Lablabi, also known as Tunisian Chickpea Soup or Stew, is a hearty North African meal featuring chickpeas, rustic bread, warm spices, and more. Often served for breakfast or enjoyed as street food, lablabi, also known as Tunisian chickpea stew, is a simple, satisfying stew made with canned or cooked chickpeas, rustic bread, harissa paste, garlic, cumin, lemon, and plenty of fresh parsley.
The simplicity of this recipe will lure you in - a couple cans of chickpeas, crusty bread and spices serves as the foundation of this North African chickpea stew. Keep this recipe super simple, or dress it up with garnishes! I usually make this chickpea stew and serve it with toppings like a poached egg, pickled turnips, or preserved lemons.
A great budget-friendly option, this chickpea stew is made with a handful of simple, vegetarian pantry staples.
Tunisian Chickpea Stew
Key Ingredients for Lablabi
- Chickpeas: To cut down on prep work, I used two 15-ounce cans, but if you’ve got the time, you could also cook them yourself. If you don’t feel like using dried chickpeas and cooking them from scratch, you can use canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed.
- Extra virgin olive oil: You know how much I love olive oil, and this Tunisian chickpea stew has an abundance!
- Harissa paste: This North African chili paste is made with red chilies, garlic, olive oil, citrus, and warm spices. We have a recipe on the site for homemade harissa or you can pick up some jarred harissa from the shop so it’s ready when you are. We’ll start with just 1 tablespoon and add more to individual servings. You also can make your own: See Simple Homemade Harissa. Make a paste with 2 tablespoons paprika and 3 tablespoons hot water. Harissa powder can be substituted equally for harissa paste.
- Lemons: We’ll need two for this lablabi recipe. One will be juiced, and the other will be sliced for serving.
- Rustic bread: If you have leftover toasted bread use it in salads, pulse it in your food processor to make bread crumbs.
- Finishing touches: Don’t forget your garnish! Ladle your chickpea stew into bowls, and top it off with fresh parsley, a drizzle of olive oil, extra toasted bread, harissa paste, chopped green onions, and lemon wedges.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Making Lablabi
Learning how to make a perfect Tunisian chickpea stew requires a few quick and easy steps:
1. Prepare the Chickpeas
Add your canned chickpeas with their liquids to a saucepan. Cover them with water, making sure they’re submerged by roughly an inch. Bring the liquid to a boil. Then, lower the heat to medium-low. Cover the pot partially with the lid and let the beans simmer until they’re super tender. In a medium saucepan, set over medium-high heat add the chickpeas with their liquids and cover the chickpeas with water by about 1 inch.
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Bring the chickpeas to a boil, then lower the heat and cover part-way with a lid. Simmer the chickpeas over low heat for about 30 minutes or until very tender.
2. Toast the Bread
While the chickpeas cook, tear your bread into pieces that would take about two to three bites to eat. Feel free to give it a taste test to make sure you’re measuring correctly! Arrange the pieces on a baking sheet and give them a good drizzle of olive oil. Toss to coat them well. Next, make sure the pieces are facing crust side down. When ready, place the baking sheet in the oven about 6 inches from the broiler just until the bread is golden brown.
Set your oven rack about 6 inches beneath the boiler and set the broiler to high. While the chickpeas cook, tear some hearty crusty bread into a little larger than bite-size pieces and arrange them on a large sheet. Drizzle the bread with extra virgin olive oil, toss to coat and arrange them so the pieces are crust side down. Broil briefly, maybe a minute or so just until the bread turns golden brown. Watch carefully, as the bread can go from golden brown to burnt quickly!
3. Sauté the Aromatics
Add more olive oil to a medium-sized non-stick skillet over medium heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer but isn’t so hot it’s sizzling, and add your onions, garlic, and spices.
Add 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a medium non-stick skillet set over medium heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the onions and garlic, a dash of kosher salt, cumin, coriander, and paprika. Cook over medium heat, tossing regularly until the onions are tender and translucent.
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4. Season the Chickpea Stew
Transfer the onion mixture to the pot of chickpeas, and add the remaining ingredients. When the chickpeas are ready, transfer the onion and garlic mixture to the saucepan with the chickpeas. Add 1 tablespoon harissa paste, a big pinch of kosher salt, juice from 1 lemon, chopped parsley, and a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning.
5. Portion, Garnish, and Serve
Now comes the fun part! Grab your serving bowls, and add some of the toasted bread to the bottom of each. Ladle the chickpea stew on top followed by extra flavor enhancers like more harissa, green onions or a poached egg.
Prepare serving bowls and place a few pieces of toasted bread on the bottom. Ladle the lablabi chickpea stew on top of the bread and add a good drizzle of olive oil, a dollop of harissa, more parsley, and the chopped green onions.
Serving Suggestions and Additions
- In Tunisia, they usually serve this chickpea stew for breakfast. It always includes lots of accompaniments including a poached egg, pickled turnips, or preserved lemons.
- Lablabi can be served with poached eggs on top for an even heartier meal.
- Peternell suggests a few other serving ideas: croutons, a poached egg or hard-boiled egg, a sprinkling of ground cumin, oil and capers.
Slightly sweet, smoky and tangy with just the right amount of spice.
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