Chicken foot soup is a comforting mixture of tender, pressure-cooked chicken, pumpkin, and other root vegetables simmered in an aromatic broth. Cozy up with a piping hot bowl of this Carribean soup because it always hits the spot!
Guyanese Chicken Foot Soup
Whether you’re fighting off a cold or simply craving something soothing, this chicken foot soup is one of a kind. The velvety pumpkin base, enriched by sautéed onions and garlic, tastes amazing. Adding a hearty mix of sweet potatoes and ripe plantains creates a luscious, rich broth.
If you are not a fan of chicken foot (chicken feet, if you must) try my recipe for chicken and split peas soup. It is a popular recipe on the blog and comes together quickly.
Why You’ll Love This Chicken Foot Soup Recipe
- Nutritious: Just like traditional chicken soup, this soup has nutritional benefits. Chicken feet are rich in collagen, while pumpkin is packed with immunity-boosting vitamins.
- Easy: Let the pressure cooker do the heavy lifting, as it quickly tenderizes the chicken. It’s a great way to reduce the cooking time so you can do more (or less!) with your day.
- Comfort Food: Warm broth, tender chicken, and aromatic spices get more comforting with every delicious spoonful. I especially love this on cold, rainy days.
Ingredients
The ingredients for chicken feet soup offer a range of flavors, color, and textures, ensuring each component contributes to the rich and comforting essence of the soup. It’s a very forgiving recipe so feel free to swap and omit as necessary!
- Chicken foot: Chicken feet enrich the broth for a gelatinous mouthfeel. Clean them and remove the claws before cooking.
- Seasoning: Keep the seasoning simple and savory with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper.
- Pumpkin: Peeled and cubed pumpkin melts down to a smooth velvety texture. It has a subtle, earthy sweetness that complements the chicken.
- Oil: Sauté the aromatics with a cooking oil like olive oil or avocado oil.
- Aromatics: For depth of flavor, sauté finely chopped yellow onion and cloves of garlic.
- Root Veggies: For a thicker, heartier stew, add more root vegetables. This round, I used diced yellow plantains, white sweet potatoes, and yams.
- Dried parsley flakes: Use this or finely chopped fresh parsley for a vibrant punch of herby flavor.
- Wiri wiri peppers: Keep the peppers whole to infuse the broth with a little heat and fruity flavor. You can also sub with 1 scotch bonnet pepper.
- Water: This is the liquid base for the soup.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Chicken Foot Soup
How to Clean Chicken Feet
Rinse the chicken feet thoroughly under cold water to remove any dirt. Then trim off any sharp or excess nails or claws with a sharp knife or kitchen shears. Add them to a bowl of water and vinegar to remove the poultry taste and tenderize the chicken before cooking.
For more details, check out my chicken foot souse recipe where I show you tips on how to clean chicken foot!
Pressure Cooking Chicken Feet
I always pressure-cook my chicken foot before adding it to the soup. You can use a traditional pressure cooker or an instant pot, like I did here. It helps tenderize the chicken feet until they are almost melting off the bones.
What I love most about using the instant pot as a pressure cooker is that you don’t lose any of the liquid to escaping steam as you do in traditional pressure cookers. Everything stays in the pot for a really yummy broth that goes right into the soup!
Making the Pumpkin Base
This soup has a velvety pumpkin base. I used frozen pumpkin for this recipe but if you have fresh pumpkin even better. To bring out the richness of the pumpkin flavor, I sautéed the pumpkin with onions and garlic and cooked it until it was completely mushy. The smell of the pumpkin cooking was so amazing and I couldn’t wait for this pot of chicken foot soup to come together.
Adding the Root Vegetables
Whenever I make this chicken foot soup, I add lots of root vegetables. You can use any combination you like, but for this recipe I used white sweet potatoes, regular sweet potatoes, and sweet ripe plantains. I add a bit more veggies than I need and allow some of them to melt creating a thick, velvety, and rich broth.
Imagine sitting under a blanket and cozying up to a bowl of this chicken foot soup!
Once the chicken foot pressure cooks, I add it to the base I created with the pumpkin and root veggies. I can hardly wait to start eating. This soup is that good!
Finishing Up the Soup
Nothing smells better than a pot of bubbling soup! Once the chicken foot soup comes together serve up a bowl or two and dive in! Try the recipe as is or try adding duff, either version is sure to be a hit.
Storage
Once the soup has cooled, store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. For longer storage, freeze it for up to 3 months.
When you go to reheat your chicken feet soup, it will have a gelled layer. That’s totally normal. Once you reheat the soup on the stove over medium-low heat, it will melt down. Stir occasionally until warmed through.
Recipe Substitutions & Variations
- Dumplings: When the broth thickens and some of the veggies melt away, you can add some duff to the soup if you like. Use my duff recipe and create mini duffs (about 2 inches in size) and then add it to the top of the soup. The addition of the duff really puts the comfort in this dish.
- Root Vegetables: You can use any variety of potatoes, yams, or cassava. Just be mindful of each veggie’s cooking time to properly cook them.
- Veggies: Consider adding traditional soup vegetables like carrots, celery, or corn for even more flavor and texture.
- Herbs: Instead of parsley, you could try dried or fresh thyme.
- Liquid: Swap half the water for chicken broth or chicken stock for a deeper flavor.
Tips for the Best Chicken Feet Soup
- Remember to sauté the onions and garlic before adding the pumpkin and other ingredients. This releases the natural oils and flavors, giving the soup a delicious aromatic quality. It enhances everything you add to it by amplifying the natural flavors.
- Use a variety of vegetables. It adds dimension to the soup, and using different varieties adds a mouthwatering complexity.
- Want a natural way to make the broth creamier? Near the end of cooking, use the back of a spoon to mash about a quarter of the cooked sweet potatoes directly in the pot. This technique helps thicken the broth, giving it a creamy, velvety consistency without the need for cream or flour.
Frequently Asked Questions
This soup has a broth that’s rich with nutrients. Chicken feet contain collagen, a protein that contributes to joint health and skin elasticity. Root vegetables like pumpkin and yams add vitamins, minerals, and fiber to the soup, for a healthy meal.
Make chicken foot soup with chicken feet, peppers, garlic, onions, seasoning, and a combination of root vegetables like pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and yams.
Yes, you can use chicken feet to make bone broth. Their high collagen content makes for a rich, gelatinous, and nutritious broth.
Chicken Foot Soup
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken foot cleaned and claws removed
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 lb pumpkin peeled and cubed
- 2 tablespoon oil like olive or avocado oil
- 1 yellow onion small. finely chopped
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 1/2 lbs yellow plantains diced
- 1 1/2 lbs white sweet potatoes
- 1 1/2 lb yams or regular sweet potatoes, diced
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- pinch black pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes or fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 2 wiri wiri peppers for flavor can sub with 1 Scotch Bonnet Pepper
- 8-10 cups water
Instructions
- Wash and clean chicken feet, then add chicken feet to an instant pot or traditional pressure cooker.
- If using an instant pot add 5 cups of water to the pot and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of garlic powder, 1 tablespoon of onion powder and a pinch of black pepper
- If using a traditional pressure cooker, add enough water to cover the chicken feet, then season as listed in the step above
- Pressure cook on high for 30 minutes with the instant pot or until the chicken feet are tender and the skin is almost pulling off the bones
- While the chicken feet are pressure cooking, warm the oil in a large stock pot on medium-high heat Then add the onions and garlic and sauté until the onions become soft and translucent, for about 5 minutes
- Next, add the pumpkin to the stock pot followed by salt and a pinch of black pepper
- Cook until the pumpkin is soft and mushy, then add the white sweet potatoes, diced plantains and regular sweet potatoes.
- Add the parsley flakes or fresh parsley and wiri wiri pepper and mix together well
- While you are waiting for the chicken feet to finish pressure cooking add 5 cups of water to the stock pot and turn the heat down to low and allow everything to cook in a low simmer.
- When the chicken feet are done pressure cooking, release the pressure according to instructions in the instant pot manual, then pour the chicken feet and broth into the stock pot
- Mix together, then increase the heat to high heat and continue to cook the soup until the sweet potatoes and plantain are tender
- Using the back of your pot spoon, crush some (about 1/4) of the sweet potatoes and mix into the broth of the soup, then mix together well to form a smooth velvety broth
- Serve warm
Notes
Nutrition
The information listed in the recipe card is an estimate provided by an online nutrition tool. The tool evaluates ingredient names and amounts then makes calculations based on the number of servings listed for the recipe. It is provided as a general guideline and not as a precise calculation. For precise nutrition information please feel free to add the ingredients to your preferred nutrition calculator or consult a doctor or licensed nutritionist.
Steak and Veggies Stir Fry (Whole30)
Gluten Free Pinwheels
Callaloo Cauliflower Cook-Up Rice
Cow Heel Soup
Ana Says
Lmao what
CUZ Says
GAL YA REALLY GWAN PRIMAL WITH YER CHICKEN FOOT SOUP. EH EH.
Althea Brown Says
It’s a Guyanese ting ????
Lisa Porter Says
The recipe is so good the chicken foot soup amazing.
Althea Brown Says
Thank you