Tunisian Lablabi with Chickpeas and Bread
Lablabi is not cooked as one dish — the chickpeas boil on their own, the stale bread is torn into the bowl, and everyone builds their own portion: chickpeas and their broth, harissa, tuna, egg, oil, lemon. That is part of the dish's identity.
- Prep
- 720 min
- Cook
- 90 min
- Total
- 810 min
- Calories
- 420
Lablabi is Tunisia's popular winter breakfast, sold in dedicated shops. The cheapest and most filling breakfast there is: boiled chickpeas and their liquid over stale bread. What lifts it from simple to memorable are the toppings.
Method
-
1
Soak
Soak the chickpeas overnight with a teaspoon of bicarbonate — it softens the skins and halves the cooking time.
⏱ 720 min -
2
Boil
Rinse the chickpeas well and boil them in fresh water for an hour to an hour and a half until completely tender (crushable between two fingers). Keep all the cooking liquid.
⏱ 85 min -
3
Season
Crush the garlic with the salt and cumin and stir it into the chickpeas with their liquid and the olive oil. Let it boil another 5 minutes.
⏱ 8 min -
4
The eggs
Boil the eggs for 6 minutes (the yolk still soft), or poach them in the chickpea broth itself.
⏱ 8 min -
5
Build the bowl
Tear the stale bread into a deep bowl and ladle the hot chickpeas and their liquid over until it is covered.
⏱ 4 min -
6
The toppings
Add a spoonful of harissa, the egg, the tuna, the olives, and scatter tabil, olive oil and lemon juice. Everyone stirs their own bowl.
⏱ 3 min
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Tips that actually matter
- Keep all the cooking liquid — it is the 'broth' that soaks the bread and holds all the flavour.
- Stale bread, not fresh. Fresh bread turns to paste.
- Bicarbonate in the soak halves the cooking time and makes the chickpeas softer.
- Harissa is essential, not optional — it is the Tunisian signature in the dish.
People also ask
How is it different from fatteh?
Levantine fatteh is assembled in advance in layers with a yogurt sauce. Lablabi is a chickpea broth poured over torn bread, with everyone adding their own toppings in the bowl.
Why will my chickpeas not soften?
Old chickpeas, hard water, or salt added too early. Soak them with bicarbonate, and add no salt until the last 10 minutes.
What is tabil?
A Tunisian blend of ground coriander and caraway with a distinctive aroma, scattered over lablabi and soups. Substitute: ground coriander with a pinch of cumin.
Cook mode
Tunisian Lablabi with Chickpeas and Bread
-
1
Soak
Soak the chickpeas overnight with a teaspoon of bicarbonate — it softens the skins and halves the cooking time.
-
2
Boil
Rinse the chickpeas well and boil them in fresh water for an hour to an hour and a half until completely tender (crushable between two fingers). Keep all the cooking liquid.
-
3
Season
Crush the garlic with the salt and cumin and stir it into the chickpeas with their liquid and the olive oil. Let it boil another 5 minutes.
-
4
The eggs
Boil the eggs for 6 minutes (the yolk still soft), or poach them in the chickpea broth itself.
-
5
Build the bowl
Tear the stale bread into a deep bowl and ladle the hot chickpeas and their liquid over until it is covered.
-
6
The toppings
Add a spoonful of harissa, the egg, the tuna, the olives, and scatter tabil, olive oil and lemon juice. Everyone stirs their own bowl.
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