Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Chakhchoukha
Torn flatbread bathed in a spiced lamb, chickpea, and tomato sauce, an Algerian dish for gatherings.
Algerian · medium · serves 6
prep 30 min · cook 90 min
~469 cal · 37g protein · 35g carbs · 21g fat · 7g fiber · 15g sugars · 9g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Chakhchoukha is a celebrated Algerian dish, especially of the Aurès and eastern regions, made for family gatherings and special occasions. It centres on rougag, a thin, hand-stretched flatbread that is torn into small pieces and bathed in a rich sauce.
The sauce (marqa) is a slow-cooked stew of lamb, chickpeas, and tomato, spiced warmly with paprika, cumin, and and reddened with tomato paste. The torn flatbread is steamed and then soaked in this sauce until soft, absorbing all its flavour, and served in a great mound with the meat and chickpeas piled on top. Filling and communal, it is a dish that brings people together.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
4 thin flatbread (rougag), torn
1 1/2 lb lamb, cubed
2 cups cooked chickpeas
2 cups tomato paste and tomatoes
2 tbsp paprika, cumin, and
2 onion
Instructions
1
Brown the lamb with the onion, then add the tomato, spices, and water and simmer into a rich sauce.
2
Add the chickpeas and cook until the lamb is very tender.
3
Steam the torn flatbread briefly, then soak the pieces in some of the hot sauce until soft.
✎ Chef’s note
Steam the torn bread first so it softens evenly when it meets the sauce, rather than staying dry in patches.
4
Pile the soaked bread in bowls and top with the meat, chickpeas, and plenty of sauce.
Algerian celebration tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Algiers. Couscous belongs to no single country here. UNESCO inscribed the knowledge and practices around it in 2020 on a joint nomination from Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia, a rare shared listing that neatly sidesteps the argument over who owns the dish.
🗺️
Algeria. Almost the whole country is Sahara, roughly four fifths of it, and barely three per cent of the land is arable. That arable sliver is the Tell, the coastal band of hills and plains north of the Atlas ranges, where the cities, the wheat, the olives, the citrus and the vineyards all are, which is why an enormous country cooks like a Mediterranean one.
🌍
Africa. Africa's fifty-four nations hold cuisines as different as Morocco's slow-cooked tagines and South Africa's open-fire braai, yet shared threads run through them: ancient grains like millet, sorghum, and teff; stews thickened with groundnut, okra, or palm; and fiery condiments from Tunisian harissa to Ethiopian berbere. Staple starches, fufu, injera, ugali, couscous, anchor communal meals often eaten by hand from a shared dish, where hospitality is a point of honor.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Algeria
Friday Couscous with Seven VegetablesSteamed couscous under a saffron-tinted vegetable stew, the meal that gathers Algerian families every Friday.
MsemenFlaky square semolina flatbreads folded in layers and griddled, served with honey or jam.
Kalb el LouzA syrup-soaked semolina cake with an almond heart, fragrant with orange blossom, a jewel of the Algerian Ramadan table.
Browse all Algeria recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Steamer.
Storing it: Best the day it is made. Wrap well and refresh in a warm oven, or freeze and reheat straight from frozen.
Make it a Algeria meal
Cherbet el LozDrink
Kalb el LouzDessert
Chorba FrikDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Chakhchoukha?
Torn flatbread bathed in a spiced lamb, chickpea, and tomato sauce, an Algerian dish for gatherings.
Where does Chakhchoukha come from?
Chakhchoukha is a Algerian dish from Algiers, Algeria.
Can Chakhchoukha be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Chakhchoukha recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Chakhchoukha safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Chakhchoukha take to make?
About 120 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 90 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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