Moroccan Harira Soup with Chickpeas, lentils, quinoa

bowls of Moroccan harira garnished with yogurt and red pepper

5 from 20 votes

Moroccan Harira Soup with Chickpeas, lentils, quinoa

Smoky Moroccan harira soup with chickpeas, red lentils, and quinoa is a budget friendly, 1-pot meal! Bring crusty bread to dip. (21g protein, 21g fiber, 8 mg iron. Gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free. Oil-free option.)

Prep Time10

Cook Time40

Total Time50

Course: dinner, Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: Moroccan

Keyword: gluten-free harira, harira

Servings:

Author: Vegan Richa

Ingredients

2 teaspoons oil
5 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped red onion
1/2 teaspoon or more salt divided
3/4 cup chopped carrots chopped small, or use more, to taste
3/4 cup chopped celery or more, to taste
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin or 2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
15 ounce can diced tomatoes
4 cups vegetable stock
4 strands saffron (Optional) crush between your fingers or chop
1/2 cup red lentils , washed and drained
1/4 cup dry quinoa
15 ounce can chickpeas drained, or 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas or use white beans for variation
1/2 cup chopped cilantro or parsley
2 cups baby spinach
2 to 3 teaspoons lemon juice
red pepper flakes
non-dairy yogurt for garnish
lemon slices for garnish

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Heat a large saucepan or deep skillet over medium heat, and add the oil. Once the oil is hot, reduce the heat to low. Add the garlic, and cook until the garlic is starting to just about turn golden, about 15 to 20 seconds. Then, add in the onion and a dash of the salt. Increase the heat to medium, then mix in the carrots and celery. Cook until the onions start to turn translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Mix in the minced ginger, tomato paste, and all the spices. Add a splash of water, if the pan is drying out too much. Then, mix to toast the tomato paste for just 5 to 10 seconds. Mix in the canned tomatoes and another dash of salt. Continue to cook until the tomatoes have thickened a little bit, and mash some of the larger pieces of the tomatoes. 4-6 minutes, The mixture should kind of smell a bit roasted.
Mix in the stock, saffron if using, lentils, quinoa, chickpeas, and the remaining salt. Cover with the lid, and continue to cook this for 20 minutes or longer, until both the lentils and quinoa are cooked to preference. You can continue cooking this soup for another 10 minutes or so to thicken it and deepen the flavor, if you like. Taste and adjust the flavor at this point. Add more salt if needed. Add some more spices and herbs, if needed.
Chop the cilantro and spinach, if you haven’t already, then add them to the soup and mix them in. Then, mix in the lemon juice. Taste and adjust the flavor again, then let the mixture come to a boil, so that the greens can wilt a little bit. Switch off the heat.
Ladle the harira soup into bowls. Top with some non-dairy yogurt, sliced lemon, some pepper flakes, and some chopped parsley or cilantro. Serve with some garlic bread, sourdough, toasted pita bread, or over a baked potato or roasted veggies. You can also serve with croutons or crackers.

Video

Notes

You can add other spices to the soup, like ras el hanout or baharat.

Oil-free: lightly dry toast the garlic over medium low. Then add onion, carrot celery and a dash of salt and 2 tablespoons stock and continue to cook. Deglaze with more stock or water if drying out too much.

Storage: Store refrigerated for upto 4 days. Freeze for months. Thawing overnight is preferred but can be immediately reheated as well. Reheat in saucepan or microwave.

Instant pot: follow steps 1-2 on sauté mode in instant pot. Then add the chickpeas lentils quinoa and 3 cups stock, close the lid and pressure cooks 3 mins on high pressure. Natural release. Then fold in greens and lemon.

This harira soup is naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free as long as you use soy-free and/or nut-free non-dairy yogurt for topping. You can omit the yogurt all together, if you like.

Nutrition