Easy Soupe z’habitants Recipe
Soupe z’habitants is a Caribbean recipe full of flavor and best for rainy and cold days. This soup is exotic because of the marriage of flavors from the Caribbean—one of the easiest Caribbean soups you can make.
Are you exercising or dieting yet? Here is a simple soup for you if you want something different to eat. It is not your typical soup. It is tasty, quite flavorful, and full of common vegetables. The ingredients can be found in most supermarkets; you only need a good pot. Get going and make Soupe z’Habitants or Soup z’Habitant today.
This is a perfect soup if you have some leftover ham from the holidays or a special dinner for your friends or family. If not, you can always omit the meat or buy salted pork or beef.
A few notes about Soupe Z’habitants
Long ago, due to poverty, many people were preparing soup with cultivated grasslands around their homes. Soupe Z’habitant would be made with any available ingredients because they could not afford meat. So they were forced to become more creative with their cooking by using green leaves and root vegetables.
Throughout the year, Soupe Z’habitant changed, with meat addition, preferably salted meat, and fancier vegetables. Although many versions of the recipe for Soupe Z’habitant consist of blending all the ingredients into a veggie broth, this version is simple. I would not combine all the ingredients, especially not the meat.
I could just eat this soup with my eyes by looking at all the beautiful colors. We eat with our eyes first, and why not cook the way we want to eat, the way we want our food to look? Tasty and pretty!
Enjoy Soupe Z’Habitant with all your favorite ingredients, salted pork, spinach, green beans, potatoes, carrots, leeks, squash, onions, celery, and fresh spices. And don’t forget the bouquet garni, an essential ingredient.
Ingredients for the soup or soupe
- Salted pork or beef sliced: you can also use thick bacon.
- Spinach: this soup should be prepared with fresh spinach only. It makes a huge difference in texture.
- Green beans: fresh and tips removed
- Potatoes: yellow potatoes will do. You can substitute it for white sweet potatoes or patate.
- Carrots: fresh carrots will do
- Leeks: this ingredient is excellent in soups. It has a nice flavor and great aroma.
- Yellow squash, butternut squash, or any yellow squash
- Onion, for flavor. Use white or red.
- Celery stalk sliced: adds a bit of crunchiness and an appetizing taste to the soup.
- Garlic cloves for seasoning
- Bouquet garni parsley, thyme – for added freshness and seasoning.
- Hot pepper habanero or scotch bonnet, keep whole, optional
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Olive oil, the dish needs it.
How to make the soup.
- In a large bowl, desalt the salted pork or beef in cold water for at least 12 hours and change the water 2 to 3 times.
- Cut the potatoes, carrots, and squash into cubes and set aside. Cut off the knobby ends of the string beans and set aside. Clean the leeks and cut them thinly, and set aside. Slice the onion and the celery stalk and set aside.
- In a large stockpot, heat oil, add sliced meat, and cook gently, stirring. Add bouquet garni, onion, and garlic. Add leeks and celery to combine. Add remaining ingredients, salt and pepper to taste, and water to cover all ingredients. Cover and cook on low heat for about 1 – 1h 30 minutes. Add the hot pepper if used during the last few minutes of cooking – ensure it does not burst. Remove both hot pepper and bouquet garni and serve hot.
Notes and Tips
- You can also try the soup with uncured salted turkey
- Gradually add salt and only if needed. Remember that smoked meat contains a lot of salt.
- Add your favorite vegetables
- Use leftover meat
- Try other spice blends to create different flavored soups.
Happy cooking!
Soupe z’habitants
Ingredients
- 1 – 1 ½ pound salted pork or beef sliced
- 1 cup spinach chopped optional
- 4 ounces green beans fresh and cleaned
- 4 medium potatoes cut in cubes
- 3 carrots diced
- 2 leeks white part only, cleaned and chopped finely
- 1 ½ cup cubed yellow squash butternut squash or any type of yellow squash
- 1 large onion sliced
- 1 celery stalk sliced thinly
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 bouquet garni parsley, thyme
- 1 hot pepper habanero or scotch bonnet, keep whole, optional
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, desalt the salted pork or beef for at least 12 hours in cold water and changing the water 2 to 3 times.
- Cut the potatoes, carrots and squash in cubes and set aside. Cut off the knobby ends of the string beans and set aside. Clean the leeks and cut thinly and set aside. Slice the onion and the celery stalk and set aside.
- In a large stockpot, heat oil, add sliced meat, and cook gently stirring. Add bouquet garni, onion and garlic. Add leeks and celery to combine. Add remaining ingredients, add salt and pepper to taste and add enough water to cover all ingredients. Cover and let cook on low heat for about 1 – 1h 30 minutes. Add the hot pepper if using during the last few minutes of cooking – make sure it does not burst. Remove both hot pepper and bouquet garni and serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Nutrition info is automatically generated and provided as a courtesy and as an estimate only.
