Lablabi, Tunisian chickpea soup

Lablabi is a Tunisian soup of chickpeas in their own broth with garlic, cumin, harissa and olive oil, poured over day-old bread and topped with a soft egg. It is spicy, filling and cheap, and in Tunisia it is eaten on winter mornings.

Pot calculatorOrder Lablabi

VegetarianDairy freeParveAllergens:GlutenEggs

Updated

LablabiIllustration
Time1 h 35 minCook 1 h 15 min · + Soak 12 h
Pot6 bowls2.7 litres
Per bowl585 kcal25.6 g protein · a 450 ml bowl
Cost of the pot₪33for the pot, about ₪5.4 a bowl

The story of Lablabi

In Tunisia lablabi is winter and breakfast street food. At the stalls bread is torn into the bowl in front of you, boiling broth with chickpeas is ladled over it, and harissa (a hot red chilli paste), cumin, olive oil and egg go on as you like.

The soup belongs to all of Tunisian cooking, and Jews who came to Israel from Tunisia knew it from the streets there. At home it is a fine way to use yesterday's bread: dry bread soaks up the spicy broth and softens without turning to mush.

What makes Lablabi itself

Lablabi is a soup assembled in the bowl. The broth itself is plain, chickpeas and water, and the character comes from what goes in last: garlic crushed with toasted cumin, red harissa, lemon, olive oil, capers and an egg whose yolk breaks into the soup and enriches it. The dry bread at the bottom is not a side but part of the dish, and it turns the soup into something between a soup and a stew.

Lablabi for any number of people

Change the number of people and the bowl size, and every ingredient updates in grams, with the cost, calories and protein per bowl.

Bowl size
Units
2.7litres in the pot
4Pot to use, litres
₪32Cost of the pot
₪5.4per bowl
585kcal per bowl
25.6g protein per bowl
IngredientAmountCost
Chickpeas and broth
Dry chickpeas, soaked overnight400 g₪6.6
Water2.5 l
Bicarbonate of soda3 g₪0.1
Bay leaves1 g · 2 pcs₪0.4
Salt14 g₪0.0
Seasoning
Garlic cloves30 g · 6 pcs₪1.0
Cumin seeds, toasted and crushed8 g₪0.7
Harissa40 g₪2.8
Olive oil60 g₪3.2
Lemon juice40 ml₪0.8
In the bowl
Day-old white bread or baguette, torn into pieces300 g₪4.8
Eggs360 g · 6 pcs₪8.7
Capers30 g₪2.7
Chopped parsley15 g₪0.7
Send on WhatsApp

Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026. Nutrition from the ingredients in grams, before cooking.

How many calories in Lablabi? Nutrition facts and calorie calculator

Change the amount of any ingredient, drop one, or pick a lighter version, and the numbers per serving update at once: calories, fat, carbs, protein, sodium and fibre.

Lablabi has 130 calories per 100 ml. A 450 ml bowl made with our recipe has 585 calories: 25.6 g protein, 22.6 g fat and 60 g carbohydrates. A 250 ml cup has 325 calories.

Lighter

Ingredients, for the whole recipe

  • 400 g243 kcal per serving
  • 3 g0 kcal per serving
  • 2 pcs1 kcal per serving
  • 14 g0 kcal per serving
  • 6 pcs7 kcal per serving
  • 8 g5 kcal per serving
  • 40 g20 kcal per serving
  • 60 g88 kcal per serving
  • 40 ml2 kcal per serving
  • 300 g132 kcal per serving
  • 6 pcs86 kcal per serving
  • 30 g1 kcal per serving
  • 15 g1 kcal per serving

What each add-on adds to Lablabi

Values for the amount in the row, from the national food database.

Add-onCaloriesProtein, gFat, g
One large egg837.35.5
A tablespoon of oil122013.8
A slice of white bread792.50.5
A slice of challah12641.1

How to make Lablabi

In cook mode the screen stays on, tap a step when it is done, and the timers run next to each step.
  1. Drain and rinse the soaked chickpeas.
  2. Put them in a pot with 2.5 litres of water, the bay leaves and the bicarbonate of soda, bring to a boil and skim.
  3. Simmer gently, covered, for 50 to 60 minutes, until the chickpeas are completely soft and crush between your fingers.
  4. Pound the garlic with the cumin and a pinch of salt into a paste.
  5. Add the garlic paste, harissa, half the olive oil and the salt to the pot and cook for 10 minutes more. Add the lemon juice and adjust the salt.
  6. Meanwhile poach the eggs in simmering water for 3 to 4 minutes each, or boil them soft in their shells for 6 minutes and peel.
  7. Put a handful of bread in each bowl and ladle broth and chickpeas over it.
  8. Top each bowl with an egg, scatter with capers and parsley, drizzle with the rest of the oil and serve with harissa and lemon on the side.

The science of Lablabi

Kitchen science

Soaking and bicarbonate of soda

A dry chickpea absorbs roughly its own weight in water while soaking, so it cooks faster and more evenly. Bicarbonate of soda raises the pH of the water, and an alkaline environment weakens the pectin holding the cell walls together, so the chickpeas soften quickly. Too much gives a soapy taste and a mushy texture, so a pinch is enough.

Kitchen science

Why stale bread, not fresh

In bread that has stood a day, the starch has retrograded: its chains have re-formed into a tighter, firmer structure. Such bread absorbs liquid slowly and keeps its shape, while fresh bread, with soft, open starch, collapses into mush at once.

Kitchen science

Crushed garlic and toasted cumin

Crushing garlic breaks its cells, and the enzyme alliinase turns alliin into allicin, which gives garlic its bite and sharp smell. Cumin toasted in a dry pan releases aromatic oils and develops roasted flavours. Both go in near the end so their punch is not cooked away.

Kitchen science

The soft egg

Egg white begins to set around 62 °C and the yolk around 65 to 70 °C. A 3 to 4 minute poach in simmering water gives a set white and a runny yolk, which breaks into the soup as a rich sauce.

Lablabi in every kitchen

Street-stall classic

Bread, chickpeas, broth, harissa, cumin and olive oil, with a soft egg on top.

With tuna

In Tunisia canned tuna and olives are often added, beside the egg or instead of it. Still parve.

Without bread

For a gluten-free bowl, serve the chickpeas and broth without bread and add another egg.

Vegan

Without egg or tuna, with extra capers and olives, lablabi is fully vegan.

Common Lablabi problems and how to fix them

The chickpeas in my lablabi will not soften

Old chickpeas or too short a soak. Keep cooking with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, and next time soak for 12 hours in plenty of water.

The bread turned to mush

It was fresh or too soft. Use day-old bread in large pieces and ladle the broth over it only at serving time.

The lablabi is too spicy

Too much harissa went into the pot. Add broth or hot water and a little lemon, and next time put half in the pot and serve the rest on the side.

The soup tastes soapy

Too much bicarbonate of soda. A pinch, about three grams per pot, is enough. A little more lemon partly rescues it.

The poached egg fell apart

The egg was not fresh or the water boiled hard. Crack each egg into a cup, lower the heat to a small simmer and slide it in, or boil the eggs soft in their shells for 6 minutes.

Storing, freezing and reheating

3 days, without bread and eggs

In the fridge

3 months, broth and chickpeas only

In the freezer

2+4

To cool

Bring it from 60 to 21 °C within two hours and down to 5 °C within four more. Split a big pot into shallow boxes.

75 °C

Reheating

Bring the broth and chickpeas back to a boil and assemble fresh bowls with bread and egg. Bread that has already soaked up soup is not worth keeping.

Nutrition of Lablabi

From our recipe, per bowl and per 100 g, next to the national food database.

ServingkcalProtein, gFat, gCarbs, gFibre, g
Our recipe, a 450 ml bowl58525.622.660.013.0
Our recipe, 100 ml1305.75.013.32.9

What the ingredients of Lablabi cost

What each ingredient costs in one pot, and where to buy it.

IngredientPriceIn this potWhere to buy
Eggs₪1.4 each₪8.7Supermarket
Dry chickpeas, soaked overnight₪16 per kg₪6.6Supermarket
Day-old white bread or baguette, torn into pieces₪8 each₪4.8Supermarket
Olive oil₪53 per litre₪3.2Supermarket
Harissa₪70 per kg₪2.8Supermarket
Capers₪90 per kg₪2.7Supermarket
Garlic cloves₪34 per kg₪1Greengrocer
Lemon juice₪20 per litre₪0.8Supermarket
Chopped parsley₪4.9 each₪0.7Greengrocer
Cumin seeds, toasted and crushed₪86 per kg₪0.7Supermarket
Bay leaves₪360 per kg₪0.4Supermarket
Bicarbonate of soda₪24 per kg₪0.1Supermarket
Salt₪2.1 per kg₪0Supermarket

Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026, VAT included. Vegetable prices change with the season.

Make Lablabi a meal

Shabbat

Ready Shabbat food

Soup, hamin, mains and sides, with a quantity calculator and prices.

Plan Shabbat
Hosting

Hosting trays

9 trays to go with the soup, with a planner by number of guests.

Tray planner
Events

Catering

A whole menu in grams per guest, with a reheating table.

Menus

What to serve with Lablabi

Serve in deep bowls with harissa, lemon, cumin and olive oil on the table. Olives, tuna or pickled turnip on the side are all welcome.

The cuisine behind Lablabi

Tunisian

Tunisian cuisine

In Tunisia lablabi is winter and breakfast street food. At the stalls bread is torn into the bowl in front of you, boiling broth with…

Tunisian cuisine

Lablabi in large quantities: events, offices and communities

How much of everything by number of guests, at a 450 ml bowl. For institutional pots, catering and community kitchens.

GuestsLitres30 l potsCost of ingredients
25111₪135
50221₪271
100452₪542
200904₪1,084
5002259₪2,709

Every ingredient for any number of guests is in the calculator above: type the number of people.

Order Lablabi

A ready pot for Shabbat, an event or the office, ordered ahead.

  • Cooked to order, for Shabbat, an event or the office.
  • Tell us how many people and when, and we send a quote.
  • Delivery in Tel Aviv from ₪35, free over ₪750.
Ask for a quote for Lablabi

Order Lablabi for a large event

Large orders in Israel and abroad: events, offices, synagogues, communities and institutions.

  • In Israel: cooked in Tel Aviv and delivered to events in the area, and to large events anywhere in the country on a quote.
  • Abroad: for communities, events and restaurants. Tell us where, how many and when, and we come back with a quote and options.
  • Institutional quantities and a shopping list for any number of guests, in the calculator above.
Ask for a large-order quote

Frequently asked questions

What is lablabi?

A Tunisian soup of chickpeas in their broth with garlic, cumin and harissa, served over dry bread with an egg, olive oil and lemon.

Which bread suits lablabi?

Crusty white bread, such as baguette or a country loaf, a day or two old. Dry bread soaks up the broth and stays in pieces.

Can I use canned chickpeas?

Yes. Use them with their liquid, top up with water for broth and cook for just 15 minutes with the spices.

Is lablabi vegan?

Without the egg it is: chickpeas, bread, olive oil and spices. With the egg it is vegetarian and parve.

What is the difference between lablabi and hummus?

Hummus is a purée of chickpeas with tahini. In lablabi the chickpeas stay whole in a spicy broth and are served as soup over bread.

How long does lablabi cook?

About an hour and a quarter after an overnight soak: an hour for the chickpeas and 10 minutes with the spices.

How many calories are in Lablabi?

A 450 ml bowl of Lablabi made with our recipe has about 585 calories and 25.6 g of protein. Per 100 ml: 130 calories.

How much does it cost to make Lablabi at home?

A pot of 6 bowls costs about ₪33 at Israeli shelf prices in October 2026, about ₪5.4 a bowl. The calculator above works it out for any number of people.

Every soup in Israel

75 soups, each with a pot calculator, a price list and the science. Search by community, time, calories or cost.

All the soups

More soups

BissaraIllustration
Moroccan

Bissara

Bissara is a thick, smooth soup of dried peeled fava beans, garlic, cumin and paprika, served with a pool of…

HariraIllustration
Moroccan

Harira

Harira is the thick Moroccan soup of tomatoes, lentils, chickpeas, a little meat and fresh herbs, thickened…

Libyan shorbaIllustration
Libyan

Libyan shorba

Shorba is a red, spicy Libyan soup of small lamb cubes, tomatoes, chickpeas and small pasta, finished with…

Red lentil soupIllustration
Iraqi, Egyptian

Red lentil soup

Red lentil soup is the quick, thick winter soup of the Israeli home: red lentils, carrot, celery and cumin…