jamaican breakfast Archives | CaribbeanPot.com

Breakfast was usually a grab and go routine for me as a young fella on the islands during the week, as I went to school in the city and it meant leaving our sleepy village very early in the morning. I had to take a 2nd taxi (shared) when I got into San Fernando (2nd largest city in Trinidad) to make it in time for the first bell. So weekends was when mom would go all out with whatever we wanted for breakfast. Now this sort of breakfast was never included as I only developed a liking for many of the ingredients you’ll see me use, during my travels across the Caribbean as an adult. However the dish itself represents the sort of satisfying breakfast you’d find across the West Indies, especially on the weekends.

You’ll Need…

4 green cooking bananas (cooked)
1-2 cups prepared salted fish (Cod)
1 scotch bonnet pepper
1 cup diced bell pepper
4 sprigs thyme
2 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 large shallot (or 2 cloves garlic & 1 small onion)
1 can ackee (drain / rinsed)
2 tablespoon olive oil (or coconut oil)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
8 small okra (cut in half – length)
6 cups Jamaican callaloo (trimmed/shredded)

Note: If doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the entire list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs.

Video Tutorials:

How To Prepare Jamaican Callaloo For Cooking

How To Shop For, Cook And Peel Green Bananas.

How To Prepare Salted Fish

Please use the video tutorials above to prepare the necessary ingredients. If using canned ackee as I did, be gentle and rinse with cool water to get rid of the brine it’s packaged in and set aside. On a medium flame, heat the olive oil (or coconut) and add the diced shallot and thyme. Lower the heat to low and let it cook gently for 3 minutes.

With your heat still on low, add the prepared salted cod and the black pepper and continue cooking for 3 minutes.

Turn the heat up to medium and add the cut/trimmed ockra and scotch bonnet pepper (remember to use as much as you can handle and don’t use any seeds if you’re concerned about the raw heat). Stir well and cook for a couple minutes.

It’s now time to add the prepared Jamaican callaloo (chorai bhaji) and stir well. It will look like it will overflow, but it will shrink (wilt) down as it cooks. Add all the other ingredients, except the cooked green bananas and ackee and mix well.

After 5 Minutes, add the cooked green bananas (cut into 1 inch pieces) and mix well. Then GENTLY fold in the ackee. Please be gentle as it’s very tender and can fall apart very easily. Warm trough and combine the flavors and you’re basically done.

An amazing one pot Caribbean breakfast beast served (enjoyed) hot. Feel free to add other types of ground provisions to the mix (like yams, dasheen, cassava etc) and be sure to have some slices of fried plantains on the side with some coconut bake or johnny cakes.

Meat & Poultry

Breakfast Sausages With Bell Peppers.

May 27, 2025September 2, 2015Leave a Comment

Your typical Caribbean breakfast is usually laden with ground provisions, dumplings, porridge, curries and roti (depending where in the Caribbean you are) and usually some sort of stewed salted meats (salted cod in most cases), so this recipe will not rank among those traditional type recipes. However, if you’re looking for something with wonderful flavors, brilliant colors and textures, you’ll be quite impressed with this dish. I’ll be using pork (bratwurst) sausages, but you’re free to use any sausage you like (I know some people are into turkey sausages.. just not my thing).

You’ll Need…

4 sausages
2 bell peppers (med)
1 medium onion
3 scallions
1/4 teaspoon Spanish pimentón (smoked hot paprika)
1 teaspoon veg oil
1 clove garlic
3 sprigs thyme
1/4 scotch bonnet pepper (optional)
pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Heat the veg oil on a low flame and add the sausages. TIP.. add about 1/2 cup water to the pan so the sausages cook before they start burning on the outside before the inside in cooked or you can also place a lid on the pan. By the time the water burns off, your sausages should be close to being fully cooked. Now turn up the heat to fully ‘brown’ them on the outside. Takes about 20 minutes or so, depending on the thickness of them.

Remove the now cooked sausages and set aside. Then add the garlic (crushed) and onion (chopped) to the same pan and cook on low for about 3 minutes. Then go in with the thyme, black pepper, salt, scotch bonnet and pimentón. Stir well and cook for a minute.

It’s now time to add the chopped bell peppers and scallions to the mix and stir well. The goal is to pick up all the flavors from the bottom of the pan from when we cooked the sausages.

Let it go for about 2-3 minutes so the peppers soften up a bit, but retain a bit of texture. The sausages should be cool by now, so chop into bite sized pieces and add to the pan. Be sure to save any juices which may run off while cutting and add to the pan as well. Stir well, cook another 2 minutes and you’re all done.

This sausage with bell peppers will have a slight kick to it from the scotch bonnet peppers, but you can certainly control that. It goes well with cassava dumplings, ground provisions, roti, coconut bake or even something as simple as toasted bread. So give it a try and enjoy!

Breakfast

Caribbean Breakfast Hash.

May 28, 2025January 7, 20132 Comments

I’ll admit that I have a weakness for all types of ground provisions, but I have a special attachment to yams. In soups, steamed, boiled, mashed, scalloped, roasted.. I’m country to heart and love ground provisions (or “food” as my Jamaican brothers and sisters would say) in all forms. Moving to Canada all those moons ago I also fell in love with corned beef and potato hash, so the creative side of my brain thought it would be nice to have a Caribbean version.

You’ll Need…

2-3 cups cubed yam
pinch black pepper
2 tablespoon coconut oil (or olive oil)
1 med onion diced
1 tablespoon parsley (garnish)
2 tablespoon shredded salted fish
1/4 scotch bonnet pepper

Note: I’m using Caribbean style yams for this recipe and not the sweet potato that’s usually called yams in North American grocery stores. Go to your local West Indian, Latin Or Asian food stores and I’m sure you’ll find it being sold there. It may be called Jamaican or West Indian yam. Sweet potato is a good alternative for this recipe as well, but remember you may need to balance the natural sweetness of it. I started cooking this in a cast iron pan, but transferred it to a non stick frying pan for better results.

Using a potato peeler or sharp pairing knife, peel the yam as you would normally peel a potato. If there are any black spots or blemishes..cut and remove. The sticky residue from the yams may irritate your skin/hands so do wear gloves or coat your hands with some vegetable oil. Cube and set in cool water until you’re ready to cook or it will discolor quickly.

If you’ve never prepared salted cod fish before, you’ll need to soak it in cold water, then drain. Now place it in a pot with water, bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes. Then drain, rinse with cool water and shred. I got the boned variety, for less work (don’t have to search out the tiny little bones to remove). The soaking and boiling will remove the heavy salt it’s been cured in.

Dice the scotch bonnet pepper (no seeds) and onion, and get ready to cook.

Heat the coconut oil in a non stick frying pan on a medium flame, then add the onion and cook for about 3-4 minutes. Then add the black pepper, scotch bonnet pepper and shredded salted fish (salted cod). Allow this to cook for about 3-4 minutes, so we get the lovely accent of the salted cod. Now drain the cubed yam and add to the pot. Your heat should be at med/low now and cover the pot so it sort of steam cooks.

Remember to stir every 4 minutes and this should be fully cooked in about 20 minutes. The natural sugars in the cubed yam will cause it to get a lovely golden brown on the edges. You can remove the lid the last 4 minutes of cooking, and to test if it’s fully cooked all you have to do is pierce it with a sharp knife. If there’s no resistance.. you’re good to go. Garnish with the chopped parsley!

What a lovely way to start the day with this unique Caribbean style hash brown. There’s enough here for 3-4 people if serving as a side to eggs and toast.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.

Seafood

Callaloo With Green Bananas, Salted Cod And Simmered In Coconut Milk.

August 1, 2012August 1, 201218 Comments

I know my Trinbagonian friends will be asking “what this fella trying to pull off as callaloo” as Callaloo in Trinidad and Tobago and a number of the other beautiful islands which make up the Caribbean, is a delicious dish and not a plant. In Jamaica the (plant) callaloo is a much loved ingredient in many of their dishes and is what other islanders will refer to as spinach and/or chorai bhagi. Now that I’ve cleared the air (any confusion), let’s take a peek at a very hearty and delicious dish with strong Caribbean roots (no matter how you call the greens we’ll be using).

BTW, the callaloo (bhagi) is fresh out of my garden and would be considered “organic” (I don’t use pesticides etc) by today’s standard.. you ever notice how much more expensive “organic” vegetables (and meat) are in the grocery store. personally I think it’s rip-off (who monitors these farmers?).

You’ll Need…

1 cup salted fish (see note below)
1 tomato
5 green bananas (cooking bananas)
1 scotch bonnet pepper
3 sprigs thyme
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 scallions
1 cup coconut milk

* 1 bundle of callaloo (about 8 cups when chopped)

Notes: I used salted cod fish (which is dry and salted) but you can use your favourite salted fish (Alaskan,Pollock..etc). In the video clip below I’ll show you how to prep the salted cod for use in this dish (soak, boil and shred). The green bananas will be called “green fig” and/or “cooking bananas” in your fav grocery store.

Wash the callaloo bush repeatedly under cool water to remove any sand or dirt. Then trim off the leaves and tender stems. I then peeled back on the stems to remove the exterior (this way it’s not stringy when cooked). Make small bundles with the now trimmed leaves (1/2 inch thick) and cut into ribbons. Place in a bowl with water to remain fresh. When it’s near time to cook it, drain thoroughly.

Next up we need to prep the salted fish for use. This may mean (depending on the variety you use) soaking for a few hours in cool water, then discard that water and place the salted fish into a pot covered with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 25 minutes, then drain, rinse with cool water and then trim/shred. This is to re hydrate the dried salted fish and to remove most of the salt it was cured in.Then it’s just a matter of using a fork (or your fingers) to shred it.

We’ve got to cook the green bananas before we can add them to the pot with the other ingredients. Basically all you have to do is trim off the ends of each banana, place them in a deep pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. As it comes to a boil, add the salt and allow it to cook for about 20-25 minutes. Then drain, allow to cool and peel off the skin, then cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces. If you know how to peel green bananas, you can certainly peel before boiling, but I find it’s much easier to boil with the skin on and peel after. When the green banana is fully cooked, you’ll notice the skin (banana peel) will crack and start separating from the flesh.

As the banana cooks, it will go from that brilliant green to a dark (almost black) colour.. that is normal. The next step is to chop the tomato (set aside for later), onion,, scotch bonnet pepper, scallion, garlic and thyme. Remember when using scotch bonnet peppers, to wear gloves, wash your hands with soap immediately after use and don’t include the seeds if you can’t handle the raw heat.

Now that everything is prepped, it’ time to drain the chopped callaloo and heat the oil on a medium flame (deep pan). Then add the shredded saltfish to the pot and lower your flame to low. Allow this to cook for about 5 minutes, until the pieces of cod gets a bit crispy and flavors the entire pan. It will start to stick to the bottom of your pan..scrape and stir. Now add the chopped onion, garlic, scotch bonnet pepper, thyme, scallion and black pepper to the pan and allow to soften up and build that lovely flavor base (about 3 minutes).

Now it’s time to add the chopped callaloo to the pot and give it a good stir. At first it may seem a lot for the pot, but as it cooks down it will wilt and you’ll have enough room. Top with the coconut milk and salt.. cover the pot and let that cook on a medium/low heat for about 15-20 minutes.

Remove the lid (remember to keep stirring), add the the pieces of cooked green banana and give it a good stir. It’s natural for the callaloo to spring it’s own juices, so turn up the heat and try to burn off any remaining liquid in the pot. Should take about 5 minutes. Taste for salt, top with the chopped tomato and you’re done.

For the amount of callaloo I had, I could have easily put about 4 more green bananas in the pot.. but I love me some callaloo, so I didn’t make it an issue. The lovely flavor base we made with the salted cod and the other ingredients, will certainly rock your taste buds. If you’ve never had cooked green banana the texture will be similar to a very firm potato (like a baked potato) and the callaloo will be almost the same as spinach.. but with a unique flavor of it’s own.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.

jamaican breakfast

Ultimate Caribbean Breakfast Recipe.

Breakfast Sausages With Bell Peppers.

Caribbean Breakfast Hash.

Callaloo With Green Bananas, Salted Cod And Simmered In Coconut Milk.

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