Spicy Caribbean Chicken Soup
Caribbean chicken soup with coconut, lime, hot sauce, and sweet corn will have you dreaming of an island vacation in the middle of winter. This easy-prep chicken soup comes together in just minutes on a busy night.
As much as I love classic chicken noodle soup, winter can be long and dreary and sometimes you just need to mix things up a little bit.
When I'm longing for sunnier days and dreaming of our annual beach trips, I often start to crave more tropical-inspired dishes and this soup has it all! Coconut, lime, peppers and sweet corn, some hot sauce. What's not to love??
But I'm pretty sure your favorite part is going to be just how easy this homemade soup is to pull together even on a busy weeknight if you follow a few of my easy prep tips below.
Why This is the Best Recipe
I love to play with all the soup recipes during soup season. This is my favorite Caribbean chicken soup recipe because:
- Unique: Unlike traditional chicken soup, this recipe features sweet corn, coconut, chicken, carrots, celery, diced red pepper, and limes.
- Prep-Ahead Friendly: You could make an easy meal kit by prepping the veggies and chicken ahead of time and keeping them in the fridge. With those tasks done, the soup would come together SO quickly with very little work.
- Richly Satisfying: Follow our tip on adding a cornbread muffin and you'll love how cozy this zesty soup is!
Ingredients
This unique chicken soup recipe has a longer list of ingredients than my usual recipes but they are what gives the flavor so much impact.
Many of the items you will likely already have on hand, but there are some particular items you may need to get from the store:
- Rotisserie Chicken: You could use leftover roasted chicken meat if you have it or even prep a batch of these air fryer chicken breasts.
- Onion
- Celery
- Carrots
- Red Bell Pepper
- Frozen Sweet Corn
- Green Onions
- Canned Coconut Milk
- Shredded Coconut
- Fresh Limes
- Hot Sauce
- Fresh Cilantro
- Dried Ginger
- Minced Garlic
- Coriander
- Allspice
- Chicken Broth or Stock
How to Thicken the Soup (Optional)
This is a thinner, brothy soup but I have a fun secret trick to thicken it if you prefer.
My daughter and I tried to dip cornbread into the soup broth at dinner time and it fell apart completely. Wouldn't you know, a crumbled up cornbread muffin makes the PERFECT soup thickener??
The recipe has a wonderful sweet corn flavor at the base. It is made extra-delicious if you have fresh buttermilk cornbread to go with it. We crumbled it right into our individual soup bowls to get it just the consistency we wanted.
You could use a regular box of Jiffy cornbread to make easy muffins if you want.
However, my homemade buttermilk cornbread recipe only takes a few minutes to whisk together and is absolutely delicious with this soup.
Prep the Veggies
If you're starting with pre-cooked chicken, this soup comes together with almost no hands-on time.
The only task that takes some times is dicing all the fresh vegetables that form the base.
The good news?? You could chop the vegetables in advance and keep them in an airtight storage baggie in the fridge for a grab-and-cook soup kit.
I diced up the red bell pepper, onion, carrots, and celery stalks and just collected them in one large mixing bowl.
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Chop the Chicken
I used a rotisserie chicken when I made the soup. This delicate meat can fall apart if you handle it too much or cook it too long.
I just pulled the meat from the bones and then ran my chef knife through it to dice it into smaller cubes.
This step can also be done in advance and kept in an air-tight storage bag in the fridge for up to 3 days. Tuck it right near the bag of veggies!
Soften the Vegetables
In a large soup pot, add the oil and bring to temperature over medium-high heat.
Add the prepared diced vegetables and saute until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
Season the Vegetables
While the vegetables are cooking, I pre-measure the seasonings so they are easy to dump into the pot all at once. They'll only cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant and you don't want them to burn.
When the onions are softened, add the minced garlic, ginger (fresh or dried), coriander, and allspice.
Stir to combine the vegetables and seasonings and cook until just fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Simmer the Soup
Pour in the chicken stock and stir. Then add the entire bag of frozen corn and shredded coconut. Stir to combine.
Once the soup is boiling, lower the temperature to medium-low and let the soup simmer for 20 minutes.
Pour in the entire can of coconut milk, hot sauce, and the fresh squeeze lime juice and stir.
The very last step is to add the most delicate ingredients and just let them warm through: add the fresh chopped cilantro and the diced chicken.
Sprinkle in some salt and pepper. Let the soup warm through.
Make Ahead and Freezing Tips
This soup is best enjoyed between Days 1 - 3 stored in the fridge and gently reheated on the stovetop.
If you try to freeze it, the coconut milk will likely separate from the broth when you thaw it. If you plan to add a cornbread muffin when you eat it, the cornbread crumbs will help to thicken the soup and you won't notice that the milk and broth separated.
Jut plan to bake a fresh batch of cornbread when you reheat the soup if you want to try freezing it!
A box mix only requires 3 ingredients and 10 minutes in the oven, so it's not hard to do but I promise Grandma's buttermilk cornbread isn't that much more difficult.
You could freeze the cornbread separately if you want a truly no-prep dinner for later.
Serving Suggestions
In the photo you see here, I crumbled in a square of homemade buttermilk cornbread into each soup bowl and then sprinkled some chopped green onions over the top. It was delicious.
Alternatively, you could make a batch of cornbread croutons for floating on top of the soup as a fun garnish.
The soup would also be yummy with a cup of jasmine rice stirred in. The starch from the rice would also thicken the broth a bit.
If you prefer biscuits, my easy buttermilk drop biscuits would pair nicely with the flavors here, too.
More Chicken Soup Recipes
You can never have too many chicken soup recipes for winter. As the cold months drag on, make sure to work each of these into your meal rotation!
📖 Recipe
Caribbean Chicken Soup
Ingredients
For the Caribbean Chicken Soup
- 3 tbsp canola oil
- 1 onion diced
- 2 ribs celery diced
- 4 carrots diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 5 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 tbsp minced fresh ginger or 1 tsp dried ginger
- 2 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 12 cups (3 qts) chicken stock
- 1 (10 oz) bag of frozen sweet corn
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 1 (14.5 oz) can coconut milk
- 8 dashes hot sauce like the Mexican-style Valentina or Texas Pete
- Juice from 3 fresh limes
- 2 cups diced chicken meat great for leftovers or use a rotisserie chicken
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro chopped
- Salt & pepper to taste
For Serving (Optional)
- 1 box Jiffy cornbread prepared according to package directions uses 1/3 cup milk + 1 egg OR Homemade buttermilk cornbread
- 3 green onions chopped (both white and green parts)
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, add the oil and bring to temperature over medium-high heat.
- Add the diced onion, celery, carrots, and bell pepper and saute until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic, ginger, coriander and allspice and stir into the veggies for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Pour in the chicken stock and stir.
- Add the entire bag of frozen corn and the shredded coconut, stir. Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer the soup for 20 minutes.
- Add the coconut milk, hot sauce, and lime juice. Stir.
- Finally, add the delicate chopped chicken and fresh cilantro. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt and pepper and simmer for 5 minutes to warm the chicken through.
- To serve, we love to crumble one cornbread muffin into each soup bowl. Ladle the hot soup over the top and garnish with a sprinkle of chopped fresh green onions. Alternatively, serve the cornbread as a side for the brothy soup.
Recipe Notes
Easy Homemade Cornbread
You could use a box of Jiffy cornbread to serve as a side for this soup but I'd actually strongly recommend trying Grandma's buttermilk cornbread recipe instead. It is fast and easy and you could even double batch it for plenty of extras.Save This Recipe to Your Recipe Box
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This Caribbean chicken soup is delicious and attractive. It will melt away the cold of winter. The recipe is quite detailed. Thanks for sharing this wonderful dish.
This Caribbean chicken soup is delicious and attractive. It will melt away the cold of winter. The recipe is quite detailed. Thanks for sharing this wonderful dish.