Red Peas Soup is Jamaica's great Saturday soup — kidney beans (red peas) simmered with salt pig tail, yam, green banana, dumplings, and scotch bonnet into a thick, hearty, deeply satisfying one-pot meal. It is the soup that every Jamaican household makes on Saturday, the food of the weekend, the most comforting pot in Jamaican cooking.
Red Peas Soup is the quintessential Jamaican Saturday soup. In Jamaica, 'red peas' refers to kidney beans (not green peas). The soup is a complete meal in a bowl — kidney beans, salt pig tail (or salt beef), ground provisions (yam, green banana, dasheen), flour dumplings, and scotch bonnet, all simmered for hours into a thick, hearty stew. The tradition of Saturday soup is deeply embedded in Jamaican culture — it is the meal that marks the transition from the work week to the weekend. Every household has its version; it is the most beloved Jamaican soup.
A bowl of thick, dark red-brown soup with soft kidney beans, tender pieces of salt pig tail, chunks of yam, and a dumpling. The broth is rich, savory, slightly smoky from the salt pig tail, with a gentle scotch bonnet warmth. It is a meal in itself — the most complete, most comforting Jamaican soup.
The kidney beans must be soaked overnight and cooked for 60+ minutes until completely soft. The salt pig tail (or salt beef) must be soaked to remove excess salt, then simmered with the beans. The ground provisions are added in stages (hardest first). The dumplings go in last. The soup thickens from the starch of the beans and the provisions.
Variations
Some use salt beef instead of pig tail; some add carrots; some add corn; the provision mix varies.
On the Palate
Where Red Peas Soup sits in the Jamaican flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
9 steps · 40 min active + 1 hour 20 min waiting
- 1480 min
Soak 300 g kidney beans overnight; drain.
- 23 min
Soak 300 g salt pig tail in cold water 2 hours; drain.
- 345 min
In a large pot, combine the beans, pig tail, 2 liters water, 1 onion, 4 garlic cloves, 1 sprig thyme, 1 tsp allspice, and 1 whole scotch bonnet (pierced).
- 45 min
Simmer 45 minutes.
Watch outGive the beans a solid head start until they're completely soft — the provisions and dumplings go in later; if the beans are still firm at the end, nothing saves the soup.
- 53 min
Add 200 g yam (chunked), 1 green banana (sliced), and 2 diced carrots.
- 630 min
Add 6 small dumplings.
- 71 min
Simmer 30 more minutes until everything is tender.
Watch outThe soup should thicken on its own from the beans' and provisions' starch — simmer until it turns silky, not watery.
- 81 min
Season with salt and pepper.
- 91 min
Serve hot in deep bowls.
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