What to Eat in Sousse

Sousse sits on Tunisia’s central coast, where the Sahel plain meets the Mediterranean. The climate brings mild, wetter winters and hot, dry summers, shaping a pantry of olives, wheat, seafood, and seasonal peppers. Meals lean on olive oil, preserved chiles, and herbs that stand up to heat.

Locals eat bread with nearly everything and favor market-fresh, straightforward cooking. Breakfast can be hearty on cool mornings, while seafood and salads dominate summer tables. Friday lunches often gather families around couscous, echoing broader Maghrebi tradition.

Couscous bel hout centers on semolina grains steamed in a couscoussier over a broth scented with tomato, garlic, and tabel w karouia (the Tunisian coriander–caraway mix), then finished with good local olive oil. The fish—often sea bream, grouper, or mullet from nearby waters—is rubbed with chermoula (garlic, dried chile, coriander, and cumin), then gently simmered or lightly fried before resting atop the grains alongside carrots, pumpkin, or chickpeas. The result is fluffy couscous carrying a peppery, marine-rich sauce, with fish that is firm yet moist and a sauce that balances heat, acidity, and sweetness from slow-cooked vegetables. In Sousse, it anchors Friday lunches and family gatherings year-round, with summer versions leaning on lighter fish and autumn pots welcoming denser vegetables as the weather cools.

Brik à l’œuf uses warka (malsouqa) pastry—paper-thin wheat sheets—folded around a raw egg with chopped parsley, onion, and often tuna in olive oil, plus capers or mashed potato, then slid into hot oil for seconds until blistered and audibly crisp. The pastry shatters, the yolk runs, and aromatics release a savory, briny perfume that’s cut by a squeeze of lemon or a brush of harissa at the edge. Beyond its irresistible texture contrast, brik signals celebration in Tunisia; in Sousse it is near-universal at Ramadan iftar, and it appears at family milestones and casual evening snacks alike. You’ll find it eaten hot, by hand, at home kitchens, street-side stalls, and social gatherings just after sunset or as a quick midday treat outside fasting months.

Lablabi begins with dried chickpeas simmered until tender in a broth flavored with garlic, bay leaf, and cumin, sometimes thickened slightly by long cooking. Bowls are built over torn day-old bread, then drenched with the hot chickpeas and broth, and finished by the diner with harissa, extra cumin or caraway, lemon juice, and a generous thread of local olive oil; optional toppings include a soft-boiled egg, olives, or a spoon of tuna. The taste is earthy and peppery, with a creamy broth soaking into bread that turns spoonable yet still textured, making it ideal for the Sahel’s chillier winter mornings. In Sousse it is a market-day breakfast and late-night fortifier, valued for thrift and comfort, and particularly popular from autumn through early spring when a hot, spiced bowl chases the sea breeze.

Ojja merguez is a skillet dish in which onions and green peppers soften in olive oil before tomato, garlic, and a spoon of harissa create a thick base seasoned with cumin and paprika; sliced merguez sausages brown in the sauce, then eggs are cracked in to poach until just set. The sauce is glossy and aromatic, the sausages smoky and lightly piquant, and the eggs add a rich, spoonable creaminess that begs for bread. In Sousse, it’s a practical lunch or shared dinner, served still bubbling in a clay pan with pieces of kesra or tabouna to scoop. The preparation draws on broader Maghrebi egg-and-pepper traditions while reflecting Tunisian fondness for harissa heat; along the coast, some cooks swap in shrimp when they’re in season, but the merguez version remains a staple of everyday home cooking.

Bambalouni is a simple yeasted dough, lightly salted and elastic, pinched into rings by hand and fried to order in neutral oil until golden, then dusted with sugar or dipped in honey. The texture is airy and slightly chewy inside with a crisp exterior, delivering clean wheat and oil aromas that pair well with coffee or mint tea. On Sousse’s coast, it’s a summertime and weekend favorite, eaten hot straight from the paper as families stroll the promenade or take a break from the beach. While humble, it belongs to the broader Tunisian tradition of portable, affordable street sweets, and its popularity rises with warm weather and evening walks when sea air keeps the fried dough light and appealing.

Sousse’s cuisine blends Mediterranean seafood, Sahel olive oil, and market-driven simplicity with the heat of harissa and the fragrance of tabel. Meals follow the seasons, from warming lablabi in winter to fish-forward couscous and beachside bambalouni in summer. Explore more regional food guides and plan weather-smart travel with Sunheron.com.