Moroccan Harira Soup Recipe for a Hearty Comforting Chickpea Lentil Soup

Our harira Moroccan soup recipe makes a richly spiced chickpea and lentil soup that’s hearty and comforting. It’s also very versatile: include beef or make it vegetarian, use water or stock, and adjust the spice to your taste. Served with a stew-like texture it will feed four as a main, or more as a starter. Shower with fresh herbs, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and serve with lemon wedges, dates, and flat bread.

Prep Time10

Cook Time1

Total Time1 10

Course: soup, main

Cuisine: Moroccan

Servings:

Calories: 803kcal

Author: Lara Dunston

Ingredients

200 g beef cut into bite-size pieces, optional
3 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
1 onion finely diced
1 celery stalk finely chopped
400 g canned tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
420 g canned chickpeas
420 g canned brown or red lentils
4 cups water or stock, then continue to add water or stock as needed
1 tsp ground paprika or to taste
1 tsp ground cinnamon or to taste
1 tsp ground cumin or to taste
1 tsp ground ginger or to taste
½ tsp salt or to taste
½ tsp black pepper or to taste
4 tbsp vermicelli broken into 2-3 cm pieces, or angel hair pasta
2 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley roughly chopped
2 tbsp fresh coriander cilantro, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh mint
1 lemon cut into wedges

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

To a large deep pan or skillet over medium, heat the olive oil until shimmering, add the pieces of beef and sauté for a minute until brown then transfer to a medium-large soup pot.
To the pan, add the onion and celery and fry until the onion is translucent, then transfer to the soup pot.
To the soup pot, add the tomatoes, tomato paste, chickpeas, lentils, spices, salt, pepper, and water, stir, and cook over medium for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, adding a little more water if needed.
Reduce the heat to low to simmer for another hour (or more if you like, adding water as needed) until you have a dense stew-like soup that’s rich and fragrant with spices.
Ten minutes before serving, add the broken noodles or pasta. At the same time, taste the harira and adjust the spice or seasoning to suit your palate.
When you’re ready to serve, ladle the harira into bowls, shower with fresh chopped herbs, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, (we like to sprinkle on some chilli flakes), and serve with lemon wedges, dates, and flat bread.

Notes

To serve: fresh mint and coriander, chilli flakes, (optional), extra virgin olive oil, lemon wedges, dates, flat bread

Nutrition