By Sometimes, all you need is a warm, comforting bowl of soup, and this Nigerian chicken pepper soup delivers exactly that.
Spicy Nigerian Chicken Pepper Soup
This easy to put together chicken pepper soup is loaded with spicy, bold, and hearty flavors. It’s so easy to make, and you can hardly go wrong putting this together.
It’s light yet deeply flavorful, packed with bold spices, tender chicken, and a broth that warms you from the inside out. Whether you’re feeling under the weather or just want a satisfying meal, this soup always comes through.
How to make Chicken Pepper Soup
Hardly will you get to any restaurant in Nigeria and not find Pepper soup. Consider serving this soup with homemade No-knead dinner rolls or this crusty No-knead bread.
Why I like this soup
- Broth = Good for the health.
- Chicken = Good home-raised chicken.
- Green Plantains = Good Carb
- Peppersoup spice – Medicinal
What Is Chicken Pepper Soup?
Chicken pepper soup is a classic Nigerian dish made with a light broth from simmered chicken infused with pepper soup spice, herbs, and aromatics.
It can be eaten at any time of the day. Some prefer to eat it when recuperating after childbirth; some like to have it when they want to recover from a cold or flu, while others eat it because they like it. Like I do!
And honestly, you don’t need a special reason to enjoy it.
Why This Soup Just Works
This is one of those meals that checks all the boxes:
- The broth is light but packed with flavor
- The chicken makes it filling
- The spices give it that warming kick
- The plantains turn it into a full meal
It’s simple, but it does a lot.
You can have Pepper soup in various forms, like catfish pepper soup, Goat Meat Pepper Soup, Cow Leg Pepper Soup, or Assorted Meat Pepper Soup. It’s just a matter of substituting and choosing your preferred protein type.
On many occasions, starchy foods such as yams, potatoes, or unripe plantains can be added to the soup to make it a complete meal. In this recipe, I used green plantains – plantains are highly nutritious and a good source of iron.
Chicken pepper soup Ingredients
- Chicken – I always prefer to use the home-raised chicken, their meat is tougher, they have less fat, and they are tasty!
- Crayfish – This adds a deeper depth of flavor to the soup
- Pepper soup spice – one of the chief ingredients in this soup filled will spices and aromatics. You can buy it here.
- Starchy food – like green Plantains, potatoes, or yams makes a good source of carbs.
- Herbs, peppers, and aromatics like Garlic cloves, Ginger root, onion, Fresh Basil leaves, and scotch bonnets
- Seasoning powder (bouillon powder) – Adds that umami flavor to the soup
- Salt to taste
What to Eat It With
You can enjoy pepper soup on its own, but if you want something extra:
Try it with no-knead dinner rolls or a slice of crusty bread to soak up the broth. It makes the whole experience even better.
A Few Tips That Make a Difference
- If you add more water, remember to adjust your seasoning
- Don’t rush the cooking time; the flavor needs time to develop
- Start with less pepper if you’re not sure; you can always add more
Notes
- Adding a starchy food to this soup is optional; however, if you want to make this a full meal, it’s advisable to add one.
- If the starchy food stays in the soup for too long (like the second day or more), it releases its starch into the soup. The starch released will thicken the soup. I personally don’t mind; in fact, I like it. However, I know some people may not want that slight change in the consistency of the soup. In that case, simply remove any starchy food in the food before refregerating.
- I always prefer to use the home-raised chicken, their meat is tougher, they have less fat, and they are tasty!
- Rinsing the chicken is something I practice. However, if you don’t believe in washing your chicken, you can skip that step
- I often get home-raised chicken at ethnic stores, like Asian stores. However, if you can’t get them, feel free to use the larger chicken, which is quite easy to find.
- If you choose to add more water than the recipe recommends, I suggest tasting for seasoning and adjusting accordingly.
Other African soup and stew recipes you might want to try:
Chicken pepper soup
Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken
- 2 Tbsp crayfish
- 3 inches ginger root
- 1 Tbsp pepper soup spice
- 6 to 8 cups water or as needed
- 2 scotch bonnets
- 1 onion
- 2 plantains Green
- 3 to 4 tsp seasoning powder (bouillon powder or 3 cubes)
- 5 garlic cloves
- salt to taste
- fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Blend onions, ginger, garlic, and scotch bonnet and set aside.
- Cut the chicken into pieces and clean thoroughly.
- Put the cleaned chicken inside a pot. Add the blended mixture, seasoning powder and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly and leave to cook for about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Add the pepper soup spice, crayfish, and water. Stir and leave to cook for another 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, peel the plantains and cut them into about 2-inch chunks.
- Add the cut plantains inside the cooking soup and leave to cook for 15 to 20 minutes or till the plantains become tender
- Stir in the basil leaves and serve hot or warm.
Notes
- Adding a starchy food to this soup is totally optional, however, if you want to make this a full meal then it’s advisable to add it.
- If the starchy food stays too long in the soup (like the second day or more) it releases its starch inside the food. The starch released will thicken the consistency of the soup. I personally don’t mind, in fact, I like it. However, I know some people may not want that slight change in the consistency of the soup.
- I always prefer to use the home raised chicken, their meat is tougher, they have less fat and they are tasty!
- Rinsing the chicken is something I practice. However, if you don’t believe in washing your chicken, you can skip that step
- I often get the home raised chicken in ethnic stores like the Asian stores. However, if you can’t get them, feel free to use the bigger chicken that is quite easy to find.
- If you choose to add more water than the recommended amount of water given in the recipe, I’ll I suggest to taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly.
Nutrition
Let’s Connect.
You can find me on Facebook, and Instagram. I love keeping in touch with all of you!
If you make this Chicken Pepper Soup, I’d love to see pictures of your creations on Instagram or Facebook. #cheflolaskitchen
What is seasoning powder? What are the ingredients and who makes it? Thank you!
Hey Jazz, its bouillon powder.
Can I use scent leave? Am planning to make this recipes on my daughter’s birthday tomorrow. Thanks.
Yes you can Switrash, I’m sorry for the late response
Can you use yam for replacement of plantain?
Amglo, Plantain doesn’t work well for this recipe because of its sweet taste. The taste will alter the original pepper soup taste.
Hello,
I really appreciate you including the Nutritional facts for the recipe. I was wondering if you knew the serving size.
Thank you!
Thanks for teaching me on how to cook different recipes
You are welcome Tabeth 🙂
Please what if you cooked it without plantains green
Green plantains are optional.
@Lola Osinkolu, do you recommend a replacement for the green banana that is not a starch.
Hi Lola. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. Please what’s the name of your blender and where can I find it? Does it allow heavy food like crushing beans
Where do you purchase the pepper soup spice and what spice is this? It said here on your page you can purchase it, but there is no link.
Ann Omosowofa
@Ann, Did you ever get an answer to where to purchase the pepper soup spice?
You will get it in local African store.
Thanks
You are welcome 🙂