Cooking with Chard
Recipes with Chard — Moroccan Chard with Chickpeas (Bakoula)
Chard, a leafy green closely related to beetroot, is cooked down slowly in Moroccan kitchens until it collapses into a soft, garlicky tangle, most famously in bakoula, a dish combining chard with chickpeas and a generous hit of paprika and cumin. Both the leaves and the crunchier stems are used, cooked at slightly different times. This guide covers the classic Moroccan chard dishes, how to prepare the leaves and stems, and how bakoula comes together.
How Moroccans cook chard
Chard leaves and stems are separated, since the stems need longer cooking to soften while the leaves wilt down in minutes. Both are washed thoroughly, as chard often carries grit in its ribbed leaves, then chopped and simmered with garlic, paprika, cumin and a good glug of olive oil until fully tender. Chard is rarely eaten with any bite; a long, soft simmer is standard.
The best Moroccan recipes with chard
Bakoula, chard cooked down with chickpeas, garlic, paprika and olive oil, is the signature dish, eaten warm or at room temperature with bread. Chard tagine, sometimes with a little preserved lemon, offers a lighter vegetable main. Chard and lentil soup uses the leaves for body and colour. Chard with rice, simply seasoned, is a simple home side dish that stretches a small amount of chard into a fuller plate.
Washing and prepping chard
Chard's ribbed leaves trap dirt easily, so wash thoroughly in several changes of water rather than a quick rinse. Separate the stems from the leaves by folding the leaf in half and pulling the stem away, since the two need different cooking times. Chop stems into smaller pieces than the leaves, as they are tougher and benefit from a head start in the pan.
Cooking bakoula
Sauté garlic in olive oil, add chopped chard stems first and cook a few minutes to soften, then add the leaves and cooked chickpeas along with paprika and cumin. Simmer, covered, until everything collapses into a soft, well-seasoned mass, adding a splash of water if the pan looks dry. A finishing drizzle of good olive oil rounds off the dish.
Cook's tips
- Wash chard in several changes of water — its ribbed leaves trap grit easily.
- Separate stems from leaves and cook the tougher stems first before adding the quicker-cooking leaves.
- Simmer chard fully until soft; a brief cook leaves it tough and underseasoned.
- Finish bakoula with a drizzle of good olive oil just before serving.
- Add cooked chickpeas to bakoula toward the end so they warm through without breaking apart.
Questions about cooking with Chard
What is bakoula?
Bakoula is a Moroccan dish of chard cooked down with chickpeas, garlic, paprika, cumin and olive oil until soft and richly flavoured, served warm or at room temperature with bread.
Do you cook chard stems and leaves together?
They are usually separated and staggered — stems go in first since they are tougher and take longer, with the more delicate leaves added a few minutes later so both finish tender together.
How do you clean chard properly?
Wash in several changes of water rather than a single quick rinse, since the ribbed leaf surface holds onto grit and soil more than smoother greens.
Is bakoula served hot or cold?
It can be eaten either warm, straight from the pan, or at room temperature later, making it a flexible dish for a mezze spread or a simple standalone meal with bread.
Can chard be used in soup?
Yes — chopped chard adds body, colour and a mild earthiness to lentil or vegetable soups, added partway through cooking so the leaves wilt down fully by the time the soup is done.
Cook these dishes with a local in Marrakech
Learn to handle chard the Moroccan way in a hands-on cooking class, or taste it across the medina on a guided food tour.