8 Ways To Use Harissa For An Extra Kick In Your Cooking

If unfamiliar, you might be wondering what the spicy Moroccan staple known as harissa is. Not to be confused with the Armenian wheat porridge with the same name, harissa is a fragrant, spicy, bright-red paste that's commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern cooking. While the ingredients can vary greatly, it's usually made with smoky red chiles, garlic, coriander, caraway seeds, and olive oil. The heat levels can vary as well, but in general, harissa is definitely a fiery, spicy condiment, and could be a bit overwhelming for those not well-versed in spicy foods. 

There are some things to consider before cooking with a new harissa paste, as they can be made from a wide variety of ingredients and have different spice levels, so it's important to taste the harissa before using it. If you'd like to have more control over the level of spiciness and accompanying flavors, you can make your own harissa at home with New York restaurant Balaboosta's harissa recipe.

There are a multitude of ways to use harissa paste, including using it to seriously spice up store-bought ranch or make a spicy, smoky ketchup. In addition to transforming condiments, harissa is one of our favorite things to use to switch up the flavor profile of a recipe or to add for more heat and depth of flavor. Keep reading to learn how to use harissa to transform dishes at home.

Spicy pizza is nothing new. Whether the heat comes from chili-infused honey, sliced jalapeños, or spicy sausage or salami, there's always been love for a spicy slice. While most pizzas are made spicy by adding hot toppings, like the traditional Italian pizza alla diavola, or the wildly popular Bee Sting pizza from Roberta's in New York, it's less common to see pizzas that begin with a spicy sauce base. The next time you make pizza at home — say, with our easy no-yeast pizza dough — and are looking for a spicy upgrade, substitute the tomato sauce with harissa. If you're wary of the pizza being too spicy with a strictly harissa sauce, you can always add a few tablespoons of harissa to the marinara sauce for a more mild, but still slightly spicy experience. 

When you use a non-traditional sauce base, it opens up a way to use other less traditional pizza toppings, particularly those that are also popular in Middle Eastern cuisine. With so much heat in the sauce, we recommend balancing the flavor by using toppings that have a creamy or contrasting element. With a harissa-based sauce, you could use feta or goat cheese as a topping, as well as preserved lemon and spicy sausage like lamb merguez. Top with fresh herbs after baking, and drizzle with hot honey for an extra fiery kick. 

Whether they're for breakfast, lunch, or any other time of day, eggs are an amazing protein-filled food that can easily adapt to most flavor profiles. Given that they cook so quickly, they are simple to whip up without much hassle but can provide a deeply satisfying dish, no matter what the form. While a classic shakshuka doesn't necessarily use harissa, it's an easy addition to add some heat to the warm, comforting egg dish. Similar to Moroccan shakshuka, menemen is a Turkish scrambled eggs dish where the eggs are whipped rather than poached, and harissa would be an excellent way to add some heat to the dish. 

If shakshuka or menemen feel too labor-intensive for an early morning meal, you can add some spice to your everyday eggs by frying them in harissa paste, similar to how you'd fry eggs in pesto. Harissa paste is also the secret to spicing up your breakfast burrito — if you enjoy the smoky heat of chipotle in adobo, harissa would be an excellent condiment to incorporate into your next breakfast burrito. As a snack or a party appetizer, level up deviled eggs with harissa, goat cheese, preserved lemon, and cilantro, or lean into fall vibes with smoky pumpkin deviled eggs. 

Harissa can be a great addition to your favorite soups for a vibrant kick of spice. It's easy to incorporate into almost any soup where you're seeking a bit more spice, earthiness, and depth of flavor without putting in much extra thought or effort. It can be added towards the beginning after you've cooked your aromatics, like a tomato paste, or when you add your liquids. You can add a bit of harissa at the end of cooking your soup, however we recommend letting it simmer along with the rest of the ingredients for at least a few minutes to let the flavors meld and develop. 

If you don't feel comfortable riffing on a soup without a proper recipe to follow, try our spicy harissa eggplant stew recipe for an introduction on how to add harissa to soups and stews. Harissa paste would be a stellar way to boost the savory notes in a roasted veggie and tomato lentil soup; simply add a spoonful in along with the blended, roasted tomatoes and proceed with the recipe. Harissa is even one of our favorite seasonings that will give ramen a flavor boost, making instant ramen more savory and exciting. 

It may look similar in color and texture, but harissa and tomato paste are vastly different ingredients. Tomato paste is simply concentrated tomatoes, and is made by cooking down tomatoes that have been strained of their skins and seeds for a very long time, resulting in a thick, rich homogeneous paste packed with tomato flavor. While they are different products, as harissa is chile-pepper-based rather than tomato-based, harissa is actually one of our absolute best tomato paste substitutes. Similar to tomato paste, be mindful of cooking it down in a hot pan so it doesn't burn or become overly brown. What's nice about swapping tomato paste for harissa paste is that you can build a subtle heat without fear of the dish becoming too spicy, due to the small amount of harissa you'll use. 

Harissa would be a perfect swap for tomato paste in your next marinara sauce for an elegant, spicy twist. In our recipe for a Mediterranean bolognese with fettuccine pasta, the harissa replaces tomato paste for a smoky, more earthy bolognese sauce with a bit more heat. Harissa would make an excellent substitute for tomato paste in a chili, either vegetarian or meat-filled, as harissa is spicy, of course, but it still brings sweetness to the finished dish. 

If there's one thing that goes well with seafood, it's spice. Similar to a Cajun seafood boil, harissa is one of our favorite ways to add spice to fish dishes. While it's most commonly available in jarred, paste form, you can also find powdered harissa and sprinkle it on a piece of fish before cooking. Don't hesitate to spice up your salmon by coating it in harissa paste before baking it in the oven, like in this harissa baked salmon recipe. If salmon's not your thing, harissa is perfect for seasoning tuna, raw or cooked, and would even be a great addition to your next tuna salad, along with some minced preserved lemon and fresh lemon juice for an acidic contrast to the heat. You could even mix harissa into mayonnaise for a more mild, creamy tuna salad. 

Toss a bowl of shrimp with harissa paste before skewering them for the grill, or simply pan-sear them to perfection on the stovetop. Our easy weeknight harissa-glazed salmon skewers are perfect for grilling outdoors on lazy summer evenings. If you're looking for a new cooking method for your next filet of fish, balance the flavor of the fish by wrapping it in chard, which will seal in some of the moisture while cooking without sacrificing flavor.

Spicy fruit salads are a wonderful way to put a flavorful twist on a summer staple. One of our favorite ways to use Tajín is on a fruit salad, usually paired with the tangy, sweet, spicy, and acidic condiment known as chamoy. While these flavor combinations are common in Mexico, the spicy fruit salad trend has become popular in the United States as well. Sweet, juicy watermelon is a common pairing for Tajín, but we recommend giving your next watermelon salad a North African flare with harissa instead of the Mexican spice blend. It would also work in our grilled nectarine salad recipe.

If you're new to adding a spicy element to fruit, start small by adding about a teaspoon of harissa to a tablespoon of honey and mix well before drizzling all over your fruit salad. If you have harissa powder, rather than the liquid condiment version, lightly sprinkle the powder all over the bowl of fruit, and you can also follow the harissa powder with a sprinkling of flaky salt for even more flavor definition. For the hottest days of the summer, add more contrast between the sweetness of the fruit and the smoky heat of the harissa by making sure your fruit is served extra cold. You can even place the fruit on a bed of crushed ice to serve, ensuring that you can stay cool even as your tastebuds heat up.

We all know how important it is to eat your vegetables, but sometimes consuming cruciferous plants can become tedious and boring. A perfect way to eat the rainbow while still enjoying your meal is to add harissa to your vegetables. This is a simple tweak that doesn't require much additional effort, but will have big payoffs once those vegetables hit your dinner plate. 

The easiest way to incorporate harissa into your vegetables is to simply mix a teaspoon of harissa paste, or more if you prefer things extra spicy, with a few tablespoons of whatever type of oil you prefer to roast vegetables in. Simply coat the veggies in the harissa oil before roasting them as you normally would. Contrastingly, you could also roast the vegetables in oil and any spices you prefer, like cumin and coriander, then toss the roasted vegetables with a few teaspoons of harissa paste as soon as they come out of the oven. This method will be a bit spicier and more flavorful as the harissa isn't diluted with oil. 

A great and easy way to spice up your roasted squash is to marinate the squash in a harissa blend before roasting. Harissa is a lovely addition to vegetable purees as well, like in this carrot harissa toast recipe, if you're feeling timid about the heat level harissa can bring but still crave that slightly smoky, spicy element. If you're seeking flavor inspiration, pair vegetables and harissa with other ingredients commonly used in Middle Eastern or North African cuisine, like this baked harissa zucchini with whipped feta and couscous recipe.

A simple way to add a bit of kick to your meats at home is to add harissa, be it in a lacquered glaze after roasting or in a simple, hands-off marinade, like in our easy baked harissa chicken recipe. A few tablespoons of harissa paste is all you need to spice up a beef pot roast, and harissa is a key element in bringing out the traditional flavors of our Moroccan lamb shanks recipe. 

Spicy buffalo chicken wings are ubiquitous, so why not shake things up a bit with harissa-marinated wings instead? They would be perfect served alongside the classic carrots and ranch dressing, but might also be a good match for a creamy, feta-based dipping sauce. Available in more than just a paste, this harissa sirloin steak with carrot-couscous salad recipe uses harissa powder, which frees up room in your refrigerator as it can live with your other dried spices and has a longer shelf life than a jarred paste.

Harissa is a vibrant, smoky coating that adds flavor to pork roast, in this case by rubbing it on the outside of the pork before cooking. If you're looking to mellow out the heat of harissa, try this yogurt and harissa chicken skewers recipe. Marinating the chicken breasts in yogurt, as well as harissa, helps to tenderize the meat as well as offsetting some of the spice of the harissa paste. Just a small amount of harissa goes a long way, so keep that in mind when experimenting in the kitchen with the spicy condiment.