I get a lot of emails from readers with recipe suggestions and I love them all, but don’t get the opportunity to make many of them. Every once in a while, though, an email comes through with a recipe that happens to be exactly what I’m in the mood for eating that week. That’s what happened when I got an email from Rachel with a link to this amazing Moroccan Lentil and Chickpea Soup from Wegmans.com. The first thing that I noticed is that it has almost the same blend of warm and intoxicating spices that makes my Yellow Jasmine Rice so irresistible. So, of course, I had to try it!
I switched up the spices a bit to match what I had on hand (no coriander and changed quantities). I had a half bag of lentils in my pantry, so I just went with that instead of a whole pound. To make up for the smaller amount of lentils, I added a half-pound of frozen cauliflower florets, which were also hanging out just waiting to be used up. The cauliflower was an absolutely perfect match for this soup and I think it made the ratio of beans to vegetables perfectly balanced.
I can’t express how much I love this soup. It has so much flavor and texture, plus it’s filled with fiber and anti-inflammatory spices. Then, after making it and wolfing down a bowl, I noticed that, “Hey! This is vegan!” That’s the best type of vegan food—the kind that’s so good that you don’t even notice till you stop and think about it.
I didn’t have time, but I highly suggest making some Homemade Naan to dip in the amazing broth. Do it. You won’t be sorry.
See this recipe used in my weekly meal prep.
Moroccan Lentil and Vegetable Soup
Servings 8 (1.5 cups each)Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.26)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced ($0.32)
- 4 ribs celery ($0.75)
- 1/2 Tbsp ground cumin ($0.15)
- 1 tsp turmeric ($0.10)
- 1 tsp cinnamon ($0.10)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- 1 15oz. can chickpeas ($0.69)
- 1 28oz. can diced tomatoes ($0.89)
- 1/2 lb. frozen cauliflower florets ($0.70)
- 6 cups vegetable broth ($0.78*)
- 1 cup brown lentils, dry ($0.70)
- 1 bay leaf ($0.15)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Sauté both in a large pot with olive oil over medium heat until softened. Dice the celery while the onions and garlic are sautéing, then add to the pot and continue to sauté for 2-3 minutes more.
- Add the cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper to the pot. Stir and cook the spices with the vegetables for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the diced tomatoes (with juices), chickpeas (rinsed and drained), and cauliflower florets (no need to thaw). Stir the pot until everything is well mixed.
- Add the vegetable broth and bay leaf, turn the heat up to high, place a lid on the pot, and allow it to come to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, add the lentils. Stir and let it come back up to a boil, then turn the heat down to low. Let the soup simmer on low, with the lid, for 30 minutes.
- After simmering for 30 minutes, the lentils should be tender. Remove the bay leaf and give the soup a taste. Add salt if needed (this will depend on the type of vegetable broth used. I did not add any additional salt), then serve.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Moroccan Lentil and Vegetable Soup – Step by Step Photos
Begin by dicing one onion, mincing four cloves of garlic, and slicing four stalks of celery (about a half bunch). Add them all to a large pot with 2 Tbsp olive oil and sauté over medium heat for about five minutes, or until the onions are soft and translucent.
Add 1/2 Tbsp cumin, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp cayenne to the pot.
Sauté the spices with the vegetables for one to two minutes. This toasts the spices a little and amplifies their flavor. They may stick to the bottom of the pot a little, but that’s okay. Just take care not to let them burn. Turn the heat down slightly, if needed.
Add one 28oz. can of diced tomatoes (with the juices), one 15oz. can of chickpeas (rinsed and drained), and about a 1/2 lb. of frozen cauliflower florets (no need to let them thaw).
Add six cups of vegetable broth and one bay leaf. Stir everything to combine and dissolve anything that may be stuck to the bottom of the pot. Turn the heat up to high, place a lid on the pot, and let it come to a boil. Once it reaches a full boil, add one cup of brown lentils. Stir the pot, let it come back up to a boil, then turn the heat down to low. Let it simmer on low (with lid) for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, the lentils should be tender. Give the soup a taste and add salt if needed. I use Better Than Bouillon to make my vegetable broth and it’s plenty salty enough, so I didn’t need to add any, but if your brand has less salt, you may need to add a pinch. Remove the bay leaf and serve!
I LOVE how these spices make my house smell. So good! Serve with homemade naan. Oooh it makes my knees weak!
Isn’t it too long to cook canned chickpeas which is already cooked?
I didn’t find that it caused any issues.
Chickpeas are a really firm bean, so even extra cooking doesn’t break them down the way it would pinto or navy beans. Beans also stop softening after an acid is added to them, so adding beans at the same time as tomatoes prevents any beans from breaking down further.
Nice recipe. Thanks!
I added 1 tsp ground and 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg. Also added salt and coarse ground pepper to veggies as they sauted. Finally added about 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice to the pot just before serving. Garnished with cilantro.
Next time I’ll go with a with a whole pound of cauliflower.
Thanks Beth,
I used your recipe to give me ideas to cook our dinner tonight. Kids walked in and said, “Mmmmmm, that smells good!” And it was. I served my version it with couscous.
Hello! Completely new to cooking with lentils – do you use dry or tinned for this recipe? Thank you for posting these amazing tips and tricks!
I used dry lentils. :)
Hello! I can’t wait to try this recipe. I have a full head of cauliflower in my fridge, so I’d like to use fresh instead of frozen. At what step would you recommend adding the fresh cauliflower? Thanks!
You can add the fresh cauliflower florets at the same time that you would have added the frozen. They’ll have plenty of time to cook through while the soup simmers. :)
Hi there! I’ve just finished pinning several of your recipes- I can’t wait to try them this week (Moroccan Lentils & Naan). I just wanted to leave a comment to thank you for offering a nice and tidy ‘print’ option for the recipes too. I think a lot of online folks shy away from that, perhaps believing people won’t stick around or click around on their site. But, as a VERRRRY busy homeschooling mom of 4, I spend late-night feedings and insomnia-filled hours pinning and exploring online, and then I need to have it at my fingertips in my recipe binder or it likely will never get made at all. So THANK YOU for that seemingly small detail- it is appreciated! I’ll pop back later and let you know how everyone enjoyed the foodies too :-) Blessings!
Wow, this recipe is awesome!
I didn’t have *diced* tomatoes on hand so I just used tomato sauce instead, and that is the only change to the recipe I made. The stew turned out delicious, thank you so much!
Made this soup last year, we eat it often during the cold months here, which is eight plus months out of the year! Thanks for the wonderful soup recipe.
Beth,
First off, I want to say that this recipe is wonderful. But, I want to point out something important. The title of this recipe says “stew”, yet the description says “soup”. Unfortunately, I did not read your description until after I made the dish, so I was expecting a stew. I thickened it up with some beurre manié and added zucchini, green beans, and an additional 1/2 cup of red/green lentils, and it turned into a stew. I added more of the spices in the recipe in addition to curry powder and salt, which gave it an extra kick. The cilantro on top pulled the dish together even more. I served the stew alongside middle eastern flat bread. Yummy. Thank you.
I made this today and it was delicious and flavorful! I may serve over brown rice to make it a little heartier in the future. My boys (1.5 and 3) ate it up with no complaints. I left out the cayenne. I will make a perfect lunch for us several more times this week.
I’ve made this a few times and love it. It has all my favorite spices in it and being of Middle Eastern decent we use a ton of cinnamon in our cooking, so I was happy to see cinnamon incorporated as well. I only make a few slight modifications, I increase the spices and also add curry powder. I like to eat the stew over Basmati rice so I only add one box of veggies broth so that it comes out thick and hearty. This is a keeper!
Can I substitute red lentils for the brown lentils?
You can, but be aware that red lentils usually break down easily so they won’t be like individual lentils in the stew. It will likely just thicken up the mixture.
This stew is so delicious! Thanks
I loved this dish, but changed it up to make it thicker. I had garam masala around and added that to the spices, plus a dash of curry powder. I had black Bulaga lentils at home and used tboughs, and when I added the lentils I added coconut milk and almost a whole lemon thinly sliced I didn’t want to go to waste in the fridge. Fantastic and a crowd pleaser for sure.
Wow! My family loved this! Thank you for the step by step recipe!