Callaloo soup is made across the Caribbean from dasheen/taro leaves (callaloo), thickened with okra and enriched with coconut milk; crab is a classic addition.
Spoon up callaloo soup — thick, smooth, and deep green, rich with coconut, the okra giving it a silky body, savory with crab or saltfish. Bite: the dasheen leaves are mild and earthy like cooked spinach, the coconut rounding it, a gentle scotch-bonnet warmth, lime brightening. Velvety and nourishing — the leafy soul of the Caribbean kitchen.
Long simmering breaks the dasheen leaves down to silky softness; okra's mucilage thickens the soup to a velvety body without flour. Coconut milk enriches it, and a whole scotch bonnet adds aroma and gentle heat. Crab or saltfish gives a savory depth.
Variations
With crab (the classic). With salt pork. With more okra. With pumpkin. Without coconut (lighter). Blended ultra-smooth.
On the Palate
Where Vincentian Callaloo Soup sits in the Vincentian flavor cloud
Simmer long enough to melt the dasheen leaves silky and let the okra thicken the pot — rush it and you get a thin, grassy soup with stringy leaves.
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
8 steps · 25 min active + 30 min waiting
- 18 min
Wash and chop a large bundle of callaloo (dasheen leaves).
- 25 min
Fry 1 chopped onion, garlic, and thyme in oil.
- 322 min
Add the callaloo, 8 sliced okra, and 600 ml water; simmer 20 min until very soft.
Watch outSimmer until the leaves are completely soft and collapsed and the okra has thickened the liquid.
- 43 min
Add 300 ml coconut milk and a whole scotch bonnet.
Watch outDrop the scotch bonnet in whole and keep it intact — it's there for aroma, not raw heat.
- 58 min
Optionally add 200 g crab or flaked salt cod; simmer 8 min.
- 64 min
Remove the scotch bonnet; blend or swizzle the soup smooth.
Watch outBlend or swizzle only after removing the pepper, until the soup is smooth and velvety.
- 72 min
Season with black pepper and a squeeze of lime.
- 82 min
Serve hot, on its own or over rice.
