Home > Soups & Stews > Pumpkin Soup (Canned Pumpkin!) Pumpkin Soup (Canned Pumpkin!) October 16, 2021 | 5 Comments SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Jump to Recipe This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy. This tasty Pumpkin Soup is one of the quickest and easiest soups to make — thanks to a shortcut: canned pumpkin! This soup is robust and richly flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, and maple syrup, which perfectly balances out the onions, garlic, and pumpkin. Top your bowl with some roasted and salted pumpkin seeds and grab some crusty buttered bread for dunking! Don’t want to use canned pumpkin? We include directions for using a fresh pumpkin as well! Pumpkin Soup With Canned Pumpkin Some soup recipes can certainly be a labor of love and are fairly time-intensive to make (hi, my fave Potato Soup!). So the goal for this soup recipe is to be quick, easy, and yet just as packed with flavor as any other pumpkin soup. This soup truly couldn’t be any easier to make and it is packed to the brim with flavor. In fact, it may just be the best Pumpkin Soup recipe ever! Instead of roasting a pumpkin, we use the ultimate shortcut: canned pumpkin puree. It works amazingly well in this recipe and helps the soup come together ridiculously fast with minimal effort on your end — score! Pumpkin for the Soup For this simple Pumpkin Soup recipe, you’ll want to use pure canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling has a lot of added ingredients, as opposed to pure pumpkin which is just pumpkin. We love and highly recommend Libby’s® pumpkin (not sponsored) in this soup recipe because it is thick, not watery, robustly flavored, and very consistent from can to can. If you’d prefer to use fresh pumpkin instead, grab a sugar or pie pumpkin (not mini pumpkins). You’ll need one about 1.2 pounds in size (this is before you’ve peeled it/removed seeds). Cut the pumpkin into slices, cut off the skin with a paring knife, scrape out seeds, and cut into 1-1/2 inch chunks. Add those pumpkin chunks in along with the apple in this recipe and simmer until the pumpkin flesh can be easily pierced by a fork. QUICK TIP To make a butternut pumpkin soup, use butternut squash instead (butternut squash is often referred to as a butternut pumpkin), or try this butternut squash soup! Blending The Soup This velvety smooth soup requires a trip through the blender, and I recommend a high-powered blender to make this task a snap. I know, I know. I’m the first to admit what a pain that is, but immersion blenders just don’t get this soup to the level of creaminess and smoothness that a high-powered blender will. A blender is really the key to getting a silky smooth Pumpkin Soup, and lower-powered machines just don’t get the action going in the same way. When blending, make sure to secure the lid on tightly and then select the “soup” or “hot” cycle. Increase speed slowly and watch it carefully to avoid having soup exploding out or over. Remove the lid carefully as it will likely release a burst of steam. If your blender doesn’t have a hot/soup setting, you can compensate by replacing the blender lid with a folded towel and holding it in place with your hands. This will help reduce steam pressure. There is a fair amount of soup, so you may need to blend in batches. QUICK TIP Here are some more tips and best practices for blending a soup! VARIATIONS Pumpkin Soup Variations Pumpkin Soup without cream: Taste the soup before adding cream — we think it’s pretty tasty even without the cream and you may like it just fine that way! Alternatively, try half and half or coconut milk instead. With coconut milk, the flavor is a bit different, and perhaps not quite as thick, but it’s still delicious! Healthy pumpkin soup: Leave out the cream or replace it with lite coconut milk. Additionally, replace half of the butter with olive oil. Vegan Butternut Squash Soup: Replace heavy cream with coconut milk and chicken stock with vegetable stock. (We recommend Swanson’s — not sponsored.) Vegetarian Butternut Squash Soup: Replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock. For a sweeter soup: Increase the maple syrup (slowly, to taste). For a more savory soup: Decrease the maple syrup or add 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper for a little kick. Pumpkin soup with bacon: Fry up some diced thick-sliced bacon in the pot. Remove the bacon and leave behind the grease to sauté the onions and garlic in (use about 2 tablespoons grease and 2 tablespoons butter). Top each bowl of pumpkin soup with a sprinkle of the reserved bacon. STORAGE Pumpkin Soup Storage Pumpkin Soup freezes very well without the cream in it. Prepare the soup according to directions, omitting the cream; let it cool completely before transferring to freezer bags and then freeze. To reheat, thaw and add it to a saucepan, adding the cream once it is fully heated through. This soup should last 3-5 days in the fridge (using chicken stock). If you use vegetable broth or stock, it can stay good for up to a week. If you need to store it longer, be sure to check out the bullet above that shares how to freeze this soup! Pumpkin Soup FAQs1What goes well with Pumpkin Soup? Any hearty, crusty bread or toasted baguette would go wonderfully with this soup. These dinner rolls or a slice of warm honey whole wheat bread would also be delicious dunked in a big bowl of pumpkin soup! You can also make it a soup-and-salad meal by pairing with Italian salad, roasted veggie salad, garden salad, or this Fall spinach salad. 2What is a good garnish for Pumpkin Soup?Roasted and crunchy pepitas (pumpkin seeds) make the best garnish for this soup. Not only do they look pretty, but they also taste amazing! You can make your own roasted pepitas or buy some at the store. If you opt to buy them, make sure they’re roasted and salted (not raw). You can generally find them in the bulk section of a grocery store, or with other salad toppings like candied nuts, Craisins®, etc. 3How do I thicken Pumpkin Soup?The great thing about this recipe is that there is no need for cornstarch, a roux, or other thickening agents. The pumpkin and onions, once blended, will render a nice and thick soup. If you would like this soup to be a bit thinner, you can add additional chicken stock, but you’ll likely want to amp up the seasonings (or at least the salt and pepper) a bit as well to compensate. 4Is Pumpkin Soup healthy?This soup contains a good helping of pumpkin, onions, chicken stock, and garlic– all which provide your body with essential vitamins and minerals. 5How can I make my Pumpkin Soup taste better?Good quality canned pumpkin (such as Libby’s) and good quality chicken stock (such as Swanson’s) will carry the flavor far in this soup! A sweet apple, like a Fuji and maple syrup add delicious, sweet undertones that balance out the onion and pumpkin — feel free to amp up the maple syrup for a touch more sweetness. More soup recipes Cauliflower Soup with loads of veggies! White Bean Soup with fresh basil-pesto Carrot Soup with coconut milk Easy Tomato Soup with canned tomatoes Broccoli Potato Soup with carrots FOLLOW ALONG! Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates, recipes and content. Pumpkin Soup 5 from 5 votes - Review this recipe This tasty Pumpkin Soup is one of the quickest and easiest soups to make -- thanks to a shortcut: canned pumpkin! This soup is robust and richly flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, and maple syrup, which perfectly balances out the onions, garlic, and pumpkin. Top your bowl with some roasted and salted pumpkin seeds and grab some crusty, buttered bread for dunking! SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Print Recipe Pumpkin Soup 5 from 5 votes - Review this recipe SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Print Recipe This tasty Pumpkin Soup is one of the quickest and easiest soups to make -- thanks to a shortcut: canned pumpkin! This soup is robust and richly flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, and maple syrup, which perfectly balances out the onions, garlic, and pumpkin. Top your bowl with some roasted and salted pumpkin seeds and grab some crusty, buttered bread for dunking! Course Appetizer, Dinner, Main Course, Soup Cuisine American, Healthy Keyword pumpkin soup Prep Time 10 minutes minutes Cook Time 30 minutes minutes Total Time 40 minutes minutes Servings 4 -6 servings Chelsea Lords Calories 436kcal Author Chelsea Lords Cost $7.82 Ingredients▢ 4 tbsp. unsalted butter▢ 2 medium sweet onions, peeled & coarsely chopped (1.8 lbs; packed 4 cups)▢ 4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped▢ Fine sea salt & pepper▢ 1/2 teaspoon each: ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg▢ 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves▢ 1 large Fuji apple, coarsely chopped (heaping 1 cup)▢ 1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin (Note 1)▢ 6 cups good-quality chicken stock (we recommend Swanson) (Note 2)▢ 1-1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme▢ 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (Note 3)▢ 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream (Note 4)▢ Optional garnishes: fresh thyme, roasted and lightly salted pepita seeds, additional cream, crusty, buttered bread for dunkingUS - Metric USMetric InstructionsONIONS AND GARLIC: Add butter to a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Once melted, add in the coarsely chopped onions and garlic cloves. Season to taste (I add 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper). Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10-12 minutes. Meanwhile, the rest of the ingredients! SIMMER: Add in the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in the coarsely chopped apple and the entire can of pumpkin. Stir, and then pour in the chicken stock, fresh thyme leaves, and maple syrup. Stir again. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and simmer (uncovered) for 20 minutes. BLEND: Use a powerful blender to puree the soup until completely smooth, processing in batches if needed. Return the soup to the pot and stir the cream through. Taste and adjust seasonings to personal preference -- you can also add in some more maple syrup here if you'd like the soup to be a tad sweeter. I typically add another 1/4 up to 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt. Ladle soup into bowls. GARNISH AND ENJOY: If desired, garnish bowls with a swirl of cream (See Note 5), lots of pepita seeds, and a pinch of pepper. You can also add on some fresh thyme. Enjoy!STORAGE: Pumpkin Soup freezes very well without the cream in it. Prepare the soup according to directions, omitting the cream; let it cool completely before transferring to freezer bags and then freeze. To reheat, thaw and add it to a saucepan, adding the cream once it is fully heated through. This soup should last 3-5 days in the fridge (using chicken stock). If you use vegetable broth or stock, it can stay fresh for up to a week. Recipe NotesNote 1: Pumpkin: For the best flavor in canned pumpkin, use Libby's (not sponsored)! If you'd prefer to use fresh pumpkin instead, grab a sugar or pie pumpkin (not mini pumpkins). You'll need about 1.2 pounds in size (this is before you've peeled it/removed seeds). Cut the pumpkin into slices, cut off the skin with a paring knife, scrape out seeds, and cut into 1-1/2 inch chunks. Add those pumpkin chunks in along with the apple in this recipe and simmer until the pumpkin flesh can be easily pierced by a fork. Note 2: Stock: The stock is key for the flavor and seasoning of the soup -- it's important to use really robust and flavorful chicken stock. We love Swanson's (not sponsored). If you want this to be vegetarian soup, use Swanson's vegetable stock. Note 3: Maple syrup: Not to be confused with corn syrup or pancake syrup, pure maple syrup is the sap from a maple tree that has been boiled down to a thicker consistency. I use pure maple syrup; typically Grade A. You can find pure maple syrup near pancake syrups in the grocery store. Note 4: Cream: The cream adds a nice richness and creaminess to the soup, but you may enjoy it without cream -- taste before adding! Alternatively, try half and half or coconut milk instead. With coconut milk, the flavor is a bit different, and perhaps not quite as thick, but it will work if you're allergic to dairy! Note 5: Swirl of cream: To add a swirl of cream, pour some heavy cream into a small bowl. Briskly whisk with a small whisk for about a minute to thicken. Then drizzle with a spoon over the bowl. Nutrition FactsServing: 1serving | Calories: 436kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 69mg | Sodium: 533mg | Potassium: 1040mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 9764IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 101mg | Iron: 2mg We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed. DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? I love hearing from you when you've made one of my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @ChelseasMessyApron or leave me a comment below.
This is my all time favorite soup! I genuinely don’t think it gets better! It’s the perfect combination of flavors! Trust me, give this one a try! Reply
I made this Pumpkin Soup with a couple of changes because of what I had in my pantry. I used 2 small chopped Jonathan apples , instead of a large fuji. I used 1 can of pumpkin and 1 can of sweet potato puree. I used Chicken Better than Bouillon (4 heaping tsps) with 4 cups water instead of packaged chicken broth. Also I stirred in a whole can of evaporated milk instead of the cream, and I used 2 TBs Coconut sugar instead of the Pure Maple Syrup because I was out. Also, I stirred in 1 cup of potato flakes at the end to thicken it and to make it a little heartier. I know it can be strange to say you really liked it when I altered it quite a bit, but for me, I try to use what I have in my pantry in a pinch. The roasted pumpkin seeds on top really topped it off. Thank You for this recipe, it was my first time making or eating Pumpkin Soup and we really enjoyed it. It’s nice to be able to make a homemade soup with just basically items from your pantry that you have on hand! Reply
