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    BLANK » Recipe Index » Caribbean Dishes

    Trinidad corn soup

    Last Updated January 7, 2023. Published November 3, 2019 By Charla 21 Comments

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    This Trinidad corn soup recipe is the ultimate popular vegan style street food that's perfect to consume any time of the year.

    Trinidad corn soup is the ultimate tasty after party Caribbean street food

    Large pot of soup with ladle

    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.

    Side shot of the corn soup

    How to make Trinidad corn soup

    steps 1-3 sauteing veg and adding corn

    • Melt the coconut oil on medium heat.
    • Proceed to saute the onion, chives, garlic and celery until soft and translucent.
    • Add the split peas, red bell peppers, sweet potato then stir and season with thyme, chadon beni, black pepper and pink salt to taste.
    • Cook for 2-3 minutes until fragrant.

    steps 4-6 adding veg stock and pureeing split peas

    • 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.

    steps 7-9 adding pumpkin, carrots and corn ears

    • Pour in the coconut milk, ears of corn, corn kernels, carrots , pumpkin and scotch bonnet.

    Steps 10-11 adding coconut milk 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

    Steps 12-14 making the dumpling

    • 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.
    • 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.

    Ladle scooping up some of the corn ears

    More Trinidadian recipes

    • Trinidadian tomato choka
    • Trinidad stew chicken
    • Sago Porridge
    • 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.**

    Large pot of corn soup

    Trinidad corn soup

    Trinidad corn soup is the ultimate one pot, vegan street food that is hearty and flavoursome
    5 from 8 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Soup
    Cuisine: Caribbean
    Prep Time: 40 minutes
    Cook Time: 50 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
    Servings: 4 servings
    Calories: 617kcal
    Author: Charla

    Ingredients

    • 5 ears of corn chopped in 2 inch pieces
    • 1 cup corn kernels 115g
    • ¾ cup presoaked split peas drained (115g)
    • 1 medium sweet potato chopped
    • 1 red pepper chopped
    • 1 cup pumpkin chopped (135g)
    • 1 medium carrot chopped
    • 2 celery stalks sliced
    • 1 small onion chopped
    • 2 chives scallion, sliced
    • 4 garlic cloves chopped finely
    • ¼ of chadon beni chopped (cilantro/coriander)
    • 4 sprigs of thyme stems removed
    • 1 teaspoon black pepper
    • 1 can of coconut milk 400ml
    • 3 cups of vegetable stock 300ml
    • 3 cups warm water 300ml
    • 1 scotch bonnet
    • 2 tablespoon coconut oil
    • Pink salt to taste

    To make the dumpling

    • 1 cup of gluten free flour 125g
    • ½ cup of warm water 125ml
    • ¼ teaspoon of pink salt

    Instructions

    • Melt the coconut oil on medium heat.
    • Proceed to saute the onion, chives, garlic and celery until soft and translucent.
    • Add the split peas, red bell peppers, 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 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.
    • 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

    Nutrition

    Calories: 617kcal | Carbohydrates: 94g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 26g | Sodium: 1014mg | Potassium: 1341mg | Fiber: 19g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 11660IU | Vitamin C: 62mg | Calcium: 105mg | Iron: 8mg
    Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @ThatGirlCooksHealthy or tag #ThatGirlCooksHealthy!
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    About Charla

    I'm Charla. Caribbean foodie & Certified Health Coach. Welcome to the heaven of gluten and dairy free recipes as well as modernised healthier alternatives to some of your favourite Caribbean recipes.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Marina Thomas

      May 07, 2022 at 6:15 pm

      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.

      Reply
      • Charla

        May 07, 2022 at 8:01 pm

        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.

        Reply
    2. Neisha

      March 23, 2022 at 10:08 pm

      Thank you so much for sharing your recipe! I made this today (added chicken) and it was delicious 😋

      Reply
      • Charla

        March 24, 2022 at 7:06 am

        Yay! I'm so glad you liked the recipe Neisha and the added chicken is a great spin on the corn soup.

        Reply
    3. LT

      August 19, 2021 at 6:01 pm

      How many servings does this make?

      Reply
      • LT

        August 19, 2021 at 6:03 pm

        Sorry! I see it says 4.

        Reply
        • Charla

          August 19, 2021 at 6:09 pm

          No problem!

          Reply
    4. Shiji

      October 09, 2020 at 4:17 pm

      If I omit the pumpkin, will it be okay? Or is it essential to the soup?

      Reply
      • Charla

        October 09, 2020 at 4:19 pm

        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.

        Reply
    5. Ria

      August 20, 2020 at 3:01 am

      5 stars
      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 😋

      Reply
      • Charla

        August 20, 2020 at 8:58 am

        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.

        Reply
        • Shiji

          October 10, 2020 at 10:34 pm

          How long do you soak the split peas?

          Reply
          • Charla

            October 10, 2020 at 10:37 pm

            Several hours or preferably overnight.

            Reply
        • Victoria

          November 22, 2021 at 1:20 am

          I truly enjoyed this corn soup recipe, my entire family, to include my teenaged son had more than one serving.

          Reply
          • Charla

            November 22, 2021 at 7:12 am

            Yay! Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback Victoria.

            Reply
      • Julie JJ

        January 20, 2021 at 9:44 pm

        Hi! I love this recipe but just wanted to mention; celery is in the steps but not
        In the ingredient list.

        Reply
        • Charla

          January 20, 2021 at 9:55 pm

          Hi Julie. Thank you so much for pointing that out. I have just updated the post to reflect this and my apologies!

          Reply
    6. Anna

      November 23, 2019 at 10:02 pm

      5 stars
      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.

      Reply
      • Charla

        November 24, 2019 at 5:35 pm

        Hi Anna. Nice to meet another corn fan, thanks for stopping by.

        Reply
    7. Louise lyttle

      November 05, 2019 at 3:07 pm

      5 stars
      Made this and it was absolutely divine. Thanks for bringing such wonderful recipes.

      Reply
      • Charla

        November 05, 2019 at 3:08 pm

        Thank you, glad you liked the recipe Louise.

        Reply

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