Traditionally served on Saturday's this Jamaican Chicken Soup recipe is a heart warming, delicious true island style broth made from chicken thighs, roots vegetables and combined with addition of my healthier version of homemade cock soup mix.
I'm so happy to be sharing this Jamaican soup that I cherish so dearly. Like most Caribbean people I grew up consuming soup and this one is not to be missed.
If you adore soup that is flavoursome, contains an abundance of root vegetables, herbs, spices with some meat then this is the soup for you.
If you are from the islands or heritage lies within the Caribbean then you will know just like rice, soup plays a crucial role within our community.
For Jamaicans and other English speaking islands Trinidad, Barbados, Antigua, Grenada etc... Soup is traditionally served on Saturday and some people refer to it as "Saturday soup".
Some islands refer to soup as "sopa or "bouyon".
Of course you can consume soup any other additional day of the week along with Saturday. For us, we would have soup on Saturdays and Tuesdays. It was an effortless, one pot and not to mention tasty experience.
Saturday soup tends to vary, as there are no set rules to the game - beef, mutton, mannish water (goat parts), vegetable, fish and so fourth.
What's in Jamaican chicken soup
Each individual will tailor their chicken soup to their preference. No family makes the soup exactly the same, what I mean by this is the root vegetables that are incorporated tend to vary.
You can include any of the following;
- Yam (yellow or white)
- Breadfruit
- Cocoyam
- Dasheen
- Cassava
- Pumpkin/squash
- Plantain (Yellow/green)
- Sweet potato
- Irish Potatoes
- Cho cho
- Sweet corn
- Okra
With that being said, you will always find Jamaican chicken soup with the same elements;
- Chicken pieces usually on the bone (thighs, wings, back, drumstick, feet or leg)
- Root vegetables of your choice (Pumpkin, potatoes, carrots, cho cho and yam are the most popular)
- Some dumpling (flat disc shaped or spinners (long fingers)
- A packet of cock soup for colour, thickness and additional flavour
Healthier version of cock soup mix
As mentioned above cock soup is a colour and flavour enhancer that many Jamaicans like to use when making their soup. My family would also follow this method but having scanned through the ingredients on the packet, it just doesn't sit well with me.
Half of the ingredients in cock soup are refined ingredients, contain wheat and sugars that have zero value for our body so swap this for the storebrought stuff ASAP.
DIY Cock soup alternative (the recipe you need)
Granted, I'm aware that by not using cock soup you will be left with an thin, watery anemic looking type of soup. I get it, it would be culturally offensive, unsightly and probably not taste very nice.
However, your girl has a back up plan here is the link to my own homemade rendition of Grace inspired cock soup mix.
This is a great alternative that offers, flavour, thickness and the colour that is needed to replicate a hearty Jamaican chicken soup dish. No one will know the difference unless you tell them!!
How to make Jamaican chicken soup
- Bring a stock pot of water to the boil
- Place the chicken, half of the pumpkin/squash and the pimento berries in the stock pot with water.
- Leave the pot to boil for 30 minutes (place a lid halfway over the pot) until the chicken is cooked and squash/pumpkin is tender. The pumpkin should have broken down and change the colour of the water. If it hasn't use a fork to mash the pumpkin/smash.
- Skim off any excess form that develops on the top of the boiling water.
- Make your dumpling by placing the flour and pink salt in a medium sized bowl, add a little water at a time (you may not need all of the water so use your own judgement).
- Mix the flour and water into a dough ball.
- Grab a small (golf ball size) amount of the dough and roll into the palm of your hands to create "spinners".
- Carefully lower each of the spinners into the boiling pot of soup
- Add the rest of the pumpkin/squash, scallion, cho cho, potatoes, carrots, thyme, homemade cock soup mix and scotch bonnet.
- Once all of the ingredients have been added reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer for 45 minutes until the soup thickens up.
Can you make this soup any other day besides Saturday?
Even though soup is traditionally served on Saturdays for many Caribbean islands, you certainly can serve soup any day of the week or even multiple times a week.
For example I grew up having Soup on Tuesday as well as Saturdays!
Can you make this recipe ahead of time?
The vegetables can be washed and peeled overnight in preparation. In terms of making the soup the day before, most people make the soup on the day and have any leftovers the day after.
Is it okay to freeze any leftover soup?
I can't say I've done this before, but going on my own judgement you want to make sure the soup is completely cooled down prior to freezing on a freezer friendly bowl.
I would also advise thawing out the soup thoroughly before heating.
How should any leftover soup be stored?
Refrigerate any leftover soup and consume within 2-3 days of preparing it.
Where can you buy any of the vegetables that are listed?
Head to a neighbourhood or market that stock African Caribbean food. If you are can't source any of the vegetables that are listed or don't know what they are then simply substitute with any of the others that are listed.
Notes and tips
- I recommend removing the chicken skin before making the soup, if you don't care for the excess fatty deposits in your soup ( I hate it).
- Make sure the water levels are constant when cooking the chicken (10 cups). If the water levels do reduce top up so there's enough water/liquid to make the soup.
- Use which part of the chicken you want. I even add a few strips of chicken breast to serve people a combination of on the bone chicken with some loose pieces.
- If the pumpkin doesn't break down completely when cooking it with the chicken, then use the back of a fork to mash it down to yield some colour.
- It is customary to rinse the chicken with lime/lemon, vinegar and/or salt BEFORE cooking it. This is done to remove any debris and to neutralize the chicken.
- If you want a spicy soup burst/prick the scotch bonnet before dropping it into the pot.
- Use a stock pot that yield at least 4 quarts/3 litres to avoid the risk of any over spill.
- Feel free to use whatever vegetables (as listed above) that you want to use, it's a matter of preference.
- You can add cassava dumpling or cornmeal dumpling instead
More island recipes you may like
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Jamaican Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 ½ -2 lb chicken I used thighs and 2 chicken breast fillets(8-10 pieces), cut into chunks
- 10 cups water 2 ½ litres
- 1 lb pumpkin can use 1 large butternut squash, chopped
- 2 medium potatoes Irish or sweet potatoes, chopped
- 1 Cho cho chopped
- 2 medium carrots chopped
- 2 scallion chopped
- 6 sprigs thyme
- Scotch bonnet
- 8 pimento berries
- Homemade cock soup mix see post for recipe link (use 3tbsp if using my homemade mix)
For the dumpling
- 2 cups of gluten free flour 260g
- ½ cup water approx(125ml)
- ½ teaspoon pink salt
Instructions
- Bring a stock pot of water to the boil
- Place the chicken, half of the pumpkin/squash and the pimento berries in the stock pot with water.
- Leave the pot to boil for 30 minutes (place a lid halfway over the pot) until the chicken is cooked and squash/pumpkin is tender. The pumpkin should have broken down and change the colour of the water. If it hasn't use a fork to mash the pumpkin/smash.
- Skim off any excess form that develops on the top of the boiling water.
- Make your dumpling by placing the flour and pink salt in a medium sized bowl, add a little water at a time (you may not need all of the water so use your own judgement).
- Mix the flour and water into a dough ball.
- Grab a small (golf ball size) amount of the dough and roll into the palm of your hands to create "spinners".
- Carefully lower each of the spinners into the boiling pot of soup
- Add the rest of the pumpkin/squash, scallion, cho cho, potatoes, carrots, thyme, homemade cock soup mix and scotch bonnet.
- Once all of the ingredients have been added reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer for 45 minutes until the soup thickens up.
Notes
- I recommend removing the chicken skin before making the soup, if you don't care for the excess fatty deposits in your soup ( I hate it).
- Make sure the water levels are constant when cooking the chicken (10 cups). If the water levels do reduce top up so there's enough water/liquid to make the soup.
- Use which part of the chicken you want. I even add a few strips of chicken breast to serve people a combination of on the bone chicken with some loose pieces.
- If the pumpkin doesn't break down completely when cooking it with the chicken, then use the back of a fork to mash it down to yield some colour.
- It is customary to rinse the chicken with lime/lemon, vinegar and/or salt BEFORE cooking it. This is done to remove any debris and to neutralize the chicken.
- If you want a spicy soup burst/prick the scotch bonnet before dropping it into the pot.
- Use a stock pot that yield at least 4 quarts/3 litres to avoid the risk of any over spill.
- Feel free to use whatever vegetables (as listed above) that you want to use, it's a matter of preference.
- You can add cassava dumpling or cornmeal dumpling instead
Love what you're doing with these recipes. I'm Jamaican myself and try to find healthier ways to prepare our classics. Thanks for sharing, I've gotten a lot from this site.
Hi Kathryn, thank you so so much for your support. I truly appreciate it!
Can you use more than 10 cups of water?
I haven't tested the recipe with more than 10 cups of water, sorry! Maybe you could add 1-2 cups more but that's not something I have tried myself.
Do you add all of the cock soup mix? That’s in the other directions?
No. You only need roughly 3tbsps of my homemade cock soup mix. I have adjusted this recipe to make that clear, my apologies Amanda.
This soup is delicious - so full of flavor! We always had soup on Tuesdays when my kids were growing up. (Souper Tuesday!)
Good to know and love the play on words too.
This was really amazing! Everyone at my house loved it!
Glad to hear it Toni
This sounds so flavorful! My kind of comfort food. 🙂
Yes it definitely is Carrie!!
This soup was full of flavor and so delicious. Thank you for sharing.
You are welcome Stephanie.
With everybody being at home, we are trying to include our kids in the cooking process. With that we are having them search and decide on recipes. We came across your recipe.We made this for lunch today the kids were so excited! It was VERY fun to make and so full of flavor!
Thanks for commenting Cindy. I'm so glad that you enjoyed the soup.