Pumpkin Soup is an easy recipe for the Fall that is maximum flavor with minimal effort. Instructions to roast your own pumpkin included too!
Warm, cozy vegetable Soups like this Pumpkin Soup, Tomato Soup, and Butternut Squash Soup make the perfect, light dinner when the weather is cool. Add this soup to all things pumpkin you want to make this season!
Why You’ll Love This Soup?
- Can be made with canned pumpkin or homemade pumpkin puree.
- Minimal ingredients and quick cooking time for a hearty, creamy light soup.
Sabrina’s Pumpkin Soup Recipe
You don’t need a long list of ingredients or a lot of time to get tons of flavor in your veggie soup. All you need is a hearty vegetable like pumpkin, a couple stand out spices, and about 30 minutes total cook time. This soup is perfect for the Fall months when you get to go wild with everything pumpkin flavored.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 yellow onion , diced
- 1 stalk celery , diced
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 30 ounces canned pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- In a large dutch oven add 4 tablespoons butter, onion and celery on medium heat.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes until onions are translucent.
- Add in garlic, stir and cook for 30 seconds until aromatic.
- Add in salt, white pepper and sage and stir well.
- Add in the chicken broth (vegetarian broth if desired) and pumpkin puree.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
- Use an immersion blender until smooth.
- Add in heavy cream, stir well and bring to a simmer before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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Note from Sabrina
If you want to use fresh pumpkin instead of canned pumpkin puree, you will need to cook it first before adding it to the soup or it won’t get tender plus it will make the soup really watery. The best way to prepare it would be to roast it first (see Variations Section) to make it sweeter and more flavorful. However you cook it, puree it first then drain any excess liquid before adding it to the soup like usual.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
This Pumpkin Soup recipe has almost no hands on time and uses canned or homemade Pumpkin Puree to make it super quick and easy. You won’t believe how flavorful this simple soup is thanks to the aromatic veggies, like onion and celery, cooked in butter, chicken broth, and just a hint of sage to tie it all together. Finish your soup off with some heavy cream so it tastes extra rich and decadent, without all the calories of heavier soup, for a healthy dinner that tastes great too! If you do have a little more time and want to start with roasted pumpkin, there are instructions on how to roast a pumpkin in the Variations Section.
Ingredients
- Pumpkin Puree: Using a big can of pumpkin puree makes this soup super easy without sacrificing any flavor! Make sure you use pure pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie mix because the pie filling has sugar and sweet spices like cloves and cinnamon in it.
- Heavy Cream: A bit of cream added to the soup right before it is served makes it extra rich and creamy. You could also use full fat coconut milk or half and half for the same creamy texture.
- Aromatics: This soup starts by breaking down the bitterness of raw onion, celery, and garlic by cooking them in fat. I use butter but if you are altering this to make it vegan, you can use olive oil or avocado oil.
- Seasonings: Pumpkin has a mild earthy and sweet flavor so you don’t want to overwhelm it with lots of seasonings. A little white pepper and rubbed sage are all that’s needed to compliment the natural flavors.
- Chicken Broth: Chicken broth is an easy way to add a lot of deep, savory flavor to vegetable soups. If you are vegetarian, you can use a good quality vegetable broth instead.
Can this be made ahead of time?
Pumpkin Soup is a great make-ahead recipe because it stays good for a long time and the flavors get even deeper as it sits. You can keep reheating it for days if you store it in the fridge or you can keep it frozen for 6 months. First, always cool the soup completely before storing. If you are freezing it, wrap a layer of plastic wrap between the lid and container to prevent freezer burn. Secondly, skip the heavy cream if you plan on making this ahead and reheating it later. This will keep the cream from separating or curdling when you heat the soup. Reheat the soup on the stove top, then add the cream right before serving.
How to Store
- Store: Pumpkin Soup can be at room temperature for up to 2 hours, warm in a slow cooker for up to 4 hours, before it needs to be cooled and stored. Once cooled, store leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Reheat: The cream and oils may naturally separate when the soup is cooled, but it will come back together nicely if you reheat it over low heat slowly on the stove top. Stir the soup occasionally until heated through.
- Freeze: For easy storage, freeze the soup flat in plastic storage bags on a baking sheet until solid. This way you can stack them or store them upright in the freezer without taking up a lot of room. Pumpkin Soup will stay good in the freezer for up to 6 months. Reheat the soup from frozen or thaw it overnight in the fridge before reheating on the stove top.
Slow Cooker Method
- Cook the onions and celery in butter in a heavy skillet until onions are softened, then stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer onion mixture to the slow cooker.
- Add all the remaining ingredients, except for the heavy cream, to the slow cooker. Stir everything a couple times.
- Cover with the lid and cook for 2-3 hours on high or 4-6 hours on low.
- Once the soup is done, puree until smooth with an immersion blender, or in batches in a blender.
- Add the heavy cream to the pureed soup, stir until combined, then serve.
Frequent Questions
If your soup is too watery, you can use cornstarch or flour to quickly thicken it up. In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon flour or cornstarch with a ladle of hot soup. Whisk until smooth then stir it back into the soup with the heavy cream and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes before serving.
If your pumpkin soup isn’t as flavorful as you would like it, try adding a little more salt before you reach for other more powerful spices. You can also drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on the soup or top with seasoned croutons and fresh herbs.
The easiest two ways to build flavor for your soup are to start with sauteing veggies in butter for a flavorful fat element and to use a good quality stock or bone broth. I almost always use Better than Bouillon concentrate because it has tons of flavor and you can add an extra scoop to make the soup really rich and savory.
Variations
- Roasted Pumpkin: Start by halving 2 sugar pumpkins longways (stem to bottom) and scooping out the seeds and string innards. Brush the pumpkin flesh with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. Roast cut side down on a foil covered baking sheet for 35-45 minutes at 400 degrees, or until very soft. Scoop out the flesh and squeeze in a paper towel or linen cloth to remove any excess liquid.
- Roasted Vegetables: Pumpkin Soup would taste delicious with roasted sweet potatoes, butternut squash, or Roasted Root Vegetables like parsnips, carrots, yams, or turnips. You want to cook or roast them first to keep the overall soup cooking time quick. Add them with the pumpkin puree and blend as usual once the soup is cooked.
- Vegan: To make a Vegan Pumpkin Soup, start by sauteing the veggies in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Swap the chicken broth for veggie broth and use coconut cream instead of heavy cream.
- Ginger Pumpkin Soup: Make a Ginger Pumpkin Soup by adding 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger with the garlic and cook until fragrant as usual. Red curry paste also goes great with ginger and earthy sweet flavors of pumpkin.
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More Creamy Fall Soups
This pumpkin soup is so silky, velvety, and deeply comforting! Searing the aromatics first builds such an incredible depth of flavor.
I’m very pleased you enjoyed it. Thank you for the positive review!