Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Macaroni Imbakbaka
Pasta simmered in a spiced lamb-and-tomato sauce until it absorbs it all, Libya's signature everyday pasta.
Libyan · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 45 min
~936 cal · 51g protein · 119g carbs · 29g fat · 10g fiber · 19g sugars · 8g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Macaroni imbakbaka is an everyday dish in Libya, a legacy of the country's Italian colonial past reimagined through North African spices. Unlike Italian pasta served with a sauce on top, here the pasta is cooked right in the sauce until it drinks it all up.
Lamb or beef is browned and simmered in a rich tomato sauce warmly spiced with the Libyan blend of bharat, hot chili, and often a hint of cinnamon. The dried pasta is added straight into the simmering sauce with a little water and cooked until tender and deeply infused with flavour and colour. The result is a well-seasoned, saucy, comforting one-pot that is a fixture of the Libyan family table.
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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 4
1 lb pasta (penne or macaroni)
1 lb lamb or beef, cubed
2 cups tomato paste and tomatoes
1/2 cup onion and garlic
2 tbsp Libyan bharat spice and chili
3 tbsp oil
Instructions
1
Brown the meat with the onion and garlic, then stir in the spices and tomato and cook to a rich sauce.
2
Add water to make a generous amount of sauce and simmer until the meat is tender.
3
Add the dry pasta straight into the simmering sauce with a little more water.
✎ Chef’s note
Cook the pasta right in the sauce, stirring so it does not stick, until it is tender and has soaked up the flavour and colour.
4
Cook until the pasta is done and has absorbed the sauce, then serve.
Libyan home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Tripoli. Bazin is the older dish and much the harder one. Barley flour is beaten into boiling water with a stick until it stiffens into a dome, turned out onto a platter with red sauce, eggs and lamb around it, and eaten by hand from the shared plate. The pasta, by contrast, is an Italian inheritance.
🗺️
Libya. The Libyan spice base is bzaar, built on caraway and turmeric rather than on the chilli-forward blends further west, and it is what makes a Libyan tomato sauce taste Libyan. Sharba, the soup that opens the meal in Ramadan, is finished off the heat with dried mint rubbed between the palms, which is the step that gives it away.
🌍
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 Libya
BazinA firm barley-flour dome served in a spiced lamb-and-tomato sauce with a hard-boiled egg.
SfinzStretchy, lacy fried dough eaten warm with honey or date syrup, a Libyan weekend breakfast.
GhraybahMelt-in-the-mouth buttery shortbread scented with a hint of cardamom, a Libyan and Maghrebi celebration cookie.
Browse all Libya recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Best fresh. Leftovers keep 2 days refrigerated; loosen with a splash of water or oil as you reheat so they do not clump.
Make it a Libya meal
Shahi bil Ful (Libyan Tea)Drink
GhraybahDessert
BazinDinner
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Macaroni Imbakbaka?
Pasta simmered in a spiced lamb-and-tomato sauce until it absorbs it all, Libya's signature everyday pasta.
Where does Macaroni Imbakbaka come from?
Macaroni Imbakbaka is a Libyan dish from Tripoli, Libya.
Can Macaroni Imbakbaka be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Macaroni Imbakbaka 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 Macaroni Imbakbaka 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 Macaroni Imbakbaka take to make?
About 60 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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