Harira (Moroccan Tomato, Lentil, and Chickpea Soup)

Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 110 mins
Total: 2 hrs 10 mins
Servings: 6 to 8 servings

Harira is a classic Moroccan comfort soup made with tomatoes, lentils, chickpeas, fresh herbs, dried spices, and meat, making it a filling and satisfying dish. Although served year-round, it is particularly popular for breaking the fast during Ramadan. It can be offered as an appetizer or main, depending on the serving size, and is usually served with lemon slices (or lemon juice), crusty bread, figs, and a honey-rosewater flavored pastry called chebakia.

There are many variations on harira, and recipes are often passed down from generation to generation. Some versions feature broken pieces of vermicelli and smen—a preserved butter with a Parmesan-like taste. Harira is typically made with chicken, lamb, or beef, but some variations of this recipe skip the meat to be vegetarian and vegan. Make it gluten free by replacing the vermicelli with rice noodles and skipping the flour.

For this recipe, we use a pressure cooker for a shorter cooking time; to adapt for simmering on the stove, follow the directions for the traditional stockpot method. To make it easier, soak the chickpeas and lentils overnight.

Harira (Moroccan Tomato, Lentil, and Chickpea Soup)

The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

"This Moroccan soup is bold, rich, and full of flavor. An ultimate comfort food for winter nights. The recipe is very straight-forward. You can make a big batch and freeze it to enjoy anytime that you want." —Tara Omidvar

Classic Moroccan Harira: Tomato, Lentil, and Chickpea Soup/Tester Image
A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

  • 1/2 pound lamb, beef, or chicken, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

  • 6 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and pureed

  • 1 large onion, grated

  • 1 stalk celery with leaves, finely chopped

  • 3/4 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and peeled

  • 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

  • 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt

  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger

  • 1 tablespoon smen, optional

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric, or 1/4 teaspoon yellow food coloring

  • 11 cups water, divided

  • 3 tablespoons dried lentils, soaked overnight

  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste, mixed into 1 cup water

  • 2 tablespoons raw rice, or 2 tablespoons broken vermicelli

For Thickening the Soup:

  • 1 cup flour

  • 2 cups water

  • Coarsely chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Steps to Make It

Brown the Meat

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients to make Harira

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

  2. Heat the oil in a 6-quart or larger pressure cooker on medium-high. Add the meat. Cook for a few minutes, stirring to brown all sides.

    Chunks of meat cooking in a pressure cooker

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

Make the Stock

  1. Add the pureed tomatoes, onion, celery, chickpeas, parsley, cilantro, salt, ginger, smen, if using, black pepper, cinnamon, and turmeric. Stir and add 3 cups of the water. Cover tightly and heat over high heat until pressure is achieved. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and release the pressure.

    A pressure cooker with pureed tomatoes, onion, celery, chickpeas, parsley, cilantro, salt, ginger, smen, black pepper, cinnamon, turmeric, and water

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

Make the Soup

  1. Add the lentils, tomato paste mixture, and the remaining 8 cups of water. If at any point there's an oily surface forming on top of the soup, simply skim it off and discard. This can happen because of the meat's fat, if left on.

    Adding lentils to the Harira stock

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

  2. Have the rice or vermicelli at hand, if using, but don't add yet.

    A bowl of rice near the Harira stock

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

  3. Cover the pot and heat the soup over high heat until pressure is achieved. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking.

    If adding rice, cook the soup on pressure for 30 minutes. Release the pressure and add the rice. Cover and cook with pressure for an additional 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if desired.

    If using vermicelli, cook the soup on pressure for 45 minutes. Release the pressure, and add the vermicelli. Simmer the soup, uncovered, for 5 to 10 minutes or until the vermicelli is plump and cooked. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if desired.

    Adding rice to the Harira soup

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

Make Soup Thickener

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients to make the soup thickener

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

  2. While the soup is cooking, make a soup thickener by mixing together the flour and water. Mix well, but if the mixture is not smooth, pass it through a sieve to remove lumps.

    A bowl of smooth water and flour mixture

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

Finish the Soup

  1. Bring the soup to a full simmer. Slowly, and in a thin stream, pour in 1/4 of the flour mixture. Stir constantly and keep the soup simmering so the flour doesn’t stick to the bottom or cooks up in lumps.

    Adding the soup thickener to the pressure cooker

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

  2. Add another 1/4 of the flour thickener. You will notice the soup beginning to thicken when you've used approximately half the flour mixture. The thickness of harira is up to you.

    A spoon checking the thickness of the soup

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

  3. Simmer the thickened soup, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 10 minutes to cook off the taste of the flour. Remove the soup from the heat, serve, and garnish with chopped parsley.

    A bowl of Harira garnished with parsley

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

Shortcuts


Here are some helpful tips to reduce the prep time:

  • Process the cilantro, parsley, and celery together in a food processor or blender. Add the peeled and seeded tomatoes and blend until well pureed. Add the onion and process until the onion is reduced to small pieces. Add to the browned meat.
  • If you plan to cook harira frequently, it’s helpful to prep large amounts of key ingredients in advance, like soaking, peeling, and then freezing chickpeas, or chopping an ample supply of parsley, cilantro, and celery, freezing them together in batch-sized amounts. Additionally, peeling, seeding, and stewing tomatoes for freezing can reduce prep time.

Thickening with Egg

In place of flour and water, 2 or 3 beaten eggs may be used to thicken harira:

  • Beat the eggs with 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice. Add the eggs in a thin stream to the simmering soup, stirring constantly. You will see some cooked strands of eggs in the soup as it thickens.

Can I Cook the Harira Without a Pressure Cooker?

Yes. Here's how:

Use an 8-quart stockpot. Follow the directions above, but adjust the cooking time as follows:

  • In the "Make the Soup" section, partially cover the pot, bring to a simmer, and cook for double the suggested pressure cooker times—either 60 minutes if using rice or 90 minutes if using vermicelli. Watch the level of the liquid and add a little more water if necessary.
  • Proceed with thickening the soup according to the recipe, or try the egg thickening method below.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
316 Calories
13g Fat
37g Carbs
15g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6 to 8
Amount per serving
Calories 316
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 13g 16%
Saturated Fat 3g 16%
Cholesterol 27mg 9%
Sodium 530mg 23%
Total Carbohydrate 37g 13%
Dietary Fiber 6g 21%
Total Sugars 7g
Protein 15g
Vitamin C 26mg 129%
Calcium 62mg 5%
Iron 3mg 19%
Potassium 720mg 15%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)