West African Chicken Soup is one of my favorite soups on cool spring days and summer evenings. I’ve had a soft spot for African cooking since my trip to Uganda in 2006 to build houses with Habitat for Humanity International. While in Africa I learned to enjoy hot tea on blistering hot days, sweet mango rice with coconut milk, and hot stews poured over mashed veggies like squash (Ugandans pour it over Matake–mashed plantains–which unfortunately is high oxalate). I was lucky enough to spend most of my time in a small Ugandan village eating the local foods prepared the local way, and I was hooked!
Me and one of my Ugandan co-workers next to the wall we just built. How about that fancy (and scary) scaffolding?
Since returning to the states, I’ve found and modified many African recipes for oxalate content, so I could continue to enjoy the tastes and smells of Africa. I modified West African Chicken Soup from the winning recipe of the “Cool Weather Cooking with Thai Kitchen” Recipe Contest sponsored by the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. I wanted to keep this recipe as authentic as possible while making necessary changes for oxalate content, which is why this recipe features pumpkin, coconut, chicken, ginger, thyme and black-eyed peas (all commonly used in African cooking) and Sunbutter (not commonly used, but in this recipe it tastes very similar to crushed ground nuts which are common).
Hope you enjoy this fabulous soup!
West African Chicken Soup
2 tablespoons bacon fat or coconut oil
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I prefer pasture -raised meat)
1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1 onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
6 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger (I use a garlic press with fresh ginger)
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
4 cups chicken broth or water (I use homemade or Swanson’s 100% Natural)
1 cup finely diced tomatoes (I use Big Beef or Early Girl)
1 1/2 cups black-eyed peas, cooked
1 can coconut milk
2 tablespoons Sunbutter or pumpkin seed butter
1 1/2 cups pumpkin, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons thyme
Melt the bacon fat in a dutch oven or large soup pot. Add the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes until the chicken starts to brown. Add the salt, onion and garlic and cook about 3 minutes or until the onion is translucent. Add the ginger and pepper and saute another 2-3 minutes. Using sharp kitchen scissors, cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces while it’s still in the pan (alternately, you can cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces before cooking, but I believe it’s faster and easier to cut with scissors after it’s cooked). Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, peas, coconut milk and Sunbutter to the chicken. Bring the soup to a boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer. Add the pumpkin and thyme and simmer for about 45 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft and the liquid has been reduced by about a third.
Low Oxalate West African Chicken Soup
Makes about 10 hearty servings.
Low Oxalate Info: Sunbutter and most tomato varieties are medium oxalate ingredients. All other ingredients are low oxalate or very low oxalate. The oxalate content of tomatoes varies a lot depending on variety of tomato (see Why are the Low Oxalate Food Lists so Inconsistent? for more information about how variety and growing conditions affect oxalate content). Some lower oxalate tomato varieties that work well in this recipe are Big Beef (4.2 mg. oxalate per half cup), Early Girl (5.9 mg. oxalate per half cup), Brandy Wine (4.9 mg. oxalate per half cup), Pink Girl (4.8 mg. oxalate per half cup) and German Johnson (5 mg. oxalate per half cup). I grow most of these varieties in my garden and freeze the extras to use in the winter. You may also find these varieties at farmers’ markets and in some super markets. If you don’t know the variety of tomato you are using, you should probably assume it’s one of the higher medium oxalate varieties just to be on the safe side (around 10 mg. per half cup is a good estimate). West African Chicken Soup has about 5.7 mg. oxalate per serving (based on 10 servings made with Big Beef tomatoes). If you use canned tomatoes or an higher oxalate variety, West African Chicken Soup has about 6.7 mg. oxalate per serving.
Pickey Eater Pleaser: My boys won’t eat tomatoes or onions these days, but instead of making separate meals or leaving out these ingredients, I fish out pieces of chicken and pumpkin from the soup and serve it to the boys with a little broth over white rice (rice is also commonly used in African cooking). This way we are all happy!
Other Diets: West African Chicken Soup may be appropriate for gluten-free, dairy-free, GFCF and low carbohydrate diets. It may also be appropriate for Paleo, GAPS and SCD with a few simple modifications (leave out the black-eyed peas for Paleo and SCD; leave out the Sunbutter or use homemade, GAPS-legal seed butters for GAPS and SCD).
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