By season
What to Eat in Morocco in Winter
Morocco in winter surprises visitors who expect endless sun. Marrakech nights can hover near freezing, the High Atlas is deep in snow, and the north turns wet and cold. The food answers in kind: this is the season of slow tagines, restorative soups, warming spices and, above all, the citrus that ripens exactly when the body wants it.
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- By season
- Updated
- 19 July 2026
At a glance
- Winter is the peak of Morocco's citrus season — oranges, mandarins and clementines.
- Hearty tagines with quince, prunes, chickpeas and root vegetables return to the table.
- Soups — harira and bissara — do their best work against the cold.
- Warming spices like ginger, cinnamon and pepper flavour the season.
Citrus at its glorious peak
If summer belongs to melons and figs, winter belongs to citrus. From December the country floods with oranges, mandarins, clementines and lemons at their sweetest and cheapest. Fresh orange juice is squeezed on every corner, whole oranges are dressed with cinnamon and orange-blossom water as a light dessert, and the fruit finds its way into salads with olives and into slow-cooked tagines.
It is no accident that the vitamin-rich fruit peaks in the cold-and-flu season. See our guide to winter oranges and the vitamin season.
Slow tagines and warming plates
Winter cooking is unhurried. The braises that feel heavy in summer come into their own: lamb with prunes and almonds, beef with quince, chicken with preserved lemon and olives, and the great sweet-savoury dishes finished with cinnamon and honey. Root vegetables, chickpeas, lentils and pumpkin bulk out the pot.
- Lamb with prunes: the sweet-savoury tagine mqualli, rich with cinnamon and honey.
- Quince tagine: beef or lamb with fragrant winter quince.
- Couscous with seven vegetables: the warming Friday classic.
- Rfissa: shredded msemen over lentil and fenugreek chicken, a restorative winter dish.
Soups, spices and comfort
Alongside the tagines sit the soups — harira and thick fava bissara — sold steaming from medina stalls and eaten as suppers at home. The spice box leans warm: ginger, black pepper, cinnamon, and the complex ras el hanout blend all bring heat and depth. Sweet mint tea, always present, is joined by warming infusions of verbena, sage and even wild thyme.
For the soups in detail see winter warming Moroccan soups, and for the spices, warming spices for Moroccan winter.
Frequently asked questions
What foods are in season in Morocco in winter?
Winter is peak citrus season — oranges, mandarins, clementines and lemons — along with cauliflower, cabbage, turnips, carrots, fennel and other cool-weather vegetables. Quince lingers early in the season, and it is the prime time for hearty tagines, couscous and warming soups.
Is Morocco cold in winter?
Parts of it, yes. Inland cities like Marrakech and Fez have cold nights near freezing from December to February, the High Atlas has heavy snow, and the north is wet and chilly. Coastal areas stay milder. The cold is real enough that warming, slow-cooked food is genuine seasonal comfort.
What is the best winter dish in Morocco?
There is no single answer, but a sweet-savoury lamb tagine with prunes, almonds and cinnamon, or a bowl of harira with dates and bread, are quintessential Moroccan winter comfort. Rfissa — shredded pastry over lentil and fenugreek chicken — is another deeply warming favourite.
What do Moroccans drink in winter?
Sweet mint tea is year-round, but winter brings warming herbal infusions — verbena (louiza), sage, wild thyme (zaitra) and absinthe wormwood (chiba) steeped into the tea. Fresh orange juice, squeezed from the peak-season fruit, is also drunk in abundance through the cold months.