Soups & starters
Hssoua Belboula (Barley Cream Soup)
حسوة بلبولة · ḥssuwa belbula
Hssoua is a smooth, creamy soup of finely ground barley cooked with water or milk until silky, seasoned simply and finished with olive or argan oil. A staple southern-Moroccan and Amazigh breakfast, it is gentle, warming and easy to digest — the kind of soup that starts a winter morning or settles the stomach.
- Origin
- Southern and Amazigh Morocco
- Type
- Smooth barley soup
- Eaten at
- Breakfast, winter, Ramadan suhoor
- Key flavour
- Barley, milk, olive or argan oil
What Hssoua Belboula is
Finely ground or milled barley is whisked into water or milk and cooked gently, with stirring, until it thickens into a smooth, pourable cream with no lumps.
It is seasoned lightly — salt, sometimes a little cumin or aniseed — and enriched at the end with olive oil, argan oil or butter, giving a soft, soothing soup rather than a chunky one.
Origin & story
Barley is the everyday grain of much of rural southern Morocco, and a warm barley soup is a classic way to open the day, cheap, filling and quick once the barley meal is to hand.
During Ramadan a bowl of hssoua often features at suhoor, the pre-dawn meal, for its gentleness and staying power.
Key ingredients at a glance
- Finely ground barley (belboula) meal
- Water and/or milk
- Salt
- Olive oil or argan oil
- Butter (optional)
- Cumin or aniseed (optional)
- A little semolina to thicken (optional)
This is a flavour snapshot, not a recipe.
When & how it's eaten
Drunk or spooned hot from a bowl, sometimes with a drizzle of extra oil or honey; it is a breakfast or light-meal soup rather than a main course.
It pairs naturally with bread and, in Ramadan, sits among the dishes that break or precede the fast.
Regional variations
Made with more milk it is richer and paler; with more water, lighter. Some sweeten it with honey, others keep it savoury with cumin; argan oil marks the southern versions.
It belongs to the barley-grain family alongside barley couscous belboula and the porridge tagoula, and sits among Morocco's breakfast and Ramadan soups near harira and bissara.
Where to try it in Marrakech
A home and southern breakfast dish; a Marrakech breakfast food tour is the easiest way to meet Moroccan morning soups. Read more in the guides.
Learn Moroccan soups in a harira and soup cooking class.
Frequently asked questions
What is hssoua?
A smooth Moroccan barley soup cooked with water or milk until creamy, seasoned simply and finished with olive or argan oil, eaten mainly at breakfast.
Is hssoua sweet or savoury?
Usually savoury and mild, though some versions are lightly sweetened with honey.
When is it eaten?
Commonly at breakfast and in winter, and often at the pre-dawn suhoor meal during Ramadan for its gentle, sustaining quality.