Pumpkin Soup Recipe (Easy One-Pot Soup)

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.

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

This Pumpkin Soup recipe from the archives, first published in August 2017 has been updated and republished on October 2023.