Soups & starters
Loubia
لوبيا · lūbiya
Loubia is Morocco's white bean stew: dried white beans simmered slowly with tomato, garlic, olive oil and a warm dusting of cumin and paprika until they turn soft and the sauce thickens around them. Cheap, satisfying and easy to make meat-free, it is a staple of both home kitchens and the small medina stalls that ladle it out to workers at lunchtime.
- Origin
- Across Morocco
- Type
- Braised white bean stew
- Eaten at
- Cheap lunch, home meals, street food
- Key flavour
- Cumin, tomato, garlic, paprika
What Loubia is
Dried white beans are soaked and simmered until tender in a sauce of grated or tinned tomato, plenty of garlic, olive oil and a generous hand of cumin and paprika, cooked low until the sauce reduces to a thick, well-seasoned coating rather than a thin liquid.
A little lamb, beef or merguez sausage sometimes goes in for extra richness, but loubia is just as often, and just as satisfyingly, made entirely meat-free — the beans themselves carry the dish.
Origin & story
Loubia is thrifty, everyday food: dried beans are cheap and store well, and the dish stretches a small amount of meat, or none at all, into a filling meal for a family or a crowd. It has long been a fixture of workers' lunches, sold from simple pots at medina food stalls.
Its appeal has stayed remarkably constant — unglamorous, inexpensive and reliably good, loubia is the kind of dish that rarely appears on a tourist menu precisely because it belongs to everyday, unpretentious eating.
Key ingredients at a glance
- Dried white beans
- Tomato, fresh or tinned
- Garlic and olive oil
- Cumin and paprika
- A little lamb, beef or merguez (optional)
- Bread, for scooping
This is a flavour snapshot, not a recipe.
When & how it's eaten
Loubia is eaten hot in a bowl, scooped up with torn bread rather than a fork, often as a quick, cheap lunch bought from a street stall and eaten standing or on a simple bench.
At home it is a comforting weeknight dish, sometimes served alongside olives and a simple salad, and it reheats and keeps well over a couple of days.
Regional variations
Some cooks add merguez sausage or lamb for a heartier version; the tomato-to-bean ratio and the amount of chilli vary by household and stall. A version with chickpeas instead of, or alongside, white beans is also common.
It sits in the same everyday-stew world as adas (lentils), the two dishes often rotating on the same simple café menus.
Where to try it in Marrakech
Look for small medina stalls and simple neighbourhood cafés selling loubia by the bowl — a medina street food tour will point you to a pot locals actually queue for.
A harira and soup cooking class covers the bean-and-legume stew family, and it's an easy, rewarding dish to cook at home — see more in the guides.
Frequently asked questions
What is loubia made of?
Dried white beans simmered in a tomato, garlic and cumin sauce until soft, sometimes with a little lamb, beef or merguez added for richness.
Is loubia vegetarian?
It very often is — the beans and tomato sauce carry the dish easily on their own, with meat as an optional rather than essential addition.
Where do you find loubia in Marrakech?
At simple medina food stalls and neighbourhood cafés that serve it hot by the bowl, especially as a cheap, filling lunch.