Harissa in Recipes: Homemade Versions with Smoke and Spice

Using harissa in recipes brings signature North African smoke and spice flavors to food. Whether you use a store-bought harissa paste, make my dry spice blend, or my harissa BBQ sauce (a versatile alternative to traditional paste), this guide offers multiple ways to incorporate bold harissa flavors into your meals.

collage of four photos showing ways to cook with homemade harissa.

Navigate quickly

This guide shares how to create a marinade, spice rub, sticky glaze, or harissa BBQ sauce that forms the foundation for using harissa in recipes. From spicy popcorn and mushroom jerky to glazed cauliflower steaks, mini mushroom tacos, sticky chicken wings with harissa carrots, maitake mushroom burgers, and whole roasted cauliflower, I infuse recipes with cravable harissa flavor in a way that is flexible and approachable.

Add this site as a preferred source on Google:

Harissa paste options

Store-bought harissa paste
Homemade Harissa BBQ Sauce that makes a great harissa alternative and is more versatile.
Homemade Harissa Spice Blend that can replace harissa paste in recipes or be used to make a paste, glaze, or marinade.

Store-bought harissa paste

sold as a pantry stable condiment (until opened). A ten ounce jar sells for $7-9, mild or spicy.
ingredients include: oil and ground chili pepper base with vinegar, other spices, and garlic.
Tomato paste and/or sweet red peppers are sometimes included.
a simple condiment that can add a spicy hot flavor to whatever dish it is added to.
my opinion is that store-bought harissa paste lacks flavor dimension, and skews closer to a “hot sauce”.
For dry-rub recipes → mix 1–2 tsp paste with a little oil and brush on.
For glazes and marinades → use the paste in place of the dry spices + liquid (adjust for thickness and salt).
For the BBQ sauce-style recipes → thin the store-bought paste slightly or use it as a base and add a touch of sweetness/acid.
Note that heat levels vary widely by brand, so start with less and taste.

Homemade harissa-style BBQ sauce

harissa paste, leveled up!
easy to make in 20 minutes.
intense flavors without being overly spicy or “hot”.
includes more ingredients than harissa paste: sun-dried tomatoes, onion, brown sugar, mustard, fresh oregano and thyme.
more versatile than harissa paste due to the broader flavor profile.
doubles as a bbq sauce.
holds up on its own as a relish or dip

spoonful of harissa bbq sauce. — Homemade Harissa BBQ Sauce is a versatile harissa substitute for store-bought

Homemade harissa seasoning

make a batch of my harissa seasoning that includes all the spices used in traditional harissa paste.
equal parts of five spices form the foundation: cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and chili powder.
three additional optional ingredients: ground rose petals, sumac, and ground caraway seeds.
customizable to match your desire for heat.
works as a harissa paste substitute that tastes like harissa, but is shelf stable and won’t spoil.
more economical than using store-bought harissa paste.
versatile: create a paste, marinade, glaze, or dry rub using this spice blend.

homemade harissa dry spice blend. — Ground rose petals add a bit of sweetness and extra fragrance that enhances the flavor profile of the harissa seasoning.

Versatile ways I use harissa in my recipes

Once you know if you are going to use store-bought paste, a blend of dry spices, or my harissa-style bbq sauce, you can venture to make a recipe using one of the six ways I incorporate them

Sweet, Smoky Marinade

Oil based marinade with equal parts soy, maple syrup, vinegar, a bit of smoke and harissa dry spices can be brushed on vegetables before roasting.

Try my: Harissa Mushroom Jerky, or Harissa Mushroom Tacos.

marinated mushroom slices ready for the oven. — Portobello slices coated with the sweet, smoky, marinade, before being roasted.

Sticky Honey Harissa Marinade

A honey infused oil based marinade with a bit of tomato paste can be a marinade paste/rub for roasted vegetables or chicken wings.

Try my: Sticky Chicken Wings and Harissa Carrots (together or on their own)

harissa paste ingredients. — Ingredients for harissa-style paste

whisking harissa honey marinade ingredients. — Ingredients for harissa-style paste

Dry Harissa Spices

5 spices that create the signature harissa flavor of chile and smoky spice, but with the heat tailored to your liking. Use as a dry rub on vegetables before cooking.

Try my: Whole Roasted Harissa Cauliflower Sheet Pan Dinner.

cauliflower on top of cubed sweet potato and chickpeas, on a sheet-pan, just out of oven roasting. — Dry harissa spice coated whole cauliflower, sweet potato and chickpeas

Buttery Harissa Drizzle

A simple buttery topping infused with harissa flavor.

Try my: Spicy Popcorn Snack with Harissa Seasoning

mixing the harissa popcorn butter with spices. — Stirring harissa spices into butter

Harissa BBQ Sauce

A blend of red pepper, onions, sun-dried tomatoes and tomato paste, cooked down with harissa spices, chili flakes, herbs, and brown sugar to create a sauce more versatile than harissa paste, that can be used in many ways

Try my: Homemade Harissa BBQ Sauce (Harissa Substitute)

harissa bbq sauce ingredients. — Ingredients for making a harissa flavored bbq sauce

Smoky Glaze

Four-ingredient smoky balsamic glaze made with the dry spics, oil, balsamic, and liquid smoke. Brush over cauliflower steaks while roasting.

Try my: Smoky Harissa Glazed Cauliflower Steaks with Rapini and White Bean Puree

wiping harissa glaze over the surface of the cauliflower steaks. — Brushing glaze on cauliflower steaks

Helpful Tips for Cooking with Harissa

Storage

Homemade Harissa Spice Blend keeps its flavor for up to 6 months in an airtight jar in a cool, dark place.
Homemade Harissa BBQ Sauce lasts 10–14 days in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer.
Once opened, store-bought harissa paste should be refrigerated and used within a few weeks (check the label). To help prevent the chance you won’t use it all in time, you could freeze in ice cube tray cubes to have on hand over the long term.

Heat Control Harissa heat levels vary widely. Start with less than the recipe calls for, taste, and add more until the right heat level is reached, with any of these options. My spice blend and bbq sauce intentionally contain less chili heat, and more roundness of flavor, whereas, store bought harissa paste is based on ground chili peppers and therefore can be very hot.

Using Store-Bought Paste in These Recipes You can easily adapt any of the recipes below if you’re using jarred harissa paste instead of the dry spice blend or homemade BBQ sauce:

For dry-rub recipes, mix 1–2 teaspoons of paste with a little oil and brush it on.
For marinades and glazes, use the paste in place of the dry spices and adjust the liquid slightly for consistency.
For recipes that call for the BBQ sauce, thin the store-bought paste with a bit of water, vinegar, or maple syrup and taste for balance. Add a bit of tomato paste as well. Taste for that BBQ flavor.

Make-Ahead Tips Both the spice blend and the BBQ sauce can be prepared days or even weeks in advance. Having them ready makes weeknight cooking much faster.

a jar of harissa bbq sauce with a spoon stuck into the jar ready to scoop some out. — Harissa bbq sauce stored in jar for use over a couple of weeks

Whether you start with store-bought paste, my homemade spice blend, or the harissa BBQ sauce, these recipes show how flexible and flavorful harissa can be. Once you have a jar of the dry blend or a batch of the sauce on hand, it becomes easy to use them as condiments with your meals, or pull together one of the recipes highlighted in this post.