While I love fall baking and sweet recipes, I have to say I am so excited to bring another savory recipe to you today! This pumpkin soup is creamy, comforting, and full of flavor. It’s the perfect fall recipe to make for dinner, and leftovers taste just as delicious the next day for lunch. I feel like butternut squash soup gets all the love and attention…but I’d argue that this pumpkin soup tastes even better! Not only does this pumpkin soup taste absolutely delicious, it’s packed with 2+ servings of vegetables per serving, and there are many ways to customize it to make it more of a main dish!
I don’t know about where you live, but the past few weeks have definitely been feeling like fall! The mornings are crisp and cool, the leaves are changing from green to a brilliant red in just a matter of days in our yard, and we’ve already had two outdoor bonfires. Not to mention a fire almost every night in our fireplace and cozy mugs of hot chocolate. 🙂 Chris and I went apple picking a couple weekends ago, which I feel is a very festive and fun fall activity. You can expect some apple recipes coming up from recipe testing…?
This soup is the perfect comfort food for fall weather. It’s packed with vegetables, and so creamy and comforting. This pumpkin soup also has a thick texture. I personally am NOT a fan of thin, brothy soups. No thank you. Even though this soup I is a pureed soup without a lot of texture per se (more on that later), it is thick and creamy instead of thin and runny. I’ve had soups like that before and I’m just not a fan nor do I think those soups are satisfying or filling.
How to Make Pumpkin Soup
The great thing about pumpkin soup is that unlike butternut squash or many other vegetables, the pumpkin requires ZERO prep! No need to chop and roast vegetables for this soup. You will simply need two cans of pure pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling; the only ingredient should be pumpkin!). You will need a blender to blend the soup at the very end, because this soup does contain other produce (carrots, onion, and apples) besides pumpkin for the best taste. You could also use an immersion blender if you own one (I don’t) to blend the soup right in the pot.
What Ingredients Do I need to Make Pumpkin Soup?
Onion
The sautéed onions provide a great flavor to the soup…and they get blended up at the end so you won’t even notice pieces of onions!
Carrots
The carrots provide a hint of sweetness and go well with the pumpkin. The carrots are sautéed with the onions and also blended at the end.
Garlic
Yummy flavor! You could try substituting in 1 teaspoon garlic powder in place of the fresh cloves if that’s all you have on hand.
Apple
This was an ingredient that was added during the second round of testing. It might seem slightly out of place in soup recipe, but the soup tastes much better with it! The apple provides sweetness and again goes well with the harvest produce. I’m also thinking you could try substituting ½-1 cup of applesauce in place of the apple, since the apple is blended anyways!
Olive oil
I used olive oil to saute the onions, carrots, apple, and garlic together. Feel free to use any oil of your choice!
Pumpkin puree
You will need two cans (15 ounces each) of pumpkin for this recipe, or 30 ounces total. Make sure to buy 100% pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling!
Pumpkin pie spice
Surprisingly good in savory recipes in addition to the classic pumpkin pie and baked goods! I always buy store-bought, but here’s a recipe to make your own.
Ginger
Just like with garlic, I prefer using fresh garlic in this pumpkin soup for maximum flavor. (Confession: I often buy the fresh ginger paste in a bottle in the produce section of the grocery versus buying the whole ginger root). And if you don’t have fresh ginger, you could also use ½ teaspoon ground ginger in its place!
Salt and pepper
Cooking essential and staple pantry ingredients. I use freshly ground black pepper and sea salt.
Greek Yogurt
I have to say I was a bit hesitant at first to add Greek yogurt to a soup recipe…but I LOVED the results. Not only does it make the soup thick and creamy (instead of using cream like many soup recipes), it provides a punch of protein as well! You could try using nonfat Greek yogurt, but the soup probably won’t taste quite as good as the full-fat I used (just being honest here). You could also try substituting sour cream in place of the Greek yogurt (although I have not tried this myself).
Chicken Broth/Stock
Does anyone know the difference between broth and stock? (Definitely just had to Google this…haha). Either one will work here, and feel free to use either chicken or vegetable stock (obviously noting that if you use chicken stock the recipe will no longer be vegetarian). You could also use bone broth in this recipe (I have a quart of bone broth in my pantry I will use next time when making this recipe!).
Topping Ideas
As I mentioned, to make this soup more of a main dish and to have more texture variety, I highly suggest adding some toppings! Some ideas I’ve personally tried (and loved) include:
-Pepitas (roasted and salted pumpkin seeds)
-Crispy bacon
-shredded cheese
-sliced/cooked chicken sausage (random I know)
Feel free to be creative!
I’d love to hear if you try this recipe! Let me know what you think my leaving a comment below or tagging @audras_appetite on social media.
- 2 small/1 large onion, diced
- 2 cups diced carrots (about ½ lb.)
- 1 apple, diced, any variety
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (or oil of choice)
- 2 (15 ounces each) cans pumpkin puree
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger (or ½ teaspoon ground)
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups (1 quart) chicken or vegetable broth/stock
- 1 cup full-fat Greek yogurt (could likely substitute sour cream)
- In a large pot, heat oil. Add in chopped onions, carrots, apple, and garlic and saute until softened, about 10-15 minutes.
- Add in pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, fresh ginger, pepper, salt, and chicken or vegetable broth.
- Cook another 10 minutes over medium/low heat.
- Transfer soup to a blender (I had to do this in two batches) and blend until smooth. You could also use an immersion blender.
- Stir in Greek yogurt and enjoy!
- Makes 10 cups soup.
- Topping ideas include: pepitas (pumpkin seeds, shown in pictures), crispy bacon, shredded cheese (I recommend a white cheese that melts well. Ideas include white truffle cheddar (SO good), Gouda, Harvarti, etc.)
Hello. This sounds amazing. How much apple is used in the recipe? Any specific type of apple? Thanks!
Hi Joyce! Sorry I forgot to add that in the recipe card; I just updated it! Just 1 apple is needed, and any variety you prefer! I have used different types. Hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂