Name: Roasted Pumpkin Soup
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 2.75 pounds sugar pumpkin or butternut squash, halved and seeded; 1 onion, peeled and quartered through the stem; 1 garlic clove, peeled; 0.5 cup olive oil; Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper; 5 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium vegetable stock

Prep Time:

5 mins

Total Time:

40 mins

Servings:

4

Our roasted pumpkin soup is wonderfully comforting, delicious, and healthy. And while it tastes creamy and smooth, it's dairy-free and vegan, owing its silky texture to the pureed roasted pumpkin. It's truly amazing that just a few ingredients can produce such a satisfying soup, and one that tastes like fall in a bowl.

Even better, prep is quick and easy; simply cut up the pumpkin, onion, and garlic. They roast hands off in the oven. Then puree the roasted veg, add the stock, and you’re almost there. Reheat the silky puree, thinning it to the consistency you want. Serve garnished simply with toasted pepitas to amp up the pumpkin flavor.

The Pumpkin

Choose a sugar pumpkin that feels heavy for its size and does not have any soft spots. Store it at room temperature until you make the soup.

Alternatives

Instead of sugar pumpkins, you can use other winter squash in our Roasted Pumpkin Soup recipe. Kabocha, calabaza, and Hubbard are the best alternatives.

How to Serve Roasted Pumpkin Soup

This soup is so good it doesn't need much more than some crusty bread to go with it. These are our favorite simple garnishes, use one or a combination:

Toasted pepitas
Toasted nuts such as hazelnuts, pine nuts, walnuts, or pecans
Croutons
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Dollop of sour cream (for a vegan topping, use coconut cream)
Chopped cilantro or parsley—and a drizzle of heavy cream

Ingredients

2 ¾ pounds sugar pumpkin or butternut squash, halved and seeded
1 onion, peeled and quartered through the stem
1 garlic clove, peeled
½ cup olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
5 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium vegetable stock

Directions

Preheat oven, cut pumpkin and toss with oil:

Preheat oven to 450°F. Cut pumpkin into 2-inch pieces. Combine pumpkin, onion, and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet. Add oil and 2 teaspoons salt; toss to coat, then spread in a single layer.
Roast pumpkin:

Roast until pumpkin is tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, about 30 minutes, rotating pan and tossing vegetables halfway through. Let cool, then remove skins.
Place vegetables in saucepan and add stock:

Transfer vegetables to a medium saucepan; heat over medium. Pour in 2 cups stock.
Puree, add remaining stock:

Use an immersion blender to puree until smooth. With the blender running, slowly add remaining 3 cups stock, and puree until smooth.
Heat, and serve:

Bring soup just to a simmer. Remove from heat, and season with salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm until serving.

Storing

Transfer the soup to airtight containers and cool completely before refrigerating. The soup will last for four to five days. Reheat it thoroughly on the stovetop or in the microwave.

Freezing

Pumpkin soup is easy to freeze. Make sure the soup has cooled before freezing in freezer-safe airtight containers (Freeze in batches rather than one large container. So you can thaw what you need for one meal.) Leave some room at the top of the containers as the soup will expand as it freezes. Avoid freezing pumpkin soup that contains cream or additions like nuts or croutons. Pumpkin soup will last two to three months in the freezer.

Frequently Asked Questions

What thickens pumpkin soup?

There are several ways to thicken pumpkin soup. The easiest method is to reduce the soup by cooking off some of the liquid. Alternatively, use a slurry of all-purpose flour or cornstarch and water, add a teaspoon or two of either thickener to a small bowl and stir in 2 to 3 teaspoons of the soup to create a slurry. Then stir the slurry into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the thickener to work and to make sure any raw flour flavor cooks off.

Why is my pumpkin soup gritty?

The most common cause of gritty pumpkin soup is if the pumpkin was not cooked enough. If it is not roasted sufficiently to become soft, it will not puree smoothly and the result can be a gritty soup.

Why is my pumpkin soup watery?

Your pumpkin soup might be watery if you didn't use a sugar pumpkin. Some varieties of pumpkin have a more watery texture and this would result in a thinner, more watery soup.