Makhlouta, Lebanese Mixed Legume and Grain Soup
Makhlouta means "mixture" in Arabic, and the name is the recipe: whatever lentils, beans, chickpeas, and cracked grain the pantry holds, simmered together into a thick, warming soup. It is a winter staple in Lebanon and Syria, a frugal one-pot dish that turns odds and ends of dried legumes into a full meal, and it traditionally leans on nothing more than onions, cumin, and time. That makes it a natural fit for cooking without added salt or oil: the mix of legumes gives complete protein and layered texture, the bulgur and bean starch give body, sweated onion gives a browned base, and a squeeze of lemon at the end lifts the whole pot. Use whatever cooked beans you have on hand in place of the cannellini, and stretch it with more water if it stiffens overnight. It only improves on the second day.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Brown lentils, rinsed
- 1 cup Chickpeas, cooked, no salt added
- 1 cup Cannellini beans, cooked, no salt added
- 1/3 cup Bulgur
- 1 whole Yellow onions, finely diced
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 tsp Cumin seed, toasted and ground
- 1 tbsp no-salt vegetable bouillon
- 1/4 tsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice, fresh
Method
- Sweat the onion in a wide pot with a few tablespoons of water over medium heat until soft and starting to color at the edges, about 10 minutes, adding a splash more water if it sticks. Letting the onion take on some color builds the browned, savory base that stands in for the depth salt and fat usually bring.
- Add the garlic and ground cumin and stir for a minute until fragrant. Cooking the spice briefly in the hot pot blooms it, waking up flavor that stays flat if it just simmers in water.
- Add the lentils, 6 cups (1.4 L) water, and the bouillon. Simmer 20 minutes, until the lentils are nearly tender. Starting the lentils first gives them the head start they need over the already-cooked beans.
- Stir in the chickpeas, cannellini beans, bulgur, and black pepper and simmer 15 to 20 minutes more, until the bulgur is soft and the soup has thickened. The bulgur and the starch from the beans thicken the pot into the hearty, spoon-coating texture makhlouta is known for.
- Take it off the heat and stir in the lemon juice. The acid at the end brightens the whole pot and does the seasoning that salt would, so taste and add a little more lemon rather than reaching for the salt. It thickens further as it stands and reheats well with a splash of water.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 230 calories, 12 g protein, 10 g fiber, 45 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
