Eid al-Fitr menu
Eid al-Fitr Menu — The Full Day of Food After Ramadan
Eid al-Fitr unfolds in two movements: a sweet, unhurried start before the Eid prayer, then a long afternoon of family visits fuelled by a cookie table that never quite empties. After a month of savoury iftars, the day opens with dates, milk and something sweet, before the household turns to a proper feast — pastilla or roast chicken — and keeps trays of ghriba and kaab el ghazal circulating for whoever calls in.
The menu
Before prayer
Dates, milk and a few sweet dried figs
A short, sweet bite before the Eid prayer — deliberately gentle after a month of savoury pre-dawn meals, following the old custom of starting the day sweet.
Cookie table
Ghriba, kaab el ghazal, fekkas and makrout
A standing platter refreshed all day for visitors — crumbly almond ghriba, sugar-dusted gazelle horns, twice-baked fekkas and date-filled makrout.
Sweet paste
Sellou by the spoonful
The toasted flour, almond and sesame sweet that keeps for weeks and is offered in small saucers alongside the tea, not as a plated dessert.
Family lunch
Chicken or seafood pastilla, or a whole roast chicken
The centrepiece of the day, saved for the main family gathering rather than eaten first thing.
Side dish
Sweet seffa with cinnamon and icing sugar
Fine steamed couscous dusted white and gold, served warm alongside or after the main dish as a second, gentler course.
To drink
Mint tea poured continuously through the afternoon
The one constant of the day — refreshed pot after pot as neighbours and relatives arrive to give their greetings.
Shopping list
- Dates and a jug of fresh milk
- Blanched almonds, ground almonds and sesame seeds
- Flour, semolina and icing sugar (for ghriba, fekkas and seffa)
- Honey and orange-blossom water
- Chicken or a small whole chicken (for pastilla or roasting)
- Warqa pastry sheets
- Cinnamon, saffron and ground ginger
- Couscous, fine grade, for seffa
- Butter or smen
- Gunpowder green tea and fresh mint
Prep timeline
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1-2 weeks before
Bake and store ghriba, fekkas and makrout in tins — they only improve with a few days' rest and keep well past Eid.
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Day before
Make the sellou paste and assemble the pastilla filling so only the pastry work is left for Eid morning.
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Eid morning, before prayer
Set out dates, milk and figs for a light bite; leave the heavier food for later.
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Late morning
Fold and bake or fry the pastilla; roast the chicken if that is the main dish instead.
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All afternoon
Keep the cookie platter topped up and the teapot going as visitors move between houses.
Host's tips
- Bake the cookie table well ahead of Eid morning — nobody wants to be baking ghriba while guests are already arriving.
- Sellou is traditionally made in bulk once and offered by the spoonful for weeks, not portioned like a dessert.
- Keep the pre-prayer bite genuinely light; the real meal comes later with family.
- If several households are visiting each other, agree who is serving the main lunch to avoid everyone cooking a full pastilla.
- Wrap extra cookies to send home with visitors — it is expected, not excessive.
Questions about this menu
What do Moroccans eat first on Eid al-Fitr morning?
Something sweet and light, before the Eid prayer — usually dates, milk and perhaps a fig or two, echoing the idea of starting the day sweet after a month of savoury pre-dawn meals during Ramadan.
What is served on the Eid cookie table?
A mix of ghriba (crumbly almond biscuits), kaab el ghazal (sugar-dusted almond crescents), fekkas (twice-baked biscotti) and makrout (semolina and date diamonds), refreshed throughout the day as visitors arrive and mint tea is poured.
What is the main Eid al-Fitr meal?
Most families save a proper feast for midday or early afternoon — often chicken or seafood pastilla, or a simply roasted chicken, alongside sweet seffa, rather than eating a heavy meal before the Eid prayer.
How far ahead can Eid sweets be made?
Most keep well for a week or more in an airtight tin — ghriba, fekkas and makrout are traditionally baked several days ahead, and sellou can be made even earlier since it is meant to sit.
Do you visit other homes on Eid al-Fitr?
Yes — the afternoon is largely spent moving between family and neighbours' homes, where the cookie table and tea are offered at every stop, which is why households keep such large batches on hand.
Learn to cook this menu with a local in Marrakech
Every dish here is taught, hands-on, in a Marrakech cooking class — or taste them across the medina on a guided food tour.