Moroccan Harira Soup: The Ramadan Bowl That Heals Everything

⏱ Prep: 15 min 🔥Cook: 1 hr 15 min 👤Serves: 6–8 🌿Diet: Vegan option

Moroccan harira soup recipe is the bowl that breaks the Ramadan fast across Morocco every evening at sunset and the soup Moroccans eat year-round whenever they need something deeply warming and restorative. Lamb, chickpeas and lentils simmered in a spiced tomato broth fragrant with cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and saffron, finished with a generous handful of fresh cilantro and parsley, thickened with a flour slurry and filled out with broken vermicelli. One pot. One hour.

Ingredients

• ½ lb (225g) lamb shoulder or beef, cut into small 1-inch cubes. The meat is not the star, it flavors the broth and adds substance. Omit entirely for a vegetarian version that is equally satisfying with the legumes alone.
• 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
• 3 stalks celery with leaves, finely chopped, the celery leaves add a specific herby depth that celery stalks alone do not. Do not discard them.
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (14 oz/400g) crushed tomatoes, or 4 large ripe tomatoes, blended. Tomatoes are the base of the broth.
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste, deepens the tomato flavor and adds color
• 1 can (15 oz/425g) chickpeas, drained and rinsed. Or dried chickpeas soaked overnight and cooked separately.
• ½ cup (100g) green or brown lentils, rinsed. Brown lentils hold their shape better. Red lentils break down and thicken the broth, use half and half for both effects.
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, the spice that most identifies harira as Moroccan. Do not skip.
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne, optional for heat
• A pinch of saffron, optional but traditional. Dissolve in 2 tablespoons of warm water before adding.
• 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
• 6 cups (1.4 liters) chicken or vegetable broth, or water. Broth produces a noticeably richer result.
• 1 large bunch fresh cilantro, roughly half chopped into the soup during cooking, half reserved for garnish at serving
• 1 large bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, same as cilantro, half during cooking, half at serving
• Salt to taste

For the tedouira (thickener) and finish

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, whisked with ½ cup cold water until completely smooth. This is the tedouira, the traditional Moroccan thickening slurry that gives harira its characteristic silky, slightly viscous texture. Do not skip.
• ½ cup (60g) broken vermicelli, wheat vermicelli, not rice vermicelli. Added in the final 10 minutes. If meal prepping, cook separately and add per bowl at serving, otherwise it absorbs all the broth overnight.
• Juice of 1 lemon, added at the very end. Brightens everything.

To serve: lemon wedges, fresh cilantro, crusty bread or Moroccan khobz, dates and chebakia (traditional Ramadan pastry). Strong mint tea alongside.

Step by step

1. Brown the meat and build the base. Heat butter and olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the lamb or beef and brown on all sides, 4–5 minutes. Add onion, celery and garlic. Cook 5 minutes until softened. Add ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, paprika, black pepper and cayenne. Stir for 60 seconds until fragrant.Blooming the spices in the fat before adding liquid is what gives harira its deeply complex flavor. Sixty seconds is enough, more and the spices can turn bitter.
2. Add tomatoes and lentils. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, saffron water and lentils. Stir well. Add the broth. Add half the cilantro and half the parsley. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a steady simmer. Cover partially and cook for 35–40 minutes until the lentils are completely soft and beginning to break down.
3. Add chickpeas. Add the drained chickpeas. Simmer for 10 more minutes. Taste the broth, this is the moment to adjust salt, add more spice or add a splash more broth if the soup has thickened too much.
4. Add the tedouira. Whisk the flour and cold water together until completely smooth, no lumps. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Pour the slurry into the simmering soup while stirring constantly. The soup will thicken visibly within 2–3 minutes into the characteristic silky consistency of authentic harira. If it gets too thick, add a splash of water or broth.The tedouira is what separates harira from every other lentil soup. It creates a silky, slightly clingy texture that coats the spoon, not starchy or gluey, but distinctly velvety. Whisk the slurry absolutely smooth before adding and stir constantly as it goes in.
5. Finish with vermicelli, herbs and lemon. Add the broken vermicelli. Cook 8–10 minutes until the noodles are soft. Add the remaining fresh cilantro and parsley. Squeeze in the lemon juice. Stir once. Taste and adjust salt. Serve immediately in deep bowls with lemon wedges alongside.If making ahead: add the vermicelli per bowl at serving rather than into the pot, it absorbs all the broth overnight and leaves nothing but thick noodles by morning.

What makes this harira

Harira is fragrantly seasoned with ginger, pepper and cinnamon, these three spices create a zingy but warm combination of flavors that no other soup quite replicates.

The cinnamon is the spice most people are surprised by and the one most essential to the flavor. It is not sweet, at this quantity in a savory broth it reads as warm and aromatic rather than dessert-like. Do not reduce it.

The tedouira, the flour and water slurry is the technique most Western harira recipes skip and the one that makes the biggest textural difference. It thickens the broth from a thin tomato soup into something silky and substantial that holds the spices and herbs in suspension. Use it.

Make it ahead

Claire’s note

Harira is one of the great make-ahead soups. The flavor improves significantly overnight as the spices meld and deepen. Refrigerate for up to 5 days. Freeze (without the vermicelli) for up to 3 months. When reheating, add a splash of water or broth, the soup thickens considerably as it sits. Add fresh vermicelli and a new squeeze of lemon when reheating, this restores the freshness. The fresh herbs should also be added at the time of reheating rather than pre-cooked, their brightness fades after the first day.

Serve with

In Morocco, harira is served at iftar, the breaking of the Ramadan fast, alongside dates, hard-boiled eggs, chebakia pastry and fresh bread. Year-round it works as a complete meal with crusty bread for dipping, or as a first course before the chicken tagine and couscous that make up the full Moroccan table. The Moroccan recipes collection has everything.

Add harira to your weekly meal planner, make a large batch Sunday and it feeds six for the week. And for more recipes, follow us on Pinterest.

Moroccan Harira Soup

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• Author: Claire Bennett
• Total Time: 90 minutes
• Yield: 6–8 servings 1x

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Description

A deeply warming Moroccan harira soup made with lamb, chickpeas, and lentils in a spiced tomato broth, perfect for breaking the Ramadan fast.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• ½ lb (225g) lamb shoulder or beef, cut into small 1-inch cubes
• 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
• 3 stalks celery with leaves, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (14 oz/400g) crushed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 can (15 oz/425g) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• ½ cup (100g) green or brown lentils, rinsed
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne (optional)
• A pinch of saffron (optional)
• 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
• 6 cups (1.4 liters) chicken or vegetable broth (or water)
• 1 large bunch fresh cilantro
• 1 large bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley
• Salt to taste
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ½ cup (60g) broken vermicelli
• Juice of 1 lemon

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Instructions

1. Brown the meat and build the base. Heat butter and olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the lamb or beef and brown on all sides, 4–5 minutes. Add onion, celery and garlic. Cook 5 minutes until softened. Add ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, paprika, black pepper and cayenne. Stir for 60 seconds until fragrant.
2. Add tomatoes and lentils. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, saffron water and lentils. Stir well. Add the broth. Add half the cilantro and half the parsley. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a steady simmer. Cover partially and cook for 35–40 minutes until the lentils are completely soft.
3. Add chickpeas. Add the drained chickpeas. Simmer for 10 more minutes.
4. Add the tedouira. Whisk the flour and cold water together until completely smooth. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Pour the slurry into the simmering soup while stirring constantly. The soup will thicken visibly within 2–3 minutes.
5. Finish with vermicelli, herbs and lemon. Add the broken vermicelli. Cook 8–10 minutes until soft. Add the remaining fresh cilantro and parsley. Squeeze in the lemon juice. Stir once. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Notes

Harira improves significantly in flavor when made ahead, refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Add fresh vermicelli and herbs when reheating.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 75 minutes
• Category: Soup
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Moroccan

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 serving
• Calories: 350
• Sugar: 8g
• Sodium: 600mg
• Fat: 14g
• Saturated Fat: 4g
• Unsaturated Fat: 8g
• Trans Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 45g
• Fiber: 12g
• Protein: 18g
• Cholesterol: 40mg