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🇱🇾 Traditional dishes from Libya

3 dishes people actually cook in Libya: what they are, how long they take, and what you need to buy.

What can you cook from Libya? 3 traditional Libya dishes, from Shorba (85 min, the quickest) to Couscous (120 min, the longest). Each recipe is written step by step with full ingredient lists, free to read.

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Bazin

1 hour and 45 minutes · medium · 12 ingredients

Bazin, a traditional dish from Libya

Libyan dome of barley dough beaten in the pot with a wooden stick until dense and smooth, served under a red lamb and tomato sauce with hard boiled eggs.

  • 600 g barley flour
  • 200 g wheat flour
  • 600 g lamb
  • 3 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 onion
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground fenugreek
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 2 potatoes
  • 4 eggs
  • 1700 ml water
  • 4 tsp salt

Couscous

2 hours · medium · 11 ingredients

Couscous, a traditional dish from Libya

Libyan couscous steamed over a red lamb and tomato sauce, piled with a sweet onion and chickpea topping and pumpkin, finished with cinnamon.

  • 500 g coarse couscous
  • 1000 g lamb
  • 100 g tomato paste
  • 6 onions
  • 200 g chickpeas
  • 500 g pumpkin
  • 1 tbsp turmeric
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 90 ml olive oil
  • 1 tbsp salt

Shorba

1 hour and 25 minutes · easy · 12 ingredients

Shorba, a traditional dish from Libya

Libyan Ramadan soup of lamb and orzo in a tomato paste broth, finished with dried mint crushed between the palms and a squeeze of lemon.

  • 400 g lamb
  • 100 g orzo
  • 3 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 onion
  • 150 g chickpeas
  • 1 tbsp dried mint
  • 1 bunch fresh parsley
  • 1 tbsp hararat spice blend
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 lemon
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt

What do people eat in Libya?

Copper documents three dishes from Libya: Bazin, Couscous and Shorba. Chili powder and lamb each appear in more than one recipe. All three are simmered. Not one needs an oven — they cook entirely on the hob. Between them they use 22 different ingredients.

What ingredients do you need for cooking from Libya?

The three recipes need 22 ingredients between them, of which 7 are shared by more than one dish. Chili powder and lamb the hardest to find: of the 586 dishes in Copper's atlas, 6 use chili powder and 10 use lamb. Every ingredient list on this page is complete, with quantities, and free to read.

How long do recipes from Libya take?

Shorba is the quickest at 85 minutes. Couscous is the longest at 120 minutes, most of it unattended. The median is 105 minutes — a weekend dish rather than a weeknight one.

Which dish from Libya is easiest to make at home?

Shorba is rated easy — start there. The full method is on its recipe page, step by step, free to read.

Explore nearby cuisines

Libya is part of North African.

Countries close to Libya on the globe — and close on the plate.

Get the step-by-step recipes