Cow Heel Soup

Cow Heel Soup is comfort in a bowl! This rich, nutrient dense soup made with cow heel, ground provision (root vegetables) and split peas boiled together in a deliciously satisfying broth is a must try!

Cow Heel Soup

Growing up in Guyana, my dad always made soup on Sundays. Sunday soup was a delicious thing that happened with frequency. The soup ingredients varied but that bowl of soup always brought comfort after a day of laundry and weekend chores. The sight of that “big pot of soup” on the stove was always a welcoming one.

You may also like my Chicken Foot Soup Recipe.

Why You’ll Love This Guyanese Cow Heel Soup Recipe

• Comfort Food: Hot soup is a great way to keep warm and cozy during the winter. This soup is especially hearty with cow heel, split peas, and ground provision.
• Easy to Make: Instant pot cow heel soup is easier to proper than a stovetop recipe. It also reduces the cooking time.
• So Versatile: This is what makes Caribbean soups so tasty! There is no real recipe and you can add a handful of this or a handful of that for a different version of this soup, every time you make it.

Does cow heel have collagen?

Cow heel or cow feet is loaded with nutrients especially collagen. If you’ve ever eaten cow heel/trotters/foot/feet then you know it has a sticky feel. That stickiness is collagen. There are so many health benefits to having collagen in your diet. Collagen is the glue that holds your bones together and it helps to promote good skin health. It also promotes good gut health and is why bone broth is so good for you. Learn more about collagen here and then make a bowl of this collagen filled soup and dive in!

Ingredients for Cow Heel Soup

Nutrient dense cow heel, split peas and ground provision come together in a thick and silky soup.

• Yellow Split peas: Yellow split peas add a delicious texture and flavor to the soup broth. It also increases the amount of plant based protein in the soup.
• Cow heel or cow feet: Although they don’t have much meat, they are rich with flavor, collagen and bone marrow, which adds a gelatinous consistency.
• White vinegar: Rinsing the cow heel with vinegar helps to remove any impurities or smell.
• Root Vegetables/Ground provision: Use any combination of provision; peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces (for this recipe I use 2 sweet potatoes, 2 yellow plantains, 3 eddoes, and 1 large cassava).
• Chopped spinach (optional): You can use frozen or fresh spinach. I love adding a handful of spinach to my soups.
• Aromatics: Diced yellow onion, dried Guyanese thyme (you can also use fresh thyme), and grated garlic cloves are a delicious foundation of flavor.
• Seasoning: Season simply with salt and black pepper.
• Wiri wiri peppers: This is an optional garnish that adds a kick of spice. (You may substitute with habanero pepper).
• Water (not pictured): This is the liquid base of your broth.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to Make Cow Heel Soup

Prepare the cow heel.

Immerse cow heel in a mixture of vinegar and water, allowing it to soak for approximately 15 minutes then rinse thoroughly and set aside.

Cow heel is a tough cut of meat and requires time to cook. To speed this process up, I cook the cow heel in a pressure cooker or instant pot.

In a pressure cooker or instant pot I combined the cow heel, split peas, onion, garlic, thyme, salt and black pepper. Then pressure cooked until the cow heel was tender (about 1 hour).

Then I transferred the cooked cow heel aromatics and peas to a large pot, added in the root veggies or ground provision and a bit more water and allowed then to cook until tender. If you are using cassava, let the cassava cook for 10 minutes before adding the other root vegetables.

Once the root vegetables are fork tender, add in the spinach, the wiri wiri peppers and a bit more water if need. Mix to combine and let soup simmer for an additional 5 minutes before removing it from heat.

Storage

Store cooled coup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. For longer storage, freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen soup in the fridge overnight. The best way to reheat cow heel soup is on the stovetop over medium heat.

Recipe Substitutions & Variations

• Stovetop: Boil cow heels for at least 1 hour to soften them. Then add cleansed and softened cow heel, split peas, onion, garlic, thyme, water and salt to the pot. Simmer for about 2.5 hours or until the root vegetables are tender.
• Slow Cooker: Boil the cowl heel for at least an hour. Then add the ingredients from step 2 to the slow cooker and cook on high for about 3 hours.
• Additions: Consider adding small dumplings for an even heartier soup. Alternatively, use less ground provision.

Tips for the Best Cow Heel Soup

• Always clean cow heel before cooking. This removes any dirt or debris so it doesn’t end up in your soup.
• Although using an Instant Pot reduces the cooking time, this recipe still takes some time. Cow heel is very tough so it takes time to tenderize.
• The soup thickens the longer it sits.

Frequently Asked Questions