Name: Weeknight Lablabi - Spicy Tunisian Chickpea Stew
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1 medium onion (diced); 2 scallions (green and white parts separated, thinly sliced); 4 cloves garlic (minced); 2 teaspoons ground cumin; 1 teaspoon paprika; 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander; 1 tablespoon Harissa spice blender; 2 cans (15-ounce each chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or, 3 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas)); 1/4 cup fresh parsley (chopped); 1 lemon (for serving)

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Lablabi is spicy Tunisian Chickpea Soup or Stew. Coming from Northern Africa, this soup gets its flavor from warm spices like cumin, coriander, and harissa. Naturally vegan, it makes a hearty and comforting meal.

This oil-free weeknight version is delicious when enjoyed with Quick Whole Wheat Flatbread, crusty wheat baguette, or a simple salad.

What is Lablabi?

Lablabi is a spicy, flavorful stew that originates from Tunisia. The stars of the soup are chickpeas. Tunisian restaurants will spend days soaking dried chickpeas, then slowly simmering them with spices and aromatics. The finished dish is often served with an assortment of toppings and garnishes, like crusty bread, whole wheat pita, olives, lemon wedges, Harissa paste, or hummus.

How to Make an At-Home Weeknight Lablabi Chickpea Stew

A traditional Tunisian Lablabi will often take days to make, soaking dried chickpeas and slowly cooking them until tender. However, this at-home version uses canned chickpeas to help expedite the process. The canned chickpeas are still simmered with aromatics and spices to impart lots of bold flavors. While you won’t have quite the same rich, flavorful broth, this quicker version plays a lovely homage to the original recipe.

How to Make an Oil-Free Vegan Lablabi Chickpea Stew

Traditional Lablabi chickpea stew is naturally plant-based and vegan. However, oil is often used when sweating the aromatics to build the broth. For this oil-free version, you simply ditch the oil and sweat the onion and garlic in a splash of water.

Plus, a traditional lablabi will often be topped with a heaping spoonful of harissa paste. This North African condiment combines red bell pepper, red chilis, vinegar, salt, and garlic with olive oil for bold, spicy flavor. However, for this oil-free recipe, I used dry Harissa spice. This spice blend combines hot chilis with cumin, caraway, and coriander. Not only will it last for months in your spice cabinet, but you can use this product on everything from cooked quinoa to Moroccan Chickpea Tagine Stew.

How to Develop Delicious Flavors in an Oil-Free Vegan Stew

Stews and soups are great recipes for learning how to layer flavors, one step at a time. This is the key to creating a delicious dish, while also limiting the amount of oil or extra salt added. Just think: If you were making a soup and threw everything into the pot at one time, it would taste like mush at the end. However, a few simple steps will reliably give you more complex, interesting flavors:

Step One: Sweat the Aromatics

Sometimes I like to think of Step One as “Step Onion” because it involves sweating your aromatics. Aromatics include ingredients like onion, carrots, celery, fennel, and bell peppers. Think of the French mirepoix or the Cajun Holy Trinity: these are the fundamental building blocks for most soups and stews. With onion and celery you get savory saltiness. With carrots, fennel, and bell peppers, you get natural sweetness. In this Tunisian Chickpea Stew, traditional recipes call for only onion and the white part of scallions.

To sweat the aromatics without any oil, I use a couple tablespoons of water and put a lid on the pot. This helps retain the moisture and prevent browning.

Chef Katie’s Oil-Free Saute Tip: If your aromatics are browning, add a splash of water and turn down the heat. Stir the aromatics well so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan. This will slow the cooking and prevent charring or burning.

Sweat the onions until softened and almost translucent

Step Two: Add your Spices and Garlic

Once your aromatics have started to release their juices and softened, you can layer in flavor with spices and garlic. For this Lablabi Chickpea Stew recipe, I add fresh garlic, cumin, coriander, paprika, and the Harissa spice blend. You want to quickly toast these spices for just 30 seconds, until they are fragrant.

Chef Katie’s Oil-Free Toasting Tip: Be careful not to burn your spices or garlic. Burning can cause an unpleasant bitter flavor to develop. To be safe, turn down your heat, stir the spices a lot, and be ready to add more liquid to the pan.

Toasting the spices helps bring out the flavor

Step Three: Add your Liquids

Once your spices are toasted and your aromatics are soft, it’s time to add the liquid for your stew. For this Plant-Based Chickpea Lablabi, I add only water. When adding these liquids, you want to scrape the bottom of the pan, loosening up any of the onion, garlic, and spices that might try to stick. Stir the liquids well to infuse them with all of the flavors you’ve built so far.

Step Four: Add your Beans, Lentils, Grains, or Potatoes

Now you’ve come to star of the show! This is when you add the substance of your stew. For this Tunisian Chickpea stew, canned chickpeas are drained and rinsed before jumping in the pot.

Now, you just “Set it and Forget it!” Put the lid on the stew, bring it up to a simmer, and let it simmer for 25-30 minutes. This is when all of that delicious flavor imparts its magic into the chickpeas. This elevates that simple can of chickpeas into a satisfying dinner.

Step Five: Finish with Greens, Herbs, Citrus, or Chilis

Once your stew has simmered for 25-30 minutes, you can taste it and check the flavors. The flavors should be nicely melded into the chickpeas for a balance of warmth and spice. Now you can finish your soup or stew with the final touch.

For this Vegan Chickpea Lablabi I had a handful of chopped fresh parsley and the green parts of the scallions. I also like serving the stew with a few lemon wedges, which can be squeezed for a pop of citrus just before eating.

Garnsih with fresh herbs and serve with lemon

Chef Katie’s Plant-Based Cooking Tips for Oil-Free Weeknight Chickpea Lablabi Stew

Canned Bean Tip: Always drain and thoroughly rinse canned beans before using. This removes any of the canned flavor and makes them more digestible.

Make a Day Ahead: This stew tastes even better after it sits for a day.

Make Extra: This is an easy recipe to double and make extra servings for later in the week. It also freezes well for future weeknight meals.

Oil-Free: I’m on a mission to get rid of empty calories, like those found in refined oils. This recipe skips oil and uses parchment paper to keep the bars from sticking to the pan. This makes a healthy, low-calorie recipe.

Why Beans Rule: Beans are a healthy source of fiber, plant-based protein, and long-lasting energy. Research shows eating 2 cans of beans a week can help you live a long, healthy life! Plus, beans are very budget-friendly. Beans Rule!