There are a lot of recipes out there that use pumpkin. Yet, this incredibly creamy pumpkin soup recipe is a perfect match for the cold weather. However, we enjoy it in our family all year round. Our one-year-old son particularly loves this soup. Another favorite autumn soup in our family is mushroom soup, which I highly recommend trying as well!
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Ingredients
Pumpkin – You can also use butternut. I have made delicious pumpkin soup with both sugar pumpkins and butternuts. However, a butternut adds a slightly sweeter taste.
Heavy cream – The addition of heavy cream can give the soup extra richness and a wonderfully creamy texture. However, if you don’t have heavy cream on hand, you can substitute it with coffee cream (10%), which works just as well.
Black pepper – Determining the amount of black pepper to use can be difficult since you can make the soup without any pepper at all. In our family, we enjoy adding a lot of black pepper to give the soup a bit of a kick. If you’re a fan of spicy flavors, consider adding more pepper or even some cayenne pepper to reach your preferred level of spiciness.
Salt – The soup’s flavor profile tends to be more salty than sweet, although it ultimately depends on personal taste preferences. It’s best to add salt gradually, as everyone’s choice for saltiness differs. Based on my own experience, the amount of salt added has a significant impact on the overall taste of pumpkin soup. The salt helps balance out the sweetness of the pumpkin, and when the sweet and savory flavors are in balance, it creates an explosion of flavors in the mouth.
Water – I usually use a 3-liter cooking pot to make this soup, and I add water until the pot is full. The amount of water needed can vary depending on the size of the pumpkin, so it’s not necessary to follow a strict measurement.
Serve with toast and fresh herbs – In my opinion, pureed soups of all kinds are best enjoyed with toast or crusty bread. My grandmother always used to say that if you don’t have bread with your soup, you’ll be hungry again soon!
How to Make Pumpkin Soup
Cleaning a Pumpkin
To make pumpkin soft and skin-free, there are several options: peeling and boiling, scooping out the pumpkin flesh with a spoon, or roasting in the oven. You can choose any of these methods, but I prefer roasting the pumpkin in the oven until it’s soft and easily peelable.
Peeling and Boiling the Pumpkin
This method is a bit faster than roasting the pumpkin, but undoubtedly much more tedious and difficult.
- Take a knife (a vegetable peeler may not be very effective) and completely peel the pumpkin. It’s quite hard work because the pumpkin is slippery and the skin is very tough.
- Then, cut the pumpkin in half (this can also be done before peeling, depending on which is easier to do first) and remove the seeds. If you want to roast the pumpkin seeds, set them aside for later.
Scraping out the Inside of the Pumpkin with a Spoon
This is probably a method that enthusiasts may use during Halloween. However, it results in the most pumpkin wastage since it’s very difficult to remove the flesh from the skin. Additionally, it’s the most time-consuming method, so might not be a perfect way.
- Start by cutting a hole big enough in the top of the pumpkin, and then begin scraping out the inside.
- During this process, you can also remove the seeds. If you plan on roasting the seeds, set them aside for later.
Roasting a Pumpkin
This is my favorite method, and whenever possible, I only use this method when making pumpkin soup. I believe that following this method results in the most flavorful soup.
- Place the pumpkin on a rimmed baking sheet. The rimmed edges will help prevent any liquid that seeps out of the pumpkin from spilling onto the oven floor. Small pumpkins are preferred because you can bake the whole pumpkin without having to cut it. Preheat the oven to about 200 °F (400 °F), and bake the pumpkin for approximately one hour (if left in the oven for too long, it will become mushy and difficult to peel).
- Remove the pumpkin from the oven and allow it to cool. The pumpkin should cool down enough so that it can be handled with bare hands.
- Once the pumpkin has cooled, simply use your fingers to peel off the skin. A pumpkin that has ripened to a pleasantly semi-soft texture will come off very easily and without much effort.
- At this point, you can also remove the seeds from the pumpkin. If the pumpkin has already been cut open, you can remove the seeds before baking it. However, if you plan on roasting the seeds, in my opinion, they come out much better from a ripe pumpkin that has already been baked.
Continuing with the Soup-making Process
- Take a soup pot and boil the pumpkin pieces with pepper. Do this for the roasted pumpkin as well, so you can be sure the entire pumpkin is nicely soft.
- When the pumpkin is soft, leave the water in the pot; do not pour it out.
- Completely puree the pumpkin and peppercorns with an immersion blender or regular blender.
- Add a swirl of cream and mix.
- It’s time to serve the pumpkin puree soup.
Roasting Pumpkin Seeds
If you have the desire and time, you can also roast the pumpkin seeds and add them to the soup or snack on them separately.
- To clean the pumpkin seeds, place them in a bowl of water to separate them from the larger pieces. Shake the bowl gently with your hand to help the seeds come off the pulp and clump together. Transfer the clean seeds to another bowl.
- Next, wash the seeds under running water in a strainer until they are completely clean.
- Place the seeds on a kitchen towel to dry. It’s difficult to remove them from paper towels afterward.
- After drying, mix the seeds in a bowl with a small amount of cooking oil and salt.
- Transfer the seeds to a pan and cook them over medium heat, stirring constantly, until they are golden and crispy. Be careful not to let the seeds burn.
- Alternatively, the pumpkin seeds can be roasted in the oven at 160 °C 320 °F for half an hour for an even easier method.
Ideas and Tips
- Pumpkin soup pairs well with toast.
- Additional vegetables can be added to the soup, but I appreciate the simplicity and relatively quick preparation of this recipe.
- Ingredient amounts aren’t super important. Varying the amount of pumpkin or water does not significantly affect the taste of the soup.
- The amount of heavy cream does not need to be precisely measured. Adjust to your desired level of creaminess.
- Peeling the pumpkin seeds is optional, but it is easier to do after roasting.
- If you’d like to prepare a vegan pumpkin soup, you can substitute heavy cream with ingredients like cashew cream, full-fat coconut milk, or another vegan alternative.
- You can substitute fresh pumpkin with canned pumpkin puree.
- You can preserve pumpkin soup in an airtight container.
- Another great way for homemade pumpkin soup is to use pure pumpkin without cream or milk and add some flavors like vegetable broth, caramelized onion or onion powder, garlic, fresh ginger to boost the immune system, or anything else.
Creamy pumpkin soup
This incredibly creamy pumpkin soup is a perfect match for the current fall weather. However, we enjoy it in our family all year round.
Ingredients
- 2 kg of pumpkin (a smaller pumpkin)
- 200g (ca 200ml) of heavy cream
- 10 grain of black pepper
- 15g (3 tsp) of salt
- 2l of water
- Toast for serving
Instructions
- To make pumpkin soft and skin-free, there are several options: peeling and boiling, scooping out the contents with a spoon, or roasting in the oven. You can choose any of these methods, but I prefer roasting the pumpkin in the oven until it’s soft and easily peelable. Full instructions above in the post.
- Boil the pumpkin pieces with pepper. Do this for the roasted pumpkin as well, so you can be sure the entire pumpkin is nicely soft and ripe.
- When the pumpkin is soft, leave the water in the pot; do not pour it out.
- Completely puree the pumpkin and peppercorns with an immersion blender or regular blender.
- Add the heavy cream and mix.
- It’s time to serve the pumpkin puree soup.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 156Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 203mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 7gSugar: 11gProtein: 5g
