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While chicken soup is popular across the world, the preparation differs from country to country. Traditional Jamaican Chicken or Beef Soup is also a bit different.
The base for our Jamaican Chicken or Beef Soup is basically the same depending on which meat you prefer to use. It is made using a lot of pumpkin that is boiled until it mashes out in the water and flavored with Maggie soup seasoning mix or chicken broth, butter, natural seasonings such as fresh scallions, thyme, and scotch bonnet pepper to give a mouth watering flavor of a hearty soup.
Our soup also has chicken or Beef pieces from chicken back, chicken foot, or any chicken cuts of choice or Beef Shin or stew beef along with yellow yam, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, dumplings, carrots, and pieces of corn on the cob to give you a one pot meal.
Soup is a popular meal in Jamaica and can be found on every local restaurant menu. However, for most households, including mine, Saturdays is considered “soup day” where this or one of our other popular soups are prepared for lunch and sometimes dinner in a large soup pot that is always enough for more than one meal.
Jamaican Chicken or Beef Soup
Ingredients
- 5 Cups Pumpkin cubed
- 12 Cups Water divided
- 2 1/2 Lbs. Chicken cut up or Beef
- 2 Stalks Scallions
- 3 Sprigs Thyme
- 1 tsp. Pimento Berries
- 1 Small Scotch Bonnet Pepper
- 1/2 Lb. Yellow Yam
- 1/2 Lb. Sweet Potato
- 1/2 Lb. Irish Potato
- 1 Lg. Carrot
- 2 Corn on cob or 1 15 oz. can of corn
- 1 Pack Maggie or Grace chicken noodle soup with pumpkin
- 6 Small Maggie chicken cubes
- 1/2 Tbsp. Salt
- 1 Tbsp. Butter
Dumplings
- 2 Cups Flour
- 1/2 tsp. Salt
- 1/2 Cup + 3. Tbsp. Water
Instructions
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Place 6-8 cups of water in a deep soup pot on high heat and bring to a boil. In the meantime, peel and cube pumpkin and add to pot.
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Once water boiling, add cut up chicken. If using beef, you can either pressure cook it for about 20 minutes then add to soup, or if straight boiling, it may take 1 hour or longer until tender enough.
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In 15-20 minutes or when pumpkin is soft, remove from pot to a bowl and mash with a fork, a masher or in a blender or food processor for a smoother texture and add back to pot.
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Poke a small hole in the scotch bonnet pepper using a sharp knife and add to soup along with rough chopped scallions, thyme, and pimento berries. Boil another 10 minutes and remove pepper if you don't want soup spicy.
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Cut corn in 3 pieces each, cut up yam in medium size pieces, and carrots in circles and add to the soup.
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Make dumplings by combining the flour and salt in a small bowl, add water and stir with a spoon and once it comes together, knead with your hands, add more flour as needed so it's not sticky at all. Pinch off thumb size small pieces at a time and roll together in the palms of your hand getting it small and pointy on the ends to create spinner dumplings and add to the pot.
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Cut potatoes and sweet potatoes in medium pieces and add to pot. Add Maggie soup mix, broth cubes, butter, salt, and more water as needed.
Season to taste and enjoy.
Followed the recipe exactly as written and it comes out perfectly! Also made it without adding the dumplings on another occasion and it was still very creamy you don’t have to do this step if you don’t want it will still hit the spot.
I am glad you enjoyed it!