How To Make Libyan Soup with Ingredients You Can Easily Get!

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I have been meaning to write this post for about 2 years! Since marrying a Libyan I have become quite accustomed to making Libyan Soup and it is truly delicious.. and pretty easy. I share it a lot on my Instagram stories so I wanted to finally write up the recipe, and create a step by step video which you can view on Instagram here and TikTok here!

Libyan Soup, or Shorba as soup is called in Arabic is a very North African dish and similar in many ways to Moroccan and Algerian soup, but it is very unique too!

One of the main reasons I’ve put off writing this post is because I use a pre-made 10 blend Libyan spice mix from GP Spices and I know not everyone wants to buy new spices for a dish they might not make again (although I think you will end up making it again!). But, I did speak to a friend and my sister in law to see what they used instead of the special mix and they gave me spices easy to find in all supermarkets or that you most likely already have!

I will say that GP Spices is a small female ran business and they sell all sorts of spices and spice organisational items with prices from £3.00 for a small bag of spice so they are worth checking out and I’m sure you’ll find a few things to buy from them!

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Libyan Soup Recipe

So yallah, let’s get into it! I do eyeball the soup a lot now and this isn’t a food recipe blog (it’s a travel blog!) so forgive me for some of the vague details but I’ll tell you what I do and it always works. I’ve also shared some tips at the bottom!

What you’ll need to make Libyan soup:

300-500g lamb pieces (can include bone or fat, it’s up to you)
2 tbsp olive oil / vegetable oil
1 onion
2 tsp salt
1 tube tomato paste
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp 10 Libyan spices OR 2 tsp 7 spices OR 2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp chilli powder
6 cups of water
Tin of chickpeas
3 cups of water
2 handfuls orzo pasta
handful fresh parsley
2 tbsp dried mint
Lemon slices to serve

Recipe for how to make Libyan Soup:

Step 1 – Cut your lamb into small pieces. This is a soup, not a stew so you don’t want the pieces to be too big. If you got a cut of lamb with fat on, this is ok

Step 2 – Chop onion into small pieces

Step 3 – Heat oil in large pan and add lamb and onion together on medium heat

Step 4 – Once cooked, add your spices. 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp turmeric and either 1 tbsp 10 Libyan spices OR 2 tsp 7 spices OR 2 tsp mixed spice (see note below). Plus, 1/2 tsp chilli powder. Mix this all in and cook for a minute

Step 5 – Add a whole tube of tomato paste and let the whole mixture sizzle and cook for a minute or so

Step 6 – Add boiling water. I usually add about 6 cups but if you are making this recipe for just yourself or 2 people, use a smaller amount of meat and then 4 cups.

Step 7 – Add the chickpeas. See note below, if you don’t like them, don’t add them or just add half a can

Step 8 – Let this boil on a medium heat for 30-45 minutes

Step 9 – Add more boiling water but less than the time before, about 3 cups and boil again for 30-45 minutes

Step 10 – One of the last few steps is to add the orzo pasta, I add 2 handfuls but it doesn’t have to be exact and a variation is fine. Once added keep stirring so it doesn’t stick to the bottom. This is going to help thicken the soup too

Step 11 – I know it’s hard to tell you haven’t cooked it before, it should be a bit watery, it’s not a super thick soup, but if it tastes too watery, add 1/2 tube of tomato paste in

Step 12 – Add handful of parsley again, the exact amount can vary and you can add this before or after the orzo, it doesn’t matter too much

Step 13 – Add 2 tbsp dried mint (this is one of the KEY ingredients!)

Step 14 – Serve with a slice of lemon squeezed into the soup. We eat this with crusty bread too

Tips for making Libyan Soup:

Don’t have 7 spices? You can add a more generic ‘mixed spice’ from the supermarket instead as this is 5 of the spices, or, use some black pepper and a small amount of cinnamon instead.

Chickpeas are optional – ok, some Libyans might hate this comment lol, but my husband and stepsons won’t eat chickpeas so I never put them in my soup otherwise they’ll end up fishing them out. It is nicer with them but not necessary.

Feel free to add more spices later on if you feel like it needs more flavour and more salt.

Can’t handle the heat? Don’t put in the chilli powder, or just put in a pinch.

Don’t have parsley? Use fresh coriander instead. Or a tbsp of dried parsley or coriander.

Looks too watery? Add more tomato paste. Sometimes I use 1.5 tubes of tomato paste.