Make the most of pumpkin season by making this comforting, warming easy pumpkin soup recipe!
This healthy pumpkin soup is full of Autumnal flavour and is very easy to make. Serve with crusty buttered bread for a delicious meal that will fill you up AND do you good!
I really wanted the naturally sweet, earthy flavour of the pumpkin to shine through in this recipe, so I’ve kept things fairly simple.
Pumpkins contain 90% water, so they do need a little help from a few extra ingredients to add flavour and complement their natural sweetness.
do you need to peel pumpkin for soup?
Generally, yes you should peel pumpkin for making soup. There are some varieties that don’t need to be peeled if you’re roasting it, but the skin on larger pumpkins can be quite tough so it’s advisable to peel it before cooking.
Ingredient list
Scroll to the bottom of the post to find printable recipe card with ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.
- olive oil (regular, not extra virgin) for softening the vegetables.
- fresh pumpkin, peeled and chopped into chunks. You’ll need 1 kilo of pumpkin for this recipe.
- Herbs. I love pumpkin with fresh sage – they are perfect together! I also added some fragrant rosemary, but not too much that it overwhelms the delicate flavour of the pumpkin. If fresh herbs aren’t available, use two teaspoons of dried sage and 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary.
- Diced onion, celery and carrots. There aren’t many soup recipes that can’t be improved on by adding what is known in Italy as “The holy Trinity”. Red onion has a lovely mild sweetness, but as always they can be swapped for regular white onions.
- Fresh garlic adds such great flavour to any soup recipe, but do be careful not to burn it or it will taste bitter.
- Smoked paprika and a little touch of ground allspice and nutmeg add a lovely warmth to this soup. You wouldn’t necessarily know what it was, but it’s definitely noticeable!
- Using vegetable or chicken stock instead of water will give you a much tastier, flavourful soup.
- honey. This may sound like a strange addition, but adding runny honey really brings out the sweetness of the vegetables. Maple syrup or brown sugar would also do the same job.Some pumpkins can also be slightly bitter, so the honey will counteract this.
- Don’t forget the seasoning! Adding plenty of flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper makes all the difference.
HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN SOUP
- Step one – heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a low-medium heat. Add the diced onion, celery and carrot, season with a little salt and pepper and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often until the vegetables have softened.
- Step two – Stir the garlic into the vegetable mixture and cook for a couple of minutes, then add the pumpkin, chopped herbs and spices.
- Step three – add the vegetable/chicken stock and honey. Cover the pan with a lid and allow the soup to simmer for about 45 minutes or until the pumpkin is completely soft.
blend the soup
- TOP TIP! Allowing the soup to cool slightly before blitzing will give you a smoother texture. Not to mention the fact that scalding hot soup burns are never fun!
- Step four – Using a hand held or free standing blender, blend the soup to your desired consistency. I like pumpkin soup really smooth, but you can keep it chunky if you prefer.
Can I use a Halloween carving pumpkin to make soup?
While carving pumpkins grown specifically for turning into Halloween jack o lanterns are edible, they can lack flavour. Living in 1980’s Scotland, pumpkin carving wasn’t really a thing at all.
It’s now become so popular that the UK wastes on average around 18,000 tonnes of pumpkin during the Halloween season. That’s such a shame when you can do so much with them!
I often make pumpkin puree with a leftover Halloween pumpkin for baking – here’s how to make pumpkin puree (spoiler alert – it’s extremely easy!)
I have lots of recipes to use up pumpkin puree – my pumpkin cinnamon swirl bread and pumpkin spice muffins are two of my favourites!
I’m not denying that culinary pumpkins are better quality for cooking, but if a carving pumpkin is what you have, I would never encourage you to throw it out.
I’ve made this soup with the carving pumpkins you can pick up in the supermarkets for around £1 with no issues at all.
why does my pumpkin soup taste bland?
If you cooked the pumpkin flesh and added stock, salt and pepper only, you would end up with a soup that tastes of absolutely nothing.
By adding just enough ingredients to bolster the flavours and enhance the natural sweetness of the pumpkin, you can end up with a pretty tasty result.
Seasoning is really important. Just remember thatit’s always best to add the salt and pepper gradually. If you add too much, you might end up with a soup that’s way too salty to enjoy. Slowly sweating down the garlic and onions (for at least 10 minutes) will also add flavour to the soup. Herbs always help too!
can i add different flavours?
Definitely! You can easily customise this soup recipe to your own taste.
- Love garlic? Add a couple more cloves.
- Use fresh thyme instead of sage.
- Add a few chilli flakes if you like heat.
Can I add cheese?
Sure! For an extra “umami” hit, throw a Parmesan rind into the soup while cooking.
my soup is too thick!
You might need to add a little extra liquid to the soup get the right consistency. This could be more stock, milk or cream or water (but be careful with the latter or you could dilute the flavour of the soup).
Storing
Store the cooled soup in a tupperware container and keep in the fridge for up to four days. You can freeze pumpkin soup for up to three months.
reheating instructions
If you plan to make this pumpkin soup in advance and re-heat later, you’ll probably need to add a little more stock to loosen it. It will thicken up quite a lot after a day or two in the fridge.
For a creamy consistency, add some milk or double cream. Reheat the soup nice and slowly so it doesn’t curdle.
Serving suggestions
I like to serve pumpkin soup with a scattering of pumpkin seeds and dried chilli flakes, but sometimes I do nothing more than add a swirl of cream.
You have to serve soup with lots of crusty bread – it’s the law! I’m also pretty fond of serving soup with a savoury scone – these supersized cheese scones would be perfect.
Serving this soup for a Thanksgiving celebration? Then may I recommend making these cute pumpkin bread rolls to serve alongside?
Imagine a basket of these on your holiday table! I can’t tell you how heavenly they taste fresh and warm from the oven with maple or honey butter.
I make no secret of the fact that I LOVE pumpkin season. As soon as October hits, I go full on pumpkin mode.
I’m honestly not sure where this mild pumpkin obsession came from, but I suspect it might have something to do with my nostalgic fondness for Charlie Brown’s cute holiday film “It’s the great pumpkin, Charlie Brown“.
I introduced this timeless movie to my youngest son last night. He has autism and is non verbal and really doesn’t watch much TV at all. Much to my delight, he loved it! I can’t wait to show him Charlie Brown Christmas now…the old classics are the best….
more pumpkin recipes to try
- Starbucks copycat pumpkin bread
- pumpkin cinnamon rolls
- pumpkin spice latte cake
- stuffed pumpkin with mushroom rice and cranberries
- pumpkin and ginger scones
- pumpkin spice chocolate chip granola
did you make this recipe?
I hope you loved it! Let me know what you thought by leaving a comment below – and if you have any questions, please just ask.
If you enjoyed the recipe, don’t forget to come back and leave a rating! I love to hear from you and any feedback is always welcomed. Happy cooking!
Easy Pumpkin Soup
Yield: serves 8
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Keep cosy this Autumn by curling up with a bowl of this comforting and warming pumpkin soup! This is a healthy soup, but you could serve with a swirl of cream for extra indulgence.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 red or white onions, peeled and finely diced
- 1 celery stick, finely diced
- 125g carrots, peeled and chopped into small dice
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh rosemary needles, chopped
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 pinches ground allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1kg pumpkin, peeled de-seeded and cut into 2-3 chunks
- 1. 5 litres vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste (I usually add about one teaspoon of sea salt, but you may prefer less.)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a low-medium heat. Add the diced onions, celery and carrots, sprinkle over a little salt and pepper and gently fry, stirring often until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the crushed garlic and cook for two minutes.
- Add the sage, rosemary, smoked paprika, ground allspice, nutmeg and black pepper. Cook for a minute or two before adding the pumpkin chunks, stirring well to mix everything together.
- Pour in the hot vegetable stock and honey or maple syrup. Cover and simmer for 40-45 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
- Remove from the heat and allow the soup to cool slightly before blending in an electric or hand held blender to your desired consistency. Check the seasoning - you might want to add more salt and pepper. Serve the soup with or without a swirl of cream and a scattering of pumpkin seeds and chilli flakes, if you like.
Notes
Chicken stock can be used instead of vegetable.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 124Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 1814mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 3gSugar: 11gProtein: 3g
Calories and nutritional information are provided by a third party application and should be viewed as indicative figures only.
