Without a doubt, this is the best Jamaican vegetable soup ever. You’ll love this made with pantry staples flavourful soup, that is ready in under 1 hour.
Suitable for people with a vegan and gluten free diet.
I cook up this easy delicious hearty Caribbean Soup recipe whenever I want a way to bring Jamaican food into my kitchen during the colder months.
It is one of my survival tactics; roaring up the fire; looking at pictures of the best beaches; playing some island beats and eating a bowl or two of some warming soup.
I really like the textures and contrasts in this soup. Every spoonful is a burst of flavour between the creamy melt in your mouth sweet potato, the mild coconut rice and peas, the warming spices and the slightly chewy and little bit charred sweetcorn.
And if you squeeze some lime over your soup, it then adds in a whole other flavour profile.
And if you like Jamaican style recipes then try this Jamaican Steamed Cabbage, or this Jamaican Pumpkin Soup, or spice things up with Jamaican Curry Powder.
Why Make Jamaican Vegetable Soup
- This recipe is a perfect way to use up any leftover rice and peas that you have in the fridge.
- It is really flexible. Veggies I have added in include spinach, plantain and I have also served it with some warm toasted cornbread. It all works so test and try away.
- It’s naturally vegan and gluten-free.
- It is made with affordable pantry staple ingredients.
- It is great for meal prep, cook ones and eat for another 3 or 4 days.
Ingredient Notes
- Vegetables – this main texture and flavors in this soup comes from a mixture of bell peppers, red onion, celery and sweet potatoes. All the good things people.
- Broth – this recipe calls for hot vegetable broth, but you can use vegetable bouillon dissolved in water if you prefer.
- Heat – add heat with some scotch bonnet pepper to your taste. Remember this is very hot so add a little at a time.
- Herbs and spices – this recipe calls for bay leaves, minced ginger, minced garlic, ground paprika, ground allspice (pimento) and fresh herbs like fresh thyme, Play around with the suggested amount.
- Secret ingredient – adding in some leftover coconut rice and peas is what makes this even more epic.
- Tomatoes – use plain diced tomatoes as you get all the flavors from the spices.
- Oil – a little bit of vegetable oil or olive oil is needed to fry up the veggies.
How to Make Jamaican Vegetable Soup
Get complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.
- Grill the sweetcorn and cut off kernels.
- Fry the onion, celery, pepper, sweet potato, bay leaf and a couple of tablespoons of water and sauté the onion is softened.
- Mix in the ginger and garlic followed by the paprika, allspice and scotch bonnet chilli.
- Then stir in the hot vegetable stock, tomato and thyme, bring to the boil, cover and reduce to simmer until the sweet potato is cooked.
- Serve the soup with sweetcorn kernels.
Recipe Tips
- If you want a thicker veggie soup lightly mash half the veggies and then return them to the soup.
- Double or triple the recipe as this is great for meal prep. Just make sure you use a large enough pot.
Delicious Variations
- Add more vegetables – you can add other Caribbean vegetables to your taste like fresh pumpkin, white yam, white potatoes, chocho, turnip and any other squash you like. This is great for using up a few leftover vegetables.
- Add extra heat – you can add in a dash of cayenne pepper.
- Add extra seasoning – I love adding in seasoning like jerk seasoning or Caribbean Green Seasoning.
- Bulk it out – with more treats like dumplings and extra rice.
- Feel free to add in some cock soup mix.
- Add in a bit of coconut milk for more flavor.
Storage
- Store – Store the cooled soup in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freeze – If freezing, do it before adding the rice and sweet corn. Let soup cool and freeze for up to 2 months. Soups expand when freezing, so make sure you leave some space in the container to account for this.
- Reheat – Reheat soup in a saucepan over low to medium heat stirring frequently.
More Recipes You Might Like
For more Jamaican soups why not check out my soup below.
- Jamaican Pumpkin Soup – love this Jamaican Pumpkin Soup.
- Jamaican Oxtail Stew.
- Jamaican Rundown.
- Rasta Pasta.
- African Pepper Soup.
- Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup.
- Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup.
- Easy Spinach Soup.
Please don’t forget to comment below and star rate if you have tried any of my recipes.
Tools Needed
- Saucepan.
- Measuring cups and spoons.
- A sharp knife for cutting all the veggies.
- A handy cutting board.
Get The Jamaican Soup Recipe
Don’t forget to tag #recipesfromapantry on Instagram or Twitter if you try Jamaican vegetable soup! It is really, really awesome for me when you make one of my recipes and I’d love to see it. You can also share it on my Facebook page. Please pin this recipe to Pinterest too! Thank you for reading Recipes from a Pantry.
Jamaican vegetable soup
Ingredients
For the soup:
- 1.5 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 red onion finely chopped
- 2 stalks celery finely chopped
- 1 red pepper deseeded and finely chopped
- 200 g sweet potato cubed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 2 tsp paprika
- 0.5 tsp ground allspice
- Scotch bonnet chilli chopped to your taste
- 450 ml hot vegetable stock
- 450 ml very finely chopped tomato
- 4 sprigs of thyme
- 450 g leftover coconut rice and peas warm
For the corn:
- 2 large corn on the cob
To garnish:
- Thyme sprigs
- Lime slices
Instructions
Make the vegetable soup base:
- Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat and add in the onion, celery, pepper, sweet potato, bay leaf and a couple of tbsp. water and sauté for about 10 mins so the onion is softened.
- Mix in the ginger and garlic and stir for 30 sec until fragrant, then stir in the paprika, allspice and scotch bonnet chilli.
- Then stir in the hot vegetable stock, tomato and thyme, bring to the boil, cover and reduce to simmer for 35 mins or until the sweet potato is cooked through.
- Then check the seasoning before switching off the heat.
Grill the sweetcorn:
- Just before the soup is done, preheat the grill to medium and grill your sweetcorn for a few mins on each side till they are starting to char. Switch of the heat, slice the corn of the cob and set aside.
Assemble the Jamaican vegetable soup:
- Ladle the soup into bowls, then top with some warm coconut rice and peas followed by some sweet corn, add the garnish and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nice recipe
Thanks