It’s pretty clear how I’m handling winter this year: lots of big, bold, spicy food. Chili, saffron, ginger, and paprika are on heavy rotation these days, and I’m surviving cold days with hot meals infused with far-away flavours.
The inspiration for this dish came from harira, a spicy Moroccan and Algerian soup that is traditionally eaten during Ramadan. I made it a lot when I first went vegetarian, about 16 years ago, but after adding several more recipes to my repertoire, kind of forgot about it. In the interest of internally thawing out my bod, I thought I would dust off this old favourite and give it a couple updates.
You’ll often see a lot of harira recipes calling for rice or pasta, but I wanted to go the grain-free route on this one, so I pulled out my trusty spiralizer and make noodles out of sweet potatoes! As much as I love “raw noodles” like spiralized zucchini and beet and carrot, let’s face it: beyond their appearance, they aren’t fooling anyone into believing they are pasta. But something really amazing happens when you cook vegetable noodles just a little bit – they actually become rather tender, yielding, and able to absorb other flavours. Sweet potato noodles are definitely a favourite of mine, especially in cooked dishes like this one. They add great texture, and of course, noodle-free oodles of nutrients (try saying that five times).
You don’t have to soak the lentils for this dish, but it will cook faster it you do, plus the lentils themselves will be far more digestible. And of course you can use canned chickpeas instead of cooking them from dried, but because you won’t be blending them up (into hummus, for instance) I promise it’s worth the effort for not-totally-mushy results. If you’ve never tried cooking your own chickpeas from scratch, maybe now is the time to take the plunge! You’ll never go back, I promise.
Spicy Chickpea & Sweet Potato Noodle Soup
Serves 4-6
1 Tbsp. coconut oil or ghee
2 tsp. ground turmeric
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. caraway seeds
1 tsp. hot smoked paprika
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1 pinch saffron (about 40 threads) soaked in 2 Tbsp. hot water
3 medium onions
1 tsp. fine grain sea salt
14 oz / 400ml canned whole tomatoes
6oz / 170g tomato paste (1 small can)
1 ½ cup dried chickpeas OR 3 cups / 500g cooked chickpeas (about 2 cans)
1 cup dried lentils, soaked overnight if possible
1 medium sweet potato
3 slices lemon
5 cups water
½ cup / 20g cilantro, leaves and tender stems only, plus more for garnish
½ cup / 20g flat-leaf parsley, leaves and tender stems only, plus more for garnish
sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
cold-pressed olive oil and lemon wedges for serving
Directions:
1. If using dried chickpeas, soak them in pure water overnight with an acidic medium, such as apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. The next morning, drain and rinse. Place in a large stockpot, cover with fresh water, bring to a boil and simmer until tender, about 45 minutes. About 30 minutes into cooking, add about a tablespoon of salt. Drain and rinse.
2. Place saffron threads in a small cup with about 2 tablespoons of recently-boiled water. Let steep for 10-15 minutes.
3. Peel and dice onions. Heat coconut oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the turmeric, ginger, caraway, paprika, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir to blend, and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Lower the heat to medium, add onions and salt, stir to coat. Cook until translucent and slightly caramelized, about 10 minutes (add a little water to the pot if it becomes dry). Add the steeped saffron liquid, the canned tomatoes (break up any large pieces), tomato paste, chickpeas, lentils, lemon slices and water. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook covered until the lentils are tender, 15-25 minutes depending on whether or not you soaked them.
4. While the soup is cooking, make the sweet potato noodles. Scrub the sweet potato well under running water if it is organic, and peel it if it is not. Spiralize the potato if you have a spiralizer, or use a julienne peeler to create long, thin noodle-like strips. Wash the herbs well, spin dry and roughly chop, removing any tough stems.
5. Add the sweet potato noodles and herbs to the pot, stir to incorporate and let simmer for 5 minutes. Season to taste.
6. Ladle out desired amount of hot soup into bowls. Drizzle each serving generously with olive oil and top with more herbs. Serve with a wedge of lemon, and enjoy.
In other news, I’ve added two new recipes to the My New Roots App! If you’re craving a little more in the way of raw, juicy sunshine, here are two brand-new and exclusive smoothie bowls for your pleasure: the Zippy Zucchini Smoothie Bowl and the Plum Dandy Smoothie Bowl. If you have the app already simply update it, and if you don’t, you can download it here.
And this week I’m in Sri Lanka, all thanks to Cinnamon Hotels for kidnapping me from the icy cold and transporting to me to a tropical paradise full of exotic fruits, cerulean 29° ocean water, and annoyingly perfect palm-tree-sunset-white-sand-beach situations. If you don’t want to be jealous, you should probably avoid my Instagram, okay?
Stay cozy out there!
xo, Sarah B
I’ve been eating ramen recently and I learned that it makes our face puffy because of its sodium content. With my love of eating noodle dishes, I think this is a good alternative for ramen since it is very nutritious and its sodium content is lesser. And I’m sure that it is not only nutritious but also delicious.
Yum. I’ve made this many times over the years and I don’t often repeat recipes. Something about this keeps me coming back! Such a creative combination of spices that I never would have thought to put together and the result is a massive pot (fills my large dutch oven) of such a hearty warming savory stew that’s perfect for cold and rainy days. I love that it uses a whole can of tomato paste instead of the usual one tablespoon, it gives the broth great body and more umami flavor. The only tweak I’ve made is adding some chile arbol powder for some smokey heat. Thanks Sarah!
Gonna have to try this very soon. My mouth literally watered as I read the recipe. It’s a chilly day and this will be perrrrfect to warm me up. Thanks Sarah xx
Hi Elena,
Yes it will! I hope You enjoy it and stay cozy…
xo, Sarah B
I love the idea of spiralizing some sweet potato for a soup component — such a fun visual and textural touch. I also just made your North African Sundried Tomato Soup and Garlic Cloud Soup and they were both ???. (I had wisdom teeth surgery two weeks ago, so they were perfect recovery food, nourishing, delicious, and soft!)
Finally the stars aligned (ingredients all in kitchen on same week…except the coriander, used extra parsley..) and I made this soup.
Ingenious spice mixture – caraway and saffron I had never used before. Absolutely delish – mine is also a bit purple because of the sweet potato type! Many thanks, Sue
Sounds great, Sue! So happy you liked the recipe <3
Much love,
Sarah B
Wow. Your food looks wonderful. I am so excited I clicked on that link to your blog! I have an auto-immune disorder, so the fact that you food is packed with good stuff makes me really happy.
This is my new favorite Spiralizer recipe!! So good and it is packed with healthy spices like turmeric which is something I’ve been trying to add more of to my dinners. Thanks for sharing this David and Luise!!
This is my new favorite Spiralizer recipe!! So good and it is packed with healthy spices like turmeric which is something I’ve been trying to add more of to my dinners. Thanks for sharing this, Sarah!!
I am so going to make this soup when I get home. Can’t wait.
I just want to get your emails.
looking so delicious and yummy! I made this soup last night it was wonderful and tasty. It is very easy to make and less time consuming. Everything is perfect with this soup.
This is an incredible recipe and a I really admired the way you blended the three items, sweet potato, chick pea and noodle soup.
What a gorgeous bowl of veggies! I am for sure gonna try this one. Thank you!
I forgot to check the box that allows me to get emails
very delicious! cant wait to try more!
I love spicy food it look very good
Hey!
Could someone explain to me why the acidic medium in the water for soaking the chickpea?
Grateful,
Claudia
Another gorgeous day here in Milan, sunny but cold,
so I’m trying this soup out on a few friends for dinner tonight!
Thanks to Priscilla Woolworth for pointing me in your direction,
and to you Sarah for such wonderful recipes.
it was fantastic ((-:
My friend made this soup for me today. It was very good. She added goat cheese on top.
This soup is a Winter Must!
This looks completely delicious! My spiraliser has been gathering a bit of dust recently, but you’ve reminded me to pull it out again 😉 . Have a wonderful time in the sunshine!
Such a yummy soup, thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! I love the idea of west potato noodles, so good! x
I never leave comments, but I just wanted to tell you how delicious this soup is. DELICIOUS.
It made about six amazing, delicious servings, so, say hello to a week’s worth of lunches to bring work and make allll coworkers jealous.
I’m a huge fan of the spicy recipes coming out of MNR lately!! I’m such a spice fiend and I love coming here for inspiration 🙂
Never tried sweet potato noodles before, I guess no is the time. Looks so, so good. And since it’s still chilly over here in Germany, this would make an awesome dinner. Thanks for sharing Sarah 🙂
Have fun in Sri Lanka if you’re still there,
Elisa
This soup taste good. Thanks for sharing your recipes.
Dear Sarah,
Just orderd a spiralizer and soon I’ll make this great looking dish. Thanks for sharing the recipe. One question: what kind of lentils do you use?
Yum! I have been obsessed with soups lately. And I LOVE my spiralizer!!
This looks so delicious ! can’t wait to try it out!
http://dressmeupdelish.com
Deeelicious! Big hit even on my two year old who loved smelling the spices cooking in the oil and mixing the soup in his bowl before devouring the noodles 🙂 Thank you for the recipe – it’s made a cold day in Oxford feel warm and cosy!
So. Yes, the soup. Thinking about serving that to guests coming over tomorrow, not sure yet. It looks great, and I will definitely try the sweet potatoe noodles sooner or later.
But that’s not why I’m writing. Those smoothie bowls. I want those. I’d buy the app just for that, I’m sure there are loads of other brilliant recipes. But. I have a windows-phone, not an iphone. I now wonder whether you’ve ever considered going beyond Apple, or whether it would be possible to purchase those smoothie-recipes individually. Would that be possible?
So delicious and yummy!! made this soup last night it was so tasty. It is very easy to make and less time consuming. Everything was perfect with this soup.
Just made this. So good, and I love the spiralized sweet potatoes. To anyone making this – it makes a surprisingly HUGE batch.
We made this Friday evening and ate leftovers for pretty much every meal the rest of the weekend. It is so ridiculously good! It was my first time using my new spiralizer, and I was amazed at how well the sweet potato noodles held up.
Inspired by this recipe…. Using turmeric & ginger in the noodles is quite new to me… Thanks for sharing such a nice dish
http://foodmumbai.co.in
Fantastic Soup!! Made it today and it was wonderful. Used lentils that were soaked for 4 hours…also, did NOT use canned chickpeas; soaked dried chickpeas about 36 hrs in water with a bit of apple cider vinegar…rinsed repeatedly then cooked in fresh water with a pinch of baking soda…SOOO much better than canned chickpeas…and so easy!! Everything was perfect with this soup…the spices all come together esp with the lemon…and the sweet potato noodles are awesome!! One tip when plating: scoop out the soup into bowls and then use tongs to “fish out” the sweet potato noodles and top off each bowl…YUM on so many levels!!
I love the idea of sweet potato noodles and that they absorb flavours. It must taste great.
I am so obsessed with hot smoked paprika these days! It sure cures these winters blues! Have a fabulous trip – oh the food you’ll eat! Enjoy x
Just made this soup and it tastes great 😉 thanks for recipe. Wondering if it would freeze well as I have so much left over …?.
Yum, this looks like such a fun soup to eat!:)
I’m looking for an efficient spiralizer. What brand do you recommend? thank you! eli
This soup is going to become my hit! Love at first sight. Thanks, Sarah! <3
I’ve been following your blog for awhile now and was delighted to see that you’re in Sri Lanka! My mom is Sri Lankan and we go back often to see family. I would love to see your take on some of our food… My favourite dish is string hoppers with Kiri hodi (, milk gravy — it’s coconut milk) and pol sambol. Have fun!
Hi Sarah! This looks so delicious, comforting and warming, but also colorful and exciting, like a little bit of summer to warm up winter days. Hoping your app will soon be available to android or windows phone. enjoy your beach and cooking time in Sri Lanka 🙂
What brand of spiralizer is shown in your post?
Could you tell me which brand/type of spiralizer you used please, Sarah?
Many thanks!
I love this! Definitely going to give it a give – delicious 🙂
Nourishing Amelia | Food, Health and Lifestyle Blogger
So inspiring! If it weren’t for the fact that it’s 7 in the morning right now, I would run straight to the kitchen haha!
Hi Sarah, this soup looks amazing. Love the sound of all the middle eastern spices – I can almost smell it. Thanks for sharing your recipe ✨ Bita
This looks absolutely perfect! I especially love the fact that this recipe calls for ingredients I always have in my pantry. I’ll be making this very very soon.
Love, Rita xo
Every time. You do it to me every time. I’m so impressed by everything you create. I love these sweet potato noodles. I can’t wait to add this to my list of fabulous Sarah recipes! I am just now polishing off the last of your banana granola. That stuff is RIDICULOUS!
Looks very nice, thanks! What quantity for the sweet potatoes?!?
Love your recipes.
On another note: CAN WE GET AN ANDROID APP as well?
Hi Sarah, is there an Android version of your app?
This soup looks amazingly delicious Sarah & the new smoothie bowls are on my list.
Have a FUNtastic stay in sunny Sri Lanka eating local yummies and sipping fresh young coconut water. Lots of hugs & kisses
ps: I guess 2-3 large sweet potatoes will do here, right? 😉
Hi Sarah, this sounds delicious! Could you recommend a spiralizer? Also, is that a Le Creuset dutch oven in one of the pictures? It’s just that I’ve been looking for a good dutch oven for ages in light blue /teal color without any luck 🙂
I’ve yet to try the spiralized veggie trend- I love my pasta and I can’t imagine that they’d be a happy substitute. I usually would rather just throw extra veggies into the pasta itself. However, I am super interested in how you describe the sweet potato noodles here. Maybe this is the nudge I need to give something new a try.
Looks wonderful! Will any kind of lentils do? Also, how much sweet potato?
Looks like an amazing soup — cannot wait to give it a try. Which brand of spiralizer do you use here?
I love traditional harira, but this paleo version speaks to my heart and current food sensitivities much more. Thanks for this gorgeous adaptation!
This soup sounds so good and yummy!! How many sweet potatoes are measurement wise do you for the sweet potato noodles!!! Would be really good on a cold cold day which we are having many of those here in Minnesota!!!
This looks DIVINE. And exactly what I need to warm up in this cold Chicago winter!
Ka-POW! I am soooo making this soup this weekend. And I am soooo not jealous of you. Not even a bit. Noooot even a tiny bit. Like, whatever.
Hey Sarah, HOLY SMOKES this looks amazing. I added zucchini noodles in place of regular noodles in a chicken noodle soup recipe and, man, life has never been the same.
I don’t see sweet potatoes in the ingredient list? Am I just missing it? How many do you use? Also, do you spiralize the sweet potatoes raw?
Anyway, I can’t wait to try this recipe! Thanks!
I don`t see sweet potatoes in the ingredients either and was wondering about it.
Sorry about that – just added the sweet potato to the list 🙂 And yes, they are raw!
Hope you enjoy!
xo, Sarah B
This has got to be one of the most creative soups that I’ve ever seen! I love those sweet potato noodles!
This sounds so delicious, but don’t see how many sweet potatoes to use. HELP!!
This looks soooooo delicious … definitely going to make it!!! Just have one question, recipes states ” 14 oz / 400ml canned tomatoes” not sure if that means diced, whole tomatoes or crushed? Please advise so I can make this yummy soup. Thank you 🙂
Thank you for pointing this out – I usually used whole canned tomatoes (and I’ve updated the recipe) but you can also used canned chopped tomatoes – whatever you have on hand!
Enjoy,
Sarah B
I’m digging these sweet potato noodles! They look a million times better than the gelatinous ones you can find prepackaged here <3 Have fun in Sri Lanka and soak up some extra sun for us.