Harira soup is a classic Moroccan soup, famous across the Middle East and known to be one of the best soups you’ll ever have! It is a hearty tomato-based soup made with legumes like lentils and chickpeas, fresh herbs, and warm spices including turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon.
Harira, pronounced hah-ree-rah, gets its name from the Arbic word حرير”harir” which literally means silk, a fitting description of its velvety texture. This satisfying vegetarian soup is even better the next day, so it is the perfect make-ahead pot to feed a little crowd. I typically serve it with lemon slices and warm pita bread.
One of the things I love about this popular soup is that there are many variations of it, depending on what legumes you have on hand. I used a combination of green lentils, red lentils, and chickpeas (canned chickpeas are a great shortcut option).
Harira is a Muslim staple for breaking the daily fast during Ramadan. It’s usually packed with legumes like red lentils and chickpeas, and often times includes meat and broken spaghetti noodles in the rich tomato broth. It’s usually served with dates or chebakia. It’s served as starter and almost everyday during the month of Ramadan for Iftar (Breaking the fast). It’s usually served with a squeeze of lemon to enhance its flavour and can be made with meat or without.
Fun Fact: Harira is the most consumed recipe during the month of Ramadan. You can literally walk the residential streets of any given city in Morocco and smell it, or better yet hear the whistling of pressure cookers.
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The decidedly warm North African flavors in this harira soup recipe is what makes it different from another lentil soup or chickpea soup. This Moroccan harira soup is the perfect warming recipe. It is completely vegetarian and vegan but filling thanks to the red lentils, chickpeas and loads of vegetables like broccoli, carrots and parsnips.
Ingredients You'll Need
Here is what you need to make Harira:
- Onions & Celery: This is your flavour base for the soup. You will need to mince them very thinly to allow them to melt and disappear completely in the soup.
- Olive oil: This a Moroccan recipe. There has to be olive oil.
- Dried Chickpeas: (Soaked overnight): This is probably the most recognizable ingredient in Harira aside from its color. Chickpeas are loaded with protein and fibre and help make this soup into a super healthy dish.
- Dried green lentils: Just like chickpeas, green lentils are also very nutritious. They pair very well with chickpeas and contribute to the velvety texture of the soup.
- Blade Chuck (Beef): This is my favorite cut of beef. It has a perfect balance of fat and protein and adds tons of flavour to the soup. You can of course use other cuts of beef. A great substitution would be: Beef cubes or Osso Buco (Diced).
- Spices: I used cumin, paprika, turmeric, ginger and cardamom. All spices are ground, of course. Use the best you can find, it makes a big difference.
- Fresh Coriander and Parsley: Adds a lot of freshness and flavour to the soup.
- Tomato Paste: Adds color and acidity to the soup. There is no Harira without tomato paste.
- Broken Spaghetti.
- All-purpose Flour: used as a thickener at the very end.
You will also need a blend of spices. The recipe card below details everything you need.
How to Make Harira
As it is the case for most recipes, there are several ways to make Harira. This is the one I grew up with, the one I love the most. You can of course tweak it anyway you wish.
My advice to you is, before you start free-styling Harira, make it as show below on your first try:
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Making Harira in a Pressure Cooker or Instant Pot:
Making Harira is not difficult at all. Don’t be intimidated by the amount of ingredients above. It’s super easy to get it right and once you do, you got it for life.
- Start by heating your pressure cooker on medium heat and in your olive oil. If you're using an Instant Pot, you can do this using the Saute setting. You can use a food processor to mince both celery and onion to get a consistent texture. Add to the pot your minced celery and onion and cook for 5 minutes.
- To the pot, add your 8 cups of water, chickpeas, lentils, tomato paste, beef cubes, parsley, coriander and all your spices. Make sure that your mixture is completely covered in water.
- Cover with your lid, and tightly seal it. Let it cook on medium heat for 35-40 minutes. If you are using and Instant Pot, turn off the saute setting and cook on high pressure for 35 minutes.
- Once the 35 minutes have elapsed, let all the steam out carefully using quick-release. Add your remaining 2 cups of water and stir. Lower the heat to medium-low and add in your broken spaghetti. Stir continuously to make sure that nothing sticks to the bottom. After 7-9 minutes your pasta should be cooked. (Refer to instruction above for Instant Pot Users).
- Mix 1 1/2 cups of lukewarm water with the all-purpose flour and add to the soup. Continue to stir. Add your butter or ghee and stir again. Allow to cook for another 5-7 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and let the soup rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.
- Serve with a fresh squeeze of lemon, some dates on the side and of course, bread. Enjoy.
How to make Moroccan Harira - A warmly spiced and filling Chickpea and Lentil soup
How to make Harira in regular pot
Making Harira in a regular pot is definitely doable, however it does take a lot more time. Here is how to do it:- Start by heating your dutch oven on medium heat and in your olive oil. You can use a food processor to mince both celery and onion to get a consistent texture. Add to the pot your minced celery and onion and cook for 5 minutes or until the onions get translucent.
- To the pot, add your beef cubes, coriander and spices. Cook for another five minutes then add your 8 cups of water, rehydrated chickpeas, lentils and crushed tomatoes.
- Cover with a heavy lid and lower the heat. Let your soup gently cook on medium-low heat for at least 45 minutes (or until your chickpeas are completely cooked). This may take up to an hour or more.
- Add in your remaining 2 cups of water and in your broken spaghetti or vermicelli. Stir continuously to make sure that nothing sticks to the bottom. After 7-9 minutes your pasta should be cooked.
- Mix 1 1/2 cups of lukewarm water with the all-purpose flour and add to the soup. Continue to stir.
- Add your butter or ghee and stir again. Allow the soup to thicken for another 5-7 minutes (while stirring gently). Turn off the heat and let the soup rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.
- Serve with a fresh squeeze of lemon, some dates on the side and of course, bread. Enjoy.
Tips and Tricks for the Perfect Harira
- Don’t underestimate that fresh squeeze of lemon to wake all the earthy and deep flavors in this soup up! Cut up one or two lemons into wedges and have those available next to the soup.
- You don’t need much else to serve next to this hearty soup, but a little warm pita bread won’t hurt. Homemade pita-type bread is an easy side addition that goes well with a yogurt dip or spicy soup. My tip is not to over-think it.
- Homemade harissa paste makes a great addition to flavor this soup.
- I took some liberties by adding things like celery and carrots (the carrots are a nice idea because they add a subtle sweetness). And in place of vermicelli pasta, I used long grain rice (or basmati rice) which makes this recipe gluten free.
- This harira recipe is even better the next day when the flavors have had time to meld. It will get pretty thick as it sits in the fridge, but you can just add a little bit of liquid as your warm up your leftover harira soup.
- When she was in her 20’s, my mother lived in Morocco, which had a huge impact on her cooking. I usually turn to harira when I’m looking to clean out my vegetable drawer or need a simple detox soup that is easy to digest.
- You can use any type of lentil in this harira, but I particularly love red lentils because they are quick-cooking and only take 15 to 20 minutes to become a porridge like consistency.
- In terms of vegetables, a leafy green would also be delicious in this soup. You can add chopped kale, chard or spinach towards the end of cooking-even frozen greens will work well. If broccoli isn’t your thing, you can substitute cauliflower, though I love the pop of green it adds. To the carrots and parsnips, you can also add shredded cabbage.
- Finally, if you didn’t want to keep this Moroccan soup vegan, you could brown a pound of ground chicken or turkey at the beginning of this recipe before adding the carrots. Red meat is more traditionally used in harira, but since I don’t have a pressure cooker, I prefer a leaner protein when experimenting at home. Chicken thighs also work well if you want to turn it into more of a Moroccan stew. And if you’re a lamb person, you might love this Moroccan lamb chili recipe.
F.A.Q.
- How Can I Store Harira? In a big airtight container. It should keep well in the fridge for at least 2-3 days after cooking.
- How to reheat Harira? You can either microwave it, or doing on the stove-top. If you are going to microwave it, add 1-2 tbsp of water to your soup and microwave for 2-3 minutes. If you are reheating on stove-top, place your harira in pot on medium-low heat, add a splash of water and cover it while making sure that you stir occasionally.
- Can I make Harira without Meat? Absolutely. Just follow the same steps and it will be just as good.
- Do I have to soak my lentils too? No, lentils cook very quickly and do not need to soak.
- Can I skip the flour? Yes, if you are gluten intolerant, you can use potato flakes to thicken the soup, or just skip it altogether. The soup will a bit more loose in texture, but will taste just as good.
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