Sweet, savory, and easy-to-make, this Pumpkin Soup recipe is one you’ll come back to time and again. Made with fewer than 10 ingredients in just 30 minutes using only one pot, this speedy soup is perfect for busy weeknights. The slightly sweet, earthy flavor of the yellow pumpkin, along with the added herbs and spices, makes this a comforting and satisfying soup.
About Pumpkin Soup Recipe
This easy-to-prepare delicious soup is made with the mellow, slightly sweet yellow pumpkin. Similar to my creamy Bottle Gourd Soup recipe I many years back, this pumpkin soup recipe is simply made in a European or American fashion and doesn’t use any Indian spices.
Unlike many squash soup recipes that are filled with heavy cream and butter, this gluten-free pumpkin soup is light and healthy so you don’t feel weighed down after eating it. In fact, if you leave out the oil, this soup is a non-fat dish!
Despite having a creamy consistency, this soup is plant based. That said, I do like to garnish it with a thin drizzle of cream and a light dusting of vegetarian parmesan cheese for a bit of a heartier flavor.
Table of Contents
Plus, the color contrast is too pretty to ignore. If you are allergic to dairy or vegan, feel free to finish it with an extra drizzle of olive oil or coconut cream instead.
I made this recipe using fresh pumpkin and used my stove-top pressure cooker for the step-by-step photos below. In the video, a pan is used to cook the pumpkins.
Feel free to use an Instant Pot instead, or if you live somewhere where you can buy 100% pure canned pumpkin, you can skip the process of peeling, chopping, and cooking the pumpkin altogether.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Pumpkin – This will work for any orange-fleshed gourd variety that you prefer. Sugar pumpkins are traditional, but butternut squash, cushaw pumpkins, or even sweet potatoes will work here.
- Onion – Any color will work, but I prefer the mild sweetness of red onions. You can also swap in leeks or shallots if you prefer.
- Garlic – Fresh garlic cloves will give the best flavor, but you can easily substitute ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder for every clove of fresh.
- Olive Oil – If you are on an oil-free diet, feel free to omit the EVOO. Otherwise, I find that just a little bit gives this soup a more luscious mouthfeel without any guilt. After all, olive oil is heart healthy! Feel free to swap in sunflower oil or butter if you prefer.
- Dry Oregano & Dry Thyme – Dried herbs are more potent by weight than their fresh counterparts. If you are subbing in fresh herbs, multiply the amount you use by 3.
- Sugar – Depending on how sweet your pumpkin is, you might want just a smidge of sugar to help balance out the flavors. Feel free to sub in maple syrup, agave nectar, or even brown sugar if needed.
How To Make Pumpkin Soup
This simple pumpkin soup recipe comes together in just 30 minutes. Here’s how it’s done:
Cook Pumpkin
1. Rinse, peel, and chop 250 grams of pumpkin in cubes. Also, chop 1 medium-sized onion and 1 to 2 small garlic cloves.
2. Add the pumpkin cubes, chopped onions, and garlic to a 2-litre stovetop pressure cooker or in the inner pot of a 6 quart Instant Pot.
3. Now add ¾ to 1 cup of water. For a thicker pumpkin soup, add less water. You could opt to use vegetable stock/vegetable broth if you prefer.
4. Cover and pressure cook on medium heat for 8 to 9 minutes.
If you are using an Instant Pot, seal the lid with the vent in sealing position, and, pressure cook on high for 5 to 7 minutes. Give a quick release (QR) after 5 to 6 minutes.
Note: If you do not have a pressure cooker or Instant Pot, feel free to cook the pumpkin cubes in a covered pan. Add 1.5 cups water or as required if cooking in a pan and be prepared for it to take 20 to 30 minutes to cook fully. (Check the recipe video to see the steps for cooking this soup in a pan).
Purée the Ingredients
5. When the pressure drops naturally in the cooker, then only open the lid.
For the Instant Pot, lift the valve and release any pressure. Open the lid.
Let the pumpkin mixture cool to warm, whether you have cooked in a stovetop pressure cooker or the Instant Pot.
6. Then with a hand-held mixer or immersion blender, blend the whole mixture. You can also blend the mixture in a blender or mixer-grinder.
Caution: Do not blend when hot as the mixture will splutter.
7. Blend until smooth & fine, or you can keep the soup slightly chunky if you want.
Season Pumpkin Soup
8. Now put the cooker back on the stovetop on a low heat. Add 2 to 3 teaspoons of olive oil or your fat of choice, if using.
For the Instant Pot, simply add the olive oil in the blended soup.
9. Mix very well.
10. Next add ¼ teaspoon dried oregano and ½ teaspoon dried thyme and crushed black pepper powder as required. You could also add about 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme and ½ teaspoon of fresh oregano.
Feel free to use your own favorite herb blend here. You can also add a pinch of grated nutmeg or ground nutmeg at this point.
11. Season with salt to taste.
12. Mix well.
13. If needed, add ½ teaspoon raw sugar (optional). If the pumpkin is already sweet, then you can skip this step.
14. Stir well. Let the soup come to a gentle simmer till it becomes hot. Then turn off the heat.
In the Instant Pot, using the sauté function, simmer the soup for a few minutes.
15. Serve Pumpkin Soup hot or warm. This soup can also be refrigerated for a few hours and served cold, if you prefer.
Serving Suggestions
This Pumpkin Soup makes for a light dinner and I love serving it with a slice of warm toasted bread or a baguette. It also works great as a side, pairing it with a pasta dish like Spaghetti Bolognese or Red Sauce Pasta, a light salad, or Grilled Sandwich.
While this lovely and simple pumpkin soup is delightful just as it is, there are a few ways you can garnish it up:
- Garnish with some grated cheese or a drizzle of cream for a bit of added richness. For the cheese, you can use cheddar, gruyere, or vegetarian parmesan cheese.
- Add a sprinkling of fresh herbs for a pop of color.
- Top with crunchy croutons for a bit of texture.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 to 2 days. Reheat in a saucepan and serve hot or warm.
Cooking in a pan or pot
To cook pumpkins in a pan, add 1.5 cups water or as required and boil the pumpkin cubes, onions, garlic etc in covered pan until the pumpkin cubes have softened.
You can check the video in which the pumpkins are cooked in a pan.
Cooking Pumpkin in Instant Pot
Add all the chopped pumpkins, onions, garlic and water in the inner pot of the Instant Pot. Seal the lid and position the steam valve to the sealing position.
Pressure cook on high for 5 to 7 minutes. Give a quick release (QR) after 5 to 6 minutes. Then blend the ingredients.
Add the herbs and seasonings. Press the sauté button and simmer for some minutes stirring often until you get the desired consistency.
Expert Tips
- Pumpkin: This soup is great with any variety of pumpkin you want to use. However, my suggestion would be to use yellow or sugar pumpkins. The color of the soup will depend on the variety of pumpkin used to in the recipe. You can cook the pumpkin in a stovetop pressure cooker, pan/pot or an Instant Pot.
- Blending soup: You can blend the soup using a hand-held mixer, immersion blender or using a blender/grinder jar. Ensure that the mixture cools down before blending. The soup can be blended till smooth or slightly chunky.
- Choice of fat: If using a fat, then you can opt to use olive oil, any other neutral flavored oil or even butter.
- Sweetener: Adding sugar is optional and can be skipped, if the pumpkin you are using is already sweet.
- Herbs: You can add your choice of either dried herbs or fresh herbs in this soup.
- Vegan option: To make a vegan pumpkin soup, don’t add the cheese in the garnishing.
- Scaling: You can easily double or triple this recipe of Pumpkin Soup for making a large batch.
FAQs
Yes it is. Pumpkins are loaded with vitamins and minerals, dietary fiber, and antioxidants. The rest of the ingredients for this soup are equally healthy – garlic, onions, herbs, and a touch of heart-healthy olive oil. I can’t see how this would be considered anything but super nutritious!
Absolutely! As with most soups, it does well to hang out in the fridge for a bit for the flavors to meld. Once cooked, it should be consumed within few hours.
Sure! This recipe will work equally well with butternut squash or sweet potatoes.
If your soup is too thick, simply add more water or veggie broth to thin it out. If it is too thin, simmer it with the lid off stirring occasionally until it reaches your preferred consistency.
Yep! Scale it up or down as according to your needs.
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Easy Pumpkin Soup Recipe
Ingredients
For cooking pumpkin
- 2.75 cups pumpkin – peeled and chopped, 250 grams
- ⅓ cup chopped onions or 1 medium onion
- 1 to 2 garlic cloves – small-sized, peeled and roughly chopped
- ¾ to 1 cup water or vegetable stock, for stove-top pressure cooker or instant pot and 1.5 cups water or veg broth for cooking in a pan
Other ingredients
- 2 to 3 teaspoons olive oil – optional
- ¼ teaspoon dry oregano
- ½ teaspoon dry thyme
- ½ teaspoon raw sugar or regular sugar, optional
- crushed black pepper as required
- salt as required
For garnish
- 1 to 2 tablespoons grated cheese – cheddar, gruyere, vegetarian parmesan, optional
- 1 to 2 tablespoon bread croutons – optional
- 1 tablespoon whipping cream – optional
- 1 to 2 tablespoons parsley or cilantro – optional
Instructions
Cooking pumpkin
- Rinse, peel and chop pumpkin in cubes. Also onion and the garlic cloves.
- Add the pumpkin cubes, chopped onions and garlic in a 2-litre stovetop pressure cooker. Check the notes section for cooking soup in the Instant Pot.
- Now add ¾ to 1 cup water or vegetable stock. For a thicker soup add less water.
- Cover and pressure cook on medium heat for 8 to 9 minutes. If you do not have a pressure cooker, then you can even cook the pumpkin cubes in a pan. Add water as required if cooking in a pan.
- When the pressure drops naturally on its own in the cooker, then only open the lid. Let the pumpkin mixture become warm.
- Then with an hand held mixer or beater, blend the whole mixture. You can even add the mixture in a blender or grinder jar and then blend to a fine and smooth puree. Do not blend when hot as then the mixture splutters.
- Blend till smooth and fine. You can keep the soup slightly chunky if you want.
Making pumpkin soup
- Now keep the cooker back on stovetop on a low to medium heat. Add olive oil. Adding olive oil is optional and you can skip it completely. You can even add butter or sunflower oil instead of olive oil.
- Mix very well.
- Then add oregano, thyme and crushed black pepper as required.
- Add sugar (optional) and salt as per taste.
- Mix well. if the pumpkin is sweet, then skip adding sugar.
- Let the soup come to a gentle simmer till it becomes hot. Then switch off the heat.
- Serve pumpkin soup hot or warm.
Serving suggestions
- Enjoy pumpkin soup as a light dinner. I like to serve it with a slice of warm toasted bread or a baguette. It also works great as a side, pairing it with a mixed veggie pasta dish, light salad or grilled veggie sandwich.
- While serving you can garnish the soup with some grated cheese, herbs, bread croutons, crushed black pepper, cream or all of the above. You can serve the soup hot, warm or even chilled.
Scaling, storage & make ahead
- You can make the soup a few hours earlier and refrigerate to be eaten on the same day. Reheat before serving and if required mix in some stock or water if the soup looks very thick. Reheat in a saucepan.
- Any leftover can be refrigerated for a day only.
- Easily scale the soup recipe to make for more servings.
Video
Notes
- Cooking pumpkin in a pot: Add 1.5 cups water or as required and cook the pumpkin cubes, onions etc in covered pan on a stovetop, until the pumpkin cubes have softened.
- Cooking pumpkin in Instant Pot: Pressure cook the ingredients on high for 5 to 7 minutes. Seal the lid and position the steam valve to the sealing position. Pressure cook on high for 5 to 7 minutes. Give a quick release (QR) after 5 to 6 minutes. Blend the cooked ingredients. Mix in the herbs and seasonings. Use the sauté function and simmer soup for some minutes until you get the desired consistency.
- Pumpkin: You can make the soup with any edible variety of pumpkin. I suggest to use yellow pumpkins or sugar pumpkins. But you can use your favorite variety of pumpkin as well. The color of the soup will vary with the type of pumpkin used in making it.
- Herbs: Both dried herbs and fresh herbs can be added in the recipe. You can add your choice of herbs.
- Vegan option: For a vegan option, skip adding cheese as a garnish.
- Scaling: Make a large batch of this soup easily by doubling or tripling the ingredients.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Pumpkin Soup recipe from the archives, first published in August 2017 has been updated and republished on October 2023.
Hello Dassana,
Can this be made with green pumpkin?
Thanks,
Swati
Hi Swati, you can make the soup with green pumpkin.
Tried this soup today and it was very delicious. just sauteed the onions and garlic in butter and then proceeded with the recipe.loved its creamy texture,slight sweetness and herby aroma.the grated cheese garnish just enhanced the taste.
thanks winnie. this soup has delicate flavors which blend well with each other. definitely, grated cheese gives a nice umami flavor and tastes good. thanks again.
You post lovely and easy to follow teciped. Thank you
Welcome Mangala
Hi. How many servings will the mentioned quantity make?
souyma, its just one serving if you just plan to have only soup and a side bread or salad for dinner. if there is some more dishes like a main course of pasta or rice, then you can divide the soup by two and have two serving.
Hi dassana. I prepared pumpkin soup today and it was delicious. Many thanks for the recipe.
Welcome Kirti. Glad to know that you liked the soup recipe.