This Trinidad corn soup recipe is the ultimate popular vegan style street food that's perfect to consume any time of the year.
If you love Caribbean food that is naturally vegan then this corn soup is what you need in your life.
It's filling, delicious and made from scratch. What more could you ask for?
Typically known as an after party soup that can easily double up as the perfect crowd pleaser that will soon become a family favourite in no time.
When the weather is cold, that is when I'm usually rotating between various soup dishes.
Sometimes I will consume some Jamaican gungo peas soup, other times it will be Cuban black bean soup or this Trinidadian corn soup because Charla simply cannot get enough of island style soup in all it's variations.
I do recall my first experience of sampling corn soup was in the Caribbean. Anyone who knows me very well would know that I'm not an avid corn lover.
I have to be in the mood for it and it's also depends on the preparation of the corn for me to eat it.
Needless to say I ended up drinking 2 bowls of this soup, it was so tasty and incredibly filling too.
I was really impressed with the flavour too. I always said to myself that I would love to make my own version of Trinidad corn soup one day, something I could showcase to a wider audience.
My line of thinking was if I enjoyed corn soup then it's only fair that you should enjoy some soup too.
Even though there seems to be a lot of ingredients that goes into corn soup.
It's a fairly easy recipe to follow featuring some homemade vegetable stock and one that is worth the effort in my humble opinion.
How to make Trinidad corn soup
- Add olive oil to a large pot on medium heat.
- Proceed to saute the onion, chives, garlic and celery until soft and translucent.
- Add the split peas, red bell pepper, sweet potato then stir and season with thyme, chadon beni, black pepper and pink salt to taste.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes until fragrant.
- Pour in the vegetable stock along with the warm water.
- Bring the pot to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low then cover with the lid and simmer for 30 minutes until the split peas are soft (they should be easy to smash with a fork or spoon).
- Remove the lid then use an immersion stick blender to puree the entire contents in the pot.
- Pour in the coconut milk, ears of corn, corn kernels, carrots , pumpkin and scotch bonnet.
- Make the dumplings by placing the flour and pink salt in a medium sized bowl.
- Pour the water, in intervals into the bowl while kneading the flour and water into a large dough ball.
- Pinch off a small piece of dough and roll in the palm of your hands to create a long (spinner) dumpling
- Repeat and lower each dumpling into the pot of soup.
- Once added continue to simmer for a further 20 minutes.
- Do a taste test and add additional black pepper and pink salt to taste.
- Remove the scotch bonnet pepper before serving.
Notes and tips
- Make sure the ears of corn are chopped roughly the same size
- The kernels are optional as the corn pieces do pull away leaving some corn pieces floating in the soup
- This soup dish is vegan but also suitable for those who are gluten/wheat intolerant
- If you cannot get hold of chadon beni use coriander/cilantro instead
- Chadon beni is known as spirit weed (Jamaica), long coriander, Thai parsley
- The soup may thicken up as it cools down/the next day, this is normal just add a splash or water to it while heating it up and it will liquidize again.
- You can consume this soup on a calorie control/weightloss diet.
- Scotch bonnet peppers are very fiery. The heat is extracted from piercing/cutting into the pepper. In this case we are only adding the whole pepper for flavour NOT heat.
- Don't forget to remove the scotch pepper prior to serving
- Scallion/green onion is known as chives to Trinidadians
Frequently asked questions
Can I freeze the soup?
Yes, this recipe is freezer friendly. I suggest freezing the soup in individual portions.
I'm Caribbean but not gluten/wheat free. Can I still make this soup?
Yes, just use regular flour.
Do I have to add the pumpkin and sweet potatoes?
No, simply omit them if you don't care for them.
More Trinidadian recipes
- Trinidadian tomato choka
- Trinidad stew chicken
- Sago Porridge
- Dhal Puri Roti
- Dhal and Rice
- Trinidad Macaroni Pie
- Buljol (vegan style)
- Channa and aloo (copy cat version)
- Baigan choka (roasted eggplant dip)
**Don't forget to comment below and star rate if you have tried my recipes. Let's be friends and engage on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram I also like to pin on Pinterest, where you can find more amazing recipes.**
Trinidad corn soup
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoon olive oil (56g)
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 chives scallion, sliced
- 4 garlic cloves chopped finely
- 2 celery stalks sliced
- ¾ cup presoaked split peas (108g) drained
- 1 red pepper chopped
- 1 medium sweet potato chopped
- 4 sprigs of thyme stems removed
- ¼ teaspoon of chadon beni (1.24g) chopped (cilantro/coriander)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper (2g)
- 1 teaspoon pink salt (6g)
- 3 cups of vegetable stock (710ml)
- 3 cups warm water (710ml)
- 1 14oz can of coconut milk (400ml)
- 5 ears of corn organic, chopped in 2 inch pieces
- 1 cup corn kernels (164g) organic, if possible,
- 1 medium carrot chopped
- 1 cup pumpkin chopped (135g)
- 1 scotch bonnet
- additional black pepper and pink salt to taste
To make the dumpling
- 1 cup of gluten free flour (136g)
- ½ cup of warm water (118ml)
- ¼ teaspoon of pink salt (1.5g)
Instructions
- Add olive oil to a large pot on medium heat.
- Proceed to saute the onion, chives, garlic and celery until soft and translucent.
- Add the split peas, red bell pepper, sweet potato then stir and season with thyme, chadon beni, black pepper and pink salt.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes until fragrant.
- Pour in the vegetable stock along with the warm water.
- Bring the pot to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low then cover with lid and simmer for 30 minutes until the split peas are soft (they should be easy to smash with a fork or spoon).
- Remove the lid then use an immersion stick blender to puree the entire contents in the pot.
- Pour in the coconut milk, ears of corn, corn kernels, carrots, pumpkin and scotch bonnet.
- Make the dumplings by placing the flour and pink salt in a medium sized bowl.
- Pour the water, in intervals, into the bowl while kneading the flour and water into a large dough ball.
- Pinch off a small piece of dough and roll in the palm of your hands to create a long (spinner) dumpling.
- Repeat and lower each dumpling into the pot of soup.
- Once added continue to simmer for a further 20 minutes.
- Do a taste test and add additional black pepper and pink salt to taste.
- Remove the scotch bonnet pepper before serving.
Notes
- Make sure the ears of corn are chopped roughly the same size.
- The kernels are optional as the corn pieces do pull away leaving some corn pieces floating in the soup.
- This soup dish is vegan but also suitable for those who are gluten/wheat intolerant.
- If you cannot get hold of chadon beni use coriander/cilantro instead.
- Chadon beni is known as spirit weed (Jamaica), long coriander, Thai parsley
- The soup may thicken up as it cools down/the next day, this is normal just add a splash or water to it while heating it up and it will liquidize again.
- You can consume this soup on a calorie control/weightloss diet.
- Scotch bonnet peppers are very fiery. The heat is extracted from piercing/cutting into the pepper. In this case we are only adding the whole pepper for flavour NOT heat.
- Don't forget to remove the scotch pepper prior to serving
- Scallion/green onion is known as chives to Trinidadians
Perry Bass says
Great recipe 👌
Charla says
Thanks Perry
M. Mitchell says
Having just visited Trinidad, and experiencing corn soup, I just had to make my own. Fortunately, I was able to source all of the ingredients at a local international grocery, and it turned out perfectly. This will be my new Winter soup, going forward.
Charla says
Thank you so much.
Aliyah says
Is says 1/4 of chadon beni , is that a quarter cup?
Charla says
Hi Aliyah, it should be 1/4 teaspoon but I have updated the recipe card to relfect this, my apologies!
Janie says
I love this recipe. It made the process simple and easy to make.
A recipe is mainly a guide. You can add or take away ingredients to suit your personal tastes. I found it very helpful.
Charla says
Thanks Janie, Glad you liked the recipe and yes you are absolutely correct, recipes should be used as a general guide. I always advise my audience/readers to adjust my recipes to suit their palate because they are the ones who will be eating it and not everyone likes the same thing. Thanks for commenting!
Elizabeth Jagassar says
I followed this recipe step by step, hoping for a delightful dish, but regrettably, it fell short on flavor. Appreciate you sharing the recipe.
Charla says
No problem! Can't please everyone. I appreciate your feedback regardless.
Kelles says
I love how manageable this recipe is and it’s amazing! I added a chicken bullion to mine for added flavor and potatoes for more texture. I love it! Thank you for sharing!
Charla says
Hi Kelles, you are most welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed the soup and adjusted it to suit your tastebuds :).
Marina Thomas says
Hi I recently came across your website, as someone born and raised on the beautiful twin island of Trinidad & Tobago, I was a little disappointed in this recipe. Trinis do not use coconut milk in their Corn Soup or any of our local soups for that matter. If you are going to create your version of it, it should be called something other than Trinidad Corn Soup. Other Caribbean islands may use coconut milk, but Trinidad does not.
Charla says
Hi Marina, thanks for stopping by! I have family friends from Trinidad and Tobago (San F and Arima) and they make their Trini Corn Soup with coconut milk. While I certainly won't argue with you on authenticity, I can confirm that they make theirs with coconut milk. Just like other island dishes, this maybe a case of some people adapting the recipe to suit. I can think of recipes from my own island where people do their own spin on it. Sorry if this recipe isn't for you as I'm definitely not trying to offend.
Tira says
Wonderful recipe! I am from Trinidad and this is authentic and I turn to this recipe when I need to refresh my memory as I make corn soup a few times a year.
Charla says
Aww thank you so much Tira. It means a lot to me to get that seal of approval from some from sweet T and T.
Neisha says
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe! I made this today (added chicken) and it was delicious 😋
Charla says
Yay! I'm so glad you liked the recipe Neisha and the added chicken is a great spin on the corn soup.
LT says
How many servings does this make?
LT says
Sorry! I see it says 4.
Charla says
No problem!
Shiji says
If I omit the pumpkin, will it be okay? Or is it essential to the soup?
Charla says
You can omit the pumpkin with no problems, you might want to replace it with another vegetable like an extra cup of sweet potato instead. It won't impact the soup since I only used 1 cups worth of pumpkin.
Ria says
I love love love how the corn soup came out. Thank you Charla for taking time to share this amazing Trinidad dish one I’ve missed for so long now as an adult I can re-create for myself and friends. 🥰 I made it tonight and it came out AMAZING and delicious 😋
Charla says
Thank you so much Ria. I love re-creating Caribbean recipes and it's so nice when my readers touch base and provide wonderful feedback such as this.
Shiji says
How long do you soak the split peas?
Charla says
Several hours or preferably overnight.
Victoria says
I truly enjoyed this corn soup recipe, my entire family, to include my teenaged son had more than one serving.
Charla says
Yay! Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback Victoria.
Julie JJ says
Hi! I love this recipe but just wanted to mention; celery is in the steps but not
In the ingredient list.
Charla says
Hi Julie. Thank you so much for pointing that out. I have just updated the post to reflect this and my apologies!
Anna says
I've already imagined how nice it tastes! By the way, I love corn in a special way. And I adore any kind of soups with corn like, for example, spicy Mexican corn soup. So I'm really glad I came across this wonderful recipe on your blog. All the more it's vegan, that's why I'm doubly glad! 🙂
Thank you for sharing nice and healthy recipes, Charla! It's a real value for vegans and people on special diets.
Charla says
Hi Anna. Nice to meet another corn fan, thanks for stopping by.
Louise lyttle says
Made this and it was absolutely divine. Thanks for bringing such wonderful recipes.
Charla says
Thank you, glad you liked the recipe Louise.