Recipes Tunisia
Tunisian Recipes: 18 Dishes to Cook at Home
All 18 Tunisian recipes on Tone & Taste, grouped by course: street food, salads, soups, mains, sweets and pantry.
Recipes
18
Easiest
Slata Tounsiya
Make ahead
Lamb Marqa
Ramadan
Chorba Frik
On this page: Street food · Salads · Soups · Mains · Sweets · Pantry · Menus · FAQ
These are all 18 Tunisian recipes on Tone & Taste, from the street food and salads we ate during our winter in Tunisia to the soups, stews and sweets of the Tunisian home kitchen. Every one is written for a normal home kitchen, in metric, with tips for making ahead and storing.
Not sure where to start? Make a jar of harissa, then brik and a slata tounsiya. Between them they cover the flavours that run through the whole list: chilli, olive oil, caraway, lemon and good tuna. For the dishes in context, read our Tunisian Food Guide.
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Street Food and Sandwiches
What Tunisia eats on the go: crusty bread stuffed with tuna and harissa, flatbreads hot off the griddle and the crisp pastries sold at every corner.
Salads
Two salads that come with almost every Tunisian meal: one fresh and crunchy, one smoky and soft.
Salad
Grilled salad
Soups and Breakfast
Warming bowls with harissa and bread on the side: one for cold mornings, one for the Ramadan table.
Breakfast
Soup
Mains
From the Friday couscous to a quick pan of eggs and merguez, the dishes that anchor a Tunisian meal.
Sweets
Fried, sugary and best with a glass of tea. Makroudh keeps for a week; bambalouni are best eaten warm.
Pantry and Drinks
The chilli paste that seasons almost everything, and the tea that ends almost every meal.
Condiment
Drink
Put a Tunisian Meal Together
Street food lunch
Kaskrout tounsi or fricassé, a bowl of lablebi and slata tounsiya, with harissa on the side. Make the harissa a few days ahead and everything else comes together in under an hour.
Ramadan iftar
Dates and water or milk, then chorba frik and brik, with makroudh and tea with pine nuts later in the evening. The chorba and makroudh can both be made the day before.
Friday couscous
Tunisian couscous with slata mechouia and extra harissa, and pine nut tea to finish. The salad tastes better made a few hours ahead.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most popular Tunisian recipes?
Couscous, brik, lablebi, harissa, slata mechouia, ojja and makroudh are the dishes most people know. All of them are in this collection.
What is the national dish of Tunisia?
Couscous. In Tunisia it is usually red and spicy, served with lamb, fish or vegetables in a tomato and harissa sauce, and it is the classic Friday family lunch.
Is Tunisian food spicy?
Often, yes. Harissa goes into soups, stews, sandwiches and salads. You can always use less and serve extra harissa on the side so everyone sets their own heat.
Which Tunisian recipes can I make ahead?
Harissa keeps for weeks in the fridge. Chorba frik, lamb marqa and slata mechouia all taste better the next day, and makroudh keeps for a week in a tin.
Pick one dish from each course and you have a Tunisian dinner. If you cook one of these, tell us how it went in the comments on the recipe. For where we ate them, read our Tunisian Street Food guide.
More from Tunisia
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Tunisia Travel & Food Guide
Food guide
Tunisian Food Guide: What to Eat in Tunisia
Street food
Tunisian Street Food: Sandwiches, Lablabi & Fried Snacks