Lamb Chorba
on Apr 12, 2017, Updated Jun 22, 2025
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A hearty North African lamb stew with warm spices, vegetables, and chickpeas – perfectly comforting and full of bold savory flavor.
Lamb Chorba is a hearty North African stew made with tender lamb, warm spices, vegetables, and often chickpeas or lentils, all simmered in a flavorful broth. This comforting dish is rich with bold flavors from ingredients like cumin, coriander, saffron, paprika, garlic, and fresh herbs. Perfect for cooler weather or when you are looking for a meal that is cozy and aromatic.
Sometimes lamb chorba is made with freekah or couscous, but millet is another common grain incorporated into chorba. In this recipe, millet is added to the stew towards the end of the cooking time, making it a deeply satisfying and nourishing meal. Some crusty bread would also be perfect to soak up all of this delicious sauce.
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“This is a fabulous, easy to make, one pot recipe that I make frequently. It is nourishing and delicious. I offer my sincere thanks to Katie Workman for publishing it here and my respect and gratitude to the Muslim people who developed this superb meal to celebrate Ramadan! Sukran!” – Rob M.
Chorba is often served during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. The meal is served to break the fast (iftar) as it is deeply nourishing and hydrating. This Lamb Chorba is so hearty on its own, but it can also be served alongside Fattoush Salad or Tabbouleh Salad.
What's In This Post?
What is Chorba?
Chorba means soup in Arabic. And like soups, chorbas can be made in infinite ways, though most often chorba is associated with a hearty Moroccan soup made from vegetables and chickpeas, usually with diced lamb, and some sort of pasta or grain.
Chorba is made all over the Middle East, Europe, Northern Africa, and other areas. The vegetables vary, the spices vary, and the meat varies. It’s one of many dishes that has crossed many borders and morphed along the way.
I decided to use lamb in this recipe, the classic meat for this soup/stew, and millet as the grain. Millet holds up nicely in soups and stews, retaining its texture and shape well. Harissa is another quintessential ingredient in chorba. Harissa is a wonderfully spiced chili paste that adds heat and complexity to all kinds of dishes. It’s most often used in cooking and as a condiment by Moroccans and other North African countries. You can purchase it or make harissa at home.
How to Make Lamb Chorba
- Cook the chorba base: Saute the diced lamb, onion, celery, and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally. Add the cumin and coriander, followed by the tomatoes, broth, harissa, saffron, and chickpeas, and bring to a simmer. Add the millet and cook for about 20 to 25 more minutes until the millet is cooked and tender, and the soup has thickened.
- Stir in the lemon juice and parsley and serve.
More Lamb Recipes:
- Moroccan-Inspired Lamb Kebabs
- Slow-Cooked Moroccan Leg of Lamb
- Make Your Own Lamb Gyro Board
- Lamb Satay
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Lamb Chorba
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound boneless lamb shoulder trimmed and diced
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 2 carrots chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 4 cups less-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon harissa
- 1 teaspoon saffron threads
- 2 15.5-ounce cans chickpeas drained and rinsed
- ½ cup uncooked millet
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
Instructions
- In a large pot heat the oil over medium high heat, then add the lamb, onion, celery and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally until the lamb has lost most of its pinkness, and the vegetables are starting to soften. Add the cumin and coriander, stir until you can smell the spices, then add the tomatoes, broth, harissa, saffron and chickpeas and bring to a simmer.
- Add the millet to the pot and return to a simmer. Simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes until the meat and the millet are cooked and tender. Stir in the lemon juice and parsley and cook for another 2 minutes. Let the stew sit off the heat for a few minutes before serving hot.
Notes
Storage
Store leftover Lamb Chorba in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Reheat in a pot over low heat, stirring frequently until warmed throughout.Nutrition
Ramadan is an Islamic holiday that lasts the whole ninth month of the Muslim calendar year. From dawn to dusk Muslims all over the world fast and spend extra time in prayer, with the intention that this is a time of cleansing and reflection.
Muslims are permitted to eat an early morning meal and break their daily fasts after sunset. The end of the month-long holiday is celebrated during Eid al-Fitr, the festival of the breaking of the fast. Chorba is a popular food eaten during this holiday. People often celebrate with a small sweet breakfast, and then the foods that are eaten vary widely, as the population of Muslims is quite spread out throughout the world.
This is a fabulous, easy to make, one pot recipe that I make frequently. It is nourishing and delicious. I offer my sincere thanks to Katie Workman for publishing it here and my respect and gratitude to the Muslim people who developed this superb meal to celebrate Ramadan! Sukran!
As an American Muslim I want to thank you for this delicious recipe and for acknowledging such an important month. The more we know, right?
Thank you so much for writing! Yes, the more we know for sure. I wish there was not so much ignorance to combat, especially coming from the people who are supposed to be leading us to a more peaceful world.