Textual Chef Textual Chef

Pepper Soup with Goat

A bold, aromatic West African soup built on slow-simmered goat meat and a signature blend of uziza leaves, scent leaves, and earthy pepper soup spices. It is intensely peppery, deeply savory, and deeply comforting.

115 minMediumServes 4360 cal/serving

West AfricanSoupStovetopHigh ProteinLow CarbGluten-FreeDairy-FreeEgg-FreeNut-FreeLow-SodiumCorn-Free

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs goat stew meat, bone-in (substitute lamb shoulder), cut into chunks
  • 6 cups water
  • 1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
  • 2 scotch bonnet pepper (or habanero), whole, pierced
  • 2 tbsp pepper soup spice blend (find at African grocer)
  • 8 uziza leaves, fresh or dried (substitute bay leaves), torn
  • 1/4 cup fresh scent leaves (African basil, substitute regular basil), roughly torn
  • 2 chicken or beef bouillon cube, crumbled
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp ground crayfish (dried smoked shrimp powder)
  • 2 tsp fresh ginger, grated

Instructions

  1. 1

    Rinse 2 lbs cut into chunks goat stew meat, bone-in (substitute lamb shoulder) thoroughly under cold water. Place in a large pot.

  2. 2

    Add 1 roughly chopped yellow onion, 2 tsp grated fresh ginger, 2 crumbled chicken or beef bouillon cube, and 6 cups water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, skimming any foam that rises.

  3. 3

    Reduce heat to medium-low and add 2 tbsp pepper soup spice blend (find at African grocer), 2 whole, pierced scotch bonnet pepper (or habanero), and 2 tsp ground crayfish (dried smoked shrimp powder). Simmer, partially covered, for 60 to 75 minutes until the goat is tender and registers an internal temperature of 160 degrees F (71 degrees C).

  4. 4

    Season with 1 tsp salt and adjust water level if needed - the soup should be brothy, not thick.

  5. 5

    Add 8 torn uziza leaves, fresh or dried (substitute bay leaves) and simmer 5 more minutes.

  6. 6

    Stir in 1/4 cup roughly torn fresh scent leaves (African basil, substitute regular basil) and remove from heat. Serve immediately as a light soup or alongside fufu or rice.

Questions

How long does Pepper Soup with Goat keep?

Refrigerate it up to four days, or freeze it in portions for up to three months. Reheat gently on the stovetop with a splash of water or stock to loosen it.

Can I halve or double Pepper Soup with Goat?

Yes. As written it serves 4. Every ingredient in this entry carries precomputed half and double quantities, and the app's batch dial rewrites them inside each step. When doubling on the stovetop, use your widest pan or work in two batches so the food sears instead of steaming.

Serve it with

Cook this free in the app

Textual Chef is 4,512 plain-text recipes, free to read and free to cook from. No account, no paywall, no ads, no life stories. Open this one in the app and each quantity sits inside the step that uses it, so you read once and cook.

Every recipe is curated or public-domain sourced, written to one template and checked before it publishes. Nothing here is a scraped blog post.

Cook this free in the appNo download needed. It opens in your browser. The kitchen tools (planner, shopping list, pantry, import) are $5.33 a month billed annually; the first 30 days are free.

More West African entries

All West African recipes · All Soup recipes · All Goat recipes