The vegan Moroccan lentil soup, Harira, is headily aromatic with the warmth of ginger, turmeric, cinnamon and a dollop of homemade harissa paste. Chickpeas, pasta and spinach stir in a generous helping of flavor and nutrition.
The food of the Mediterranean can morph across its different countries and regions in the most interesting ways. A Moroccan harira soup, for instance, is not unlike an Italian pasta e ceci. Both feature legumes and pasta in a brothy dish. Both are delicious and nourishing additions to the diet, especially this time of year. But they taste so very different because they are seasoned so differently.
A harira contains a few spices - most already in your pantry - that give it so much warmth and character. It also has oodles of nutrients, from lentils, chickpeas (sometimes fava beans), pasta and greens. Some versions have small amounts of meat although our version here, being vegan, has none.
This is not a creamy soup but it is silky, with a broth base and lots of texture from the chickpeas, lentils and pasta. Cilantro and parsley add a note of freshness to steady the warm spices. It's the perfect dinner, with everything you need in a single pot.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- Legumes: chickpeas and lentils (brown lentils or green lentils). Chickpeas need to be cooked ahead, or use canned, but the lentils will go into the pot raw. You can also use canned fava beans instead of chickpeas.
- Vegetables: onions, celery and spinach. I used baby spinach. If using regular spinach trim out any tough stems and chop it roughly.
- Herbs: garlic, cilantro and parsley. There is more garlic in the harissa paste, making this soup quite garlicky. You can cut back if you want to.
- Spices: ground coriander, ground cumin, ground ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, paprika, and ground allspice (optional). I like adding the allspice for more flavor, but you can skip it. There's a lot of flavor here already from the other spices.
- Tomato paste and pureed tomatoes. Canned tomatoes are best for this, but you can use fresh, pureed tomatoes.
- Pasta. Any small pasta, including orzo, farfalle or ditalini. You can also break a long pasta like vermicelli or angel hair pasta into 1-inch pieces and add it to this soup. You need just about a cup of dry pasta. You can also add rice to the harira instead of pasta - add half a cup of uncooked rice.
- Vegetable stock or mushroom stock. You can use water but adding stock gives a better flavor.
- Harissa paste. Harissa is a simple Moroccan spice blend of red chili peppers and garlic, so easy to make at home.
- Lemon juice. Stir some in at the end of cooking for a pop of fresh flavor.
How to make harira
This is an utterly simple recipe and making it is just knowing when to add what ingredient to the pot - a process I've attempted to demystify with the detailed step-by-step photos below. The key things to keep in mind are to let the onions soften before you move on to the next step, and to let the lentils cook long enough so they are tender.
Place olive oil in pot. Add celery, onions and garlic along with some salt and ground black pepper. Turn heat to medium.
Sauté the onions and celery for a couple of minutes until the onions are soft.
Add half the parsley, half the cilantro, ground cumin, ground coriander, ground ginger, turmeric, paprika and optional ground allspice. Mix them in and sauté for 30 seconds.
Add the tomato paste and pureed tomatoes and mix.
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Stir in the uncooked, rinsed lentils and canned or cooked chickpeas. Mix them in.
Add six cups of vegetable stock or mushroom stock or water. Mix and wait for the liquid to boil. Stir once more, cover the pot and simmer for 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender.
Stir in the pasta. Cover the pot again and let the pasta cook for another 10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente.
Stir in the spinach and let it wilt.
Finally add the harissa paste and lemon juice.
Check seasoning and add more salt if needed. Garnish the harira with the remaining parsley and/or cilantro. Serve hot.
Serve
Harira is not spicy hot but it does have a lot of warmth from the spices, typical of Moroccan dishes. I like serving this soup with a dollop of cooling yogurt or vegan sour cream on top. Serve with this easy, everyday Moroccan bread or a slice of a crusty sourdough bread, French bread or Italian bread, or with rice or couscous.
Recipe FAQs
You can, just add a little cayenne with the rest of the powdered spices. I would also increase the amount of garlic.
You can use any quick-cooking green, including Swiss chard, arugula, beet greens or watercress.
The beans and the pasta or rice will continue to thicken the soup long after cooking is over. If the harira has thickened too much, just add some water and reheat.
Store the soup in the fridge for up to five days, or freeze for up to four months. Thaw and reheat, adding water to thin it out if necessary.
More tasty soups and stews
Moroccan food is alluring with its vibrant tastes and healthy ingredients that are so well-suited to a plant-based diet. Be sure to try this Moroccan chickpea stew, lentil sweet potato tagine, and jackfruit "lamb" tagine.
Recipe card
Moroccan Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
- 3 stalks celery (with any leaves, finely chopped)
- 6 cloves garlic (minced or put through a garlic press)
- ½ cup parsley (finely chopped, divided)
- ½ cup cilantro (finely chopped, divided)
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1-2 teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice (optional)
- 14 oz pureed tomatoes
- 1 heaping tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup dried brown lentils (rinsed)
- 15 oz cooked or canned chickpeas (about 1½ cups, drained)
- 6 cups vegetable stock (or mushroom stock or water)
- 1 cup pasta (use a small pasta shape like orzo, ditalini or vermicelli broken into 1-inch pieces)
- 1 heaping tbsp harissa
- 4 cups spinach (or any quick-cooking green like Swiss chard, arugula or watercress)
- Juice of a lemon (add as much juice as you want to after tasting the soup)
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place olive oil in pot. Add celery, onions and garlic along with some salt and ground black pepper. Turn heat to medium.
- Sauté the onions and celery for a couple of minutes until the onions are soft.
- Add half the parsley, half the cilantro, ground cumin, ground coriander, ground ginger, turmeric, paprika and optional ground allspice. Mix them in and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Add the tomato paste and pureed tomatoes and mix.
- Stir in the uncooked, rinsed lentils and canned or cooked chickpeas. Mix them in.
- Add six cups of vegetable stock or mushroom stock or water. Mix and wait for the liquid to boil. Stir once more, cover the pot and simmer for 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender.
- Stir in the pasta. Cover the pot again and let the pasta cook for another 10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente. Stir in the spinach and let it wilt.
- Add harissa paste and lemon juice and mix. Check salt and add more if needed. Garnish with remaining parsley and cilantro before serving the soup hot.
Nutrition Information
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prity says
Loved this dish. I soaked/boiled chickpeas. Definitely on my rotation list. Thank you!
Vaishali says
So great to hear!