This Moroccan-spiced stew is packed with chickpeas, lentils, tomatoes and sweet potatoes. It's gluten free, vegan, and ready in about 45 minutes. Delicious as leftovers and best served with warm pita or flatbread!
Like many of you, we have been eating mostly pantry-friendly recipes these days. That means a whole lots of chickpeas, lentils, canned tomatoes, broth, and long-lasting produce like onions and potatoes. Guess what all of those ingredients make?
Soup! Or stew. Or any kind of hodgepodge random meal that you make in a pot.
This Vegan Moroccan Chickpea Lentil Stew is a fantastic way to make the most out of your pantry items. It's incredibly flavorful, thanks to a melange of Moroccan spices. It's also super easy to make and can be on your dinner table in less than an hour, with only a few minutes of hands-on work.
Sound good? We sure think so!
How to make Moroccan Chickpea Lentil Stew
First things first, grab your soup pot! We most often use our cast iron dutch oven, which is perfect for soups and stews, so sturdy and lasts forever. Our favorite is Le Creuset (not sponsored, we just adore their products!).
We're only using a few fresh produce items to keep this stew super simple. Start by sautéing a diced onion in some olive oil, then add in a few cloves of garlic.
Garlic obsessed? A few extra cloves never hurts!
Once the alliums are softened, it's time to add in some diced sweet potatoes. You can leave the skin on or peel them, it's totally up to you. We usually prefer them peeled and compost the skins or add them to our dogs' food. They're obsessed with all things sweet potato!
Once the sweet potatoes have started to soften (about 5 minutes), it's time to add in most of the remaining ingredients! Dump in a can of diced tomatoes, a container of vegetable broth, lentils and your spices.
Which brings us to...
What kind of lentils should I use?
Brown or green lentils are the best option for soups and stews if they're not going to be puréed. They're much sturdier and won't turn to mush in liquid.
We love using French green lentils, which are a bit smaller and darker in color than regular green lentils. They hold their shape particularly well, providing a bit of texture to this stew.
Avoid red and yellow lentils in this stew, which tend to break down into mush when cooked for too long. These lentils are best used in puréed soups, curries and purees.
Moroccan spice blend
We used a simple blend of spices that we always keep in our pantry. This Moroccan-inspired spice blend is a sweet, fragrant and just slightly spicy.
- Cumin: cumin is essential to this blend. It adds an earthy, smoky flavor that can't be beat!
- Ground ginger: I love the zesty flavor of ginger. Bump it up with the addition of a little fresh ginger. Grate about 2 teaspoon and add it in with the garlic!
- Coriander: Did you know that coriander is dried cilantro seeds? The flavor differs slightly, so you can't sub 1:1 with fresh cilantro.
- Cayenne: Add an extra pinch for a spicier stew.
- Cinnamon: Warming, flavorful cinnamon rounds out all of the spices in this Moroccan blend.
Other Moroccan spices you could add include turmeric, paprika, nutmeg, cloves, fenugreek, chili powder, garlic, etc.
Love Moroccan spices? Try this Moroccan Lentil Carrot Salad!
Chickpeas
Once the lentils are fully cooked (about 25 minutes of simmering), the Moroccan chickpea stew is just about finished. The final ingredient: chickpeas!
We used canned chickpeas and drained/rinsed before adding to the soup. If you want to use dried chickpeas, we suggest cooking them separately and adding to the soup later. Here's a great tutorial on how to cook dried chickpeas!
Alternatively, you could add canned white beans or even kidney beans to this stew if you're all out of chickpeas. Just be sure to add them right at the end so they don't fall apart in the cooking process.
Recipe tips & Ingredient substitutions
- No sweet potatoes? Sub with an equal amount of butternut squash, regular potatoes, carrots or parsnips.
- Add in a handful of greens, such as chopped kale, swiss chard or parsley. Stir in right at the end before serving.
- Other vegetables to add: celery, zucchini, carrots, shallots or cauliflower
- Not vegan? Feel free to add in some shredded chicken for more protein.
- For more plant-based protein, you could also add in or top with tofu. Hodo Foods makes these amazing Moroccan Tofu Cubes that would be perfect with this chickpea lentil stew!
- Meal prepping this stew? Great! It stores well in the refrigerator for up to a week. When reheating, you may want to add in a bit more broth to loosen it up.
- Freezer friendly? You bet! Let the stew cool completely before transferring to a freezer-safe container. Let it defrost in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.
- Topping suggestions: top with a dollop of plain yogurt or sour cream. We also love adding a handful of fresh herbs and red pepper flakes. Best served with warm pita or flatbread!
More vegan stew recipes
- Vegan Lentil Vegetable Stew
- White Bean Tomato Stew
- Quinoa Vegetable Stew
- Mushroom Stew over Mashed Potatoes
If you make this Vegan Moroccan Chickpea Lentil Stew, we’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below! We also love to see your creations on Instagram – tag us at @crowded_kitchen so we can see what you’ve been cooking.
Print📖 Recipe
Moroccan Chickpea Lentil Stew
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Description
This Moroccan-spiced stew is packed with chickpeas, lentils, tomatoes and sweet potatoes. It's gluten free, vegan, and ready in about 45 minutes. Delicious as leftovers and best served with warm pita or flatbread!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 tbsp minced garlic (2-3 cloves)
- 2 cups diced sweet potato (2-3 potatoes depending on size)
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- ½ cup dry green or brown lentils
- ¾-1 teaspoon salt
- ½ tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp coriander
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp cayenne
- 1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- Optional toppings: yogurt, fresh parsley or cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add oil.
- Once oil is heated, add onions and sauté for 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in sweet potatoes and cook for 5-6 minutes.
- Add broth, tomatoes, lentils, and all dry spices and stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lentils are fully cooked.
- Add chickpeas and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
- Serve with a drizzle of plain yogurt and fresh herbs.
Notes
The sweet potatoes can be peeled or unpeeled.
Optional: stir in ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley when you add in the chickpeas. Alternatively, you can add in a leafy green like kale or swiss chard.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Moroccan
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 414
- Sugar: 12.1 g
- Sodium: 1487.8 mg
- Fat: 13.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 57.5 g
- Fiber: 10.7 g
- Protein: 19.8 g
- Cholesterol: 9.3 mg
Armature cook says
I've cooked thus many times now and love it. I've tweaked it a little bu adding harissa spice to it, to increase the sweetness.
Excellent meal for the family.
Lexi says
So glad you enjoy this recipe!
Genna says
Based on a previous comment, I quadrupled the quantity of spices . I also added mushrooms and fenugreek and part cooked the green lentils before adding them .
The recipe was super. Simple and yet full of flavour. Thank you
Jennifer says
I followed the recipe precisely (though I did soak the lentils for about an hour) but found the stew to be very bland. Quadrupled the spices (not the salt, though) and it was much better. Makes a big batch and I'll be freezing half of it. Generally a very nice recipe that just needs more flavor.
Caitlin says
My sweet potatoes taste uncooked, even though I diced them the same size as the photo… suggestions for what I could’ve done differently?
Lexi says
Definitely depends on both the potatoes and the heat level. Sometimes it takes a bit longer for the potatoes to soften, especially if they are very starchy.
Lauren says
So delicious.
I used pumpkin instead of sweet potato and I also added peas
Lexi says
So glad you enjoyed, thank you for your comment! 🙂
Gregory Lawrence Bailey says
I parboiled mine for 10 minutes before adding to the stew.
Sandra says
Very good recipe thank you.
Lexi says
Thanks so much!
Mark says
Wow, that was outstanding. Fantastic spice blend, and so simple. Will definitely be on regular rotation. Thanks for sharing.
Lexi says
Thanks so much, Mark! So glad you enjoyed.
Lynda says
Full of flavor! Everyone from age 20 to 90 in my quarantined household loved this stew.
Lexi says
So happy to hear that! Thanks so much for your comment!