No bland chickpea soup in my world! Exploding with flavour, this tastes like your favourite Chicken Shawarma – except it’s in soup form with lamb and chickpeas. Filling, nutritious and quick to make!
Chickpea soup with flavour explosion!
I had every intention of making a wholesome, chickpea and vegetable soup.
I really, really tried to get excited about it.
It is possible to make a great meat-free chickpea soup (I promise I will share mine one day!). But, but, but…. I wanted kapow flavours. Actually, I was really tempted to do the long haul drive for a good laksa fix. I felt like I deserved it. (But then, I always feel I deserve it….)
So I compromised. Chickpeas. Veggie loaded – there’s a whole bunch of spinach in this, plus carrots plus onion (yes that counts towards your daily veggie intake, I checked!). Lamb for protein, cooked with my Chicken Shawarma spice mix – wait until you smell this part!!!! It’s SO GOOD!
Shawarma Spice Mix
This is the same shawarma spice mix I use for Chicken Shawarma, a long standing reader favourite. The combination of spices in this is intoxicating!
Oh boy. If you like kapow flavours, or if you are dubious about chickpea soups having been scarred by bland ones in the past, this Lamb Shawarma Chickpea Soup is for you!! It’s really fragrant, the soup itself is quite intense from both the spices and also the lamb. It’s hearty, almost stew-like. Actually, I didn’t know whether to call this a stew or soup.
Because the soup flavouring is from the Shawarma Spice Mix, there’s no need to simmer this for ages. Just long enough for the carrot to become tender. Oh, also, I use canned chickpeas here. Speedy, unplanned meal. 🙂
But if you do have the foresight to plan and want to take it over the top, add a side of homemade flatbreads (simple, no yeast!) or make this mind blowingly easy crusty Artisan bread.
Update: I recently created a similar but different variation of this soup in the form of Beef & Lentil Soup. This was has more Moroccan-inspired flavours. Give it a try too!
– Nagi x
Watch how to make it
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Chickpea Lamb Shawarma Soup
Ingredients
Spices:
- 2 tsp EACH cumin powder, coriander, paprika
- 1 tsp cardamon powder (can omit if you don’t have)
- ¼ tsp cinnamon powder
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
Soup:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 500 g / 1 lb lamb mince (ground lamb, or beef) (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 carrots , peeled and chopped (about size of chickpeas)
- 600 g / 21 oz canned chickpeas , drained and rinsed (1.5 standard cans, Note 2)
- 400 g / 14 oz can crushed tomato
- 3 cups / 750 ml chicken broth / stock
- 1 bunch spinach , roughly chopped (about 4 packed cups) (wilts a lot)
Garnishes (highly recommended):
- Plain yoghurt (or sour cream)
- Chopped fresh coriander / cilantro
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 1 minute until starting to turn translucent.
- Add lamb and cook, breaking it up as you go. When it has mostly turned from pink to light brown, add spices.
- Cook for 1 minute, then add tomato paste and cook for another 1 minute. (It smells amazing!)
- Add carrots, chickpeas, tomato and broth. Stir and bring to simmer.
- Cover with lid, lower heat so it is bubbling energetically but not crazy rapidly. Cook for 10 minutes until carrot is tender but not super soft – I like it to have a bit of bite still, if you want super soft, keep cooking.
- Stir through spinach. Once wilted, adjust salt, pepper and spiciness (cayenne) to taste, and water if you want more liquid.
- Ladle into bowls, add a dollop of yoghurt and a generous sprinkling of coriander. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More hearty soups
Chicken Noodle Soup from scratch – or a quick version!
Browse all Soups
Life of Dozer
Spent my afternoon tea break trying to teach him to hold a flower in his mouth, just because I think it would be so cute! But once he realised it wasn’t edible, he was completely uninterested. I give up.
Feeling crummy with a cold. Made this for lunch and I feel alive again! The flavour profile, textures, and nourishing ingredients are so heart, warming and comforting. Thank you, Nagi x
This soup was great. I only made 1 change and that was lamb stock. If you love the lamb flavour, try it.
Delicious and easy. I swapped beef mince for lamb, but followed everything in the recipe.
I’ll be adding this to my winter soup rotation!
Wow! Great flavor and perfectly balanced! Thank you for this soup recipe
So, so good! Used beef as I am not a fan of lamb. Served with some crusty homemade bread. Will definitely make again. Thanks Nagi!
This is a family favorite and I also use it a lot when entertaining. The one tweak I make is to sauté the carrots early on in the process with the onions and garlic. They’re too crunchy otherwise and I like them tender crisp. Utterly perfect otherwise!
I have a partner that doesn’t eat chickpeas…..and he was licking the bowl lol. What a great recipe. easy, cost effective and many leftovers! Put in the freezer for next week 🙂
I love this recipe!! Absolutely delish, a hug in a bowl on a cold winters night!
Great recipe! I’ve made it twice now. Sometimes I add a little Jamaican curry to each bowl to amp up the flavor even more.
The 2nd time I used 1/3 cup dry lentils in place of 1 can chickpeas to avoid sodium. Worked great but cook the lentils for 30″ total, adding the carrots for the last 10″.
I’m a Nagi fan! Have made a lot of her curries (now using your homemade version to avoid sodium!) and they are the best. Just bought her cookbook “Dinner” to support her – it’s a great cookbook, I have a ton of recipes bookmarked for the future. Thanks Nagi!!
This soup is delicious and was perfect for the first really snowfall in Michigan! I accidentally bought white beans instead of chickpeas (right next to each other on the shelf) but it turned out nicely. I will use chickpeas next time.
I’ve made this about 5 times now. It’s so delicious and satisfying. Also, very straight forward to make. My husband loves it too. We have it with rice and a dollop of sour cream.
Loved this recipe! Will be using again.
Beautiful soup, great recipe. The sour cream goes perfectly. We had them with some roti, will be adding this to my regulars
Such great flavor and easy to boot! Made this as is twice and then again with venison. Everyone loved it.🥰
I would have given this recipe 5 stars given its fabulous aroma and taste, however found it a bit salty. What can I do to remedy the saltiness?
Use less salt!!, i find food has enough natural salt so hardly ever use extra salt
I use unsalted stock and unsalted tinned chickpeas. Then I can add the amount of salt I want. Hope that helps.
Made this tonight after seeing the RTE IG post today. Lots of bang for your buck. Quick, easy and tasty. Winner dinner.
Love this soup. It’s so flavourful and so easy. I used chicken mince and added some diced butternut pum
*****oops. Pumpkin and frozen corn. Excellent recipe that freezes so well, it will be high on our rotation
This has become a staple in our house! I usually make it with some sourdough naan and I’ve swapped the spinach out for cabbage and it’s been great! It makes a lot too! We always have leftovers!
Delicious, fast and cheap. There was no conversation at the dinner table when this was served beccause people were focused on their dinner! Highly recommended.
I made this soup & it was delicious!! The whole family loved it!
I plan to try this (with slight changes to hide the chickpeas from my chickpea hating partner) but mostly I just want to say: I GOT NAGI’S COOKBOOK THIS WEEK! I AM SO HAPPY! IT’S AMAZEBALLS! NOW I NEED TO BUY MORE COPIES FOR ALL MY FRIENDS!
Thank you, Nagi, for everything you do. You rock. You BOULDER.
I have a chickpea hating partner too, how did you hide them??
I sometimes replace the chickpeas with canned white cannellini beans. Very delicious! Love this recipe, and always make double (or triple!). Have replaced the spinach with silverbeet, kale and celery leaves, depending on season/fridge contents. All good!
I used dry lentils (in a bag, not canned) instead of chickpeas . . . because the chickpeas I had were super high in sodium. Worked perfectly. The lentils need to cook 30″, so put them in right away with all the liquids, cook for 20″, then add the carrots. Great recipe!