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
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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.
Soup was indeed creamy and lovely. I only used 4 garlic cloves pressed and I found that the garlic was overpowering any pumpkin flavour. Will try without next time.
Hi Kate,
I have roasted the seeds and the pumpkin but Ill wait until tomorrow to make the soup ( plus something else with pumpkin).
my question is how well does it freeze? How long can it stay in fridge?
Thanks! cant wait to try it.
This is a great freezer option and will last in fridge 4-5 days. Thank you for your review!
×would be help full
to know tne number of cups of pumpkin
Made this lovely soup for Christmas eve dinner! I saw someone else’s comment to add a bit of cardamom, and it’s a great addition. I thought it was a little flat and a tad sweet, so I added a bit of browned butter and it’s the exact nutty flavour I was looking for. I recommend!
Great to hear, Victoria! I appreciate your review.
Lovely recipe. This was the best pumpkin soup that I have made.
I used normal cream & honey and it was delicious. Thank you!!!
Hi can I use frozen pumpkin for this recipe pls?
You can try it. I would recommend thawing first.
Made it with some variations, added oregano, thyme and rosemary (all dried) with cinnamon, pepper and nutmeg and the whole thing was very aromatic! Really great mouth feel, with how creamy it turned out. I was a bit sceptical but this was really perfect for this winter evening!
That’s great to hear, Aarthi! I appreciate your review.
A-ma-zing! Made a huge batch and added cayenne pepper for a kick as suggested. Used a potato masher first, then an immersion blender and it came out just right. Thank you for this recipe!
I’m glad you loved it, Mira!
Tried this recipe tonight and loved it, thank you!
You’re welcome, Mirelille!
Just made this! Followed recipe exactly and it’s turned out really well. More spicy than I was expecting but absolutely yum! My kids (12 and 10) taste tested it for me and are looking forward to having this for lunch too :)
Delicious
Made thus soup just as is, very nice, loved it!
I loved this recipe. I used butternut which I boiled in my Thermomix (didn’t roast to save time). Added the coconut cream but omitted maple syrup. Absolutely delish. Can’t wait to cook again.
That’s great to hear, Sharon! I appreciate you review.
Thanks for this recipe, I added Rosemary, thyme and cardamom with the other spices and it was brilliant!
Lovely, Lovely soup, thank you!
I add freshly grated ginger to the onion and garlic and it goes beautifully with the spices.
I grew a kent pumpkin vine because that is our favourite type. The other day I discovered I had heaps of pumpkins ready for harvest. A wheelbarrow full, in fact. So neighbours, relatives and friends have benefited. I used
your recipe except that I did not bother with the pepitas. I made some croutons instead. I don’t think I would add maple syrup next time. Also I would use a fresh chilli rather than the dried cayenne pepper. I had powdered coconut milk handy, so I used that. I am not vegan, so will try dairy cream next time. I did not notice the flavour of the spices, so will try adding more of them too. Anyway, the soup still tasted good, thanks for the recipe.
This soup is so good! Best pumpkin soup recipe by far! The flavours if the nutmeg, cinnamon & clove with maple syrup & coconut milk is divine! So creamy & delicious! I also roast chickpeas and add them sprinkled on top for extra protein! Bon appetite!
Thank you for your review, Kylie!
Awesome! But go easy on the honey/definitely taste as you go – I used two tablespoons but I think one would have been better. I used an immersion blender and it was still a bit chunky which I like.
Wow seeds done this way are so tasty thank you
Great to hear, Miriam!
Followed directions exactly as written and it was delicious! I’ve made it multiple times and is always a crowd favorite. Thank you so much!
You’re welcome, Amber!
Hi, I love making soup and pumpkin is one of my family’s favourites. I, too, bake the vegetables first. Roasted pumpkin makes a world of difference to the flavour. I also add sweet potato and carrots. I don’t use cinnamon or cloves. Instead I use nutmeg and ground coriander seeds. And coconut cream, of course. Mine is just a variation on your recipe.
What really shocked me with your supposedly healthy recipe was the inclusion of maple syrup or honey! Why on earth add a sweetener? Is that because Americans are used to everything tasting sweet? I am really shocked to read this.
This soup is so delicious . I made it last week and my husband and I loved it.
I’m roasting more pumpkin today to make another batch.
A little tip for those who want to make this with sugar pie pumpkin in the winter insteas of canned puree, just roast the pumpkin as per recipe, mash it a bit and put in freezer ziploc. When you want to make the soup, just thaw and complete recipe. I do this with a butternut squash soup recipe all the time. Real time saver!