Creamy Roasted Pumpkin Soup
This pumpkin soup recipe is creamy AND healthy! It calls for roasted pumpkin for maximum flavor. This pumpkin soup is great with sandwiches and salads!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 5, 2024
Meet my favorite pumpkin soup recipe. It’s super creamy (thanks mostly to the pumpkin, with a little help from coconut milk or cream) yet plenty healthy, too. It’s gently spiced, but I made sure that the pumpkin flavor shines above the rest.
This dairy-free pumpkin soup would be a welcome addition to your holiday table. It would be equally at home with a soup or sandwich from fall through winter.
It’s easy to make and the leftovers taste even better the next day. So, you could certainly make the soup a day in advance. Don’t be intimidated by the ingredient list—this soup only requires basic pantry ingredients!
This soup was inspired by my recent trip to Portland. While I was there, I went to lunch with my baby brother and our friend Bill. I’ve written about Bill over the years—in summary, Bill beat leukemia with the help of my stem cells. He’s the toughest guy I know.
Now we’re friends who share the same immune system and we finally got to meet a few weeks ago. (You can join the registry here.)
We shared lunch and an afternoon at Multnomah Falls. It was a damp, gray fall day in the Pacific Northwest and it was perfect.
Bill picked The Picnic House for lunch. You really have to go next time you’re in Portland. “Unique” doesn’t begin to describe it—the restaurant feels like an old school theater inside, with different scenes set up in every corner and amazing food everywhere the eye can see.
I was tempted to order every item on the menu, but after much deliberation, I finally settled on a small soup, salad and sandwich. I might just have to recreate all three of them for the blog (so good), but homemade pumpkin soup seemed most timely.
I can’t say that my version is exactly the same, but it is equally satisfying and fresh. It’s utterly delicious in its own right.
Pumpkin Options
This pumpkin soup recipe includes instructions on how to roast fresh pumpkin, for maximum pumpkin flavor. Canned pumpkin purée also works well, if you’re in a time crunch. See the recipe notes for details!
Please let me know how this recipe turns out for you in the comments. I’m always so eager for your feedback. If you’re craving more cozy fall soups, don’t miss my butternut soup, lentil soup or minestrone.
Watch How to Make Pumpkin Soup
Creamy Roasted Pumpkin Soup
This pumpkin soup recipe is creamy AND healthy! It calls for roasted pumpkin for maximum flavor. This roasted pumpkin soup recipe would look lovely on your holiday dinner table, and leftovers would go great with sandwiches or salads the next day. Recipe yields 4 bowls or 6 cups of soup.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- One 4-pound sugar pie pumpkin
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 4 large or 6 medium garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- Tiny dash of cayenne pepper (optional, if you like spice)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable broth
- ½ cup full fat coconut milk or heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
- ¼ cup pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup. Carefully halve the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds (you can roast the seeds if you’d like—see note—but you won’t need them for this recipe).
- Slice each pumpkin halve in half to make quarters. Brush or rub 1 tablespoon olive oil over the flesh of the pumpkin and place the quarters, cut sides down, onto the baking sheet. Roast for 35 minutes or longer, until the orange flesh is easily pierced through with a fork. Set it aside to cool for a few minutes.
- Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add onion, garlic and salt to the skillet. Stir to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes. In the meantime, peel the pumpkin skin off the pumpkins and discard the skin.
- Add the pumpkin flesh, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cayenne pepper (if using), and a few twists of freshly ground black pepper. Use your stirring spoon to break up the pumpkin a bit. Pour in the broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, to give the flavors time to meld.
- While the soup is cooking, toast the pepitas in a medium skillet over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant, golden and making little popping noises. You want them to be nice and toasty, but not burnt. Transfer pepitas to a bowl to cool.
- Once the pumpkin mixture is done cooking, stir in the coconut milk and maple syrup. Remove the soup from heat and let it cool slightly. You can use an immersion blender to blend this soup in the pot. I prefer to use my stand blender, which yields the creamiest results—working in batches, transfer the contents of the pan to a blender (do not fill your blender past the maximum fill line!). Securely fasten the blender’s lid and use a kitchen towel to protect your hand from steam escaping from the top of the blender as you purée the mixture until smooth. Transfer the puréed soup to a serving bowl and repeat with the remaining batches.
- Taste and adjust if necessary (I thought the soup was just right as is, but you might want to add more coconut milk for extra creaminess/milder flavor, or maple syrup to make it a little sweeter).
- Ladle the soup into individual bowls. Sprinkle pepitas over the soup and serve. Let leftover soup cool completely before transferring it to a proper storage container and refrigerating it for up to 4 days (leftovers taste even better the next day!). Or, freeze this soup for up to 3 months.
Notes
Soup inspired by the pumpkin soup at The Picnic House in Portland and roughly adapted from my curried butternut soup.
Make it dairy free: Use coconut milk, not heavy cream.
Make it vegan: Use coconut milk and maple syrup.
Change it up: Kabocha squash works instead of pumpkin, and I bet butternut squash would work well, too.
If you want to use canned pumpkin: Instead of roasting the pumpkin, you can substitute two to three cans of pumpkin purée (15 ounces each). Just skip steps 1 and 2, and add two cans of pumpkin purée in step 4. You’ll still want to blend the soup for the best texture; add more pumpkin purée at that point if you’d like thicker soup.
How to roast pumpkin seeds: Pick off all the flesh bits from the seeds and discard them. I like to do this in a colander under running water. Pat the seeds dry with a tea towel or paper towels. Toss the seeds with a little olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and any other seasonings that sound good (I tossed my pumpkin seeds with 1 teaspoon brown sugar and ½ teaspoon curry powder). Toss to coat. Line a small, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the pumpkin seeds in a single layer. Roast for 13 to 16 minutes, until the seeds are fragrant and toasty.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I just love how bright this soup is. Totally perfect for fall!
Gorgeous soup and what a lovely story! I remember when you first talked about Bill on your blog, love!! : )
Thanks, Abby! xo
I am going to HAVE to try this! Love, love , love pumpkin :)
I signed up for be the match after you told your (and Bill’s) story. Couldn’t be easier! Thank you for sharing your stories and recipes with us.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Katelyn, thank you for joining the registry! That means a lot to me. :)
Ok this is going to sound weird, but I can almost taste the smoothness of this soup just by looking at the photos. It looks amazing! One day I’d love to do a food tour across the US (or maybe the world?!) and visit all the restaurants recommended on my favourite food blogs. This would be on the list for sure!
Oohh this has me craving my Mama’s creamy vegan pumpkin soup! There’s nothing like a touch of spice as the perfect counterpoint to the sweetness of pumpkin. I’ll have to give your spice blend a try when pumpkin soup weather next rolls around :)
Your photos of the falls are lovely, and it is so beautiful that you have a friendship with Bill. What a beautiful gift that has bloomed out of your gift to him.
Such a gorgeous soup, love that creaminess! And I just went back to read Bill’s story – so cool, thanks for sharing!
Let’s just say, hypothetically, that one has a lot of canned pumpkin in the house related to over-excitement when a new Costco opened in town. What are your thoughts on using it in this recipe? How much? Thank you for any thoughts you have! Worst case scenario, I buy a little pumpkin and use the canned in your awesome pumpkin oatmeal waffles.
Hey Anne, I’m sorry I didn’t answer your question sooner! Yep, I bet you can use canned pumpkin here. I just converted pounds to ounces and I think you’d need a few cans to make up for the sugar pumpkin. I’m guessing my four-pound pumpkin turned into a three to three and a half pound pumpkin after removing the skin and seeds. So you’d need 48 to 56 ounces pumpkin puree, which seems like a lot, but pumpkin is so watery that it sort of disappears into the liquid, so that’s probably about right. Hope my rambling makes sense! Please let me know if you try it.
Just curious if anyone did use butternut squash or canned pumpkin. Thinking of making this for first course for a dinner party next weekend but can’t find any sugar pumpkins! Thank you
Sorry Molly, I haven’t heard back from anyone about that! If you can find kabocha squash, those would work great, too. Buttercup might as well.
Or a 2-pound butternut should do! I found that pumpkin is way more watery than butternut, so I needed twice the amount of pumpkin.
Thank you for sharing your inspiring story. It is wonderful to know that you got to meet Bill and share a friendship with him. You truly are a good person.
Your soup sounds like an absolute winner ! A definite on my list.
:-)
Thank you, Lynne! :)
This is the first time reading about Bill and I have goosebumps and tears right now. This recipe looks amazing, too. Have a great Thanksgiving!
I’ve read the story of you and Bill when you posted it, but reading it again made me awe-inspired and contemplative (again). And how wonderful you’re still seeing each other now and then!
Your soup looks delicious, and a good, soft-spicy pumpkin soup is always a treat! But the thing about your post that quite struck me a bit, are the colours in the upper picture, which suddenly and quite strong reminded me of my favourite children’s book, Monica Furlongs Juniper (or ‘A Year And A Day’). There is a wonderful scene where the protagonist must choose colours for a woollen cloak she’s going to make, and the colours she finally chooses, night blue, undyed white wool, dark amber and soft yellow, decorated with green/grey moon stones, resemble your picture exactly, and flung me back into the wonderful world unfurling in the book.
I hope this doesn’t sound too incoherent for you, but I wanted to thank you for a lovely recipe, and for reminding me of a literary happy place (even if that probably wasn’t your intention).
PS: It’s freezing outside, and as we speak, your vegan pumpkin chili is simmering and bubbling away, leaving a much-obliged warmth and a comforting cinnamon smell around the house :)
Hi Evelyn! I’m sorry it’s taken me a while to get back to you. I was such an avid reader as a kid. I don’t recognize the cover of Juniper but maybe I’ve read it! I’m glad my photo brought you back to a happy place.
See….I knew there was a reason I felt a connection to you. My son is fighting leukemia, and unless you have it come into your world, front and center, it’s not something you can remotely relate to. Now, if possible, you’re even more wildly cool than I already thought. Good for you–good for Bill–kicking cancer’s butt is no easy feat. I love hearing the positive stories–we know there are far too many of the others. Thanks fellow sister in this wacky world of food and leukemia. Have a great Thanksgiving! Oh, this soup looks amazing…I will let you know how popular it was after I make it.
Thank you, Wendy. I’m so sorry to hear that leukemia has afflicted your family. I’m a big believer in the power of modern medicine and positive thoughts, so I’m sending all the happy healing vibes I can muster to your son right now. He can do it!
Next time you’re in Portland you have to try out Harlow! Their food is so, so good. Bill’s a rockstar. And I’m glad you enjoyed your time in the PNW!
http://www.youtube.com/sparklesandsuch26
Thank you for the uplifting story of your stem cell donation. I hope many will be inspired to join the registry. I have been on it for a few years but I am about to age out. My youngest son recently signed up and my youngest daughter is considering. We know a family who had a grandchild in desperate need of a match made more difficult to find because he was racially mixed and he had a negative blood type. He finally had a less than 10 of 10 match transplant and like your recipient has become his donor’s clone. Want to give a great gift to someone? Please join the registry to give a second chance to someone to enjoy life!
Thank you, R.A.! I’m so glad your kids are aware of the registry. It’s really very important. I’m so glad your family friend got the transplant he needed. The more people we can get on the registry, the better!
These photos are so gorgeous, Kate! They look like they could be a painting! That waterfall is also amazing! I’ve never been to Portland but have always wanted to go. That is pretty awesome that you donated stem cells and that they were able to help someone so much :) This soup is now on my to-do list :)
This looks so tasty and comforting Kate! I love the recipe!
Aw, that is such a great story! Stem cells rock, it’s so cool that you donated some :) The soup looks incredible too!
This soup looks soooo good! Can’t wait to try it!
Omg it really looks yummieee! :-)
It’s delicious! Love the photos and love the recipe- thanks. Going for second serving now.
Thank you, Merrilee! So glad you enjoyed the soup!
Meeting Bill must have been such an amazing experience after all you have been through “together”. I find that there are never enough pumpkin soup recipes in this world and I can’t wait to try your take on it!
Estupenda receta, no soy de platos veganos totalmente, pero esta crema tiene una pinta maravillosa.
un saludo
Gracias, Maria!
I tried this with canned pumpkin and it worked like a charm. I had two of the large cans of pumpkin puree that needed using up so I had to play it a little fast and loose with the quantities of all ingredients, but it turned out smooth and filling and delicious. It’s been frozen and reheated without any adverse effects, too. Winner winner pumpkin dinner!
Awesome! I am really glad to hear that. Thank you for sharing your recipe notes, Anne!
Hi Kate,
I love your recipe and I link it on my blog!! It’s my fav creamy vegan soup of this week :)
Thank you so much for sharing my soup, Sylvia! :)
This is delicious. My husband & 8-year-old daughter liked it, too. The little bit of cream & the little bit of spice play very well together. YUM.
Thank you, Jennifer! Glad to hear it.
Hi Kate, this soup is SO good – WOW! I love the spices and coconut milk in this. This is a simply perfect fall soup!
I used the puree from a batch of several sugar pumpkins I roasted previously and it turned out great. I’m sure this would be fine with canned pumpkin puree as well, but since I started roasting & pureeing my own pumpkins this season, I don’t think i’ll ever go back (unless I’m in a pinch). The flavor and freshness just can’t be beat! Thanks for sharing this recipe with us :)
Thank you, Emily! So glad you enjoyed this one!
Lived this! Thank you. I like the way you tell a story, and somehow that is gold when choosing which recipe to go with. I used kombucho pumpkins we got from the farm today. Instead of doing a veg broth I made my own, bay leaf, 2 carrots, more onion and garlic, tad more salt. I used a coconut cream. Only thing ill do different – and that will be soon, is perhaps put more cayenne. But that’s my preference. Thanks a million…it’s truly inspiring to find great vegan recipes.
Thank you, Sarah! I appreciate your kind words. Your version sounds awesome. :)
Hi Kate,
I loved this soup! My family and I all really enjoyed it. I think that the cloves really add another flavor dimension. Thanks so much so yummy!
Hey Megan! I’m glad to hear that. Thanks for letting me know!
I’ve made this soup twice now, once with pumpkin and once with squash – and I honestly think it’s the nicest soup I’ve ever had – Thankyou for a great recipe :)
Yay! Thanks, Claire!
So pumpkins are super hard to come by where I am from, so is it possible to use the creamed pumpkin in a can? Recipe looks delicious!!! Its making super hungry:)
Yes, check the recipe notes! Another reader said canned worked well for her.
What’s the best way to make ahead in the day and finish off quickly? Can I just make the whole recipe and let it sit on the stove and and reheat? Or should I stop somewhere in the process and finish off? I assume since there is no dairy I can leave on the stove for a few hours and don’t need to refrigerate. Planning on making for Christmas Eve to have after church and there will be no room in the fridge.
Hi Laura! You could roast the pumpkin in advance and chill that until you’re ready to cook the soup, in which case you’d have soup on the table in 25 minutes. Or, you could keep the soup hot in a crock pot so it’s safe to eat when you get home. Otherwise, you could make the soup up to two hours in advance and re-heat on the stove. Longer than two hours and you’re pushing the “danger zone” for food safety.
I have yet to try this recipe. I’m looking forward to trying this! Looks very delicious!
Hi Kate,
I just found your website looking for a soup recipe using a Calabaza Pumpkin. This Creamy Roasted Pumpkin Soup looked the best, make it and it’s SO DELICIOUS!!! The toasted pumpkin seeds are a fabulous touch. I’m going to make this soup frequently now. I will look thru your recipes and no doubt be making more of them now that I’ve discovered you. You might have just gotten yourself a new groupie. Thanks for this great recipe and I’ve just provided my e-mail so you can send me your newest recipes!
Oh my gosh!! Best soup I’ve made in a long time! I live in Reno, NV and it’s finally Fall like weather. I figured it was a good time to make a comfort soup, and this Roasted Pumpkin Soup hit the spot! Thank you for the recipe! I will definitely be sharing with my family and friends
Woohoo, that’s great to hear! Thank you for sharing, Julie. :)
Made this today as I have been craving pumpkin soup. When I lived in the dorms for college about once a week and only in October, the dinning halls would have pumpkin soup, it was my favorite soup they made. This comes pretty darn close to how I remember it, only thing missing was small pieces of bacon.
I did add some sugar at the end, as the soup was just a bit bitter, likely just due to the pumpkin I used and not anything wrong with the actual recipe. Supper yummy.
Thanks, Ella! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I don’t think my dorms ever offered pumpkin soup, so I’m a little jealous!
This soup is DELICIOUS!! I will definitely be making it again. Do you know if it freezes well?
You keep saying squash, too confusing
Sorry about that! Pumpkin is a type of squash. I just changed it to pumpkin throughout the instructions.
This is wonderful, my first pumpkin soup and will be staple for the fall season
Delicious!!! The perfect soup for a fall day. I used ginger honey, the subtle ginger is a nice addition. I used some frozen pumpkin puree left over from Halloween, and due to this, the colour came out quite dull. Otherwise, amazing!
I substituted with 4 cups of canned puree, allspice for cloves, and chicken broth for veg stock. Perfect!
Made this last night and it was terrific. doubled the recipe all but the spices and only 2 additional cups of broth. Loved by adults and kids! Was perfecto with cashew sour cream (1 cup cashews soaked overnight, blended with enough water to make a thick cream ~1/4cup, a squeeze of lemon juice or lactic acid powder, and salt to taste). Thanks for sharing!
Oooo!!
Cashew sour cream!!!???
My husband and I are making this tonight from fresh pumpkins.
So excited
This went into my “gold” notebook of favorite recipes as soon as dinner was over tonight. It’s wonderful! Made it with a local sugar pumpkin, roasted, with whole coconut milk. Didn’t add any maple syrup. What a treat. Thank you, Kate!
Hi Kate!
Made your Roasted Pumpkin Soup doubled recipe-I used 1) 3.5lb Pumpkin and 1) 796mL can of 100%Pumpkin Purée. I also added 1tsp pumpkin pie spice and everyone raved about it! Everyone has asked for the recipe! Thank you for this delicious recipe! Damjana Dzeko
Hi Kate,
thanks for the great recipe! I roasted my halloween pumpkins and was very happy to find a recipe that I had all the ingredients on hand for…I used the coconut milk and maple syrup and veg broth…roasted the pumpkin the other night so it was easy and delicious.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I got a pumpkin in my CSA and thought “ummmm….” I searched your site for pumpkin recipes and I have to say, this is now one of my favorites. Super flavorful and silky (even with an immersion blender!).
Delicioius! Used two small pumpkins leftover from Halloween decorations, and didn’t bother with the maple syrup. Also, I blended some of the soup and left some chunky. Wonderful recipe. Thanx, Kate.
Hello there and thank you for that fantastic recipe!
I made this soup tonight (sans the cloves I didn’t have) and it is absolutely delicious! I had a huge pumpkin left over from Halloween that I wanted to use up. This did the trick! I roasted the pumpkin seeds with a little 9 Spice Mix I had from OhSheGlows, but used your directions (without the oil-really not needed) and they turned out delicious also.
Thank you so much for the delicious recipe. I will make this again and again. It’s a favorite now!
Thanks again!
I have made this soup at least ten times over the course of the Fall and Winter and have used canned pumpkin every time… I never blend but I add the vegetable broth very slowly and cook on very low so it maintains the thickness. It’s my new favorite Fall/Winter soup recipe — and so healthy! Thanks for sharing! It’s also the first time I’ve ever commented on a recipe that I’ve made so that is saying something!
I had some leftover canned pumpkin from making muffins so I used it for this soup. Great choice! It is as you said – the canned pumpkin doesn’t have the depth of flavor as roasted fresh pumpkin. I ended up using 1 1/2 cans pumpkin, doubled the spices and substituted smoked paprika for the cayenne. It may have been creamier with the canned coconut milk but I didn’t have any, so I used 2 cups homemade coconut milk with the fat on top (I keep it on hand for my smoothies. Recipe at wellnessmama.com) and 2 cups broth. It was yummy! Even my husband, who doesn’t normally like these kinds of soup, enjoyed a bowl for lunch. Thank you, Kate, for a delicious recipe! I rated it 5 stars for ease of preparation, common ingredients, delectable taste, and ease of substitutions.
Thank you so much, Terri! What a thorough review. I’m glad everyone enjoyed it!
I made this for dinner accompanied with nicely roasted garlic bread sticks. Everyone loved it. It was a perfectly balanced light meal! thank you so very much for this! I however used chicken broth power as we don’t have canned broth in my country.! Also no papitas. but it was still rich and creamy! please do share more soup recipes :)
Thank you, Tania! I’m glad your version worked out so well.