Recipe
🥤 DRINK
Thé aux Pignons
Strong, sweet Tunisian green mint tea poured over a spoon of toasted pine nuts that soften at the bottom of the glass.
Tunisian · easy · serves 4
prep 5 min · cook 10 min
~125 cal · 2g protein · 14g carbs · 8g fat · 0g fiber · 13g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Thé aux pignons is Tunisia's signature green tea served with pine nuts, strong, sweet mint or green tea poured over a spoonful of pine nuts that soften and flavor the brew, eaten at the end. It is a cornerstone of Tunisian hospitality and social life.
The pine nuts ('pignons') add a rich, nutty dimension and are a small luxury that marks the tea as special. Brewing and serving it is a ritual of welcome, offered to guests and enjoyed in cafés across Tunis.
Sweet, aromatic, and finished with the treat of the softened nuts at the bottom of the glass, thé aux pignons is a slow, sociable ritual, tea taken with company.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg- 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
2 tbsp green tea (gunpowder)
a handful fresh mint
1/4 cup sugar
4 cups water
3 tbsp toasted pine nuts
Instructions
1
Put the tea and the sugar into the pot with the water and bring it all to the boil together.
✎ Chef’s note
Tunisians brew the sugar with the leaves from the start rather than rinsing the tea first the way Moroccans do.
2
Once it boils, throw in the mint and let it boil one minute more.
3
Take it off the heat and let it sit five minutes, then strain it and pour from a height to build a head of foam.
4
Put a teaspoon of toasted pine nuts in the bottom of each glass, pour the hot tea over them, and serve.
✎ Chef’s note
The nuts go in first and the tea over them, so they soften as you drink and you eat them at the end. Serve it in the small pear-shaped glasses, alongside sweets; in Tunisia it is close to impossible to be a guest in a house and not be offered a glass.
Tunisian café tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Tunis. Lablabi is the medina's working breakfast, eaten early and standing: chickpeas in a cumin broth ladled over torn day-old bread and finished at the counter with harissa, olive oil, capers, lemon, crushed garlic and a soft egg broken over the top. Brik's history is murkier than it looks, since the word comes from the Turkish borek and Libyan Jewish cooks claim the technique too.
🗺️
Tunisia. Harissa is not a condiment on the side but the base of the pot, and UNESCO inscribed the knowledge, skills and practices around it in 2022. Sun-dried chillies are pounded with garlic, caraway and coriander, and the paste goes into couscous broth, into stews, and straight onto bread with olive oil and tuna.
🌍
Africa. The structure repeats across most of the continent: one starch and one sauce. A grain or root is cooked stiff, torn or rolled by hand, and used to carry a stew of leaves, groundnut, okra or fish, usually from a shared bowl and with the right hand. UNESCO listings have followed that logic, inscribing couscous in 2020 as a shared Maghreb tradition and Ivorian attieke in 2024.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Tunisia
Shakshuka bel HarissaEggs poached directly in a fiery, harissa-laced pepper and tomato sauce, eaten from the pan with bread.
LablabiChickpeas in garlicky cumin broth ladled over torn bread, hit with harissa, lemon, and a soft egg, Tunisia’s working breakfast.
Couscous bel HoutTunisian fish couscous: steamed semolina under a spicy tomato broth of fish and vegetables.
Browse all Tunisia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Keep chilled and covered, and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.
Make it a Tunisia meal
Couscous bel HoutDinner
MakroudhDessert
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Drinks
Frequently asked questions
What is Thé aux Pignons?
Strong, sweet Tunisian green mint tea poured over a spoon of toasted pine nuts that soften at the bottom of the glass.
Where does Thé aux Pignons come from?
Thé aux Pignons is a Tunisian dish from Tunis, Tunisia.
Can Thé aux Pignons be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Thé aux Pignons 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 Thé aux Pignons 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 Thé aux Pignons take to make?
About 15 minutes total (5 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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