Low-Fat Lebanese Chickpea Couscous Soup! Imagine cozying up with a bowl of this rich, flavorful soup, where every spoonful is a warm embrace that nourishes both body and soul.
Welcome to your new favorite comfort food: Low-Fat Lebanese Chickpea Couscous Soup, known as Moghrabieh! This beloved Lebanese dish is a delightful celebration of aromatic spices, tender chickpeas, and fluffy couscous that will transport your taste buds straight to the bustling streets of Beirut. This Whole Food Plant-Based version of Moghrabieh not only honors the traditional recipe but also keeps it light and healthy, making it perfect for any day of the week.
Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.
Hi there, Ameera here!
This Low-Fat Lebanese Chickpea Couscous Soup is not just a dish; it’s a family tradition waiting to happen! Packed with delicious, aromatic spices and wholesome ingredients, this comforting soup is sure to become a favorite in your household. Each bowl is brimming with flavor, making it the perfect dish for cozy nights in or lively family gatherings.
You’ve got to give this soup a try!
Tips for Success:
- Flavor Profile: This Low-Fat Lebanese Chickpea Couscous Soup, officially called Moghrabieh, is a much beloved Lebanese soup, full of aromatic spices, chickpeas, and couscous. This Whole Food Plant Based Moghrabieh soup is a delicious nod to the traditional soup.
- Low-Fat Dish Expectations: This dish was designed to be low in fat. Because it is low in fat, you are not going to experience that endorphin rush associated with eating high-fat foods when eating this dish. It is very tasty for what it is, and that is a low-fat dish. We just want to make sure that our Readers recognize this when contemplating making this recipe.
- Pearl Onions: Pearl onions are fantastic in this soup. We used ½ bag of a 14.4 oz. bag of frozen pearl onions. Our Lebanese family always used pearl onions when making the traditional Moghrabieh soup. If you can’t locate frozen pearl onions, then feel free to substitute with a large white onion, chopped finely.
- Couscous Pasta Substitutions: This soup traditionally uses pearl couscous. You can also use whole wheat pearl couscous as well as other small pastas like orzo or ditalini.
- Gluten Free Pasta: Feel free to use gluten free pasta, but make sure you thoroughly rinse it as it does get starchy.
- Pasta Substitutions: You can easily substitute the pasta with cooked rice, cooked quinoa, or cooked barley.
- Cold Pasta: Keep the soup and couscous (or pasta) separate and refrigerate the leftovers, you may find the couscous/pasta to be stiff, sticky, and clumped together. All you need to do is place some of the cold, refrigerated, cooked couscous/pasta into a colander and rinse with hot tap water, gently loosen them with your fingers and it’s perfectly great to use again.
- Keeping the Couscous/Pasta out of the Soup while cooking: Pasta is thirsty. It will soak up a lot of liquids and make for a less brothy soup. Additionally, if using a gluten-free pasta, it really tends to get mushy. That is why we suggest cooking the pasta separately and placing it in your soup bowl, then ladle the soup over top. This is how most restaurants serve soups that have pasta in them. They keep the broth and pasta separated until ready to serve.
- Fresh Parsley: Using fresh parsley is traditional in this soup; however, you can substitute with 1 or 2 Tablespoons of dried parsley.
- Seven Spices: Seven Spices is a blend of ground spices that typically include allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, coriander, nutmeg, and sometimes paprika. You can create your own blend if you wish.
- Herbs/Spices: You can easily increase/decrease the herbs and spices if you wish.
- Turmeric: The turmeric is optional. It adds lovely color. Otherwise, the broth is somewhat brownish due to the mix of spices being mostly brown.
- Chickpea Substitutions: Feel free to use your favorite [canned or cooked] beans or lentils in this soup.
- Table Salt: If using table salt, you should use less table salt than the amount listed in the ingredients as sea salt crystals are larger than table salt crystals. Since table salt crystals are very fine, less table salt is required to season a dish. We would suggest starting with about 1/4 to 1/2 the amount of sea salt listed. You can always add more salt but cannot take it away. We recommend using sea salt as it is less refined than table salt.
Leftovers and Freezing:
Leftovers will generally keep 7 days in the refrigerator. Store in a covered container.
This soup can be frozen.
Pantry Products:
- Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients. Feel free to use your favorite vegetable broth.
- Seven Spice: We used Ziyad Seven Spice Blend. Feel free to use your favorite Seven Spice Blend.
- Frozen Pearl Onions: We used frozen Birds Eye White Pearl Onions. Feel free to use your favorite frozen white pearl onions.
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Kitchen Equipment:
- Large stock pot
- Medium stock pot (to cook the couscous)
If you try this comforting soup, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
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Low-Fat Lebanese Chickpea Couscous Soup (Moghrabieh)
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 30 Minutes
- Total Time: 45 Minutes
- Yield: 7 Cups 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern Inspired
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Welcome to your new favorite comfort food: Low-Fat Lebanese Chickpea Couscous Soup, known as Moghrabieh!
Ingredients
Base Ingredients:
- 2 medium carrots, fine dice
- 2 medium celery ribs, fine dice
- 7 oz. frozen pearl onions (1 ½ cups) *
- 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
- 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth *
- 3 cups water
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup + 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley *
Spice/Herb Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons Seven Spice Blend (+/-) *
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder *
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon cumin (+/-)
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (+/-)
- Pinch dried dill weed
- Pinch to 1 ¼ teaspoons sea salt (+/-)
- Pinch to ¼ teaspoon black pepper (+/-)
- 2 bay leaves
Other Ingredients:
- 2 – [ 15.5 oz. cans ] chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup couscous (+/-) *
Instructions
- Boil the couscous according to package directions, then drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water, set aside until Step 6.
- Place all the Spice/Herb Ingredients (except the bay leaf) into a small bowl, mix well, set aside until Step 5.
- In a large stockpot, add the carrots, celery, and frozen pearl onions, sauté for 9 to 11 minutes over medium-high heat. Add a splash of water to prevent sticking/burning if needed.
- Reduce the heat to medium, then add the minced garlic to the pot, continue to sauté for 1 minute.
- Next add all the remaining Base Ingredients and the Spice/Herb Mix, stir well, then tuck in the bay leaves, bring to a boil, then immediately lower to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, then add the chickpeas, then simmer for 10 minutes or until all the veggies are perfectly tender.
- To serve, place about ½ cup (or more) of the cooked couscous in the bottom of a soup bowl, ladle the soup over top. Enjoy!
Notes
*Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Serving: 5 (makes 7 cups of soup with no couscous)
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