Jump to the Recipe
A piping-hot bowl of hearty stew is the ideal in comfort food, and this satisfying recipe can easily be a meal in itself.
The toasty blend of Moroccan spices will fill your kitchen with exotic fragrances from the East, and makes a wonderful complement to the rich, nutty flavors of the roasted vegetables.
This healthy soup packs significant nutritional value, and the price comes in at under $20 for eight servings – perfect for families on a budget.
Ground lamb, chickpeas, and lentils all provide lean sources of protein, and legumes are also an excellent source of dietary fiber.
The carrots, sweet potato, and winter squash offer high levels of vitamins A, B6, C, K, potassium, and manganese, while the thermogenic spices will warm you through and through.
Serve with a fresh garden side salad, or to stay on the Moroccan theme, coarsely dice some cucumbers, tomatoes, and mint then toss with a light vinaigrette or a yogurt based dressing.
Add a loaf of crusty artisan bread or fluffy pita bread, and a plate of mild flavored cheeses for a delicious and filling meal.
This recipe makes a large pot, so fill some containers for the freezer – you’ll love it for those days when you don’t have the time or energy to cook.
The Recipe
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 8 people | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 35 minutes | 5 minutes |
|
|
|
|
This spicy stew will fill your mouth full of the flavors of Marrakech but it is simple to make and requires only one pan! And it's ready to go in under an hour.
|
- 1 pound ground lamb
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion peeled and diced
- 2 cloves garlic peeled, smashed and minced
- 2 celery stalks trimmed and chopped
- 2 quarts chicken stock
- 14 oz. canned diced tomatoes
- 15 oz. canned chickpeas rinsed and drained
- 2 medium carrots peeled, trimmed and chopped
- 1 medium sweet potatoes peeled and cubed into bite sizes
- 2 cups butternut squash peeled and cubed into bite sizes
- 1 cup green lentils rinsed and drained
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- Prep your vegetables by cutting into chunks.
- In a large soup pot, brown the ground lamb over medium heat until no pink remains, 5-8 minutes, breaking it up into bits as it cooks. Mix in the crushed red pepper in with the meat.
- In the same pot, heat the oil and sauté the onion, garlic and celery 3-4 minutes or until the onions are translucent.
- Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, chickpeas, carrots, yam, onions, garlic, and celery, and squash and bring to a boil.
- Add the lentils, stirring well. If needed, add some water to ensure all ingredients are covered with an inch or two of liquid. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the salt, pepper, bay leaves, paprika, thyme, oregano, turmeric, fennel seeds, cumin, cinnamon and allspice and mix in well.
- Simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until the lentils and vegetables are cooked.
Nutritional Information*
Cooking By the Numbers…
Step One – Prep Your Veggies
Slice and dice your carrots, celery, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes.
Getting the peel off the squash can be pain. You definitely want to have a good quality Y-Peeler on hand.
Step Two – Brown the Meat
Bring a quality 8-quart stock pot up to a medium temperature, and add a tablespoon of olive oil and the ground lamb.
If desired, add crushed red pepper flakes. Cook the lamb until it’s browned.
If you don’t have a good thick-bottomed stock pot, the meat can be browned in a skillet (but choose something other than nonstick, as they don’t brown well).
Step Three – Finish It Up
Add the chicken stock, and bring to boil.
Add the chopped vegetables, a can of diced tomatoes, and a can of garbanzo beans (a.k.a. chickpeas). Finally, add your spices. You can use the spices in my recipe, or try Foodal’s ras el hanout spice blend.
Step Four – Simmer
Simmer on medium-low heat for about 40 minutes. If you’re really hungry or in a rush and want to eat in a hurry, 30 minutes will get you there.
Throw together a cucumber and tomato salad, add a couple chunks of bread, and dinner is served in under an hour!
This flavorful Moroccan stew will definitely transport your taste buds to the spice markets of Marrakesh!
Want more down-home stew recipes? Give our one-pot beef, turmeric red lentil and kale, or our Argentine lentil stews a try.
Can’t get enough of the warm spices and flavors? Try our recipe for Moroccan lemon chicken wings.
For more lamb recipes, we have more that you might want to try:
Do you like your food with lots of different spices? Know any other great Moroccan recipes? Let us know in the comments below!
Photos and video by Mike Quinn, © Ask the Experts, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. See our TOS for more details. Additional writing and recipe development by Lorna Kring.
*Nutritional information derived from a database of known generic and branded foods and ingredients and was not compiled by a registered dietitian or submitted for lab testing. It should be viewed as an approximation.
About Mike Quinn
Mike Quinn spent 20 years in the US Army and traveled extensively all over the world. As part of his military service, Mike sampled coffee and tea from all virtually every geographic region, from the beans from the plantation of an El Salvadorian Army Colonel to "Chi" in Iraq to Turkish Coffee in the Turkish Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. He spent nearly a decade in the Republic of Korea where he was exposed to all forms of traditional teas. Mike formerly owned and operated Cup And Brew, an online espresso and coffee equipment retail operation.
I wish we’d had this recipe in time to have eaten it on the weekend – I was away camping with some cub scouts and it poured with rain and hail, and was very cold so this would have bene an awesome meal to finish the day with! Ah well, I’ll just have to try it at home instead 🙂
The salad with the yoghurt dressing looks lovely, too.
Absolutely delicious and actually very easy to make. The ingredient list seemed intimidating until I realized I pretty much had all the ingredients already in the cupboard aside from the lamb and paprika. I did double the amount of lamb but I’m sure it would be just as good with the amount listed in the recipe or even ground beef if pinching pennies
Would love to know how i can reduce the sodium level of this dish
Thanks for your question, Dee. Note that the nutrition facts for this recipe were calculated using average nutritional information available via a public database for the canned and packaged store bought products. Using dried cooked chickpeas, homemade chicken stock, and/or canned low-sodium or salt-free chicken stock, tomatoes, and chickpeas will lower the sodium contents of this recipe significantly.