Get ready to enjoy the flavors of Caribbean Cuisine. The wholesome taste of Jamaican soup recipe will take you to the island of Jamaica. The fusion of juicy chicken and gooey dumplings in the Jamaican traditional soup will satisfy your soup cravings.

I love to create recipes from different cuisines, my friend from Jamaica shared this recipe with me. When I tried this soup recipe it became my weekend special soup.

Jamaican Soup Recipe

The Jamaican cuisine is a fusion of African, Chinese, Indian, and European Cuisine. This fusion will make Jamaican recipes unique and bold in flavor. The Jamaican soups are well known for their hot and spicy taste.

The Jamaican soup has 2 layers of flavours chicken and vegetables. The chicken and pumpkin base of the soup and boiled vegetables in chicken stock makes this soup a delicious appetizer. The traditional Jamaican chicken soup has dumplings, that are made from dough.

What You Will Need

Chicken: Marinated Breast and thigh pieces are used for making this traditional soup. You can drumsticks or even boneless chicken for the recipe. The traditional Jamaican soup recipe has skinless chicken, so make sure to remove the skin of the chicken.

All-purpose Flour: The all-purpose flour dumplings or Jamaican spinners are must have in soup. These dumplings are easy to make, just mix flour, water and salt in the right consistency to form a dough.

Cho-Cho: Cho Cho or chayote is used in traditional soup recipes. It is a fruit that belongs to the gourd family of plants. If the fruit is not available near you, you can replace it with squash or with your favorite vegetable.

Yellow Yam: This is also an important ingredient in the Jamaican soup recipes. The Yellow yam is widely used in Jamaican cuisine. You can replace it with sweet potatoes.

Pumpkin: Pumpkin goes well in soup recipes, and Jamaican chicken soup recipe is known for its ground provision. Ground provision includes vegetables that grow underground. Hence potatoes, Yellow yam, carrots, and pumpkin are the key to ground provisions of this recipe.

Corn: Fresh or frozen corn can be used in the recipe. However, the traditional recipe has cob of corn in the soup bowl. You can cut the corn cobs into smaller or larger pieces for the soup.

Potatoes: Small cubes of potatoes are added to the soup recipe. You can use red potatoes or Irish potatoes.

Onion: I am using red onion for the soup recipe, but you can use yellow onions. Onions will flavor up the taste of chicken and vegetable soup.

Carrot: Carrots are also used in Jamaican soup recipes, they will add color and flavor to the recipe. Along with carrots, all other vegetables kick up the nutritional value of the soup.

Scotch Bonnet Pepper: To spice up the taste of soup, scotch bonnet pepper is used. You can skip it if you don’t like the spicy kick.

Garlic: Minced garlic will boost the taste and nutritional value of the soup.

Chicken Stock: You can make chicken stock from scratch, or you can use store-bought chicken stock for the recipe.

Spices: For marinating the chicken, I am using salt, black pepper powder, turmeric, and paprika. Jamaican soup mix is usually use in the recipe, However I can’t found at my nearby African supermarket so I decided to make my own. I am using Corn flour, pumpkin powder, rice flour, salt, garlic powder, turmeric, onion powder, paprika and thyme to make this soup mix.

Step By Step Directions

Preparation of Soup

Slice the Vegetables:

Firstly, start by washing and cutting vegetables.
Then wash carrots, pumpkin, onion, yellow yam, cho-cho, and potatoes under tap water.
Then cut all the vegetables into small cubes. Set them aside for later use.

Prepare Soup Mix:

Secondly, prepare a soup mix, I am using my spice grinder to make the soup mix.
Just add corn flour, rice flour, pumpkin powder, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, turmeric, paprika, and thyme in the grinder and make a fine powder.
The soup mix is ready to use.

Marinate The Chicken:

Wash the chicken pieces and pat them with a paper towel to dry.
Then in a bowl add chicken pieces, and season them with salt, black pepper powder, turmeric, and paprika.
Mix them well using your hands and let them marinate for 10 to 15 minutes or until you are making your dumplings.

Make Dumplings:

Firstly, take a wide bowl and add all-purpose flour,
Then add salt to the flour, and mix them well.
Gradually add water and knead a fine dough.
Finally, make round, flat and spinner dumplings by rolling the dough in your hands.
Then set them aside for later use.

Cooking Jamaican Soup

Boil Chicken Stock:

Then take a Dutch oven or any deep pot and pour chicken stock in it.
Let it come to a boil over medium flame.

Put in Chicken and Pumpkin:

When it comes to a boil, then add marinated chicken and pumpkin in the pot.
Then let them cook for 10-15 minutes.
Remove the skim in between.

Put in Vegetables and Dumplings:

After 15 minutes add the remaining vegetables into the pot.
Then start by adding garlic, onion, carrots, yellow yam, cho-cho, corn cobs, and potatoes.
Then add prepared dumplings and cover the lid.
Let them cook on a medium flame for 30-35 minutes.

Spices Up & Let it Simmer:

Finally, in a cup of water add spice mix and make a slurry.
Then pour this spice mix slurry into the pot.
Continue to stir to avoid lumps.
Then add whole scotch bonnet pepper and let it simmer on low flame for 5-10 minutes or until the soup gets thick.
Turn off the heat and serve the soup with bread and crackers.

Tips That Will Help

Make sure to use a large pot as the recipe includes a lot of veggies.
If you feel the chicken stock is not enough, you can add water along with the stock for the soup base.
When the dumplings start to float on the surface of the soup, it means they are ready.
You can store this delicious soup recipe for months in the freezer. The maximum time for freezing the soup is 2 months.
Use an airtight container to store the soup in the freezer or in the refrigerator.
It can easily reheated in the microwave or at stove top.

FAQ’s

How to thicken the Caribbean soup recipe?

In Caribbean soup recipes, the soup spice mix thicken the soup. It is a mix of corn and rice flour with a touch of pumpkin powder and other spices. However, if you don’t find this soup mix you can make your own or substitute it with corn flour slurry.

Where to get vegetables for the Jamaican Soup recipe?

The vegetables use in Jamaican soup recipes are available at the local African supermarket but if you don’t have African store nearby you can replace them with available vegetables. You can use any type of squash, and sweet potatoes instead of cho-cho and yellow yam.

Can I make this soup in a slow cooker?

Yes, this delicious soup is really easy to make in the slow cooker. Add the chicken stock, marinated chicken and other vegetables to the slow cooker and cook them for 7-8 hours.