Creamy Roasted Pumpkin Soup
This pumpkin soup recipe is creamy AND healthy! It calls for roasted pumpkin for maximum flavor. This pumpkin soup is great with sandwiches and salads!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 5, 2024
732Comments
Jump to recipe
Meet my favorite pumpkin soup recipe. It’s super creamy (thanks mostly to the pumpkin, with a little help from coconut milk or cream) yet plenty healthy, too. It’s gently spiced, but I made sure that the pumpkin flavor shines above the rest.
This dairy-free pumpkin soup would be a welcome addition to your holiday table. It would be equally at home with a soup or sandwich from fall through winter.
It’s easy to make and the leftovers taste even better the next day. So, you could certainly make the soup a day in advance. Don’t be intimidated by the ingredient list—this soup only requires basic pantry ingredients!
This soup was inspired by my recent trip to Portland. While I was there, I went to lunch with my baby brother and our friend Bill. I’ve written about Bill over the years—in summary, Bill beat leukemia with the help of my stem cells. He’s the toughest guy I know.
Now we’re friends who share the same immune system and we finally got to meet a few weeks ago. (More about that here and by the way, you can join the registry over here.)
We shared lunch and an afternoon at Multnomah Falls. It was a damp, gray fall day in the Pacific Northwest and it was perfect.
Bill picked The Picnic House for lunch. You really have to go next time you’re in Portland. “Unique” doesn’t begin to describe it—the restaurant feels like an old school theater inside, with different scenes set up in every corner and amazing food everywhere the eye can see.
I was tempted to order every item on the menu, but after much deliberation, I finally settled on a small soup, salad and sandwich. I might just have to recreate all three of them for the blog (so good), but homemade pumpkin soup seemed most timely.
I can’t say that my version is exactly the same, but it is equally satisfying and fresh. It’s utterly delicious in its own right.
Pumpkin Options
This pumpkin soup recipe includes instructions on how to roast fresh pumpkin, for maximum pumpkin flavor. Canned pumpkin purée also works well, if you’re in a time crunch. See the recipe notes for details!
Please let me know how this recipe turns out for you in the comments. I’m always so eager for your feedback. If you’re craving more cozy fall soups, don’t miss my butternut soup, lentil soup or minestrone.
Looking for more Thanksgiving recipes? This is for you. Happy holidays!
Watch How to Make Pumpkin Soup
Creamy Roasted Pumpkin Soup
This pumpkin soup recipe is creamy AND healthy! It calls for roasted pumpkin for maximum flavor. This roasted pumpkin soup recipe would look lovely on your holiday dinner table, and leftovers would go great with sandwiches or salads the next day. Recipe yields 4 bowls or 6 cups of soup.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- One 4-pound sugar pie pumpkin
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 4 large or 6 medium garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- Tiny dash of cayenne pepper (optional, if you like spice)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable broth
- ½ cup full fat coconut milk or heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
- ¼ cup pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup. Carefully halve the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds (you can roast the seeds if you’d like—see note—but you won’t need them for this recipe).
- Slice each pumpkin halve in half to make quarters. Brush or rub 1 tablespoon olive oil over the flesh of the pumpkin and place the quarters, cut sides down, onto the baking sheet. Roast for 35 minutes or longer, until the orange flesh is easily pierced through with a fork. Set it aside to cool for a few minutes.
- Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add onion, garlic and salt to the skillet. Stir to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes. In the meantime, peel the pumpkin skin off the pumpkins and discard the skin.
- Add the pumpkin flesh, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cayenne pepper (if using), and a few twists of freshly ground black pepper. Use your stirring spoon to break up the pumpkin a bit. Pour in the broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, to give the flavors time to meld.
- While the soup is cooking, toast the pepitas in a medium skillet over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant, golden and making little popping noises. You want them to be nice and toasty, but not burnt. Transfer pepitas to a bowl to cool.
- Once the pumpkin mixture is done cooking, stir in the coconut milk and maple syrup. Remove the soup from heat and let it cool slightly. You can use an immersion blender to blend this soup in the pot. I prefer to use my stand blender, which yields the creamiest results—working in batches, transfer the contents of the pan to a blender (do not fill your blender past the maximum fill line!). Securely fasten the blender’s lid and use a kitchen towel to protect your hand from steam escaping from the top of the blender as you purée the mixture until smooth. Transfer the puréed soup to a serving bowl and repeat with the remaining batches.
- Taste and adjust if necessary (I thought the soup was just right as is, but you might want to add more coconut milk for extra creaminess/milder flavor, or maple syrup to make it a little sweeter).
- Ladle the soup into individual bowls. Sprinkle pepitas over the soup and serve. Let leftover soup cool completely before transferring it to a proper storage container and refrigerating it for up to 4 days (leftovers taste even better the next day!). Or, freeze this soup for up to 3 months.
Notes
Soup inspired by the pumpkin soup at The Picnic House in Portland and roughly adapted from my curried butternut soup.
Make it dairy free: Use coconut milk, not heavy cream.
Make it vegan: Use coconut milk and maple syrup.
Change it up: Kabocha squash works instead of pumpkin, and I bet butternut squash would work well, too.
If you want to use canned pumpkin: Instead of roasting the pumpkin, you can substitute two to three cans of pumpkin purée (15 ounces each). Just skip steps 1 and 2, and add two cans of pumpkin purée in step 4. You’ll still want to blend the soup for the best texture; add more pumpkin purée at that point if you’d like thicker soup.
How to roast pumpkin seeds: Pick off all the flesh bits from the seeds and discard them. I like to do this in a colander under running water. Pat the seeds dry with a tea towel or paper towels. Toss the seeds with a little olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and any other seasonings that sound good (I tossed my pumpkin seeds with 1 teaspoon brown sugar and ½ teaspoon curry powder). Toss to coat. Line a small, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the pumpkin seeds in a single layer. Roast for 13 to 16 minutes, until the seeds are fragrant and toasty.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I added some grated ginger root and left out the honey/maple syrup. Absolutely delicious!
This recipe is so good! I doubled the spices and served it at a Halloween party. Everyone loved it. Thanks!
Absolutely the best ever tasting Pumpkin soup – love the sweetness- and the roasted pumpkin (even on it’s own) was to die for! I will be using that for autumn Sunday dinners – many thanks for sharing this perfect Hallow’een meal
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Melanie! I appreciate your review.
Can canned pumpkin be substituted for the whole pumpkin? If so, how much? Thanks!
Hi! See the note at the bottom of the recipe.
Kathryne,
I have made this soup several times. Great recipe! Love the little bit of heat with the cayenne and the ability to freeze it using coconut milk.
I have mixed freshly roasted pumpkin and butternut squash along with a carrot or two. Tastes great. Thank so much for this recipe. And happy fall!
Sooo yum! Just made this tonight and it was delightful. I had a pumpkin that I painted at work and I came home and cut it up for this soup! I used what I had on hand which was pumpkin pie spice instead of all of the spice ingredients, lol. Worked really well although I had to add double the amount (or triple). I also didn’t have cayenne so I added hot sauce I had and some nutritional yeast for extra flavor. I also only had lite/low fat coconut milk instead of full fat. I needed to increase the salt and pepper amount but I continued to flavor as needed with the ingredients mentioned and it tastes AMAZING! I recommend with the pepitas and a bread! So delicious, thank you sooo much.
Thank you for sharing how you made this fit your tastes, Sophia! I appreciate your review.
Made this tonight, it was pumpkin flavorful with very little spice coming through- I added more of the cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to taste- family loved it! I also roasted and seasoned the seeds and added to garnish. Will make again- thanks! It felt good to utilize the Halloween pumpkins this year!
You’re welcome, Georgina! I’m delighted you enjoyed it.
wow! So yummy! thanks for this recipe!!! Love it!!
Great to hear, Emchef!
Turned out PHENOMENAL. I left out the maple syrup/honey to add at the end – tried the first bowl without and the second with… Can’t tell which I like better! Absolutely excellent recipe – I’ll be making this again! Thank you.
You’re welcome, Z! Thank you for your review.
Omg this was delicious , made in my kitchen in Liverpool UK
Isabella
I make your roasted butternut squash soup all the time and I was not surprised that this was fantastic! I think this will be my go-to fall soup now. Made it yesterday and my family loved it. Paired with a salad it was very filling. I had to add a little more broth bc my pie pumpkin was a little bigger and then adjusted the spices. I topped with a few goat cheese crumbles. Oh. My. Delish!
I just made this soup, it’s delicious.
I made a few adjustments:
Added celery and ginger to sautéing onions.
Left out cloves and cayenne.
1/2’d the cinnamon.
Needed a little extra vegetable broth.
I used whipping cream.
I’m making it for a friend who cannot eat spice so cut down on some of the seasoning.
Very delicious.
I am a college student and I had a pumpkin I bought from the pumpkin patch. I was not sure what to do with it till I came upon this recipe. I honestly did not have every ingredient in the original recipe but I used what I had and followed the steps of the recipe. My soup came out wonderful! Perfect for the cold autumn weather!
I made this soup a couple of weeks ago and loved it. I am making it again today and wondered if it would work to blend the pumpkin with the brothe first, before adding to pot with the rest.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve never had pumpkin as a main ingredient in a savory dish before.
It was pretty tasty! To give it a little more substance I added gnocchi. That hit the spot.
That’s great to hear!
OMG!!! This was fantastic! I shared with my family with my first batch. I’m making another one this weekend and I am NOT sharing this time! lol
I love to hear that, Alexa. Thank you for your review!
This turned out great! I served it at a halloween dinner party. I used whipping cream. I would also like to try it with coconut milk. The children at the dinner didn’t care for it, but all of the adults raved about it. The toasted pumpkin seeds are a must!
Can you use chicken broth instead?
Hi Kim, I believe others have and didn’t mind the results.
It would help me if the pumpkin amount had a # of cups equivalent since I had a batch of roasted porcelain doll pumpkin and had not weighed it.
I’ll wing it for now! Thx
Made your pumpkin soup out of left-over Halloween pumpkin. Great way to get rid of the pumpkin, and great soup. We especially liked the sweetness from the maple syrup. I added some honey as well, as the maple syrup ran out too soon. Love your recipes, Kate. Thank Cookie from us. We have tried a few.
Well, this was super yummy… so creamy, flavorful and delicious. My pumpkin was 10ish lbs, and I X’d everything by 2.5 or so. I added less broth and mixed them – vegetable and chicken 2:1 for more depth of flavor, and added additional cream. Will be even better after it infuses a day or so. I’ll freeze the rest for gorgeous winter soup to enjoy on a cold day. Thank you for the recipe!
Taste great. My contribution to Thanksgiving dinner this year.
This was delicious! Simple and came together so fast. I didn’t add the milk and pepita seeds but it was creamy and perfect.
Thank you for sharing, May! I appreciate your review.
I hate to waste anything even the Halloween pumpkins on the porch!
I have followed many recipes for creamy pumpkin soup but never use heavy creams or sweeteners. As I never saw anyone doing what I do here is my scoop! . The spices are perfect and can be increased or not but I leave out the sugar and make all of the recipes using sweetened condensed milk. I learned this from my Aussie relatives who use it for many sweet recipes. No heavy cream needed and I actually use a little 2% milk to thicken it at times. The family loves it hot or even cold.
Fantastic soup. I make it all the time and everyone loves it. Often switch up the pumpkin for whatever orange vegetable I happen to have on hand, and it’s always great.
Thanks!
Great to hear, Lev! Thank you for your review.
Phenomenal!! Great
Thanks.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Paisa!
I made it yesterday for our Christmas starter and everyone loved it. Coconut milk gave it a fresh lift. Thank you for sharing .
I made it yesterday for our Christmas starter and everyone loved it. Coconut milk gave it a fresh lift. Thank you for sharing .
Wonderful to hear, Esther! Thank you for your review.
I used less garlic but, next time I’ll omit the garlic. I love garlic but not in pumpkin soup I guess. In Southern California there is a chain of Italian restaurants that make the best pumpkin soup from October to November. The restaurant is called Maria’s.Italian Kitchen. Located in Westwood, Pasadena and San Fernando Valley.
I got two cans of pumpkin at the store on the discount rack. This was way after the usual pumpkin holidays. I knew I’d use them as I LOVE pumpkin!
Tonite I decided to make pumpkin soup (no recipe). Soups are usually started the same way. Oil, spices, onion, garlic, vegetable, vegetable broth, cook, done!
When finished, it seemed to lack something. I added a Moroccan lemon for a little kick.
I looked up pumpkin soup recipes online just for the heck of it and up popped yours! My made-up recipe was exactly the same! (Except for the Moroccan lemon). Thank you!
You’re welcome, Pam! Thank you for sharing.
I used half a can of pumpkin and 1 large sweet potatoes.
Tasted great, very creamy!
Made this today, ABSOLUTELY YUMM!!! Substituted the cream for coconut cream for the dairy free option.
I’m glad you loved it, Donelle!
I adored this recipe! I only had leftover pumpkin from a can so I had to adjust my spice/liquid measurements by ear – it turned out absolutely delicious!! Any ideas for a good side with this soup? It’s very flavourful as it is, so wondering what side will do it justice!
This soup would really pair well with most of my salads. Or try with my Favorite Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Wonderful recipe! I had to adjust it because of what I have on hand. I roasted a kombucha and 2 pattypan squash. Also, I didn’t read that you add in the coconut milk and maple syrup at the end, so I added it in sooner. Turned out fantastic anyway! Thank you Kate, you are a wonderful chef.
I’m glad you were able to make it work with what you had on hand!
Fantastic pumpkin soup, thank you! I didn’t need to add the maple soup as my pumpkin was very sweet. Love the notes.
Great to hear, Amanda!
I made this I purchased 2 small pumpkins came to almost 5 lbs I cut into quarters I seasoned the flesh. Sprayed with olive oil cinnamon black fresh pepper a little salt nutmeg and roasted once they were done easy to peel skin off I diced half large onion added a little pepper salt. Once I added the flesh and broke it up I used kettle butter chicken bone broth 2 small. Cartons which was short of amt needed so I added water and then seasoned again with a little more pepper cinnamon nutmeg cloves black pepper in the end I used heave cream and maple syrup it came out amazing
I have Loved most of your soup recipes. This one unfortunate just wasn’t up to par. I only had access to a pumpkin pie pumpkin over a sugar pumpkin but I just Didn’t get the flavor to stand out with the ingredients listed below. I did finish most of the soup and normally I finish The entire soup batch. It was just too bland for my taste liking. I wont Make it again.
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love this one. I appreciate your feedback.
Please could you tell me What brand the vegetable soup is thanks
Hi Dawn, I try to buy organic vegetable broth when I can. I have been buying Kettle Brand recently.
I recommend this recipe. Thanks!!
The advertisements make it unbearable – please fix it. I love your recipes.
Hi Carol, I’m sorry to hear you are disappointed. I do revisit my ad strategy often. You can always turn off ads in your browser if you prefer.
Hi – just bought a six-pack of pumpkin(made cookies) and I saw thls recipe and wanted to try it. Could oatmilk be substituted for the coconut milk or cream?
Thank-you
I’m not sure how it will taste, but you can try it.
I made this recipe last week for my husband and again today to share with a friend and her family. It was perfect exactly as instructed. Goes together easily and really does taste even better the next day. Thank you Kate. Your recipes are at the top of our rotation!
Is sugar pie pumpkin a regular pumpkin? I’ve never heard that. Please clarify. Can I use pumpkins from my garden?
This is a sugar pie pumpkin. There are different varieties that are better thank others for eating.
I’ve made this soup twice in the past two weeks, thanks to a local farm stand having a bumper crop of sugar pie pumpkins this year. The first batch did not have the cayenne pepper in it, and the second batch did. I will say that if you’re making it for the gang and there are folks that don’t like the heat of cayenne pepper, then serve it the day you make it or omit the cayenne and let your guests add spice to taste. I noticed a bit of heat when I made the batch yesterday , and it had intensified after an overnight in my fridge.
The soup sets up more like a bisque after blending with my immersion blender, so I added some more half and half or water to thin it out a little.
Thank you for sharing, James!
Yes I used this recipe and my family and friends love it. I like to leave a little bit of chunky onions to chew. I also use spicy curry to taste.. I have tried many of your recipes and we love them. ❤️ thank you. You are my go to for recipes
You’er welcome, Brigitte!
This recipe looks delcious, but it seems high in sodium. Where does it all come from please? The pumpkin and onion would not have much, and apart from the salt itself; it seems to come from nowhere!
Hi, More on my Nutrition Disclaimer.
I made this last night, and it was sooooo delicious. I used a butternut squash because it’s what I could find at the store. After preparing the onions, I decided to throw in a chopped red bell pepper just because I had one, and why not??? :) Otherwise, I made this exactly as written except that I personally didn’t think it needed any syrup or honey so I chose to omit it.Oh! And I didn’t have any cloves so that also had to be left out. My picky, meat-loving, Bavarian husband is always the true test of a good meal, and he had seconds! :) I’ll definitely be making this one again!
Great to hear! Thank you for sharing, Sheri.
A must make! It’s the kind of recipe you can make and have fun with. I followed yours to every ingredient besides the clove as I didn’t have it. It’s not a recipe I had to run to the store to get everything, most kitchens have these ingredients which I love. And I have got to say this is the tastiest soup I have ever had. Beats any restaurant soup I have come across! Thank you for sharing.
So glad I found this recipe. I typically don’t go to the computer for inspiration rather I have so many amazing books. But… I was in a hurry to use up my pupkins.
I love it and did only a couple things differently. I try to always use whole fresh spices, so I toasted them and used my morter & pestal to smoosh them all together. I also tossed the spices in once the onion/garlic was ready for a quick aromatic toast. Then I poured my pumpkin in (I had made it a few days ago from my not so exciting garden pumpkins) and let those bubble up together for a few minutes before adding stock.
For garnish I diced up crunchy and tangy apple, toasted pepitas with salt and then added some thin slices of camembert cheese that melted beautifully while eating.
YUMM!!!!
For this recipe I used heavy cream and home-made chicken stock. The final product tasted like it was missing something. I 100% recommend throwing some Thyme in the soup. It needs a touch of an aromatic herb or the flavors won’t dance. I’m curious if a bay leaf would produce a similar result. Otherwise, the soup was a total success!
Added freshly ground green cardamom (from Indian spice section in grocery store) which totally kicks it up a notch!