Tajine Cooking Class in a Traditional Riad with a Local Chef

Recommended by 95% of travelers

Badge of Excellence

Marrakech, Morocco

4 hours (approx.)
Group discounts
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Gain a newfound appreciation for Moroccan cuisine during this small-group cooking class in Marrakech. Practice some Arabic phrases with your guide to use during your market visit, where you'll learn how to choose high-quality ingredients. Get tips for making a a traditional Moroccan tagine (a meat and vegetable dish) at home.

See local life local in Marrakech during an open-air market visit
Enjoy your meal in the courtyard of a traditional riad
Upgrade your tour for a private class with more hands-on guidance
Practice cooking techniques with feedback from your instructor

Sample Menu

Main

Tajine

What's Included

Shop for fresh ingredients in the traditional Marrakech souks
Cook an authentic tajine from scratch with guidance from a Moroccan chef
Enjoy the tajine, salad and desert you’ve prepared yourself
Lean to Make Traditional Moroccan Mint Tea
Discover the secrets of Moroccan spices and cooking techniques
Relax in a beautiful riad setting while learning about medina life
Impress your friends at home with your new culinary skills from new recipes sheet
Practice Arabic food vocabulary with your local guide

Gratuities
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Hôtel Restaurant Café de France
J2G7+G2G jamaa el-fnna، Rue des Banques, مراكش 40000, Morocco
Outside Café France in Djemaa El-Fna. As you walk into Djemaa El-Fna through the main entrance this is a 3-storey café on the right side of the square. Look for the guide holding an Urban Adventures sign or badge.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Operating hours
.9:00 am

What To Expect

Get a taste for the lively flavors and vibrant culture of Morocco during this small-group cooking class, allowing you the chance to shop for ingredients at the market, cook a traditional dish and enjoy your efforts for lunch inside a typical riad dwelling. This food-lover’s tour is the perfect blend of cultural immersion along with a chance to explore the delicious flavors that characterize this North African country’s culinary heritage.

Start your trip by meeting your group and guide at 9am in the Djemaa El Fna, the central square at the heart of Marrakech. Follow your guide through the winding city streets back to a riad to kick off your food experience. Pick up a few Arabic words that you’ll put to use as you bargain for ingredients like vegetables, meat and, most importantly, spices at the local souq. During your shopping trip you’ll be on the lookout for typical Moroccan ingredients including mint and olives from the city of Meknes, saffron from Taliouine and citrus from Fez.

Once you’ve finished your shopping, return to your riad to begin your hands-on cooking session. Follow your guide’s instructions as you prepare a typical Moroccan dish such as tagine.

Afterward, dig into your freshly prepared meal set inside the beautiful courtyard of your riad. You’ll also leave your session with a recipe sheet, allowing you to re-create your dish when you return home (and impress family and friends).

Finish your culinary experience by returning to the city’s Djemaa El Fna, where you can continue your day by shopping for spices and immersing yourself in the whirlwind of smells, sights and sounds that characterize this unique city.

Jemaa el-Fnaa

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
This is a child-friendly tour. Children under the age of 6 are permitted to join this tour free of charge.
We can accommodate vegetarians, vegans, gluten-free, and other dietary restrictions.

Authentic setting: Prepare your meal in a beautifully restored riad with a local family and chef.
Cook with purpose: This experience is B Corp certified, meaning it meets the highest standards of social and environmental impact.
Cultural immersion: Learn Arabic food vocabulary, shop like a local, and discover the flavors of Morocco.
Small group: Enjoy a more personal experience with a maximum of 12 guests.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 12 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

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Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Rebecca_B

What a lovely lady! She was so kind and it was very special to be able to experience the food stalls as a local, buying ingredients before heading back and being guided through our cooking step by step to create something beautifully tasty. She was so generous with her time and her home, meeting members of her lovely family. If you have an interest in learning not only some Moroccan cooking but also whatever you’d like to know and ask about culture and traditions I couldn’t recommend this activity more highly

Reviews

4.8

based on 366 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

An authentic and...

Hamish_L, Dec 2025

An authentic and enjoyable local cooking experience in an amazing location. Mint tea, tagine and salads made fresh. The host was a delight and we had the run of the Riad and rooftop whilst the tagines cooked.

Overpromised and extremely underdelivered - not worth it

Danielle_F, Sep 2025

Very underwhelming experience. The class could have been 2 hours as opposed to 4. I thought it would be more interactive, learning about the markets, interacting with vendors and more hands-on. There was a lot of sitting around and not a lot of communication. There was no tea demonstration nor were there recipes to leave with. Very disappointed by the experience overall and felt like a waste of a half of a day in a new city.

Response from Host, Oct 2025

Dear Danielle, Thank you for sharing your feedback. We're really sorry to hear the cookery class didn’t meet your expectations. It’s disappointing to know the experience felt too long and lacked the level of interaction you were hoping for, especially since a tea demonstration and take-home recipes should have been part of the experience. We understand how important those elements are to creating a rich and engaging cultural activity, and we’re reviewing the delivery of this class to ensure future guests receive the full experience as advertised. Your comments are genuinely appreciated and will help us improve. If you’d like to share more or speak with us directly, please feel free to reach out at customercare@intrepidtravel.com.

Delicious and fun experience!

Tori_C, Apr 2025

Shopping in the souk with a local was an incredible experience! Then, we were hands on cooking our chicken with the Tajín, made some salads and bread. The meal was DELICIOUS and our teacher was friendly and knowledgeable. We now have a new cooking method and many new dishes to make at home!

A no show

Cassie_L, Feb 2025

No one arrived to meet us and trying to arrange refund with Viator. We arrived on time at correct location. No one was there to meet us, we contacted local number, no answer, left messages, no reply. Also contacted Viator who replied half hour later with details of local operator whom we had already been trying to contact. No effort made to contact us either. Waited for over 50 minutes until we gave up and considered have we been scammed.

Response from Host, Feb 2025

Hi Cassie, Thank you for your recent review of our Marrakech Tour: Tajine Cookery Class Experience and we are very sorry that we were not able to provide you with the tour and cooking class that you had purchased. We deeply regret the miscommunication in our systems that resulted in the dates being booked incorrectly resulting in the leader not showing up for your scheduled tour. We have corrected the error and followed up with the supplier to ensure that this does not happen again and sincerely apologize for your missed experience. Please accept your refund with our apologies and we hope that despite this incident, you still managed to make some lovely memories of your time in Marrakech. As a gesture of goodwill, we would like to offer you 20% Future Booking Credit with Urban Adventures tours. Please contact us at salessupport@urbanadventures.com to collect your credit. Warm Regards.

Fantastic experience!

josee_b, Nov 2024

This is an excellent activity to learn about morrocan cuisine. We first went to buy vegetables and meat in the souk. Walked to the riad through a maze of street through the real morroco. The riad is clean, sunny, beautiful kitchen. We made bread, and prepared our tajine. Our guide Senah was fun, explained and answered all our question. These girls are fantastic! We ate our meal in the riad. Delicious! Dont hesitate! It is a fun experience!

Wonderful experience

Rebecca_B, Apr 2024

Must have!!! Best experience in Marrakesh to visit!

Roman_Z, Feb 2024

This was my first cooking class ever and I will remember it for a lot time, that’s for sure) Everything was great - starting by traditional shopping in traditional places, finishing by delicious meal cooked by ourselves in a wonderful Riad. Madame La Chef is an amazing person and wanted to share with us as much as she could with four hours. Definitely recommended for all kinds of people: solo (as I was), friends and families) Great experience, amazing value for its price!

Educational. Fun. Delicious.

Michelle_G, Jan 2024

What a lovely way to learn about Moroccan cooking and the ways of the food markets in Marrakech. The guides were knowledgeable and helpful. The Riad we cooked in was beautiful. Long lunch in the sunshine in the rooftop. Gorgeous.

Tagine cooking class

Elaine_E, Aug 2023

Karima, was a lovely host. A patient teacher, we did a chicken and vegetable tagine. the food was delicious.

A great experience

Andrew_B, Nov 2022

A lovely walk through the Medina shopping for the essential ingredients. An informative cookery session in a beautiful riad, with an opportunity to take in the view from the rooftop whilst the tagines were cooking.

Amazing tagine!

priyaratnasingham, Nov 2022

Excellent way of learning about Moroccan local life and cuisine! Guide was so friendly and likeable !

The Best Experience we had in Marrakesh

Rochelle_M, Nov 2022

From start to finish our group of 11 had an amazing time. We helped shop and select the ingredients and then started our cooking experience in very authentic Raid and were made to feel very much at home by the woman organising this experience. Would have no hesitation in recommending this particular private cooking experience. Can’t believe how tasty our Tajines were and that they were made by all of us 😂

Karima is the best!

Maria_P, Oct 2022

Karima was the best thing to help me really love Marrakech. Everyone knew her and said hello as we walked the market. She helped me recover from a terrible experience. Best experience ever!

Great cooking experience.

Jay_R, Sep 2022

We had a wonderful time learning to cook tajine with Karima. It was really a neat experience to walk through the market place with her and pick out all of the ingredients we needed for our meal. The riad we cooked in was really nice and comfortable. Additionally, we cook famines at home and we learned several key skills we had been missing that now make our famines exceptional. Thank you so much Karima! This was a highlight of our trip in Morocco

Outstanding

Ffion_O, Aug 2022

This was a wonderful experience that we won’t forget. It was our favourite thing we did in Marrakech. Not only did we visit the markets and have the ingredients explained to us in three languages (English, French, and Arabic), but we also learned techniques and had a fantastic lunch. Karima - our guide/teacher - was amazing. She walked us through everything and answered all of our questions. She was extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and kind. She walked us to and from the meeting point. On the way, she introduced us to the vendors and locals alike. It added a lovely sparkle and sincerity to the excursion - clearly Karima is very well liked in the community! We were a small group (two couples) which meant Karima was able to help us with everything. We learned how to make mint tea, Moroccan salad, Chicken tagine with preserved lemons, and dessert. In sum, this is a must do. We will be talking about this experience for a long time to come.

Metal hammering fun

Claire_H, Jul 2022

My daughter and I had a great metal hammering class. The guide was lovely and so was the teacher, What I liked the most was making a really, really nice bowl!

Great tour and cooking class with a lovely host Karima

Gary_D, Jun 2022

Karima gave us a great tour of the markets to buy the ingredients for our class. The spice stall is closed on Fridays but everything else was available and the chicken couldn’t be more fresh (not for the squeamish)! The riad was nice, traditionally decorated and clean and the mint tea was the best we had on our trip. A lot of information to take in so the recipe card and names for everything was very welcome at the end of the tour. Would recommend this trip with Karima to anyone.

What an amazing experience!!

Cecile_P, May 2022

What an amazing experience!! Our guide Karima was exceptionally friendly and made us feel welcome from the minute we met her. She took us round the various market stalls in the souk to buy all the ingredients we needed for our cooking class. We chatted along nicely and she told us about the culture and answered all our questions. We then went to the Riad where she showed us how to cook our 3 course meal. Her explanations were brilliant and she demonstrated every steps very clearly. Karima had a great sense of humour too which we all really enjoyed. We also learned all the Arabic names for the ingredients we used and anything else we asked for. Highly recommend this experience! It was a fab half day and our lunch was scrumptious! Compliments to the chefs! 😉 Cécile & David

Fabulous good experience

Debbie_M, Apr 2022

Karima was a fabulous host who was friendly and very informative. She made the experience an excellent one.

We met our guide, Karima,...

Alex_G, Aug 2021

We met our guide, Karima, in the square and made our way to the market, where we bought our ingredients and made our way to the Riad. Karima and her assistant made us feel welcome and all of us loved the cooking class, so much so we want to buy a tagine and recreate the dish at home. A fantastic authentic experience that shows you the 'real' Marrakech.

Amazing Cooking Experience

Gavin_T, Feb 2020

What an amazing end to end experience. We really enjoyed the authentic experience, and very welcoming host. One of the best parts of our holiday. We would strongly recommend you book up and experience the best of Moroccan cooking, you will learn so much.

A must-do in Marrakech

harpurs2016, Feb 2020

It was a fabulous half day experience. Visit the local souks to get the ingredients in the morning, different shops for different ingredients. Learnt how to make mint tea, Moroccan salad, chicken tagine, orange slices dessert. Whilst the tagine is cooking, head to the rooftop, soak up the sun, enjoy the mint tea, and good view of Marrakech. Fantastic hosts. One of us is vegan. They made a vegan tagine specifically.

Cultural Immersion

James_G, Jan 2020

Sanae was an engaging instructor. The class was totally hands-on and I appreciated the opportunity to shop for ingredients in the market before beginning to cook. The results were amazingly tasty - better than the tajine I had in any restaurant and the ingredients could not have been any fresher! While the dish cooked, we were able to learn more about Moroccan culture and Sanae answered our questions on daily life. Highly recommended!

Cooking day with Sanae

Lee_D, Jan 2020

Excellent, fun, adventurous, easy going. Wonderful host (Sanae). We learned a lot, no only about food but the tea ritual and Moroccan culture. Really worth it.

Excellent day

kirk2019, Dec 2019

From meeting at the market (Souk) and buying fresh ingredients to he preparation ad eating all was a fantastic day. The hosts were really informative and also lovely.

Wonderful experience!

Jet615365, Nov 2019

We couldn't have asked for a more wonderful experience! Sanae met us at Café de France and was very kind and accommodating even though we were about 25 minutes late (large group troubles). We walked through the souks and picked out all our food together - from the live chickens (yikes) to the vegetables. We then walked to a lovely rooftop and were taught how to make yummy Moroccan mint tea while other ladies helped to clean the chicken and veggies. We had a group of 13, and made 4 different pots of the same dish (chicken tagine). There was just more than enough to eat, but not too much. I've taken cooking classes in other countries before, and I liked this one because we had flexibility for each sub-group to, for example, add more spice, or less salt. The best part was how fantastic Sanae was. She was funny, had nicknames for people (which were totally fine and appropriate), was happy to answer our questions and share a bit about her background, and was honestly just such a pleasure to be around. Once she found out that we had 2 birthday guys in our group, she somehow coordinated having someone sneak out to buy a small cake, candles, and birthday hats. We all wanted to be friends with her afterwards, lol. Actually, she even hung out with a couple of us after to help show us where to buy jewelry, and helped us bargain. I will say that I had some difficulty early on trying to ask through Viator if they could accommodate 13 people, since it says the max is 12 and that's all we could pay for online. I called the viator number and left two voicemails but never heard back. But once I messaged I guess the local Morocco agency on WhatsApp, they responded immediately and were very accommodating. I'd recommend this cooking class in a heartbeat. Yeah, $56 is a tad steep, especially compared to the price of a typical lunch in Marrakech. But the quality of the food and the overall experience of the shopping, the rooftop, the tea, the laughs, and just the fantastic time we had for half a day (plus some) made it worth every penny.

Worth doing, especially with a wonderful guide like Hanue

Scott_W, Oct 2019

Great experience all around! We had no trouble finding our guide in the market. She took us shopping for the necessary ingredients including the "killing of the chicken." Talk about fresh! Also, one of our group members was vegetarian and so when we went to buy veggies, the host made sure to buy extra for her. She and her help went above and beyond. Hanue (i think i spelled her name right) was a spectacular host . To top it off -- our chicken tangee was delicious!! My husband and I are not good cooks and she made us one that day. thanks Hanue!!

Great Experance

Pathfinder618914, Oct 2019

I did this with my girlfriend who love to cook and we had an amazing time. The market shopping was very informative, the cooking was very hands on, and the chef was knowledgeable. I would defiantly recommend this to anyone interested.

Sufficiently interesting but not worth experience

Wander67756299684, Sep 2019

The tour started very chaotic. We didn't like idea of choosing/ pointing on the live chicken at the market, which was further used for cooking. It is very cruel to do so. Also, visited market was very damn, dirty and smelling absolutely horrible. I believe there should be more reasonable locations in the area. Cooking part was quite ok. However, the guide had quite annoying attitude with the jokes, messing up names, finishing gas in the middle of cooking etc. I would not recommend this tour.

great experience

elizabethdL7436LS, Jul 2019

Really excellent class. We spent an hour in the market and the rest of the time chopping, cooking and learning from the kind ladies who ran the class. The space was clean and the food was delicious! No complaints!!!