Last Updated: November 12, 2021
Traditional Food In Libya
Curious about the traditional food in Libya? You’re certainly in the right place then because this guide covers all the famous delicacies of the African country! Libyan cuisine is heavily influenced by North African, Mediterranean, and Berber cuisines, so you might already be familiar with some of the dishes on this list.
A lot of the dishes popular in Libyan cuisines are variations of dishes that are present in other North African countries, but with their own specific twist.
Also, the prevalent cooking style is different in different Libyan regions – while southern Libyan cuisine tends to be derived from Berber and Arab cuisines, the food in Tripoli is very much influenced by Italian cuisine, with lots of dishes featuring seafood and pasta.
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Bazin
Image courtesy of Libiya11, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Bazin is the most popular traditional Libyan dish. It’s a type of unleavened bread characteristic for its rather hard texture. The bread is made by boiling salt and (barley) flour and then forming it with a magraf stick until it turns into dough. This dough is then steamed or baked until it’s properly cooked and salt is the main reason for its hard texture.
The bread texture is perfect for a tomato-based stew, which is how Bazin is usually served. The stew often contains mutton, potatoes, and hard-boiled eggs and it’s traditionally a shared dish.
Asida
Image courtesy of ​English Wikipedia user Hakeem.gadi, GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons
Asida is a Libyan dish derived from Arabia. It is a type of pudding that consists of a cooked lump of dough, usually made with wheat flour. Butter and honey are often added to make the dish sweeter, and the dish is traditionally eaten with index and middle fingers.
This is one of the most popular deserts in most North African cuisines. It’s traditionally served during religious holidays, particularly Eid and Mawlid. Asida is often eaten as a stand-alone dish, and it is most often served for breakfast.
Shakshouka
Although it might sound weird, Shakshouka is easily one of the best Libyan dishes you can try. It’s made by poaching eggs in spicy tomato sauce, and it’s usually made with onions, tomatoes, a little bit of chili powder, and merguez sausage. If you enjoy spicy food, you will absolutely love this dish.
Shakshouka is not just traditional Libyan food – nearly every country in North Africa and the Middle East has its interpretation of the dish. The main differences lie in the consistency of sauce and firmness of the egg, but it’s usually delicious no matter how it’s made.
Tajin Mahshi
Tajin Mahshi is a traditional Libyan dish that consists of various types of stuffed vegetables. Lots of other cuisines have their own versions of this dish, especially other cuisines in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Balkans.
Bell peppers, tomatoes, aubergines, and zucchini are usually stuffed with a filling that’s made with ground meat, rice, onions and some olive oil, of course. Lots of spices are added to the dish as well, usually chiles, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, pepper, and of course salt. The dish is cooked for hours on low fire, and it’s usually served in a thick but flavorful sauce.
Couscous bil-bosla
Image courtesy of Khonsali, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Couscous bil-bosla is a very popular traditional dish in Libya. It’s a couscous dish made with chickpeas, potatoes, lamb, onions, chili, peppers, tomatoes, and lots of spices. It can also be made with stewed beef or even chicken, and there are even some vegetarian variations of the dish.
Couscous bil-bosla is a dish that’s meant to be shared, so it’s traditionally served on a sharing platter. The couscous is traditionally topped with the meat of your choosing, and then everything is covered with the delicious chickpea sauce that’s full of flavor.
Hasa adas
Hasa adas is a type of healthy Libyan soup. It’s a vegetarian-friendly dish made with tomatoes, onions, carrots, and lentils. Garlic and cumin are the staple spices in the soup, and it’s often topped with caramelized onions or croutons. The soup should have a thick consistency, and the crispy toppings really bring it to a new level.
There’s a variation of the dish for carnivores as well. It’s made with dried meat and served poured over crispy Arabic bread. That version of the dish is called fattat adas, so be sure to ask for that if you’d rather not have the vegetarian option! Hasa adas is traditionally served in the winter as a delicious warming dish.
Usban
Image courtesy of AmelGhouila, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Usban is a type of sausage that’s popular in Libyan cuisine. The sausage is made from a mixture of lamb, chopped liver, heart, rice, and various herbs, and it’s most similar to haggis. This dish is often eaten on special occasions, and it is traditionally served with a side of couscous or rice.
The herbs used to flavor the sausage vary a lot by region, but usually, they include black pepper, cayenne pepper, parsley, turmeric, cinnamon, and dried mint. The stuffed sausage is cooked in a pot for about an hour and is then browned in the oven or a frying pan before it is served.
Bakalawa bil jibna
Bakalawa bil jibna is a type of baklava that’s traditionally made in Libya. It is made with cream cheese and rose-flavored muhallabia, which is a type of milk pudding. Even in Libya, it’s traditionally made with phyllo dough, but the filling is slightly different from the Turkish and Balkan variants.
Libyan baklava is traditionally filled with a mixture of cream cheese, cornflour, sugar, milk, rosewater, and qashta cream. The assembled Bakalawa bil jibna needs to soak for at least six hours in a syrup – that syrup is traditionally made with rosewater, sugar, lemon, water, and honey. It’s one of the best Libyan deserts and it’s a much lighter dish than the traditional baklava.
Makroudh
Image courtesy of Mourad Ben Abdallah , via Wikimedia Commons
Makroudh is a type of cookie that is popular in Malta and Maghreb cuisines. The cookie dough is made from semolina flour, which is used in a lot of other traditional Libyan recipes as well.
The dough is cut and shaped into small diamonds, which are then filled with dates and nuts. Makroudh is then baked in an oven or fried in oil, and after that, it’s left to soak in a sweet syrup (usually honey) before it is served.
These cookies are extremely popular in Libya, and they are traditionally prepared during Eid al-Fitr. It’s worth noting that there are a lot of variations of this dish in the Arab world – the one thing that remains the same in every recipe is the diamond shape.
Basbousa bil tamr
Basbousa bil tamr is a type of cake in Libyan cuisine. It’s a semolina-based cake, meaning that it’s mostly made with durum wheat. This is traditionally an Arabic dish, but the Libyan variant is characteristic for the desiccated coconut and date paste. Other ingredients include milk, butter, sugar, baking powder, and some regular flour.
It’s traditionally studded with almonds so that each slice has one almond at the top. Basbousa bil tamr is best served with a cup of Arabic cardamom coffee and a serving of qashta cream on the side. It’s one of the most popular deserts in Libya, loved for its fluffy texture and lightness.
Mbatan kawali
Mbatan dishes are all uniquely Libyan. Any mbatan dish means that there are two layers of usually vegetables stuffed with something and then fried in oil. Mbatan kawali is the most unique type of this dish because those layers are small fish.
The fish are stuffed with potatoes, garlic, and coriander, and then buttered, breaded, and fried in oil. Mbatan kawali is usually served as an appetizer or a side dish, with a salad of tomatoes, cumin, and garlic that is traditionally included in all Libyan seafood dishes.
Harissa
Image courtesy of Ovva olfa, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Harissa is a side dish derived from Tunisia that is very popular in all Maghreb cuisines, including Libya’s. It’s a type of hot chili pepper paste that is served alongside savory main dishes, most often those that need a little kick. Harissa is very spicy, and it’s certainly not for people who prefer mild food.
The main ingredients of this dish are roasted red peppers, Baklouti (chili) peppers, and various spices that enhance the flavors. There’s also rose harissa, which is a variation of the dish that is made with rose petals, but it’s not quite as popular as the original spicy version.
Sharba Libya
Sharba Libya is a type of soup that is considered a national dish in Libya. The traditional version of the dish is made with lamb and mint as the main ingredients, but some variations are prepared with chicken or fish.
Other ingredients of the soup include olive oil, tomatoes, tomato paste, chickpeas, parsley, and tiny pasta. Lots of herbs and spices are added to the soup as well, and they’re most responsible for its delicious flavor. These include red paprika, cinnamon, turmeric, bay leaves, black pepper, cardamom, and shaiba leaves.
Sharba Libya is most often served during Ramadan, with tanoor bread and lemon wedges on the side, which make this flavorful soup even more aromatic and satisfying.
About the Author Anna Timbrook
Anna is the co-owner of expert world travel and can't wait to share her travel experience with the world. With over 54 countries under her belt she has a lot to write about! Including those insane encounters with black bears in Canada.
