Especially in winter, there’s nothing better than dunking warm crusty buttered bread into a big bowl of creamy pumpkin soup. This classic recipe is incredibly easy, and if you have a stick blender it's a one-pot-wonder.
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg / 2.4 lb pumpkin (any) , unpeeled weight (Note 1)
- 1 onion, sliced (white, brown, yellow)
- 2 garlic cloves , peeled whole
- 3 cups / 750ml vegetable or chicken broth , low sodium
- 1 cup / 250 ml water
- Salt and pepper
- Finishes:
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup / 125 - 185 ml cream, or half and half (Note 2) or 3/4 cup / 185 ml milk (any type, I use low fat)
Instructions
- Cut the pumpkin into 3cm / 2.25" slices. Cut the skin off and scrape seeds out (video is helpful). Cut into chunks.
- Place the pumpkin, onion, garlic, broth and water in a pot - liquid won't cover all the pumpkin. Bring to a boil, uncovered, then reduce heat and let simmer rapidly until pumpkin is tender.
- Remove from heat and use a stick blender to blend until smooth. If you don't have a stick blender, use a blender - see notes.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper, stir through cream (never boil soup after adding soup, cream will split).
- Ladle soup into bowls, drizzle over a bit of cream, sprinkle with pepper and parsley if desired. Serve with crusty bread!
Recipe Adapted From recipetineats.com
Notes
1. ~2.4lb / 1.2kg pumpkin before peeling and removing seeds. Approximate is fine - use the liquid levels in the video as a guide for quantity.
To make this with pumpkin puree, you will need around 2.5 cans of puree.
2. I usually make pumpkin soup without cream because I don't always have cream on hand. So I usually make this with milk - also because I find this satisfying enough as it is because it's so thick and has such a great flavour. You can use any type of milk you want - full fat, low fat, almond, soy etc.
Half and half is an American dairy product that is half cream, half milk. In Australia, our equivalent is pouring cream. Any kind of cream is suitable for this recipe. Basically, the higher the fat % and thicker the cream, the richer the finished soup.
3. If you don't have a stick blender, you can use a blender BUT you must make sure that the soup is cooled slightly before blending it, otherwise you will find out the hard way that hot soup + blender = soup explosion (literally, the lid will blow off the blender when you start blending it).
4. RECIPE COMMENTARY: The idea with this recipe is that the pumpkin is boiled uncovered so you're left with the right amount of liquid at the end such that once pureed, the soup is lovely and thick. You don't need the liquid to cover the pumpkin, the steam and bubbling will cook all the pumpkin through. I don't think using onion + garlic is common in other recipes but I promise you, it adds that extra savoury flavour that really makes this a truly great pumpkin soup, despite being so crazy easy.
5. Easy Pumpkin Soup Nutrition per serving, assuming 4 servings and made with milk.
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