This 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.
Table of Contents
What is harira?
Harira is a Moroccan soup of tomatoes and legumes, usually chickpeas and/or lentils. It is boldly flavored with spices like coriander, cumin, cinnamon, ginger and turmeric. I like stirring a dollop of spicy harissa paste into my harira soup at the end of cooking for even more flavor.
The spices also give the harira 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 my version here, being vegan, has none.
This is not a creamy soup but it is silky, with a vegetable 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, but for even more deliciousness top the bowl of soup with dollops of vegan yogurt or vegan sour cream. Or serve the soup with this easy, everyday Moroccan bread.
You might also enjoy these recipes for Moroccan chickpea stew or for soupy Mediterranean dishes like pasta e ceci and vegan pasta fazool.
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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Ingredient notes
- 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.
- 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.
- Canned tomatoes are best for this recipe, but you can use fresh, pureed tomatoes.
- Use 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.
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.
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.
Harira 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.
prity says
Loved this dish. I soaked/boiled chickpeas. Definitely on my rotation list. Thank you!
Vaishali says
So great to hear!