Moroccan Red Lentil Soup

Home / Recipes / Moroccan Red Lentil Soup

Moroccan Red Lentil Soup uses rich, warm spices and wholesome red lentils, making it a hearty dish. It is vibrant with lush green spinach, and orange sweet potatoes, and is mixed with tomatoes and onions. This comforting soup is not only incredibly flavorful but is also loaded with a chockful of benefits that will potentially become a staple in your home once you try it!

Origin:

I cannot talk about the Moroccan Red Lentil Soup without mentioning the comprehensive history of lentils. However, there are two salient points I want to call out with this:

Lentils are one of the most ancient crops that humans have cultivated. Archaeologists estimate that we have been cultivating lentils for about 23,000 years (23000 BP), going back to the Paleolithic Age.
Lentils have been and are presently grown and consumed from South Asia through the Middle East and Africa and right into Southern Europe.

With this background, you can imagine the varieties of lentils and the types of preparations that can span the globe. Growing up in India, before the internet, I used to clip newspapers and magazines for their recipes. In over 30 years of cooking, I have collected several recipes that I use as a guide in my daily cooking. Over time, having experimented with these recipes, I have adapted, modified or recreated most of them. That is precisely why cooking in my kitchen is never boring because of the creativity that goes into making new recipes. I learn a lot every day, and food is never a dull affair at home.

I usually like to add my own touch to every recipe, by choosing the ingredients and proportions carefully and adhering to the respective cuisine’s cultural aspects with as much detail as humanly possible. What I share is what I prepare for my friends and family, with all that entails.

Why did I mention this? First, and foremost, the recipe I’m sharing is, in fact, from pre-internet days. Secondly, I showed my old newspaper-cut recipe to a Moroccan chef, when I visited a few years ago. I got his grinning confirmation that this Moroccan Red Lentil Soup recipe was, in fact, quite authentic.

Authenticity is important in my recipe creation and writing, especially when I talk about recipes that are not naturally native to me. I not only do the research, but I also consume the dish before recreating it and blogging about it. In all this, I am respectful of the history and culture that gave birth to the Moroccan Red Lentil Soup. I am incredibly conscious and mindful that I am NOT appropriating their dish as my own or as the result of my culture.

Growing up in South India, I had lentils (in one form or another) almost every day. I naturally assumed that Indian cuisine had the mastery of the lentil. So, you can imagine my surprise when I came across the Moroccan Red Lentil Soup recipe in a newspaper many years ago. Obviously, I tried it, and to my surprise, my extended family loved it when they visited me, but put it down as a version of the South Indian dhal. I do not think my parents, sibling, or even my uncle realized that this was a North African dish, especially since I had not advertised it. They did not realize that I had not used tamarind, which is traditionally used in dhals.

But it was not until I started traveling to many more Mediterranean countries that I realized that there were global versions of the Moroccan Red Lentil Soup. I suppose it stands to reason, given the proliferation of this pulse. I have sampled Italian, Greek, Turkish, Egyptian, and Moroccan Red Lentil Soups, in addition to the Indian red lentil dhal.

Often, you can identify red lentils because they have a distinctive flavor. Unlike the more earthy brown or green lentils, the red lentil is milder and sweeter. This enables the lentil to absorb other flavors especially if they contain tomatoes or you are adding spices. While you need to be careful with proportions so as to balance the flavors, this is especially true of the mild profile of the red lentil.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What are the variations for the Moroccan Red Lentil Soup?

Other variations that you could make is to add chickpeas and lamb as in the Moroccan Lamb Soup or by substituting with brown lentils or white beans. Split pigeon peas is yet another variation, although the cooking time is more than the red lentils. Veggies such as cauliflower florets, gold or red potatoes and carrots may also be added.

How does removing the scum or skimming off the scum from the lentils help?

To be honest, the scum is just the proteins coming out of the lentils. We generally remove the scum because it traps the air bubbles in the water which affects the cooking time and frankly, they are unattractive. I usually use a big spoon to scoop out the scum. You could use fine meshed sieve to gently scrape the scum off if you are open-cooking the red lentils.

How to cook the red lentils?

Stovetop:
1. The advantage that red lentils have over the brown or black is that that they do NOT require soaking.
2. Rinse the lentils in a fine mesh strainer to remove pebbles, dust, or debris that may have accreted during the manufacturing process.
3. Be aware that since lentils expand (usually double the size) when they are being cooked, it is important to use a pan/pot that can accommodate the volume.
4. Add cold water to the lentils. The ratio I use is 1: 2, which is 1 dry cup of dry lentils to 2 cups water. Feel free to add aromatics (garlic or dried herbs) but avoid adding salt until after the lentils are cooked. When salt or other acidic content is added early, it hardens the lentils and it takes longer to cook.
5. Cook the lentils on low to medium heat. If you cook them on medium to high heat, they will become overcooked and mushy. Generally, the lentils will be cooked in anywhere from 5 to 10 mins.
Pressure cooker:
1. Repeat steps 1 and 2 from above.
2. Place the lentils in the pressure cooker and add water and aromatics in the same ratio. Avoid adding salt.
3. Secure the lid and begin heating on high heat.
4. When the pressure is high enough, steam will begin to emanate. Depending on the type of pressure cooker, you will:
  1. See that the pressure has reached a certain marked level,
  2. See a steady flow of steam is escaping from the release valve, or,
  3. You will hear 2 whistles.
5. When you see or hear these events, reduce the heat to medium and let the pressure cook the lentils for 5 minutes.
6. After 5 minutes, turn the heat off and allow the pressure to decrease naturally for 15 minutes. DO NOT open the pressure cooker before it has had a chance to completely depressurize. (If using a instant pot, follow the instructions for cooking lentils)

As I’ve highlighted, the Moroccan Red Lentil Soup has been a family and friend favorite for a very long time. I’m glad to have had the opportunity to share it with you. If you tried this recipe or have questions, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to share (below) your thoughts, comments or any questions that you might have. And if you like my recipes, you could subscribe for the latest recipes that will be delivered straight to your inbox. From my pen to your table, Bon Appetit!

Ingredients:

Red lentils: This is the Moroccan Red Lentil Soup after all, which calls for red lentils. But you could mix other lentils such as brown lentil or even the split pigeon peas. Red lentils can be cooked directly in the pot, although I pressure cooked them separately to fasten the cooking process. ( Please read instructions on how to cook red lentils in the post above)
Tomato: I used tomato on-the-vine. Cherry tomatoes were not the best choice for this soup, although Roma or heirloom tomato works too. I puréed the (blanched) tomatoes and then added it to the soup. If you want to blend all the ingredients at the end, then you can add diced tomatoes.
Spices: The spices listed in the recipe card can be adjusted by increasing or omitting a spice altogether per your preferences. Spices such as cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and cayenne are commonly used in North African cuisine.
Sweet potato: I like to air fry the sweet potato because it gives a certain crunch to this creamy soup. I prefer the grilled, baked or air fried sweet potato to the boiling-in-the-pot method. You could add the sweet potato along with the cooked red lentil directly to the pot without air frying it.
Spinach: I like adding color, texture and even nutritional value to every dish at the slightest chance I get. Baby kale or any tender greens give the Moroccan Red Lentil Soup a lush finish.

How to make the Moroccan Red Lentil Soup:

Peel the sweet potato and cut into cubes. Drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil, toss and air fry or bake (350 degrees F) the sweet potato cubes in a foil-lined baking tray for 5-6 minutes or until there are golden brown edges.

air fried sweet potato cubes

2. Heat a Dutch oven or any heavy bottomed pot with olive oil. Add the bay leaf, cinnamon and the chopped onion. Sauté for 2 minutes or until tender.

onions and bay leaf in a pot

3. Add the (blanched) tomato purée and sauté for 1-2 minutes to take away the raw taste of the tomatoes.

tomato puree added to the onion

4. Add the spices and the salt.

spices added to the tomato puree

5. Purée two-thirds of the cooked lentils and leave a third of the lentils whole. Add both the puréed and whole cooked red lentils into the pot.

red lentils added to the tomato puree

6. Add the homemade vegetable stock or water and stir to combine on medium heat. Remove the scum using a big spoon.

vegetable stock added to the soup

7. Simmer for 16-18 minutes or until the soup reaches your desired consistency. Add the spinach and stir for a minute.

Spinach with the red lentil soup stock

8. Turn off the heat and add the air fried sweet potatoes and a bright splash of lemon juice. The lemon juice makes the soup pop and gives it a lift for a right balance.

sweet potato in the red lentil soup

9. Serve hot garnished with mint leaves.

Tips:

1. Use an immersion blender to blitz the cooked red lentils. I only pulsed two-third the quantity of red lentils and used the whole cooked red lentils to give the soup some texture. The red lentils must be cooked thoroughly or they will be gritty or crunchy in the soup. What you will be going for is a creamy soup, so cook the lentils for some more time if they are grainy. Squish a lentil in a spoon with your thumb to check to see if it is grainy or fully cooked.

2. Cook or add the delicate veggies at different stages of the cooking process. Spinach can go last as it will become slimy if added earlier in the cooking process.

3. Please avoid adding salt until after the red lentils are cooked. When salt or other acidic content is added early, it hardens the lentils and it takes longer to cook.

4. Cook the lentils on low to medium heat. If you cook them on medium to high heat, they will become overcooked and mushy. Generally, the lentils will be cooked in anywhere from 8 to 12 mins.

Serving suggestions:

Serve the Moroccan Red Lentil Soup with bread like the Khobz.
The Moroccan Cauliflower Salad is a lovely side for this soup.

Storage:

The Moroccan Red Lentil Soup can be refrigerated for 2-3 days. It tastes more intense the next day since the flavors from the spices would have infused into the soup. I have also frozen the soup in airtight boxes for my kids who often visit us. My kids take the frozen soup back to London and Vancouver and refreeze them. They later reheat the soup on stovetop. It will keep for three months in the freezer.