Moroccan Harira Soup: The Traditional Ramadan Recipe

Harira is Morocco's tomato, lentil and chickpea soup, flavoured with lots of fresh cilantro, parsley and celery, warmly spiced with ginger, pepper and cinnamon, and thickened at the end with a flour slurry called tadouira. Plan on 30 minutes of chopping and about 1½ hours of simmering. It is easy, makes a big pot, and it is the soup almost every Moroccan home serves to break the fast during Ramadan.

Outside Ramadan it is a winter soup, sold in small bowls at street stalls and cafés. Ramadan 2027 is expected to start around 8 February 2027 (exact date confirmed by moon sighting), so harira season is coming.

At a glance

Ingredients

• 250 g (9 oz) lamb or beef, in small cubes (optional)
• 1 large onion, grated
• 2 celery stalks with their leaves, finely chopped
• 1 large bunch cilantro + 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped (about 1 packed cup each)
• 3 tbsp olive oil (or 1 tbsp smen + 2 tbsp oil)
• 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp turmeric, ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp salt
• 100 g (½ cup) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight, or 1 can (400 g / 14 oz)
• 100 g (½ cup) brown or green lentils
• 800 g (1¾ lb) ripe tomatoes, pureed, or 1 can (800 g / 28 oz) crushed tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2.5 L (10 cups) water
• 50 g broken vermicelli (½ cup) or rice (¼ cup)
• Tadouira: 60 g (½ cup) flour whisked into 250 ml (1 cup) water
• Lemon wedges, to serve

Instructions

1. Build the base. In a large pot (at least 5 L / 5 qt), combine the meat, onion, celery, half the herbs, oil, spices and salt. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring, until the onion softens and the meat loses its pink colour.
2. Cook the chickpeas. Add the soaked chickpeas and 1.5 L (6 cups) water. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. (Using canned chickpeas? Skip to step 3 and add them with the tomatoes.)
3. Add lentils and tomatoes. Stir in the lentils, tomatoes, tomato paste and the remaining 1 L (4 cups) water. Simmer, partly covered, for 30 minutes, until the lentils are soft.
4. Add the pasta. Add the vermicelli or rice and cook 5–10 minutes.
5. Thicken. Whisk the tadouira until completely smooth (strain it if lumpy). With the soup at a steady simmer, pour it in a thin stream while stirring constantly.
6. Finish. Simmer for 10 more minutes, stirring often so nothing sticks to the bottom. The soup should look silky and coat the back of a spoon. Add the remaining herbs, taste for salt, and serve hot with lemon.

Why tadouira matters

Without the slurry harira is just a good lentil soup. The flour gives it the smooth, velvety body Moroccans expect, and it rounds off the acidity of the tomatoes. Some cooks make the tadouira a day ahead with a pinch of yeast, or simply leave it to sour on the counter, which gives a faint tang. Others whisk in a beaten egg at the very end for extra richness. Both are traditional; neither is required.

Breaking the fast with harira

At sunset during Ramadan, the table usually has dates, harira, boiled eggs sprinkled with cumin and salt, chebakia (sesame-honey cookies), sellou, milk or juice, and bread. The soup is the warm, filling centre of that meal after a day without food or water. If you are planning a Ramadan table, start with harira and add msemen and mint tea.

Mistakes to avoid

Substitutions for cooks abroad

• Celery: Moroccan cooks often use celery leaves; Western celery stalks plus leaves work fine. In Japan, Chinese celery or regular serori with leaves.
• Smen: optional. A spoon of butter or ghee gives some of the richness. Our ras el hanout guide covers where to find smen and other Moroccan pantry staples abroad.
• Vermicelli: Moroccan shaariya is thin wheat vermicelli; broken capellini or angel-hair pasta is the same thing.
• Meat: chicken giblets or small pieces of chicken are also used in some homes.

Make ahead and storage

Harira keeps 4 days in the fridge and freezes well for 3 months. It thickens a lot as it cools; thin it with water when reheating and adjust the salt. During Ramadan many families cook a large pot every two or three days. If you plan to freeze it, leave out the vermicelli and add it fresh when reheating so it doesn't go soft.