Lablabi
Lablabi is Tunisia's iconic street dish, served from early morning out of large, steaming pots in every city across the country — a dish of ordinary people, cheap and filling, built from a few accessible ingredients: chickpeas, old bread and spices. The name refers directly to chickpeas in the local Arabic, and the dish historically solved the problem of using up day-old bread that would otherwise be thrown away. What sets a good lablabi apart is that there's no single correct version — the chickpea-and-harissa base is just the starting point, and each diner personalizes their bowl with any combination of capers, olives, tuna, chopped onion, or an egg poached right in the broth. Technically, the key is dissolving the harissa directly into the hot liquid, not just spooning it on top like a condiment — this way the spicy heat penetrates evenly throughout the bowl, including the bread, which softens gradually without ever turning fully to mush.
Old, dried-out bread goes at the bottom of the bowl, not fresh bread
Dried bread soaks up the hot broth without turning to mush instantly, keeping a bit of structure
Harissa is dissolved directly into the hot chickpea broth, not just spooned on top
The broth gains an even spicy heat, instead of isolated hot spots on the surface
An egg is poached right in the boiling broth, over the bread and chickpeas
The yolk breaks in the bowl at serving time, enriching the broth with extra creaminess
Every bowl is personalized at the table with capers, olives, tuna and lemon
Lablabi has no single fixed recipe — the individual toppings turn the same chickpea base into a different dish each time
Ingredients 4 servings
- 400g cooked chickpeas (canned), with their liquid reserved
- 1 liter water or vegetable broth
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tbsp harissa
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 4 slices old, dried-out bread
- 4 eggs
- 2 tbsp capers
- Black olives, for serving
- Canned tuna, for serving (optional)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Olive oil, for serving
- Salt, to taste
How to make it
- 1BOIL THE CHICKPEAS: put the chickpeas with their reserved liquid, the water, crushed garlic and cumin in a pot, bring to a boil.
- 2ADD THE HARISSA: dissolve the harissa directly into the broth, season with salt, let simmer 15 minutes, so the flavors meld.
- 3PREPARE THE BOWLS: place a slice of old bread in each bowl, add some of the chickpeas on top.
- 4POACH THE EGGS: crack the eggs directly into the boiling pot or into a separate pan with water, poach 3-4 minutes, until the white sets but the yolk stays runny.
- 5ASSEMBLE: pour the hot broth over the bread and chickpeas, place a poached egg on top of each bowl.
- 6SERVE: add capers, olives, tuna, a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice, serve immediately, while hot.
Nutritional info
per serving (~400 ml)
Estimated nutritional values.
Pairs perfectly with
