9 Awesome Gifts for Moroccan Mother-in-Law (to convince her to like you) 🎁

Amazing gifts for Moroccan mother-in-law: Impressing any mother-in-law is a tricky task, but Moroccan mothers? Well, they are revered more than most. An often-quoted phrase in Morocco is, “Heaven is at the feet of the mother,” and the reverence for mothers is often cited in the Quran. So it’s natural that you would want to find the best gifts for your Moroccan mother-in-law. These are generally great gifts for any Moroccan woman and can apply to sisters, aunts, or friends.

What gifts do Moroccans like?

These gifts for Moroccan mothers-in-law are based on our personal experiences as well as asking Moroccan family and family friends what their favorite gifts are. Many of these gifts can be found in Morocco, but many of them are best bought outside of Morocco for the best prices and highest quality. As we’ve mentioned before, many things in Morocco are quite cheap, but they’re often low quality. Higher-end gifts tend to cost more in Morocco than you’d spend outside of the country.

Plus, American gifts for Moroccans (or gifts from other places) are always exciting and special. Traditional Moroccan gifts are wonderful but there’s something thrilling about a gift that someone brought to you from your home country or abroad. Many of these gifts are also great gifts for host family in Morocco as well or could even function as Moroccan wedding gift ideas for the bride. Of course, they also double as Mother’s Day gifts too, though Mother’s Day isn’t widely celebrated.

To see our full gift guide for Moroccans, click here!

A side note before you give gifts in Morocco

Just be mindful that gift giving culture isn’t incredibly strong in Morocco, and giving gifts to strangers can be seen as weird. Have an earnest conversation with your partner about his parents and their perception of gift giving, as it can get complicated (fast).

Here are a few questions to ask your Moroccan spouse before giving your mother-in-law a gift:

• How will she perceive the gift (with good intentions or will she be suspicious)?
• Will she feel uncomfortable about not having a gift to give you in return?
• Is anyone in the family likely to get jealous or resentful if they don’t receive a gift, too?
• Is it best to get your mother-in-law and father-in-law a combined gift?

Please note: many of these are affiliate links at no cost to you!

On to the gifts!

Gifts for Moroccan mother-in-law #1: Croc sandals

High-quality sandals can be tough to find in the Magreb, and Moroccan mothers are constantly on their feet. My mother-in-law loved her high-quality sandals that I brought her, and she wears them all day, every day. Whenever I travel, I am always scouting out more sandals to find her that have good arch support.

Frankly, any high-quality supportive sandal will do but I’m a particular fan of Crocs. They last for years and stand up to the harsh Moroccan conditions, plus they’re easy to wash and stay looking new for a long time. Shoes don’t go over as well, as many older Moroccan women spend 95% of their time in the home and sandals are traditionally worn inside.

Check out the sandals we recommend here!

Gifts for Moroccan mother-in-law #2: Scented lotion

Lotion options are really limited in Morocco. There are a few French brands in the parapharmacies and many of the store like Marjane and Carrefour will carry Vaseline, Nivea and Dove lotion, but that’s about it. Whenever I leave and come back, I always bring plenty of skincare, sunscreen, and other products that are harder to find, and I always make sure to bring some for my female relatives.

Bath and Body Works has also been a particular favorite because of their range of scents.

My mother-in-law has

Gifts for Moroccan mother-in-law #3: Cooking gadgets

My husband insists that Moroccan women go crazy for any cooking gadget that makes their amazing home cooking a little bit easier. I’ve seen firsthand how hard Moroccan women work at their traditional cooking, and my mother-in-law always gets excited for a new tool or gadget that we find during our travels.

Check out this vegetable cutter!

Gifts for Moroccan mother-in-law #4: OTCs

This is a weird one, but I swear it’s a hit.

Over-the-counter medicines (OTCs) are really… not great in Morocco. The selection is limited and often of lower quality and higher price than in the states or Europe. I’ve brought my mother-in-law plenty of OTCs over the years, from pain reliever to first aid kits (including bandages and antiseptics) to cold and flu medicine to antacids and nausea medicine.

It may seem like an odd gift idea, but we take for granted how easily we can drive over to a Walgreens or Walmart and pick up pain medicine.

The type of OTC will depend, but we always find that nausea medicine is used quickly so we always bring more, as well as antacids because many people have stomach issues in Morocco.

Gifts for Moroccan mother-in-law #5: Food

Elaborate and expensive gifts are not common in Morocco. In fact, most gifts are practical or food-based, like fruit and vegetables and pastries. In fact, I would strongly discourage expensive gifts until you know your Moroccan in-laws very well, and even then gift sparingly. In my culture (USA) gifts are quite common and given for many special occasions, but not so in Morocco and I’ve had to learn to “tone down” my natural gift givingness.

But one popular gift that I always bring back with me on my travels is candy, sweets, and tea. You can never go wrong bringing a variety of treats to share with the whole family.

Gifts for Moroccan mother-in-law #6: Gold jewelry

Gold jewelry is popular in Morocco, especially with older ladies. All mothers love to show off the beautiful jewelry their children gift them, and saying that your kids brought you jewelry from “outside” Morocco is a special way for mothers and mothers-in-law to brag.

Check out this beautiful necklace!

Gifts for Moroccan mother-in-law #7: Essential oils

Rose and argan oil are popular in Morocco, but I have yet to find high-quality, reasonably-priced essential oils in Morocco. They are great for therapeutic and cosmetic purposes. They can be found much cheaper and at much higher quality on places like Amazon.

Gifts for Moroccan mother-in-law #8: Prayer beads

As Morocco is a majority Muslim country, it is safe to assume your mother-in-law is a Muslim (though it’s always good to check). A beautiful recognition of her faith could be in the form of Muslim prayer beads.

See these beautiful beads.

Gifts for Moroccan mother-in-law #8: Reusable shopping bags

My husband, when thinking of his mom and other Moroccan mothers, emphatically claims, “they love bags!” I have certainly found this to be true, especially for shopping. Many people in Morocco shop at the fruit stand, vegetable stand, butcher and bakery in seperate trips, meaning a shopping trip can get exhausting. Having a high-quality, eco-friendly and durable bag makes it that much easier.

These bags have worked great for us!

What are your favorite gifts for Moroccan mothers? Share below! ⬇️