of travelling Morocco as vegans. We’ve mentioned a cooking class with vegan options in the Marrakech section of this travel guide.
Camels in Morocco
We really wanted to see the Sahara Desert during our 2 weeks in Morocco and one of the things putting us off was the ‘riding camel’ part of the tour. After doing a lot of research about the ethics of camel riding in Morocco, Peta was the only website that stated it’s not okay to ride animals. We found many articles saying ‘it’s safe to ride camels’ and ‘it supports the local culture’, but we truly don’t believe it’s needed.
After experiencing the Sahara Desert and the camel riding multiple tourists do a day, we’re glad we made the choice not to ride a camel. Instead, we followed our group on foot which didn’t take too long. If you’re campsite is further into the desert, you may have to use a jeep to get to the accommodation.
More Animals in Morocco
It’s common for Moroccans to have pet birds, cats or small tortoises and sadly we saw quite a few of them being sold on the street.
There were street cats in every city we visited, but most of them looked like they were being cared for. We did end up buying a few portions of cat food for the cats. There are more dogs in the countryside, especially in Akchour Waterfalls.
The Tanneries in the Fes Medina
As we’re travel bloggers, we wanted to see what the oldest tannery (Chouara Tannery) in Fes looked like. Tanneries in Morocco are where they traditionally dye real leather with multiple colours of dye. You’ll see photos of the tanneries everywhere, with craters full of natural dyes such as indigo, saffron and henna, but it’s the smell that haunts you.
As vegans in Morocco, we regret visiting but on the plus side it is free, so we didn’t have to contribute any money towards this. The smell is absolutely the worst part of the visit as the hides are soaked in cow urine and pigeon droppings (plus more). If you’re vegan in Morocco we suggest skipping them or only spending 1 minute there like us, cover your nose and don’t pay anyone!
We also experienced some sights we can’t un-see in the medina! We’re not going to repeat the parts of animals we saw but if you see any meat shops in the medina, just don’t look. There’s also lots of live chickens in the fresh produce markets. It’s a pretty sad thing to see.
Is Morocco good for vegans?
This is a yes and no kind of answer. As vegans, we ate okay throughout Morocco, but we started to feel that we were lacking protein and the right kind of nutrients. Throughout our 3 Day Sahara Desert Tour, we only ate vegetable tagines, vegetable couscous, bread, jam and fruit.
There were so many vegan options when we stayed in cities like Marrakech or Fes! Overall there was a good balance between tasty Moroccan food and a handful of western dishes to keep us going.
We wouldn’t say Morocco is a great country if you’re used to a vegan lifestyle of vegan alternatives but if you’re happy with fresh vegetables then you’ll be okay!
Enjoy the amazing vegan food in Morocco and find us on Instagram (@thesunrisedreamers)! Check out more of our Morocco Travel Guides:
- The Perfect 2 Week Morocco Itinerary
- 2 Days in Chefchaouen
- Morocco on a budget: Travel Costs
- 2 Day Fes Itinerary
- Sahara Desert Tour: What to Expect
- 3 Day Marrakech Itinerary
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