Learn how to make delicious Jamaican mutton soup. A soup that is incredibly filling, boneless, flavoursome, hearty and made with a medley of root vegetables. This is another variation of Saturday soup.
A few months ago I showcased my Jamaican Chicken soup which now appears to be one of my most popular posts (thank you for your support).
Here I am showcasing another one of my favourite Jamaican soup dishes. Mutton and goat are extremely popular in Jamaica and many other Caribbean islands.
In terms of red meat, it's our preferred choice of meat to eat. However, here in the UK both mutton and goat are expensive because it isn't as popular with westerners.
My rendition
This mutton soup is MY version, let me emphasize that this isn't the traditional way of making mutton soup and I will explain why.
My family like to add mutton stock to their soup which really brings out the flavour.
I actually prefer it this way because the mutton taste is a millions time more prominent.
Tailoring the recipe
Aside from that, the soup has the same traditional principles with dumpling, ground provisions and soup mix (Mine is homemade).
Some people like to add pumpkin and crush/puree it or allow it to boil out for colour. While others leave out the pumpkin and depend on the packet soup mix to enhance the soup.
The good thing about this recipe is that you can add any vegetable that you want to.
You can add dasheen, breadfruit, yam (white/yellow), cassava, green banana, plantain etc...
We like to keep our preferred choice of vegetables quite simple, using yellow yam, dumpling/spinners, carrots, sweet potato and cho cho.
We tend to rely on the pumpkin that is included in the soup mix and that's simply to add some colour/flavour.
As mentioned before, we like the flavour of the mutton to really come through so we tailor the recipe around the mutton first and foremost.
The steps
- Add the mutton, sprinkle in the seasoning and pour the water into the instant pot.
- Secure the lid, select "meat mode" and adjust to 20 minutes then set the valve to "sealing".
- Once the time is up, do a quick release and switch the valve to "venting" be careful as the steam will immediately shoot upwards, so keep your face away from the lid.
- Transfer 5 cups of water from pressure cooking, the 5 cups of mutton stock, along with the mutton to a stock pot and allow to boil (it will boil quickly, since half of the water is already hot).
- Now add the vegetables/herbs - cho cho, yam, potato, carrot, scallion, onion (if using) pimento berries, thyme and the cock soup mix and stir then reduce the heat to medium/low.
- Place the flour in a bowl with pink salt.
- Gradually pour the water into the bowl (you may not need all of it) until it's sticky enough to make a dough ball.
- Pinch off a small amount of dough and roll in the palm of your hands to make "spinners" and make discs to make regular dumpling.
- Start to add them as you make them to the pot.
- Once the dumpling is added, add the scotch bonnet, partly cover the pot (if it is possible) and allow to simmer for up to an hour (skim off any additional foam if needed). If you want the soup thicker, use the back of a spoon to mash some of the potato.
- Do a taste test and adjust with pink salt, garlic powder and black pepper if needed
Frequently asked questions
You will need to head to some where that has a black community (African/Caribbean) since both of these demographics consume these vegetables the most.
No, you can't replace i.e yam with a turnip/swede etc.. the vegetables used are unique to the Caribbean culture so if you cant obtain them, it won't work as you need at least the majority of what is listed.
No, it's best to serve the soup immediately or within 2-3 days of cooking it.
I don't see why not however, Typically this soup is made and served on the same day.
Absolutely! The only thing that is free from gluten is the dumpling/homemade soup mix so just make them with spelt or another wholesome flour instead.
Yes, but because mutton takes a few hours to cook a pressure cooker is needed to reduce the cooking time and to get that soft texture that you need.
If you don't have a pressure cooker then you will need to cook the mutton in some water until it is tender which is takes about 1 hr 30 - 2 hours.
Once the mutton is cooked then continue to follow the instructions from the "to make the soup" section of the recipe card.
Yes, if you want to use Cornmeal Dumpling, Cassava Dumpling
To make it low carb use vegetables that are much lower in carbs/calories like corn on the cob, okra, peppers (not traditional but low carb), use more cho cho and carrots.
You may want to try my Caribbean Detox Soup instead.
Notes and tips
- This is my Homemade Soup Mix that I use for the recipe. It is gluten free and has been updated to double up as pumpkin soup mix.
- Feel free to use any cut of meat you want to, I used boneless but cuts of meat with bone works too.
- Use a stock pot that holds at least 4 quarts/3 litres to avoid over spill.
- While the mutton is pressure cooking, save yourself some time by peeling the vegetables. Have some water mixed with a few teaspoons of pink salt/lemon juice in a bowl and once you peel the vegetables leave them in the bowl of salt water as this will prevent discolouring.
- Feel free to use whatever ground provisions you prefer. Each person has their preference and the ones I'm using may be different to what you use.
- If you are using my homemade soup mix (prior to the updated version) then you might want to add ⅓ cup of pureed pumpkin (add this when making the soup) to give the soup some more colour/taste.
- If possible I recommend adding the Mutton Stock, this will add tons of flavour.
- A great alternative to my homemade Mutton stock is to add some stock cubes/bouillon/ You will want 3-4 cubes of either lamb/mutton/goat.
- I'm using this Seasoning when pressure cooking the meat.
Other population Caribbean soups to try
- Red Peas Soup
- Jamaican Beef Soup
- Trinidad Corn Soup
- Pumpkin Soup
- Jamaican Fish Tea
- Crema de Malanga (Dasheen soup)
- Callaloo Soup
- Jamaican Chicken Soup
- Gungo Peas Soup
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Jamaican Mutton Soup
Ingredients
To pressure cook the meat
- 2-2½ lbs mutton (1.3kg) I used both boneless mutton/goat meat but bony meat works just fine.
- 7 cups water (1.6 litres)
- 2 tablespoon any red meat seasoning (30g) optional see notes i.e lamb, mutton, goat, beef
To cook the soup
- 1 lb yam (450g) white or yellow, chopped
- 1 cho cho chopped
- 1 medium potato I used sweet potato but Irish potato works too
- 1-2 medium carrot(s) chopped
- 3 scallion chopped
- 1 small onion chopped, optional
- 8 sprigs of thyme tied in a bundle
- 8 pimento berries
- 5 cups water (1.18 litres) leftover from pressure cooking the meat
- 5 cups mutton stock (1.18 litres) see the notes for the link
- pumpkin soup mix I'm using 3tbsp of my homemade soup mix, see notes
- scotch bonnet
- black pepper, garlic powder and pink salt to taste
For the dumpling
- 2 cups gluten free flour (272g)
- ½ cup water (118ml) (approximately)
- ½ teaspoon pink salt (2.5g)
Instructions
To pressure cook the mutton
- Add the mutton, sprinkle in the seasoning and pour the water into the instant pot
- Secure the lid, select "meat mode" and adjust to 20 minutes then set the valve to "sealing".
- Once the time is up, do a quick release and switch the valve to "venting" be careful as the steam will immediately shoot upwards, so keep your face away from the lid.
- Remove any fat/scum/residue from the top of the mutton water with a spoon before using it.
To make the soup
- Transfer 5 cups of water from pressure cooking, the 5 cups of mutton stock, along with the mutton to a stock pot and allow to boil (it will boil quickly, since half of the water is already hot).
- Now add the vegetables/herbs - cho cho, yam, potato, carrot, scallion, onion (if using) pimento berries, thyme and the cock soup mix and stir then reduce the heat to medium/low.
To make the dumpling
- Place the flour in a bowl with pink salt
- Gradually pour the water into the bowl (you may not need all of it) until it's sticky enough to make a dough ball.
- Pinch off a small amount of dough and roll in the palm of your hands to make "spinners" and make discs to make regular dumpling
- Start to add them as you make them to the pot.
- Once the dumpling is added, add the scotch bonnet, partly cover the pot (if it is possible) and allow to simmer for up to an hour (skim off any additional foam if needed). If you want the soup thicker, use the back of a spoon to mash some of the potato.
- Do a taste test and adjust with pink salt, garlic powder and black pepper if needed
Notes
- This is my Homemade Soup Mix that I use for the recipe. It is gluten free and has been updated to double up as pumpkin soup mix.
- Feel free to use any cut of meat you want to, I used boneless but cuts of meat with bone works too.
- Use a stock pot that holds at least 4 quarts/3 litres to avoid over spill.
- While the mutton is pressure cooking, save yourself some time by peeling the vegetables. Have some water mixed with a few teaspoons of pink salt/lemon juice in a bowl and once you peel the vegetables leave them in the bowl of salt water as this will prevent discolouring.
- Feel free to use whatever ground provisions you prefer. Each person has their preference and the ones I'm using may be different to what you use.
- If you are using my homemade soup mix (prior to the updated version) then you might want to add ⅓ cup of pureed pumpkin (add this when making the soup) to give the soup some more colour/taste.
- If possible I recommend adding the Mutton Stock, this will add tons of flavour.
- A great alternative to my homemade Mutton stock is to add some stock cubes/bouillon/ You will want 3-4 cubes of either lamb/mutton/goat.
- I'm using this Seasoning when pressure cooking the meat.
Uriel Bowen says
Thank you, very close to the way my mum (mummy) used to make it.
She's Dominican (Common Wealth.)
I'll be making this for supper.
Keep up the good work.
Kindest regards.
Charla says
Hi Uriel. Thank you for the support, Yes I know Dominica very well. I'm glad to hear that this recipe reminds of how your mother used to make it. I hope my version meets your approval.