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.
Your pieces of pumpkin must have been very, very small. I roasted my pumpkin for 60 minutes and it still wasn’t cooked. After Halloween many of us are looking for recipes to use up our pumpkin. The soup was good, but it takes a LOT longer to roast than 35 minutes.
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love this one. Thank you for your feedback, Cheryl.
Can I use whole milk instead of heavy cream?
Hi, you can and it will be slightly different but can be a good substitution.
Great recipe. I used a little less oil and caramelized the onions. I used 3 cans of purée and an immersion blender. It came out wonderful!! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Teh!
Perhaps because you are using a carving pumpkin and not the sugar pie variety? Because those carvers are super thick and will take a long time.
They also have a different texture and could result in a grainier soup.
I followed your recipe exactly as written and the soup was perfect and delicious!
Our whole family enjoyed it from ages 3 to 77! I look forward to trying another one of your recipes!
This recipe is very adaptable — except definitely roast your own pumpkin, not canned. I’d say that’s key and my amount came to about 5 cups. Didn’t want it sweet so omitted maple syrup (and clove spice — too strong) and added extra cayenne. Finally, unless you’re vegan or vegetarian, use whatever broth you want — I had about a cup of veggie broth(kale) and 2 cups of chicken broth. I used 3/4 c. full fat coconut milk. It is really good!!
Mine doesn’t look as thick. What did I miss? Did I need more pumpkin? I used aboit a quarter of a large kaboocha. Added more cream and didn’t thicken up. Confused!
Hi Matt, I’m sorry you were disappointed by this recipe. How did it taste?
At what temperature do you roast the pumpkin seeds? I’m looking at the recipe under Notes above.
Hi! See my pumpkin seeds recipe.
Greetings, Finally achieved a long-time dream of growing a pumpkin this year In fact, I grew ten… so far! This is the recipe I will be using to make the most of my harvest. Thank you for sharing this recipe. It really has all the essential ingredients for an ideal pumpkin dish and is very clearly presented. Thanks ⭐️ Sadie
How fun! I’m glad you will use them to make this recipe.
Delicious soup. I made it as instructed and it came out perfect
Great to hear!
This soup is so delicious! We added some curry as well. We will add this recipe to our ‘day-after- Halloween’ tradition for sure! We have a Halloween evening chilli tradition and cooked up your veggie chilli last night…thanks for posting wonderful meat free alternatives :)
Domaas Family
Did you sub curry for any other spices or just add? Thanks!
Hi, we followed the recipe, then also added the curry.
LOVED this! I made it with extra cayenne, cut down a bit on the maple syrup, and added 1/2 tsp. of curry powder, highly recommend!
Thank you! I’m happy you loved it, Katie.
Delicious! Made with Jack-o-lanterns after Halloween.
So you used regular large pumpkins? I cant get sugar pumpkins at the store now but have 2 large, incut pumpkins for decor on my porch…
That’s right, just regular pumpkins from Halloween. Just cut and roast them
It would be helpful to know how many cups of pumpkin is required.
Hi Pam, sorry to disappoint. You can check to see how much I suggest if using canned and use that for guidance.
Hi Kate, with regards to the ‘cans’ I do see that you suggest two… But what sized cans would that be? I’m currently looking at a very thick pot of soup a/which only pops and does not simmer. I have used two 26oz cans as that is what’s standard in my area.
Hi! Use two 15oz cans. I hope this helps, Carley.
Great base recipe! I used 2 cans of pumpkin leftover from Thanksgiving. It didn’t have enough flavor for our taste so I ended up adding about 2-3x all of the seasonings and some milk, and then I simmered it for half an hour or so. It was perfect! We will enjoy this again!
I’m sorry you didn’t love it, but were able to adjust to fit your tastes.
Turned out beautifully! Taste test tomorrow!
I hope you love it, Scooter!
This pumpkin soup is simply perfect!
do you think this can freeze and thaw well?
Hi! I do believe this one will freeze well. Let me know what you think, Autumn!
Why is this soup so high in Sodium?
Hi Kathy, more on my nutrition disclaimer can be found on the blog. I do my best to provide as accurate of nutritional information as I can. You can always adjust the sodium by decreasing salt, using low sodium inputs, etc.
Thank you For getting back to me, Kate. I’m on a low sodium diet and I was surprised at the high sodium (824 mg) content of this recipe. From the recipes ingredients, there seems to be little sodium unless it’s in the broth. I used low sodium broth and coconut milk.
The soup is delicious, I hope I’ve reduced the sodium.
If you used low sodium broth just look at the sodium content for the amount you used and divide it by the servings you got from your soup.
I’ve never had pumpkin soup and have a few pumpkins I need to use up. Glad i came across this recipe:) it was delicious!
This soup was AMAZING! It produced restaurant quality taste. My only change was to add extra coconut milk – like you suggested – and some balsamic glaze on top. Delicious!
Made this soup today … it was absolutely delicious!..
I’m happy you loved it, Sharon. Thank you for your review.
I made this soup with one small regular pumpkin and a small butternut squash. The soup is super creamy, I used coconut milk and all the spices. This will be my favorite winter soup recipe! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Nicole! Thank you for your review.
Thank you for this recipe! I followed it exactly except for adding a couple of slices of cooked bacon that I blended in with everything. It is savory, perfectly autumnal, and I will definitely be making it again. It was my first pumpkin soup (eaten or made)-glad to have this healthy option!
I am in the process of making this soup but for the life of me, I don’t know how to convert 4 pounds pumpkin into cups. Why couldn’t you just say how many cups to put in? I’m hoping this recipe won’t be wasted “guessing” the right amount pumpkin.
Just saying!
Hi Greta! I would use the can suggestion in the notes. That should help some. I didn’t measure this in cups so don’t have that on hand, sorry.
4 pounds equals about 4 cups
I agree with you since most Americans don’t have a food scale.
But I bet you if you Google how many cups are in a pound (or 4) of fresh pumpkin you will find your answer.
Recipe sounds nice. SO I followed up but I did not like onions in soup. It is still good but onions give weird aftertaste. Next time will skip on onions.
I made this roasted pumpkin soup and it was AMAZING! Simply the best! I did add a smudge of curry. It was so good that I’m making a second batch!! Thank you. I’m always on the hunt for that “perfect” recipe and this definitely made it on my list as a clear winner!
I’m happy you loved it, Halley! Thank you for taking the time to review.
Please indicate what size can for canned pumpkin option.
Thanks.
Hi Katherine, please see the notes below the recipe.
Delicious! A new favourite I didn’t have broth so I boiled 4 cups of water, 6 small chopped kale leaves and a tbsp of tomato paste. I used heavy cream, omitted cloves and added a tsp chili garlic sauce (instead of cayenne)…so good !!
Thank you for sharing how you modified this recipe, Catherine!
This is a fantastic and fast soup. Made it to the recipe but it would lend itself to experimenting with additional flavors. I had a bounty of New England Pie pumpkins so I’m going to make another pot of this for easy lunches for the week. And I’m forwarding it to my vegan friends- they’re going to love it. Thank you!
I was forced to take some liberties with some ingredients due to availability, mainly I used another type of pumpkin (calabaza de castilla, unsure of the English name) that I wanted to use before it went bad. Also, I was a bit liberal on the proportions due to multitasking.
It sounds like with the right ingredients it will be even better, but the combination of ingredients was delicious and interesting, the texture very creamy, and the overall feel very hearty and cozy. And it was all very noble with my changes.
Thanks for the great recipe!
Also, I added a little bit of dry chili flakes and served with tosted pine nuts, and these go REALLY well with the soup!
I’m glad you were able to find something and got creative! Thank you for your feedback, Alejandro.
Oh man what can I say… delicious!. You are so right a blender would be way better than using the emersion but today I was just to lazy to clean the big guy. I did not have cloves for some weird reason so used allspice instead. Also used low fat European Yogurt for added tang and thickness.
Thank you for sharing, Mark!
Made this soup today. I was surprised how much soup one pumpkin made! Was so creamy. The roasting really does enhance the flavor.
I doubled the cinnamon and used chili powder as I did not have cayenne. Next time will get the cayenne. Will also add more spices next time.
Thank you, Kate.
I made this soup and it was absolutely divine! I roasted the pumpkin and used the exact measurements. However, I did use a smidgen of curry powder and it turned out heavenly. I can’t wait to make this again. Thank you for this recipe. I’m going to share it with friends.
I am preparing meals for a person on a puréed diet and minus the pepitas this was a welcome flavorful surprise. The cayenne developed more flavor in the leftovers.
As an FCS (aka Home Ec.) Teacher, I like specific amounts in a recipe. 1# of pumpkin = 4 c. / 2 c. Cooked and drained. Your vague “cans” of pumpkin aren’t helpful because pumpkin comes in several different sized cans. I’m going to use 8 c. of pumpkin per the amts. I researched. The soup was good. I did not add the honey but I did add 1/2 tsp. Curry powder.
So good! Used roasted pumpkin seeds for garnish also Puréed pumpkin with broth. Thank you
Wow, this came out really good. I was about to throw out a pumpkin from halloween but I’m glad I came across this quick recipe. I made some adjustments making this non-vegan. I roasted the pumpkins in an air fryer so that cut the roasting time by 15 minutes! I used chicken broth instead of vegetable broth, added 1/2 teaspoon more of salt, 1 tablespoon of chicken bouillon and only used 1 tablespoon of maple syrup. Yes I totally made it my own but glad this was here to guide me!
This recipe was great, thank you for sharing it! I used butternut squash and added a couple of roasted red bell peppers and it turned out great. Added chili flakes instead of cayenne and blended it well. Delicious!
Made this soup this morning adding turmeric for color, and health benefits; used non-dairy Nut Pods to replace dairy cream and toasted slivered almonds to replace pepitas, (unavailable). Added a tablespoon of light brown sugar to balance the cayenne pepper and YUMMMY.
Great ideas! Thank you, Ann!
Love this recipe. I added a little more cayenne so it had a kick to it. Would definitely do again :)
Kate,
I’m so excited to make this creamy roasted pumpkin soup recipe. I already had frozen fresh pumpkin that I had puréed. I don’t know what 2 or 3 cans mean exactly.
Thank you,
Rose
Hi Rose, that’s awesome! I will need to remake this recipe when pumpkins are in season again to measure how much roasted pumpkin goes in. I’d use 3 to 4 cups pumpkin, depending on your desired thickness. Hope that works for you!
Rose, how did you use the frozen pumpkin? Did you adjust the cooking time? I have some frozen pumpkin cubes that I cooked before freezing so would like to use these in the recipe.
I’m a newbie at this sort of thing and am having trouble figuring out how many cups of roasted pumpkin for this recipe. I roasted the pumpkin (it was 4 pounds with seeds in) but what if I have a bigger pumpkin? How many cups of roasted mashed pumpkin actually goes in to this recipe?
Hi Greta, sounds like you chose the perfect pumpkin for this recipe! I’m sorry I don’t have the roasted amount for you; I typically offer better descriptors and need to revisit this one. I always list the preferred quantity first, though (in this case, 4 pounds, which could be split between two pumpkins). Hope that helps!
Thank you for your response to me. I sort of guessed how many cups 4 pounds would be and it turned out great. Thanks again!
This year we are eating one part of our normal feast each night. Monday- corn soufflé and green salad, Tuesday yams and red Chile chicken enchiladas. Tonight stuffing and pumpkin soup. So glad to stumble onto a fellow Oregonian’s recipe. Roasting the pumpkin now. Love from the Oregon Coast.
Made this soup with heavy cream and maple syrup and it turned out perfect! The toasted pumpkin seeds were a fantastic addition to the soup. Thank you so much for the recipe!
This is a winner at our dinner table! (Big fan of your recipes, Kate.) Even my two year old gobbles it up.
That’s great to hear, Aileen! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
I made your recipe today. It’s yummy. I would not use as much vegetable broth next to increase the taste of pumpkin. Of course adding more nutmeg & cinnamon gave it a seasonal flavor
I’m sorry you didn’t love it, but I appreciate your feedback!
This was fantastic! I used 2 little sugar pie pumpkins from Halloween. I didn’t have cream, so used sour cream. Threw in a little left over cauliflower. Thank you so much. Just the right spices. Yum!
You’re welcome, Laurie! Thank you for your review.
Hi Kate, does this recipe work with frozen homemade pumpkin puree? I followed your roasted pumpkin puree recipe to make it a few weeks back.
Third time making today! Follow directions as is including roasting the pumpkin for 35 min. Comes out perfect every time!!!
Will this recipe freeze .? I’m stocking my freezer for the long winter with no garden veggies. Thanks Heather
Yes, it freezes well!
Ok need to know- cups of pumpkin please. If its large or small cans.
I am anxious to enjoy this beautiful sounding recipe
Hi Laura, standard 15-ounce cans. It’s best with roasted pumpkin but puree will do.
Wonderful. If recipe is updated more of us can try it and I had a choice between a large pumpkin and canned and wanted the right ratios with the seasnngs. We did add some curry and enjoyed tonite . Yumm !!
The pumpkin soup came out great! Very tasty, I made the vegan version for my daughter.
I made this soup today and it was wonderful. The only change I made was eliminating the cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon. I replaced it with a teaspoon of Ras El Hanout. Thank you for the recipe!
My soup was very tasty. Made a few changes. I chopped pumpkin and onion into big chunks, mixed garlic and olive oil and grilled it for 25 minutes. Then transferred it to a pan with hot water and boiled for a few minutes. Added whole pepper and using a hand blender made a puree. Then followed your recipe. Added the spices and a dash of coconut milk, before serving.
Five stars from me. I didn’t have a sugar pumpkin I had a 10 pound pumpkin from Vermont . I had to roast in 2 halves because it was soo big It also took something like an hour at 400 degrees Worth every minute for this recipe. And now I have enough pumpkin for pancakes, muffins, bread , cookies
I just made this. Yum! Always love and trust your recipes! I used a pumpkin my roommate grew and was a bit generous with the spices.
Made this with a leftover white pumpkin that we never painted for the holidays… it was still amazing! Very easy! I roasted my pumpkin for 45 min and it was perfect. I followed the recipe but I think I’ll add some more spice next time! Maybe try the suggestion of curry powder I saw in the comments!