Caribbean

Serving

Chicken Foot Soup

Name: Chicken Foot Soup
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Caribbean
Ingredients: 2 lbs chicken feet, nails removed and well cleaned; 1 lb pumpkin, peeled and cubed; 2 yellow yams, peeled and cubed; 2 carrots, sliced; 1 onion, diced; 3 cloves garlic, minced; 3 sprigs fresh thyme; 2 scallions, chopped; 1 scotch bonnet pepper, whole; 8 cups water or chicken stock; spinners (small cornmeal dumplings), optional

A Caribbean soup of slow-simmered chicken feet with pumpkin and yam, yielding a rich, gelatinous broth prized for its collagen and depth.

90 minutes

Serves 4

Soup

31 min prep

50 min cook

No common allergens detected

Based on this recipe's ingredient list. Always verify with your own brands and labels.

Good to know

One-pot

Matched from this dish's own ingredients and timing. Browse more: one-pot dinners

Instructions

8 steps

1
Clean the chicken feet thoroughly, trimming off the nails and any rough skin, then blanch them in boiling water for 5 minutes and drain to remove impurities.
2
Place the blanched feet in a large pot with the water or stock, onion, garlic, and thyme, and bring to a boil.
3
Reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover, and cook for 1 hour, until the feet are tender and the broth turns rich and gelatinous.
4
Add the pumpkin, yam, and carrots, and simmer for another 20 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.
5
Stir in the whole scotch bonnet pepper, being careful not to burst it unless you want more heat, and let it steep for the last 10 minutes.
6
If using spinners, roll small pieces of cornmeal dough into thin logs and drop them into the pot during the last 10 minutes to cook through.
7
Remove the scotch bonnet before serving, taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, and stir in the chopped scallions.
8
Ladle the soup into bowls, making sure each portion gets some chicken feet, pumpkin, and yam.

Chicken Foot Soup — plated and served — Serving moment. How Chicken Foot Soup looks plated and ready to eat — a representative photo, not a step in the recipe.

Listahan Family Score™

66/100

Works for many families

Allergen-friendly 100

Kid-friendly 27

Weeknight-easy 51

Budget-friendly 84

Great leftovers 87

Pantry-friendly 39

Score reflects how well this recipe fits a typical busy household. In the app, your Family Score is personalized to your household's allergens, kids, and pantry.

Nutrition

per serving

305

Calories

31 g

Protein

13 g

Carbs

15 g

Fat

Estimated per serving. Actual values depend on the brands and portions you use.

Listahan cooking guide

Chef notes & practical guide

Technique notes, ingredient swaps, serve-alongside ideas, storage guidance, and equipment for this recipe.

Cultural context

Chicken foot soup is a thrifty Jamaican comfort dish that turns an inexpensive, gelatin-rich cut into a hearty Saturday-style soup. The feet are prized for the body they give the broth, simmered with ground provisions and dumplings into a thick, restorative one-pot meal.

Listahan note

This version simmers the chicken feet long enough to release their gelatin before the vegetables and dumplings go in, so the broth turns silky and full-bodied rather than thin.

Technique cues

Boil the chicken feet until truly tender first; the long simmer is what draws out the collagen that gives the soup its rich, almost sticky body.
Add the pumpkin early so it breaks down and naturally thickens the broth, while the yam goes in later to hold its shape.
Drop the dumplings into actively simmering liquid so they set their shape and cook through without dissolving into the broth.

Kitchen flow

Parallel prep: Peel and chunk the pumpkin and yam and mix the dumpling dough while the chicken feet simmer to tenderness.
Make-ahead: Simmer the feet into a rich stock a day ahead, then reheat and add vegetables and dumplings to finish quickly.
Leftover move: Leftovers thicken into a near-stew overnight; loosen with a little water and add fresh dumplings to stretch it.
Cleanup rhythm: Skim foam off the early boil so the pot stays clean and the finished broth needs no straining.

Ingredient brief

Role, handling, and swap guidance for each key ingredient.

Chicken feet

Broth base

Purpose: The feet are pure collagen and skin, so they give the soup its signature silky, gelatinous body.

Handling: Scrub and trim the nails, then simmer long and slow to render the gelatin into the broth.

Adaptation: Chicken wings or a few necks give a similar rich stock if feet are hard to find, with slightly less body.

pumpkin

Natural thickener

Purpose: Caribbean pumpkin melts into the broth as it cooks, thickening and sweetening the whole pot.

Handling: Cut into chunks and add early so it has time to break down into the liquid.

Adaptation: Butternut or kabocha squash dissolves the same way with a comparable sweetness.

yam

Hearty starch

Purpose: Yam gives the soup its filling, stick-to-the-ribs heft and a firm contrast to the soft pumpkin.

Handling: Peel and cut into chunks, adding later than the pumpkin so it stays intact.

Adaptation: Sweet potato or dasheen works, though sweet potato cooks faster and turns softer.

Aromatics and green seasoning (onion, garlic, thyme, scotch bonnet)

Flavor base

Purpose: They build the savory, herbal backbone that makes a humble chicken-foot broth taste rich.

Handling: Simmer them whole with the feet and leave the scotch bonnet unburst for aroma without raw heat.

Adaptation: A spoon of bottled Caribbean green seasoning stands in when fresh herbs are short.

Technique notes

Simmer the feet until the skin pulls back from the bones; that is your signal the gelatin has fully rendered.
Keep the dumplings small and roll them firm so they hold together in the long simmer.
Season the broth with thyme, scallion, and a whole Scotch bonnet, removing the pepper before it bursts to control heat.

Ingredient swaps

Lower-fat direction: Chill the rendered stock and lift off the set fat cap before adding vegetables for a lighter but still rich bowl.
Heartier direction: Add a handful of split peas with the pumpkin for extra body and protein.
Weeknight shortcut: Start from a good chicken stock and a few wings to skip the long feet simmer, accepting a thinner body.

Serve alongside

Hard dough bread
Fried dumplings
Boiled green bananas
Avocado slices
Ginger beer
Sorrel drink
Cucumber water

Serving suggestions only — check pairings for your household's allergens.

Storage & reheating

Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days; the broth will gel when cold from the collagen.
Reheat gently on the stove with a splash of water, since the soup thickens considerably overnight.
Freeze the broth and vegetables for up to 3 months; add fresh dumplings when reheating rather than freezing them.

Equipment

Large soup pot or Dutch oven
Skimmer or slotted spoon
Sharp knife for the provisions
Ladle

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