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Haitian bouillon has a specific smell that belongs to Saturday mornings — allspice and Scotch bonnet rising from a pot that has been on the stove since six, a signal that the week’s heaviest meal is nearly ready. This is a soup built on two meats at once: beef cut into cubes and chicken pieces browned together, then covered with broth and simmered long enough to fall apart at the touch of a spoon. Root vegetables, cabbage, green beans, and thyme go in later, each pulling some of that meaty depth from the liquid. Across Haiti, bouillon is the Saturday meal — eaten late morning after church or the market, ladled into deep bowls and eaten with rice on the side or crusty bread dunked into the broth.
In a large pot, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat.
Add the beef and chicken and brown on all sides. Remove the meat from the pot and set aside.
In the same pot, add the chopped onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Sauté until the vegetables are soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the tomatoes and cook for another 2 minutes.
Return the browned meat to the pot. Add the beef or chicken broth, thyme, paprika, allspice, bay leaves, and Scotch bonnet peppers.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Add the carrots, potatoes, cabbage, and green beans to the pot. Stir to combine.
Continue to simmer until the meat is tender and the vegetables are cooked through, about 20-30 minutes.
Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
Garnish with fresh parsley or cilantro before serving.
Haitian bouillon is a rich, brothy soup combining beef and chicken cooked with root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, green beans, cabbage), allspice, thyme, and Scotch bonnet pepper. Unlike French bouillon, which is a clear stock, Haitian bouillon is a full meal — thick with vegetables and heavy with meat.
Haitian bouillon evolved from French colonial cooking and West African stew traditions that merged on the island over the 17th and 18th centuries. The use of allspice and Scotch bonnet pepper is distinctly Caribbean, added by the enslaved African cooks who transformed European techniques into something entirely their own.
Beef stew meat and bone-in chicken are the dual proteins, both browned first then slow-simmered in broth. Allspice, Scotch bonnet, and thyme are the signature spices. Carrots, potatoes, cabbage, and green beans go in for the last 30 minutes, absorbing the meat broth without going to mush.
Use bone-in chicken rather than boneless — the bones release gelatin that gives the broth body. Add the Scotch bonnet whole if you want flavor without searing heat; pierce or chop it if you want fire. Stagger the vegetables by density: carrots and potatoes go in before cabbage and green beans, which only need 10 to 15 minutes.
Haitian bouillon is most commonly accompanied by white rice eaten alongside the soup, or by kasav — the cassava flatbread used to scoop and absorb the broth. Ripe fried plantains on the side add sweetness that plays off the savory, pepper-spiced soup well.