Trinidad Corn Soup
When I say this Trinidad corn soup is packed with flavour, I seriously mean it! This corn soup has so many fresh and tasty ingredients that really make the flavour POP. And with the corn, pumpkin, and sweet potato, it makes for the perfect fall soup recipe. It is definitely one of the best fall recipes that I go to when I want something warm, cozy, and full of flavour.
This delicious fall soup is thick and creamy and is perfectly seasoned, for a rich and scrumptious, cozy meal. Pumpkin soup is already mouthwatering on its own, but if you want to change things up a bit, I highly recommend giving this Trinidad Corn Soup a try -- you will not be disappointed!
I have to admit, the prep can take a bit of effort (i.e peeling the pumpkin or prepping the split peas in advance) but you have to trust me, it is totally worth it! Each ingredient used really adds something to the overall soup. And the fresher the ingredients, the better!
Ingredients You Need
To make this Trini corn soup, you will need these main ingredients:
Fresh seasonings: onion, garlic, green onions, chadon beni (culantro), pimento peppers, thyme, celery and cilantro add most of the Caribbean-style flavour that you'll find in this fall soup recipe.
Yellow split peas, pumpkin, and sweet potato: helps make up the base of the soup, and adds flavour, texture, and thickness.
Vegetable stock and water: adds flavour and makes up the liquid portion of the soup.
Coconut milk: adds creaminess and a subtle coconut taste.
Corn rounds and kernels: you need corn in corn soup!
Carrots: for flavour and texture
Flour: used to make the dumplings.
How to Make Trinidad Corn Soup
- Start by prepping all the vegetables: peel and chop pumpkin, sweet potato, carrots; have split peas ready (see HOW TO PREP YELLOW SPLIT PEAS); chop fresh seasonings, etc.
- In a soup pot, melt the butter and oil together, add onions and cook until soft and translucent. Add the garlic, green onion, chadon beni, pimento pepper, thyme, and celery and cook for another minute.
- Add the prepared split peas, pumpkin, sweet potato, salt, and pepper and sauté for 3 minutes. Add vegetable stock, water, oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder, stir, and allow to come up to a boil. Cover and allow to cook for 30-45 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
- Use an immersion blender or potato masher to blend/mash the soup. You can blend/mash until smooth OR blend/mash half OR don't blend/mash at all--this part is personal preference.
- Add in the corn pieces and kernels, coconut milk, and carrots and allow the soup to come back up to a boil.
- Mix the flour with salt and slowly add in water, bringing dough together with fingers until a smooth, firm dough forms. Pinch off pieces of the dough and roll between hands to create spinner dumplings. Add them to the pot, stir, and cover; cook for another 20 minutes.
- Taste and adjust for salt. Serve hot and garnish with finely chopped cilantro, if desired.
How to Prep Yellow Split Peas
For this Trinidad Corn Soup, prepping the split peas is crucial so that you're not spending hours at the stove. There are a few options on how you can get the split peas ready. You can choose which method suits you best.
- Soaking the split peas overnight is the easiest option and is pretty much hands-free. Just start the process the night before you know you're going to make this Trinidad corn soup recipe. Here's how to do it: rinse the split peas until the water runs clear, leave the peas in a medium sized bowl, cover with cold water a few inches over the split peas, cover the bowl, and leave overnight on the counter. Before using, drain any excess water and use in the recipe as indicated.
- The second method is to use a pressure cooker. Rinse the peas until the water runs clear, put them in a pressure cooker, add 3 cups of water, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Drain as much of the liquid as possible, then use in the recipe as indicated.
- The third method is to boil the split peas in a regular pot with water until tender, which takes about 45 minutes. Drain and then use the split peas in the recipe as indicated.
Substitutions
- To make this recipe truly vegan, use vegan butter in place of regular butter. You can also just completely skip the butter and use a total of 4 tbsp of olive oil instead.
- Chadon beni (which also goes by the name culantro [not cilantro]), is usually found in Caribbean/West-Indian markets. If, however, you are having a hard time getting your hands on it, you can use cilantro instead. It is not the same, but the flavour is similar. You want to use twice as much cilantro, since chadon beni has a much stronger taste.
- You can use any type of stock but vegetable stock is used in this fall soup recipe to keep it vegetarian/vegan.
Storing Trinidad Style Corn Soup Leftovers
You can store this Trinidad corn soup in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days. The soup will thicken. When reheating, add a bit of water to the soup to thin it out.
You can also freeze the soup in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can. You can use any type of meat. You would first boil the meat separately until almost cooked, drain, then add it in with the coconut milk/carrots, after you blend the soup.
Yes you can! You can add any vegetables you like.
More cozy fall recipes that you will love: Carrot Cake Loaf, Roasted Cajun Chicken with Potatoes, Marry Me Chicken Pasta, Best Chili Recipe
A thick and creamy Caribbean-style soup made with yellow split peas, fresh corn, in-season pumpkin, coconut milk, and a medley of vegetables, herbs, and seasonings.
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter (salted or unsalted)
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 green onion, finely sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
- 2 pimento pepper, finely chopped
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 2 tbsp chadon beni, finely chopped (or cilantro)
- 1 cup split peas, pre-soaked overnight (see note below)
- 1 1/2 cup pumpkin, peeled, chopped, 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup sweet potato, peeled, chopped, 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 4 cups water, hot
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 1 tsp oregano, dried
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper, whole (optional)
- 400 mL canned coconut milk
- 2 ears of corn, chopped into 1 inch rounds
- 1 cup corn kernels
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
- cilantro, finely chopped (for garnish)
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- warm water
In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, melt butter together with olive oil. Add onions and sauté until mostly soft and translucent. Add green onion, garlic, celery, pimento, thyme, and chadon beni -- sauté for another minute.
Add the pre-soaked yellow split peas, pumpkin, sweet potato, salt, and black pepper to the pot and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the hot water, vegetable stock, oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder. Mix well and allow to come up to a boil.
Once boiling, add the scotch bonnet pepper (optional). Cover the pot, reduce heat to medium low and cook for 30-45 minutes.
Check the split peas for tenderness. It should smush easily between your fingers. The pumpkin and sweet potato should be tender as well.
At this point, use an immersion blender to blend the soup until it is completely smooth. Alternatively, you can just blend half of the soup so you have some texture (or you can choose to not blend it at all and keep as is). I personally like to use a potato masher to mash some of the vegetables up but also keep a lot of the texture.
*Remove the scotch bonnet pepper (if using) before blending. You can add it back to the pot once you're done with blending.
Add the coconut milk, corn rounds, corn kernels, and sliced carrots and stir. Allow to come back up to a boil.
While the soup is coming back up to a boil, prepare the dumplings. Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Slowly add warm water to the flour mixture, a little bit at a time, using your fingers to mix and bring the dough together. Knead just enough to bring the dough together. You should have a firm dough that is not sticky.
Pinch off little pieces of dough and roll between both hands to create spinner dumplings. Place dumplings into the pot and continue this process until all the dough is used up.
Once the soup has come back up to a boil, cover and cook for about 20 minutes.
If the soup is too thin, cover and continue to cook for a bit longer. If it is too thick, add a bit of hot water to thin it out.
Taste and add salt as needed.
Stir in finely chopped cilantro and remove from heat. Serve immediately with more cilantro if desired.
- For the yellow split peas, there are a few ways you can prep them before cooking. 1. Soak the split peas overnight in a bowl of water then drain any water and follow the recipe as normal OR 2. Use a pressure cooker to cook the split peas until tender (10-15 mins), then drain and add them to the recipe as indicated OR 3. Boil and cook the split peas in a regular pot until tender (about 45 mins), then drain and use them in the recipe as indicated.
