Sopa de Plátanos/Plantain Soup

The Thanksgiving food traditions in Puerto Rico are a bit different from the American ones. You will be hard-pressed to find any cranberry sauce at a Puerto Rican Thanksgiving gathering, for example. We usually have mostly everything we would have at Christmas: “arroz con gandules” (rice and green pigeon peas), “pasteles”, elbow pasta salad (yeah, it’s a thing), etc. However, one of the things that I also like to incorporate into my Thanksgiving meal is a soup. This one is a traditional Puerto Rican plantain soup, which is actually more of a cream than a runny soup. It is a perfect first or second course. This plantain soup is really easy to make (only 8 ingredients!) and packs a lot of flavor. You can also make it beforehand, so it’s perfect both if you’re hosting, or to bring as a guest.  Consider adding it to your Thanksgiving meal and let me know what you thought!

How to make: Plantain Soup

First, peel the plantains, and cut them up into 1/2-inch chunks (see my video here about how to peel plantains). Then, heat the olive oil in a medium dutch oven, or in a large saucepan, on medium/high heat. Add the diced onions, minced garlic and sofrito (see my homemade recipe here), and turn down the heat to medium. If you don’t have sofrito, you can add to this mix one tsp. of culantro and one tbsp. of finely diced green pepper.  Stir fry until onions are somewhat translucent, about four minutes. Add the plantain chunks and the vegetable broth and bring to a simmer. Leave it all simmering for about 20 minutes, or until the plantains are fork tender.

Use an immersion blender to blend all the ingredients together. Conversely, carefully transfer the mix into a regular blender, blend, and pour back into the pan. If you don’t have an immersion blender, and you love making soup, seriously consider getting one. We received this one as a gift for our wedding, and I love it. If you used a regular blender, add the mix back into the saucepan, and add the adobo and salt. If you want the soup to be thicker, simmer until the soup is thick to your liking. Serve hot. If the soup gets too thick sitting on the stove, add a bit of water or vegetable broth, and heat again. You can serve with a splash of olive oil and some plantain chips for garnish. Buen provecho!

Print Recipe

Sopa de Plátano/Plantain Soup

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time40 mins

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 3 medium green plantains
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp sofrito If you don't have sofrito: 1 tbsp finely diced green pepper and 1 tsp culantro
• 7 cups vegetable broth, low sodium
• 1 tsp or to taste adobo
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions

• Peel plantains and cut them up in to 1/2 inch chunks
• Heat olive oil in medium dutch oven or medium saucepan, on medium/high heat
• Add onions, garlic and sofrito and turn the heat down to medium. If you don't have sofrito, add 1 tbsp of finely diced green pepper and 1 tsp of culantro.
• Stir fry until onion is somewhat translucent, about four minutes
• Add plantains and vegetable broth and bring to a simmer
• Simmer for 25 minutes, or until plantains are fork tender
• Using an immersion blender, blend all the ingredients in the pan. If you don't have one, carefully transfer the mix to a regular blender and blend.
• If using a regular blender, transfer mix back to the pan. Add the adobo and salt.
• Leave simmering for a few more minutes until you achieve desired thickness
• Let sit for about five minutes, and serve

Notes

Beware of salt! Be very mindful of the vegetable broth you use and its sodium content. I use a low sodium broth, which is what I recommend. If the only broth you can find is high in sodium, use half part broth and half part water. Just make sure to taste test for salt during the whole process, so you don't end up with a very salty soup.