This Middle Eastern chicken & couscous soup is full of flavor using spices, couscous, chicken and caramelized onions. A hearty meal in a bowl.
When I was growing up, my mom used to make a delicious Lebanese dish called moughrabia. To be honest I cannot even pronounce it right. I’ve never seen it offered at any middle eastern restaurant and I have never made it. Luckily my sister in law (who is not even Lebanese) is an expert at making moughrabia and every once in awhile she makes it for our whole family. Which is quite a feat because it’s pretty time consuming. This is my easy version of moughrabia. I call it Middle Eastern Chicken & Couscous Soup because it uses rotisserie chicken and boxed couscous. It’s not moughrabia but it tastes surprisingly very close. My grandmother probably would have been very disappointed in my knock off version but when you are desperate for a bowl, this is so much easier.
I remember when my mom used to make moughrabia, my father would have to make a special trip to Pita Land in Pittsburgh to get just the right size of moughrabia. Pita Land was a cool store. They kept their moughrabia in these large bins along with dried fava beans, dried chickpeas and other unusual items. Moughrabia refers to both the grain and the dish. Moughrabia is also referred to as Israeli or Pearl couscous and is larger than traditional couscous. It’s made of semolina flour rolled into pearl-sized balls. Moughrabia (the dish) is usually a special occasion meal. The dish involves caramelizing onions, browning and cooking chicken pieces, cooking the moughrabia and making the broth. You eat it by adding a scoop of the moughrabia to a bowl, covering with an onion and chickpea broth and then adding pieces of your chicken. It’s very filling and warming in the winter time. It uses an unusual spice combination of caraway, paprika and cinnamon and it’s super tasty!
This whole thing started the other day when I was where else, but Trader Joe’s. I saw this box of Israeli Couscous and thought, “I can probably make a passable moughrabia with a rotisserie chicken and this box of TJ couscous.”
Middle Eastern Chicken & Couscous Soup
This soup involves two things going at once. You make the couscous in one pot and start your broth in another. You don’t want to put the couscous into the broth until you serve it. To make the couscous you just follow the directions on the package. I’ve never made couscous before so here is a pic of what it looks like when it’s cooked.
Making the broth
While the couscous is cooking start making the broth. Begin by caramelizing your onions in some olive oil. You want them brown but not too dark. Just as they are starting to brown, sprinkle in your spices…the cinnamon, paprika, caraway and salt and pepper. Mix them well and cook for another minute. Then add your chickpeas and broth. I always add a teaspoon of Better than Bouillon for added flavor but that’s optional. Let the broth simmer for 5 minutes and taste to see if it needs more salt if you don’t use the Better than Bouillon. Next add your chopped chicken and cook for a few more minutes. Once the couscous is cooked, you are ready to eat.
How to serve.
How to serve.To serve the final dish, you add a scoop of the couscous to a large bowl and then top with a ladle or two of the chicken and broth. Here is a pic of the final product. This is all you need for dinner because you would be surprised at how filling it is. I hope you try this unusual combination of flavors and of course enjoy it!
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Middle Eastern Chicken & Couscous Soup
Ingredients
- 2 large onions, sliced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoon caraway
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups chicken, cooked and chopped (rotisserie)
- 1 1/3 cups uncooked couscous (pearl or Israeli)
- 1 3/4 cup chickpeas
- 1 teaspoon Better than Bouillon
Instructions
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Add your olive oil to a soup pan.
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Add sliced onions and brown to a nice caramelization but not too brown.
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Once onions start to brown, add the cinnamon, caraway, paprika, salt and pepper. Mix well and cook for a minute or two.
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Next add your broth, chickpeas and bouillon if using.
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Cook for 5 minutes.
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Lastly add your chopped chicken and cook through for a few minutes.
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In the meantime, make the couscous according to the directions.
To Serve
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Add a scoop of the couscous in a large bowl.
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Top with1 or 2 scoops of the broth mixture.
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Enjoy!
mary
I just recently met a Jewish couple from Israel. She described to me how she steams the semolina from scratch twice. But most interestingly what she is steaming it with is the “Soup” as she kept calling it. She described a basic chicken broth soup with chicken, veggies, such as cabbage, onions, (“anything in the fridge”) “but do not forget the chick peas!” she insisted. As well as the woeful spices named above. After this “Soup” has steamed and enriched the couscous. She explained that she poured the soup over the couscous. I wasn’t quite sure how that worked – but now i see it through this wonderful recipe. Which I intended to try anyway but with your perfect instructions I can now do it with confidence. Thank You.
Denise
Hi Mary,
I”m sure her recipe is wonderful! This recipe is just a quick and easy way to make a dish my mother used to make. The flavors really are different and most delicious so it’s worth making in my opinion. However I’m sure the real deal is even better. Thanks for the taking the time to comment. So interesting for me to hear other peoples recipes!
Michelle
This soup sounds so good. I love the texture of couscous and how perfect to put these flavors together in a soup!
Denise
Thanks Michelle!
Veena Azmanov
My kids love the Israeli couscous. We have it at least once in two weeks. Love adding it to soups too. This sounds so flavorful and nutritious. Perfect for this time of the year.
Denise
Thanks for stopping by Veena! I think your kids will love this too.
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way
Your soup looks and sounds amazing. What is so funny is this week I was on a search for the Israeli couscous and had the hardest time finding it. This was my recipe for Facebook Live. I found some and it was the tri-color. Frankly, we prefer the pearl couscous to the finer one. I think you knock-off soup works great. I really like using the roast chicken for saving time. Will have to give the recipe a go.
Denise
Yes I too prefer the Israili couscous to the finer. IT’s more like a pasta I think. Thanks for stopping by!
Jolina
This is such an interesting dish. I’ve never had (or even heard of) moughrabia before. We love to try different cuisines so this is right up our alley. We always have couscous too but never in soup so cannot wait to try this!
Denise
It’s something I grew up with and it’s always special when my sister in law makes it (the real moughrabia) but this version is MUCH easier and tastes very similar and delicious!
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy
Nothing beats homemade soup. I love couscous….and all the flavours in this recipe make it the perfect bowl of comfort food. Perfect for this crappy cold weather….so much for spring!!
Denise
Ha I know what you mean Gloria about the weather. However this is a good comfort soup for this time of year.
Christie
I’ve never used Israeli couscous, but I’m thinking I need to change that and make your soup. It looks fabulous!! I can just imagine how those pearls of deliciousness taste. Sharing!
Michelle @ A Dish of Daily Life
My father in law was Lebanese and I was introduced to Lebanese food by my husband’s family! I make quite a few dishes, but this is one I have never heard of! I definitely need to try it as we are soup fiends here! Pinning and sharing!
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I wondered if you had some middle easter ties when I saw some of your delicious recipes! My mom made a lot of middle eastern food for my father who was Lebanese even though she was Irish/German. My parents have both passed and my brothers and sisters really miss all those great dishes and are big, family Sunday dinners.