Easy Moroccan Harira Soup Recipe

We’ve been fortunate enough to take multiple trips to Morocco, one of our favorite North African countries. We first learned how to make this easy Moroccan Harira Soup recipe while at our friend’s house in Morocco. It’s an easy kid-friendly recipe – Lou Lou helped in the kitchen while I took pictures to document. Read this post to see detailed instructions on how to make a traditional Moroccan Harira soup and find our easy Moroccan Harira Soup recipe printable.

Welcome to Morocco…a kid-friendly foodie paradise

We realized that we were truly in North African food heaven, with the kid-foodies learning how to cure olives, and getting a cooking lesson on how to make the deliciously hearty Moroccan Harira soup.

What is Moroccan Harira Soup?

Harissa is a chili paste that’s a common staple ingredient in North African and Middle Eastern dishes. If you’re planning on making a lot of Moroccan-themed dishes, then we highly recommend having a jar of it in your pantry.

Preparation

We used fresh parsley and cilantro, and a food processor to chop them finely. Be sure to remove thick stems, and mainly pick the leaves.

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Making the Soup + Stock

The soup can either be made in a pressure cooker, like the one below which we used in Morocco (if you’re in the US, we’re huge fans of the Instant Pot), or in a regular deep stockpot. If you’re using a pressure cooker vs stockpot, please note that the cook times will differ. You will need to approx double the cook time if you use a stockpot.

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Give everything a good stir, so it all mixes together, and looks like the image below. You can just imagine the smell emanating from the cooker…deliciousness!

Next, add in water till it fills the cooker. Bring to a boil, cover and cook for about an hour under pressure.

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Thickening the Soup

While the soup is simmering away, you’re going to have time to make tedouira. Tedouira is a traditional Moroccan soup thickener that uses flour, and water as the soup’s thickening agent. Mix together 1 cup of flour with 2 cups of water.

Whisk occasionally while waiting to add to the soup.

We also like to add in some flavorful tomato paste (about 3 tbsp), the brand used in Morocco is Aicha.

You’re going to add the flour thickener slowly, in a stream while you stir the soup. It’ll start thickening once half the mixture is used up. Thicken it to your desired consistency…we like it creamy and use a considerable amount of the flour-water mixture.

Print

Easy Moroccan Harira Soup Recipe

Course Soup

Cuisine Moroccan

Author Pint Size Gourmets

Ingredients

• 1 cup Green Lentils
• 1 cup Chickpeas Boiled
• 1 cup Lamb cubes Chopped
• 1 bunch Parsley
• 1 bunch Cilantro
• 1 large Onion chopped
• 4-5 large Tomatoes chopped
• 2 Tbsp Harissa paste
• 1/2 cup Olive Oil
• 2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Powdered Ginger
• 1 tsp Black Pepper
• 1 tsp Turmeric
• 1 Tbsp Ghee Clarified Butter
• 3 Tbsp Tomato Paste
• 1 cup Flour
• 2 cups water

Instructions

PREPARATION

1.  Process the bunches of parsley and cilantro using a food processor. Be sure to remove thick stems, and pick the leaves. Cube the lamb. Soak the chickpeas, and wash the green lentils before adding them to the cooker.

2. Roughly chop the onions before adding them to the food processor to finely chop them. Then de-seed the tomatoes, roughly chop, and add them to the food processor to blend.

MAKING SOUP + STOCK

1. Add the processed greens, onions, chopped lamb, harissa paste and pureed tomatoes to the pan that already contains the green lentils and chickpeas.

2. Add in the 1/2 cup olive oil.
3. Add the powdered ginger, salt, pepper, turmeric. Then, add the ghee to the cooker. Give everything a good stir, so it all mixes together.
4. Next, add in water till it fills the cooker. Bring to a boil, cover and cook for about an hour under pressure.
5. After an hour, release the pressure, add in the rice and cook for another 15-20 minutes, making sure the rice is cooked and chickpeas are soft (if use dried chickpeas).

MAKE THE TEDOUIRA

1. While the soup is simmering away, you're going to have time to make tedouira. Tedouira is a traditional Moroccan soup thickener that uses flour, and water as the soup's thickening agent. Mix together 1 cup of flour with 2 cups of water. Add in 3 Tbsp of tomato paste. Whisk occasionally while waiting to add to the soup.
2. You're going to add the flour thickener slowly, in a stream while you stir the soup. It'll start thickening once half the mixture is used up. Thicken it to your desired consistency…we like it creamy and use a considerable amount of the flour-water mixture.
3. Let the thickened soup simmer for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste to see if the seasoning is suitable, if not add more salt/pepper.

LIKE IT? CLICK TO PIN IT!

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Our time spent in Morocco was was truly an incredible culinary world-schooling experience for LouLou and Jaf, and one that we’ll all remember. Especially every time we make this easy Moroccan Harira soup recipe! 🙂

Have you made Harira soup before? Let us know in the comments below how you like it!