Soups are very versatile dishes. These one-pot soup meals are easy to prepare, healthy and comforting for the entire family. This homemade chicken vegetable lentil soup recipe is filled with good nutrition, it’s hearty, and very filling.
Saturdays in Jamaica are typically a soup day. Almost all households will prepare some kind of soup in Jamaican “style and fashion.” Jamaican soups are very starchy, thick and rich in flavors. The most common type of soups I grew up enjoy eating are:
Beef Soup
Chicken soup
Chicken Foot Soup
Cow Foot Soup
Red Peas Soup
The ingredients used to prepare these different kinds of soups vary and give a different flavor profile. Their distinct aroma can easily be identified by a passersby.
In my opinion, the star ingredients of most Jamaican soups are Cock Noodle Soup Mix, Pimento, Thyme, and Scallion.
This soup recipe I am sharing with you is one of my favorite soups to make. Most of the ingredients used in this recipe stay true to the Jamaican soup culture or style of making soup.
Chicken Vegetable Lentil Soup: Jamaican Style
Here Are The Ingredients You Will Need
How To Make Jamaican Style Chicken Vegetable Lentil Soup.
Homemade Jamaican Style Chicken Vegetable Lentil Soup
Equipment
- Large Aluminum Pot
- Cutting Board
- Knife
- Wooden Spoon
Ingredients
Chicken Vegetable Soup Ingredients
- 2 lbs. Organic Chicken Drumsticks
- 16 oz. Green Lentil
- 2 lbs. Fingerling Potatoes
- 1 lb. Pumpkin
- 3 cups Rainbow Baby Carrots
- 1 cube Maggie Chicken Boullion
- 2 tbsp. Pimento Seeds (All Spice)
- 1 Medium Fresh Ginger, Sliced
- 6 Stalks Celery
- 16 oz. Organic Low Sodium Chicken Broth
- 3 cups Organic Baby Spinach
- 1 Medium Sweet Potato
- 4 Cloves Organic Garlic
- 3 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
- 1 Packet Cock Soup Mix
- ½ cup Scallion, Chopped
- 2.5 tsp. Salt
- 4 Quarts Water
Instructions
Let's Prepare The Chicken and Build The Soup Flavors
- Remove the skin from the chicken legs. Cut each leg into two pieces.
- To an aluminum pot, add water and chicken stock and bring to boil.
- Add the cock noodle soup mix, bouillon cube. Stir until dissolved and evenly distributed.
- Add pieces of chicken drumsticks to the liquid broth.
Let's Prepare The Vegetables
- The best thing about soups is that the vegetables do not have to be cut perfectly. They are rough cut and dumped into the pot. This is one reason why soups are so easy. Dump all the ingredients in the pot of liquid and let the heat do all the work.
- On a cutting board slice the ginger, scallions, carrots, and celery. Use the flat of the knife to smash the garlic and peel them. This will help release their flavor oils into the soup.
- Use a spoon or paring knife to remove the seeds from the pumpkin. Wash the pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and fingerling potatoes with a vegetable brush under warm running water. Peel the skin of the pumpkin. Roughly cut potatoes, pumpkin, and sweet potato into 1-inch cubes.
- Add the cut vegetables, thyme, and pimento seeds to the chicken mixture and continue cooking on medium to high flame. Add the Spinach, lentils, salt and stir together. Allow soup to simmer for another 15 minutes so that all the ingredients can marry each other.
- As the chicken lentil soup continues to cook, the starches from the ingredient will start to thicken the soup. The flavors will start to marry and later give birth to a delicious pot of "soupness".
Video
Notes
Soup Cooking pointers:
Soup Consistency
♦♦As the vegetables and lentils cook, they release some of their starch into the broth and thicken the broth.To Marry or Not To Marry
♦♦The liquid portion of the soup is the baseline, The broth is what holds the flavor that is released from the ingredients of the soup. It is very important to use ingredients that will complement each other. The more they are compatible, the sweeter the marriage.Soup Adjustment
♦♦The ingredients can either be adjusted or replaced with other ingredients as desired. Bear in mind that this can alter the flavor and/or consistency of the soup.Soup Organic or Not?
♦♦ Some of the ingredients I used to make this soup are organic. They are usually a bit more expensive than the non-organic versions but can be found equally priced and sometimes even cheaper. I most often opt for the organic versions of vegetables and fruits where the skins will be eaten. One of my go-to grocery stores is Whole Foods Market. You find a wide variety of good quality produces. Check out my most delicious Meatless Monday Vegetarian Soup Recipe. You will also love it!Jamaican Style Soup
This chicken vegetable lentil soup is healthy and has a rich consistency.
You will also love this Jamaican Escovitch Spicy Pickled Vegetables Recipe.
The Seasonings
Jamaican soups without pimento, thyme, scallion, and a soup mix is like rum cake without rum. These are the star ingredients that flavor and savor the soup.
Soup Nutrition
The Chicken Vegetable Lentil Soup is packed with good nutrition.
This soup is a good source of protein, fiber, vitamins: A (beta-carotene, B, C, D, E, and minerals such as potassium, iron, magnesium, and others.
Looks healthy and nutritious! Love the idea of adding lentils for extra heartiness.
This recipe looks amazing! I love adding a bit of pimento in my soup and stews.
This recipe is full of flavor and is delicious! I love the Jamaican element and it will not disappoint your taste buds!
I’ve been looking for a new lentil soup recipe and I can’t wait to make this tonight!
This soup was so easy to make — the flavors were perfect together! Great for a chilly fall night!
I just recently started cooking with lentils and decided to try this recipe. It was really delicious, I love all of the flavors. I can’t wait to make it again.
I loved all the wholesome ingredients in this soup and could taste the quality in the outcome. Thanks for the product recommendations along with the recipe!
I love lentil soup and now you have just upgraded me to a new way of enjoying it. Thanks forever!!
You had me at Jamaican style! Great product recommendations and easy recipe.
Such an amazing an tasty dish! Thanks for sharing the recipe
Hearty soups like this are a must have for cold days. Its so tasty! Chicken & lentils are a perfect match.
Soup day at my house today . Brooklyn
Sounds like a good comfort food. Thank you for sharing.
This seems like a yummy dish to try. I don’t remember if I had Jamaican food before but would love to try it.
Fransic verso, you will love it. Thanks for passing through.
This looks delicious. I haven’t tried the recipe yet. Thank you for sharing this. Excellent!
Thank you, Melissa.
Looks like the perfect recipe going into the chilly fall and winter seasons. I’m always looking for fun new ideas to warm up on cold days. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Debbie.
This looks delicious! We love to travel and bring that into our kitchen. Thank you for making that possible!
Thank you Lindsay. You will definitely love this Jamaican soup.
This is the perfect recipe to enjoy as the temperatures drop! I personally love how versatile soup is. It can be used as a main dish or served as an appetizer. Your recipe looks really nutritious and filling. Thanks for sharing!
Lentil soup is one of my favs! I will have to give this one a try
This looks delicious and healthy. I will try it out and see how it goes.
Thank you Esther.
I love lentils cannot wait to try this recipe.
Thank you Tianna. Appreciate you dropping by.
I have never tried any Jamaican foo before but looking at the recipe. It makes me want to try it. Thank you for sharing!
Fransic, once you try Jamaican food, especially this soup, you will never turn back.
I am going to bookmark this recipe
Thank you for visiting, Jimmy.
Love lentil soup. This one with chicken sounds delicious!
Thanks for dropping by Larena.
Sounds simple, hearty and delicious. Just the best kind of soup…3 sprigs of thyme? yes, please!!!
Thank you Vaishali
This sounds so interesting! I have never heard of Cock soup mix. Mind blown.
Thank you Adrian. You can’t have Jamaican soup with the cock soup mix. lol
Yummy!!!!!! This soup looks delicious. I believe it’s a good meal for the rainy days. Thank you for sharing your recipe with me.
You are welcome Fadima. Thanks for stopping by.
This sounds like a great Autumn-Winter recipe to keep you warm and cosy in the colder months. You have shared an easy to follow recipe. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Lauren
Appreciate the comment and rating Lauren