Homemade Harissa (A Moroccan Cooking Staple)

Allow me to introduce you to your new favorite Moroccan cooking staple, Harissa. This Tunisian hot sauce is popular across North Africa and is made with dried chiles, preserved lemon, and traditional spices. 

If you’ve tried any traditional Moroccan recipes, you’re probably familiar with harissa. It’s a vibrantly flavorful hot sauce that is used in marinades (like these harissa chicken thighs), sauces (like this harissa pasta), as a topping, and hot sauce.

While it originated in Tunisia, it is commonly used across North Africa and even in parts of the Middle East.

It’s bright, zingy flavor from preserved lemons adds a great deal of depth when combined with your favorite dried red hot chile pepper.

While harissa is often compared to Sambal and Sriracha, I find it has a smokier, more sharp and citrusy flavor thanks to the paprika and lemon.

Don’t have time to make the preserved lemons? Buy a jar at an Arab market near you or grab a jar online.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own harissa:

• dried red hot chile peppers (could be guajillo, anaheim, chiles de arbol, etc.)
• preserved lemon or lemon juice
• garlic cloves, peeled
• olive oil
• salt 
• coriander seeds
• cumin
• paprika
• tomato paste 

How to Make It

Picking the Right Chile Peppers

The fun thing about making your own Harissa versus buying a jar at the store? You have complete control over the spice level. 

The heat in this hot sauce will vary depending on the type of chili peppers you use. 

Here are some common varieties of peppers (and spice levels) to pick from:

• Anchos – mild to medium
• Serranos – medium
• Thai hot peppers – hot 
• Ghost peppers – extremely hot

If you’re concerned about things being too spicy, remove the seeds from the chiles before adding to the food processor to tame things down.

Where to use Harissa

Moroccan Harissa sauce is great wherever you use hot sauce. I especially love it with toast and a fried egg, sauteed into rice dishes and as a spicy sauce for red meat. 

That said, there are some recipes where it’s just meant to be. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Moroccan Couscous – adding in a spoonful of Harissa will take the flavor and spice to a whole new level
• Kefta Lettuce Wraps – these lettuce wraps have a Harissa yogurt sauce that is unforgettable
• Chicken with lemon & olives – this popular Moroccan recipe would be fantastic with a spoon of Harissa added to the marinade

Also be sure to check out my recipes for harissa chicken skewers and marinated chicken thighs.

Storage

Harissa can keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month. 

It can also keep in the freezer for 1-2 months. Break off chunks to thaw and use as needed.

Bismillah,

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