Moroccan Chickpea Soup
This vegan Moroccan chickpea soup is an easy and delicious soup packed with chickpeas, potatoes, and plenty of spices. It’s a great soup to reheat throughout the week for easy lunches!
When I’m trying to eat a little healthier, soups are one of my favorite things to make. They’re a perfect way to make veggies extra flavorful. It’s easy to make soup like this Moroccan chickpea soup that also happens to be vegan and gluten-free!
I’ve been playing around with spices lately and I decided to bite the bullet and buy saffron. It’s not cheap, but I had fun playing around with this precious spice! I try to keep our grocery budget in check, so this was definitely a splurge. If you don’t have any saffron, don’t fret. You can make this Moroccan chickpea soup without it. But, if you do have a pinch in your pantry, this recipe is worth it!
What are some common Moroccan spices?
I admittedly didn’t know much about Moroccan food so I did a little research to find out what flavors were commonly used in Moroccan cooking. Spices like ginger, paprika, fennel, nutmeg, saffron, and cinnamon are all pretty common spices. I wanted to keep this recipe pretty simple so I used paprika, ginger, and saffron. But like I said, if you don’t have saffron, don’t fret. You can still make this delicious soup!
Moroccan Chickpea Soup
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Moroccan
Description
This vegan Moroccan chickpea soup is an easy and delicious soup packed with chickpeas, potatoes, and plenty of spices. It’s a great soup to reheat throughout the week for easy lunches!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium white onion, diced
- 1/2 lb red potatoes, chopped into 1/2” pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed saffron threads
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 (15oz) cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 (14oz) can of diced, fire roasted tomatoes
- 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot.
- Add the onion and cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onion begins to soften.
- Add the salt, garlic, paprika, saffron, and ginger and continue to cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, potatoes, and vegetable broth and simmer for about 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are soft.
Notes
This recipe is adapted from the America’s Test Kitchen Vegetarian Cookbook
Keywords: Moroccan Chickpea Soup
This soup reheats well, so it’s a great meal prep recipe. Cook once and you’ve got lunch for the next four days!
This soup has been on a pretty regular rotation at my parent’s house too! My mom and I both really enjoy this soup! Here are a few ideas for substitutions:
Substitution Ideas
- If you’re out of chickpeas, you could substitute another firm white bean like a white kidney bean.
- For a lower-carb option, you can substitute cauliflower for the red potatoes.
- If you like it spicier, try substituting salsa for the fire-roasted tomatoes! You might not get as much of the Moroccan flavor but it’s a fun twist! (We learned this trick by accident!)
Looking for more Moroccan flavors? Try this Moroccan Lentil Soup!
This recipe was originally published in April 2016. Updated May 2019.
Wow…this soup looks so hearty and comforting. I love the addition of saffron. It just adds wonderful flavor.
★★★★★
This soup sounds amazing. The weather just opened up so it’s pretty warm here, but if it cools down again I’ll be making this.
oh my goodness, that soup looks amazing!! I love making soups at home.
xo,
Angela
I’ve been loving anything and everything chickpea lately! I can’t wait to try this 🙂
I adore chickpeas, but have never used them as the main bean in a soup before. This sounds like such a delicious soup! It’s 90 here this week but its supposed to rain this weekend, so I just might have to whip this up! 🙂
I was watching an episode of The Kitchen on Food Network once when Geoffrey Zakarian said you could sub paprika and turmeric for saffron. He’s an Iron Chef so I trust him on that one 🙂 That soup look so so good and I can’t wait to hear about your trip to NYC!
ooo, this sounds so tasty! i went to Morocco a couple years ago and they SURE love their chickpeas down there haha. Even on their hottest days they’ll be eating soup like this 🙂
Looks like a delicious soup, even if a little pricey. I tend to stick to basics – black pepper, dill, rosemary and thyme, basil, onion and garlic – but having the different ones on hand can always jazz up an otherwise routine meal!
YUM! This looks like the perfect spring soup!!!! I love all spices!
I will forever be a fan of cumin! It adds so much depth and flavor. I guess my Indian roots also contribute to this!
Excited to hear about NYC!