Latin America & Caribbean

Soup Joumou: Haiti's New Year's Day Pumpkin Soup

Name: Soup Joumou: Haiti's New Year's Day Pumpkin Soup
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 2 h 35 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Haitian
Ingredients: 450 g Beef shank or chuck, cubed; 1 tsp Salt; 1/3 tsp Black pepper; 1 tbsp Lime juice; 1/2 (90 g) Onion; 3 Scallions; 25 g Parsley; 4 cloves Garlic; 10 g Ginger; 1 tsp Dried thyme; 1/8 tsp Cloves or allspice; 1 tbsp Vinegar; 1 tbsp Neutral oil; 1/4 tsp Scotch bonnet pepper sauce; 650 g net Kabocha or other sweet pumpkin; 1.4 L Water; 1 tbsp Neutral oil; 1 (180 g) Onion; 1 (150 g) Carrot; 2 (250 g) Potatoes; 200 g Daikon or turnip; 250 g Cabbage; 1 stalk (80 g) Celery; 80 g Short pasta or broken spaghetti; 1 Bay leaf; 1/2 tsp Dried thyme; 1/2 tsp or more Salt; 2 tsp Lime juice; 2 tbsp Parsley or scallion

Soup joumou, eaten in Haiti on January 1, as one pot where the sweetness of squash meets the green aroma of epis. Covers how long to tenderize the beef, when to add vegetables and pasta, adjusting Scotch bonnet heat, substitutes for squash and turnip, storage, and what is worth seeking out, drawn from overseas sources and the Haitian table and brought into a home kitchen.

Published: October 24, 2026Total: 2 hr 35 minLevel: Intermediate

Cooking flow

Cooking steps

STEP 11 / 7

Marinate the beef in epis

15 min (plus 20 min resting)

A bowl of beef marinating in epis — Rub the epis into the beef. Mix until the green aromatics coat all of the meat evenly

In a food processor or by hand with a knife, turn 90 g onion, 3 scallions, 25 g parsley, 4 cloves garlic, 10 g ginger, 1 tsp thyme, 1/8 tsp cloves or allspice, 1 tbsp vinegar, 1 tbsp oil, and 1/4 tsp Scotch bonnet sauce into a fine paste. Cut 450 g beef into 3 cm cubes and combine with 1 tsp salt, black pepper, lime juice, and 4 tbsp of the epis. It is enough when the green aromatics lightly coat all of the meat. Rest for 20 minutes in the refrigerator and take it out 10 minutes before cooking. The remaining epis goes into the pot, so do not rinse the bowl.

STEP 22 / 7

Cook the squash and purée it

25 min

Cooking squash in a pot until tender — Cook the squash at a gentle simmer until tender. When a skewer slides in easily, it is ready to purée

Remove the skin and seeds of the squash and cut it into 3 cm cubes. Put 650 g squash and 600 ml water in a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. When it simmers, lower to medium-low and cook for 18–20 minutes. Turn off the heat when a bamboo skewer slides in without resistance and the edges break down a little. Purée it with its cooking liquid in a blender, or mash it carefully with a masher. It does not need to be as perfectly smooth as a Western-style puréed soup; a few fine bits remaining is enough.

STEP 33 / 7

Brown the beef and simmer it over low heat

55 min

Browning beef coated in epis in a heavy pot — Brown the surface of the beef over medium-high heat. Dissolve the brown savor on the bottom of the pot into the soup later

Put 1 tbsp oil in a heavy pot and heat over medium-high heat for 1 minute. If you add the beef with its epis it scorches easily, so wipe the meat lightly to remove it and add it in two batches. Brown each side for about 6 minutes in total, and take the meat out when it has color on the surface. Add 1 onion to the pot and sauté over medium heat for 5 minutes. When the onion is translucent and the brown film on the bottom of the pot loosens with the wooden spoon, return the beef, the remaining epis, 800 ml water, and the bay leaf.

When it boils, lower to low and simmer with the lid slightly ajar for 45 minutes. Keep small bubbles rising without a break, and keep the upper half of the meat from sticking out of the liquid. At 40 minutes, insert a skewer, and if it goes halfway in without resistance, move on. If it is still tough, extend 10 minutes at a time. If you boil hard, the surface shrinks while the inside stays hard, so when the bubbles get large, lower the heat one notch.

STEP 44 / 7

Combine with the squash purée

20 min

Adding squash purée to the beef pot and stirring — After adding the purée, sweep the bottom of the pot. It is right when it turns bright orange and simmers

Lower the heat and add the squash purée to the pot. For the first 2 minutes, stir in big motions from the bottom with the wooden spoon, and when the purée has blended with the liquid, return to medium-low heat. Once the squash settles it tends to stick to the bottom, so sweep the bottom of the pot in circles every minute. When the surface bubbles finely and the whole soup is a bright orange, simmer with the lid slightly ajar for 12 minutes.

Check the beef once more here. If a skewer goes to the center and the fibers loosen a little when you lift it, move on. If it still pushes back, extend 10–15 minutes over low heat. Finishing the meat before adding the vegetables is the dividing line of this pot.

STEP 55 / 7

Simmer the root vegetables and cabbage

28 min

Simmering root vegetables and cabbage in the squash soup — Root vegetables first, cabbage after. Soften them at medium-low heat while keeping their shape

Cut 150 g carrot, 250 g potatoes, and 200 g daikon or turnip into 3 cm cubes, 250 g cabbage into 4 cm squares, and 80 g celery 1 cm wide. First put the root vegetables and celery in the pot and simmer for 15 minutes over medium-low heat. Keep the heat at a level where the edge of the pot bubbles quietly, and do not boil hard. When a bamboo skewer goes about halfway into a potato, add the cabbage and simmer 8–10 minutes more. Stop when the cabbage has sunk and the corners of the root vegetables have rounded, but before they completely fall apart.

STEP 66 / 7

Add the pasta and adjust the thickness

12 min

Adding pasta to the squash soup — Pasta goes in last. Simmered gently over low heat, it blends into the soup without overcooking

Put 80 g short pasta, or spaghetti broken into 5 cm lengths, into the pot. Keep it at low to medium-low heat with the surface bubbling gently and cook 8–10 minutes. Twice along the way, stir by lifting from the bottom of the pot. Turn off the heat when a thin white core remains in the center of the pasta, and it will be just right while resting. If it is too thick, add 50 ml of hot water at a time; if too thin, remove the lid and reduce for just 2 minutes.

STEP 77 / 7

Rest and adjust the seasoning

8 min

Finished soup joumou resting in the pot, with heat and lime set beside it — Turn off the heat and rest for 5 minutes. Cut the heaviness with lime and adjust the heat at the table to make it easier to eat

Turn off the heat and take out the bay leaf. Add 2 tsp lime juice and 2 tbsp parsley or scallion and rest in the pot for 5 minutes. It is ready to eat when residual heat has carried the flavor into the pasta and vegetables and fine droplets of oil float on the surface. Finally taste and add salt 1/4 tsp at a time. If you did not put Scotch bonnet sauce in the pot, add a few drops at a time after serving into bowls.

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Ingredients

1 / 2

Epis and beef

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Beef shank or chuck, cubed	450 g	3 cm cubes. Stew-cut beef also works, but adjust the simmering time to its condition
Salt	1 tsp	To season the beef
Black pepper	1/3 tsp	Coarsely ground suits it
Lime juice	1 tbsp	Lemon juice also works
Onion	1/2 (90 g)	For the epis. Coarsely chopped
Scallions	3	Or 60 g of the green part of a leek
Parsley	25 g	Use the stems too. If you like cilantro, you may swap in just 10 g
Garlic	4 cloves	Coarsely chopped
Ginger	10 g	Coarsely minced
Dried thyme	1 tsp	4 sprigs if fresh
Cloves or allspice	1/8 tsp	Keep it small; too much tastes medicinal
Vinegar	1 tbsp	White wine vinegar or rice vinegar
Neutral oil	1 tbsp	Helps the epis blend
Scotch bonnet pepper sauce	1/4 tsp	If you don't like heat, leave it out and add at the table

2 / 2

Soup ingredients

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Kabocha or other sweet pumpkin	650 g net	Weight after removing skin and seeds. Butternut also works
Water	1.4 L	600 ml for the squash, 800 ml for simmering
Neutral oil	1 tbsp	For browning the beef
Onion	1 (180 g)	1 cm dice
Carrot	1 (150 g)	Rolling wedges
Potatoes	2 (250 g)	3 cm cubes
Daikon or turnip	200 g	3 cm cubes. Plays the role of the local turnip
Cabbage	250 g	Chopped into 4 cm squares
Celery	1 stalk (80 g)	1 cm wide. Optional if you dislike it
Short pasta or broken spaghetti	80 g	Macaroni, fusilli, or spaghetti broken into 5 cm lengths
Bay leaf	1	If you have it
Dried thyme	1/2 tsp	For extra aroma
Salt	1/2 tsp or more	Adjust at the end
Lime juice	2 tsp	For finishing. Cuts the heaviness
Parsley or scallion	2 tbsp	For finishing

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Sweet Squash Steam Rises in the Kitchen

When you cut into a hard squash, the shape of the soup is not yet visible. Chop onion, garlic, scallions, and thyme, add a little lime for sourness, and a green, earthy aroma rises in the kitchen. Then beef, root vegetables, cabbage, and short pasta are layered on top. If you look into the pot expecting something like a smooth Western-style puréed soup, the number of ingredients may surprise you a little.

What to decide first with this dish is whether the heat goes into the pot or is added at the table. Whether to make the squash smooth or leave some texture. When to add the pasta. If these are left vague, the pasta swells while the beef is still tough, and the bottom of the sweet soup scorches easily.

Cook the squash first and purée it, and tenderize the beef with epis over low heat. Add the root vegetables, cabbage, and pasta at times that keep each of their textures. The aim is to unpack a New Year's Day dish into the decisions of one pot that you can reproduce in a home kitchen.

A table with soup joumou in the pot and in bowls, set out in the kitchen — Soup joumou is a soup that becomes a meal: the sweetness of squash with beef, vegetables, and pasta layered on

For another Haitian dish, setting it beside griot (in Japanese), pork finished with citrus and epis, makes a holiday table easy to picture. For Caribbean rice dishes, it also goes well with Jamaica's rice and peas and Trinidad's pelau (in Japanese), which makes it easy to build a menu around the soup.

The Culture and History of Soup Joumou: Haiti's Soup of Freedom on New Year's Day

Soup joumou being shared at a home table, evoking New Year's Day in Haiti — Soup joumou is eaten in Haiti on New Year's Day, a symbolic soup shared among family and neighbors

Soup joumou is a dish eaten on January 1, Haiti's Independence Day. In 2021 UNESCO inscribed "Joumou soup" on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, describing it as a dish passed down in families and communities. According to UNESCO's explanation, during the colonial period only enslavers were allowed to eat this soup, and the Haitian people took it back as their own dish after independence. Smithsonian Magazine also presents the link between the independence of January 1, 1804 and the soup, with interviews of people who know Haitian food culture.

It is still eaten as the first meal of January 1 and for Sunday breakfast. Because it is a dish gathered around a big pot, the ingredients and whether there is meat vary between families and regions. There is also a range in whether pasta goes in and how long the beef is stewed. The quantities introduced here are one example that combines UNESCO's description, Super C's recipe, and the University of Rhode Island's recipe for the kitchen. Please make it not as the one right answer but as a home version that keeps the skeleton.

"Joumou," depending on the source, refers to a West Indian pumpkin or squash. Rather than hunting for the same variety, it is easier to judge flavor if you use a squash that gives good color and sweetness and give the soup its outline with lime, thyme, and epis.

Local pillar	Role	What to keep in a home kitchen
Joumou / squash	Color, sweetness, and body of the soup	Simmer a sweet pumpkin or squash, then purée it
Epis	The base of aroma in the meat and the soup	Combine garlic, scallions, parsley, thyme, and vinegar
Beef	A sense of feast and savor	Shank, shoulder, or stew-cut cubes, simmered at small bubbles
Root vegetables and cabbage	Substance as a meal	Potato, carrot, and daikon or turnip, added at staggered times
Pasta	Each household's heartiness	Add at the end and finish on residual heat

Ingredients (serves 4)

Squash, beef, vegetables, pasta, aromatics, and spices for soup joumou laid out in the kitchen — Prepare the ingredients in groups of squash, beef, epis, root vegetables, cabbage, and pasta, and you are less likely to get lost during the steps

This amount is for four people eating the soup as the main dish. On days you serve rice or griot alongside, portion each bowl a little smaller. Too much pasta will absorb liquid the next day, so stop at 80 g the first time.

Allergens and heat

This recipe uses beef and wheat. Short pasta and spaghetti are wheat products, so swap in rice-flour pasta if needed. The heat of Scotch bonnet-type pepper is strong, so at a table with children or people who do not like heat, it is safer to leave it out of the pot and let only the adults add it at the table.

Shopping Notes

Squash, Scotch bonnet-style sauce, warm spices, and a heavy pot laid out as a shopping guide — If you are going to buy extras, think in the order of Scotch bonnet-style heat, warm spices, and a heavy pot, and you are less likely to go wrong

There is no need to go out of your way for what you can buy nearby. Squash, beef, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and pasta are all at an ordinary supermarket. What is worth looking for is the aroma of Scotch bonnet, a warm spice that can be used in small amounts, and a pot that keeps the heat steady over a long simmer.

What to look for	Priority	Reason	Substitute
Scotch bonnet-style sauce	High	Lets you adjust the Haitian-style aroma and heat at the table	A little fresh habanero, or no heat at all
Allspice	Medium	Adds a small amount of warm aroma in place of cloves	1 clove, or leave out
Heavy cast-iron pot	Medium	Less likely to scorch the squash purée and beef	A heavy pot of 4 L or more
Blender	Low	Makes the squash smooth more easily	Coarsely mash with a masher

Scotch bonnet gives not only heat but also a fruit-like aroma. Rather than looking for the fresh chile, for the first time it is better to adjust a bottled hot sauce at the table, so that the whole pot does not become too hot. Allspice is not required; 1/8 tsp is enough for soup joumou, and if you already have cloves you can skip it. A heavy pot plays a role only in simmering the beef for a long time on low heat and combining it with the squash purée, so if you already have one of 4 L or more, there is no need to buy another.

Method: Melt the Squash, Then Layer the Meat and Vegetables

This order is built so that you can judge the thickness of the squash and the tenderness of the beef separately. If you cook the squash first, it will not scorch the bottom of the pot while you wait for the beef to soften. For the beef, do not fix a short time; move on according to how far a skewer goes in.

Substitutes and Deciding How Close to the Original to Go

Squash, root vegetables, pasta, and hot sauce laid out in the kitchen as substitutes for soup joumou — When making it in a home kitchen, prioritize the sweetness of squash, the aroma of epis, the stewing of the beef, and when the pasta goes in

Soup joumou varies a great deal from household to household. UNESCO too presents it as a dish combining vegetables, meat, pasta, and spices while explaining that it is a practice passed down in families and communities. Rather than matching every ingredient name, if you protect the skeleton in this order, color and sweetness, aromatics, the savor of the meat, and the ingredients you eat, the flavor will not scatter even with substitutes.

Ingredient in doubt	Closer to the original	Realistic answer	How to think about substituting
Joumou / squash	West Indian pumpkin types	Kabocha, butternut	Prioritize color and sweetness. If it is watery, remove the lid and reduce
Turnip	White root vegetable	Daikon, turnip	Add in cubes to bring earthiness to the sweet squash
Scotch bonnet	The fresh pepper used for aroma	A few drops of hot sauce at the table	Don't spread heat through the whole pot; let each person decide
Pasta	Spaghetti, macaroni, and others, varying by household	80 g short pasta	Add at the end, and boil separately for the portion you will store
Epis	An aromatic paste whose recipe differs by household	Made from parsley, scallion, garlic, and thyme	Add a little vinegar and lime to keep the green aroma

Kabocha is sweet, so no sugar is needed. Butternut gives a pretty color but is watery and makes the soup lighter. In that case, remove the lid in step 4 and reduce 5 minutes at a time over medium-low heat. When the sweetness feels heavy, add 1 tsp lime juice before adding more salt.

Points Where It Tends to Go Wrong

Soup joumou of different thicknesses side by side, checking the body with a spoon — If watery, reduce; if too heavy, add hot water. Pasta keeps absorbing liquid on residual heat

With so many ingredients, soup joumou is a dish where it is hard to see where things went wrong. The usual causes are three: liquid, heat, and when the pasta goes in.

Symptom	Cause	How to fix
Watery	The squash held too much water, not reduced enough	Remove the lid and reduce 5 minutes at a time over medium-low heat
Scorched bottom	High heat after adding the squash purée	Medium-low or lower, and sweep the bottom every minute
Tough meat	Not simmered long enough, boiled hard	Extend 10 minutes at a time over low heat and check that a skewer goes to the center
Pasta overcooked	Added too early, absorbed liquid in storage	Add right before eating. Use less pasta in the portion you store
Sweetness feels heavy	Kabocha is sweet	Add lime juice 1 tsp at a time, and adjust heat on the plate

The first time, it works better not to try to settle the seasoning in one go. The sweetness and water content of squash vary from one to another, and the saltiness of the beef changes with the cut and the seasoning. Rest it for 5 minutes before finishing, then adjust salt, lime, and heat in that order. If the meat is tough when you taste, extend the simmer before adding seasoning.

Storage and Reheating

Soup joumou divided into storage containers, with a pot ready for reheating — When storing, allow for the pasta absorbing liquid, and add hot water when reheating to bring the body back

In line with FoodSafety.gov's storage guidance, divide it into shallow storage containers within 2 hours of turning off the heat, and keep it in the refrigerator for no more than 3–4 days. The point is not to leave it in the pot, and if the quantity is large, divide it among containers to cool. Pasta absorbs liquid, so set aside the portion to be stored at the end of step 5, and add the pasta on the day you eat it to keep the texture.

When reheating, stir from the bottom of the pot so it gets hot to the center, and heat the whole to 74°C. If it has thickened, add 2–4 tbsp of hot water per serving and bring it back slowly over low heat. If you freeze it, divide the soup shallowly before the pasta goes in. Soup frozen after completion has softer noodles, so treat it after thawing as something closer to a stew in body.

A Caribbean-style table with soup joumou, griot, rice and peas, and pickles — Soup joumou is a meal by itself, but set beside griot and a rice dish it comes closer to a holiday table

In Haiti it is set on the table as a January 1 dish. In your own kitchen, you might eat it on New Year's Day while talking about where the dish comes from, or make it as a main dish for a cold weekend. After serving into bowls, those who want heat add a few drops of pepper sauce, and those who want to cut the heaviness add a little lime. Since the soup itself has pasta in it, a small portion of rice or bean rice is enough as the starch.

For a menu, the meat dish can lead to griot (in Japanese) and the rice dish to rice and peas. Soup joumou is already rich in ingredients, so side dishes of lightly pickled cabbage with some acidity, a lime-forward salad, or fried plantain are enough. Not adding too many dishes keeps the yellow soup and the aroma of epis at the center of the table.

Frequently Asked Questions

Soup joumou, with pasta, hot water, lime, and heat set out in the kitchen for adjustment — Common doubts cluster around squash, heat, pasta, and body when stored

Can I use the squash with the skin on?

You can, but the color and mouthfeel become a little heavier. If you want a smooth soup, remove the skin. If you make it with the skin on, wash it well, cook it until tender, and blend thoroughly. Green flecks remain, so take it as a home-style finish.

Which cut of beef should I choose?

Choose a cut suited to stewing, such as shank, shoulder, or stew-cut cubes. If it is only very lean red meat, the mouthfeel tends to stay tough even after stewing, so cubes with a little sinew and fat are easier to work with. In steps 3 and 4, check whether a skewer goes to the center, and extend the time. If you shorten only the time and put the vegetables in first, the root vegetables fall apart while the meat is still tough.

Can I make it without meat?

You can, but the savor of the beef is lost. Replacing part of the water with vegetable stock and adding mushrooms or chickpeas gives it main-dish thickness. However, these amounts and simmering times are based on the version with beef. If you leave out the meat, go on to step 5 by judging how far a skewer goes into the root vegetables.

Is it all right to leave out the heat?

No problem. Scotch bonnet is attractive for its aroma, but its heat is strong and there is no need to force it into the pot. Leave it out of the epis and add a few drops of pepper sauce to each bowl, and the family can share the same pot more easily.

Do I have to add pasta?

It works as a soup without pasta. If you leave it out, add 50 g more potato, or eat it with rice, and it will still be filling. On days when storage matters too, boil the pasta separately and combine it right before eating, and it is less likely to overcook.

Can I make it in a pressure cooker?

It is possible if you pressure cook only the beef, water, and bay leaf, and once the beef is tender, combine the squash purée and vegetables as in an ordinary pot. The pressure time changes with the model, the size of the meat, and the cut, so use the stew setting in the manual and check with a skewer after depressurizing. If you pressure cook the squash, cabbage, and pasta at the same time, the texture tends to break down.

Sources

These are the materials against which the cultural background, the structure of the dish, and the storage guidelines were checked. Each source was checked on 21 July 2026. Historical dates and the year of a source's registration are given as facts separate from the date checked.

UNESCO, Joumou soup (checked 21 July 2026; inscribed 2021)
Smithsonian Magazine, Haiti's Beloved Soup Joumou Serves Up Freedom in Every Bowl (checked 21 July 2026)
Super C, Soup Joumou (checked 21 July 2026)
University of Rhode Island Community Nutrition Education, Soup Joumou (checked 21 July 2026)
FoodSafety.gov, Prevent Illness Caused by Clostridium perfringens (checked 21 July 2026)