Africa → Madagascar → Analamanga (Antananarivo)
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Lasopy (Malagasy Puréed Vegetable Soup)
Carrots, turnip, green beans, tomato and spring onions simmered in a broth made from veal or beef bones, then puréed into a smooth, thick soup and served hot with a little sakay chilli paste.
Malagasy · easy · serves 6
prep 20 min · cook 105 min
~629 cal · 59g protein · 20g carbs · 33g fat · 5g fiber · 10g sugars · 13g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Lasopy takes its name from the French la soupe, and it is one of the best-loved soups of Madagascar, usually served as a starter. It is a thick purée of whatever vegetables are at hand, but carrots, turnips and green beans turn up in almost every version, with tomatoes and spring onions.
The flavour comes from bones. Veal or beef bones are simmered first to make a broth, the vegetables are cooked in it until very soft, and then the bones are lifted out and everything else is pushed through a sieve or a vegetable mill, or blended, into a smooth, creamy soup.
What makes it Malagasy at the table is what comes with it: a dab of sakay, the fierce red chilli paste made with garlic and ginger, stirred in to taste, and often a piece of baguette. Made with vegetable instead of bones, it becomes a vegetarian soup.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
- 1.3 kg veal or beef bones
- 2 litres water
- 2 tsp salt, adjust to taste
- 3 carrots, peeled and cut in chunks
- 1 small turnip, peeled and cut in chunks
- 6 spring onions, chopped
- 150 g (1 cup) green beans, trimmed and cut
- 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- 1Put the bones, water and salt in a large pot, bring to the boil and skim off the foam. Lower the heat and simmer gently, partly covered, for 1 hour.
- 2Add the carrots, turnip, spring onions, green beans, tomatoes and pepper. Simmer for about 45 minutes, until all the vegetables are very soft.
- 3Lift out and discard the bones. Purée the soup with a stick blender, or push it through a vegetable mill or sieve, until smooth and thick. If it is too thick, loosen it with a little hot water.
- 4Taste for salt and serve hot, with sakay chilli paste on the side for everyone to stir in to taste, and bread if you like.✎ Chef’s noteSakay is very hot. A tiny dab is plenty to start with.
Malagasy home cooking of the highlands.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Analamanga (Antananarivo). Analamanga is the highland region around Antananarivo, where romazava, a brothy beef stew with bitter greens, was the dish of the Merina kings. Rice is eaten at nearly every meal in quantity, brightened by tomato-ginger relish and the local chili paste sakay.
🗺️
Madagascar. Madagascar eats more rice per person than almost anywhere, served with romazava (herb-and-meat stew) and ravitoto (pounded cassava leaves). Vanilla, cloves, and Southeast Asian roots reflect the island's unique Austronesian-African heritage.
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Africa. The structure repeats across most of the continent: one starch and one sauce. A grain or root is cooked stiff, torn or rolled by hand, and used to carry a stew of leaves, groundnut, okra or fish, usually from a shared bowl and with the right hand. UNESCO listings have followed that logic, inscribing couscous in 2020 as a shared Maghreb tradition and Ivorian attieke in 2024.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Madagascar
RomazavaMadagascar’s national broth: zebu beef and mixed leafy greens with ginger and tomato, ladled over rice.
Mofo GasySlightly sweet fermented rice-flour cakes griddled in round moulds, "Malagasy bread" for breakfast.
Ravitoto sy HenakisoaPounded cassava leaves slow-cooked with pork, garlic, and ginger, one of Madagascar's best-known dishes.
Browse all Madagascar recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Blender.
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a Madagascar meal
RanovolaDrink
Koba AkondroDessert
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Lasopy (Malagasy Puréed Vegetable Soup)?
Carrots, turnip, green beans, tomato and spring onions simmered in a broth made from veal or beef bones, then puréed into a smooth, thick soup and served hot with a little sakay chilli paste.
Where does Lasopy (Malagasy Puréed Vegetable Soup) come from?
Lasopy (Malagasy Puréed Vegetable Soup) is a Malagasy dish from Analamanga (Antananarivo), Madagascar.
Can Lasopy (Malagasy Puréed Vegetable Soup) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Lasopy (Malagasy Puréed Vegetable Soup) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Lasopy (Malagasy Puréed Vegetable Soup) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Lasopy (Malagasy Puréed Vegetable Soup) take to make?
About 125 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 105 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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