Enjoy a meat free version of this traditional Jamaican Pumpkin Soup. It’s bursting with true Caribbean flavour, tasty and incredibly satisfying, so good you will be tempted to have more than one bowl of this goodness.
If you are looking for a way to use up some fresh pumpkin then you definitely need to check out this soup dish.
It’s suitable for most dietary requirements and is a vegan and gluten free spin on a Caribbean traditional soup recipe.
If you grew up in a Caribbean household especially one of the English speaking islands i.e Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua, St Kitts and Nevis, Grenada etc… chances are you had soup on a Saturday.
Yup, I did too!! Saturdays were reserved for soup for dinner. In my household we had soup 2 times a week – Tuesdays and Saturdays. Sometimes we would have it more than 2 times but those days were customary for us.
Today I’m going to show you how to make Jamaican pumpkin soup that is meat free and still just a tasty (I promise). I see this as a vegan rendition of Jamaican Chicken Soup using jackfruit in place of chicken.
Which squash to use?
What makes pumpkin soup truly Jamaican is the type of pumpkin that is used which is Calabaza aka a West Indian pumpkin or simply put winter squash. In the Latin American countries it is referred to as Cucurbita.
Unlike the sugar pumpkin that is used in North America and England during the fall, Calabaza is the preferred squash for island people.
Upon appearance it looks remotely different, although the flesh of the pumpkin remains bright orange, it’s skin is a striking shade of green.
Regardless of what pumpkin I am using I enjoy making Pumpkin Pone, Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup, and Vegan Pumpkin Spice Drink those are my favourite fall recipes.
Veganizing your Jamaican soup
Now here comes the fun part, veganising your soup. This is really simple to do with the following components – you will need some vegetable stock, my homemade cock soup mix (I will add the link in the notes section) and some partly mashed pumpkin to yield the foundation of the soup.
The great thing about this soup is once you have the aforementioned sorted, you simply customise the rest of the soup to your preference adding, yam (name), cocoyam, dasheen (taro) cho cho (christophine), plantain, green banana, breadfruit, cassava, potato and so fourth etc…followed by dumpling.
You can add as little or much as you like. I love yellow yam but these days I’m struggling to find it so I used white instead. You can use the exact same vegetables that I’m using or use your own vegetable medley.
How to make Jamaican Pumpkin soup
- Bring the large stock pot to the boil with the vegetable stock.
- Meanwhile, add half of the pumpkin to the pot.
- Allow the pot to boil for 10 minutes then mash the pumpkin (use a potato crusher or fork). This will form as your base.
- Prepare the dumpling by adding the flour and pink salt to a medium bowl.
- Pour the water into the flour in intervals to form a pliable dough ball.
- Pinch off about golf ball size of the dough and form into discs or roll in the palm of your hand to make spinners.
- Add the dumpling to the pot.
- Then add all of the ingredients excluding the parsley, black pepper, onion granules and coconut milk
- Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for an hour.
- Half way through cooking add the coconut milk, parsley, black pepper and onion granules, pink salt if needed stir and do a taste test and adjust accordingly.
- Continue to simmer for another 30 minutes during this time the soup should have thickened. Mash some more pumpkin for a thicker texture.
- Remove the thyme steams, scotch bonnet and pimento berries prior to serving.
Do I have to include your homemade cock soup mix?
My version of cock mix is best for people who are used the store brought kind but want something that doesn’t contain a bunch of unwanted additives.
It also helps to give more authenticity since this mix is added to many Jamaican soup dishes. If you don’t want to add the cock soup mix then definitely use vegetable stock to prevent the recipe from tasting bland.
I’m Caribbean but not gluten free, can I still make this recipe?
Absolutely! If you are not gluten free just use spelt flour or what non gluten free flour you see fit.
Is this recipe freezer friendly?
Yes, you can portion the soup into individual freezer friendly soup bowls and freeze and consume within 3 months.
When you ready to have your soup, simply leave to thaw out (this may take a few hours) on the counter top and heat through using your preferred method.
Where can you purchase the Caribbean vegetables that have been listed?
You want to head to a neighbourhood that is diverse with Black/Asians/Latinos. Go to the markets and you will find these vegetables. If you are not sure, ask the vendor as most are more than happy to help you out.
Notes and tips
- You will need a large stock pot that holds 2 quarts/2 litres.
- For best results use both Vegetable Broth and my Homemade Cock Soup Mix (click the link to access both).
- Use whatever vegetables you want, you can mirror my recipe or simply include some of your favourites.
- Use zucchini if you can’t get hold of cho cho/christophine/chayote and you may want to include swede/turnips if yam etc… isn’t a option.
- Be sure to mash half of the pumpkin before hand to make the base of the soup.
- If you can’t obtain calabaza squash, simply use butternut or any other squash. It won’t impact the outcome of the recipe.
More Caribbean soup recipes to try
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Jamaican Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb Pumpkin (450g) roughly 4 cups, chopped
- 1/2 cup coconut milk (120ml)
- 10 cups vegetable stock (2 1/2 litres) see notes for the link
- 2 cans jackfruit shredded (core discarded)
- 1 cho cho chopped
- 2 medium carrots chopped
- 1 medium sweet potato chopped
- 1/2 - 1 lb yellow yam (450g)
- 3 tbsp homemade cock soup mix see recipe notes
- 3 scallion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves chopped
- 1/2 tbsp parsley
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 onion powder/granules
- 6 sprigs of thyme
- 10 pimento berries
- pink salt if needed
For the dumpling
- 2 cups gluten free flour (272g)
- 1/2 cup warm water (120ml)
- 1/2 tsp pink salt
Instructions
- Bring the large stock pot to the boil with the vegetable stock.
- Meanwhile, add half of the pumpkin to the pot.
- Allow the pot to boil for 10 minutes then mash the pumpkin (use a potato crusher or fork). This will form as your base.
To make the dumpling
- Prepare the dumpling by adding the flour and pink salt to a medium bowl.Pour the water into the flour in intervals to form a pliable dough ball.
- Pinch off about golf ball size of the dough and form into discs or roll in the palm of your hand to make spinners.
- Add the dumpling to the pot.
- Then add all of the ingredients excluding the parsley, black pepper, onion granules and coconut milk.
- Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for an hour.
- Half way through cooking add the coconut milk, parsley, black pepper and onion granules, pink salt if needed stir and do a taste test and adjust accordingly.
- Continue to simmer for another 30 minutes during this time the soup should have thickened. Mash some more pumpkin for a thicker texture.
- Remove the thyme steams, scotch bonnet and pimento berries prior to serving.
Notes
- You will need a large stock pot that holds 2 quarts/2 litres.
- For best results use both Vegetable Broth and my Homemade Cock Soup Mix (click the link to access both).
- Use whatever vegetables you want, you can mirror my recipe or simply include some of your favourites.
- Use zucchini if you can't get hold of cho cho/christophine/chayote and you may want to include swede/turnips if yam etc... isn't a option.
- Be sure to mash half of the pumpkin before hand to make the base of the soup.
- If you can't obtain calabaza squash, simply use butternut or any other squash. It won't impact the outcome of the recipe.
Nutrition
Perfect recipe in time for Autumn. My father cooks a cow foot soup every Sunday, but since I’m vegan I don’t eat it. Seeing as it’s tradition for us Jamaicans, I’m happy there’s a vegan soup recipe very similar to what I grew up with. Thanks!
Sorry, every Saturday*.
No problem. You might also like my Trinidad Corn Soup recipe too. It’s another vegan favourite!!
This pumpkin soup looks just perfect for a cold winter day. Pinning!
Thank you Sue
Oh my, this soup sounds wonderful. So flavourful and perfect for this time of year.
Thanks Bintu.
A very hearty and wholesome soup indeed. Would have never thought of making soup with jackfruit!
It’s a game changer for sure.
Love the idea of freezing the leftovers into lunch sized portions. Makes it so easy to enjoy it during the week when I want something quick to grab. So perfect!
I’m so glad to hear that Jen. Enjoy!!
This sounds like a delicious soup recipe. Love how rich it is!
Thanks Julia!!