This incredibly simple yet flavorful pumpkin soup has been one of my staple recipes for years. It’s super easy and comforting, which is perfect for when you just need something warm to fill your belly, but you don’t have a lot of time or energy. …Which is kind of all time time, ammiright?? This pumpkin soup recipe is the perfect way to welcome in the fall season. Easy, simple, and comforting.
Ingredients for Pumpkin Soup
This incredibly simple yet flavorful soup only requires a few simple ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need to make pumpkin soup:
- Butter: A little butter helps gives this pumpkin soup a little richness. Plus, there’s no better way to start a recipe than sautéing onions in butter!
- Onion: Diced onion gives the soup depth of flavor and a surprising subtle sweetness.
- Pumpkin Purée: A humble can of pumpkin purée gives the soup its signature color and flavor, plus it gives the soup body and thickness. Make sure to buy pure pumpkin for this recipe, not canned pumpkin pie filling, which is sweetened and has spices already added.
- Chicken Broth: A lot of the flavor in this soup comes from the chicken broth, so make sure to use a good quality or flavorful broth. I love using Better Than Bouillon because I can make as much broth as needed whenever I need without leftovers, and it has a very bold flavor profile. If you want to make this soup vegetarian, simply substitute with vegetable broth.
- Spices: We keep the spices simple here to let the pumpkin flavor shine through. Just a little chili powder, nutmeg, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. This soup really is a blank slate for flavor, though, and you can experiment with different spice profiles, like curry or harissa.
- Garnishes: I like to add a little something special on top of my soup to give it more texture and visual appeal. Try roasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas) and a swirl of sour cream or plain yogurt.
What to Serve with Easy Pumpkin Soup
I love this pumpkin soup as a tomato alternative to the classic grilled cheese and tomato soup combo. Even just having some delicious crusty bread to dip into the soup or homemade croutons to sprinkle on top would be awesome. Because the soup is so light, it also makes a great starter for a larger, heavier, or multi-course meal. I also found myself reheating a mug full of this pumpkin soup as a light between-meal snack.
How to Make a Thick Pumpkin Soup
This pumpkin soup is more on the brothy side, but if you’d like a thicker pumpkin soup (akin to potato soup or a bisque), use two cans of pumpkin purée and double the spices and salt. 🎃
Pumpkin Soup Variations
There are a lot of fun things you can do with this basic pumpkin soup recipe, when you are feeling comfortable and want to branch out. You can make it a creamy soup by replacing some of the chicken broth with heavy cream or full-fat coconut milk. Change the flavor profile by adding curry powder, Cajun seasoning, or even Thai curry paste.
You can have a lot of fun with add-ins and toppings, too. I kept it simple with pumpkin seeds and sour cream, but you could do sriracha, Tabasco, add spinach, crispy chickpeas, shaved parmesan, croutons, or crumbled bacon.
Try these other pumpkin soups: Spicy Coconut and Pumpkin Soup, Curried Red Lentil and Pumpkin Soup, and Chicken and Pumpkin Soup.
Easy Pumpkin Soup
Servings 4 1.25 cups eachIngredients
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.26)
- 1 small yellow onion ($0.32)
- 1 15oz. can pumpkin puree ($0.79)
- 3 cups chicken broth ($0.39)
- 1/2 tsp chili powder ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- salt to taste ($0.02)
Toppings (optional)
- 4 Tbsp pepitas (pumpkin seeds) ($0.60)
- 4 Tbsp sour cream ($0.11)
Instructions
- Dice the onion then add it to a medium sauce pot with the butter. Sauté the onion over medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent (about 3 minutes).
- Add the pumpkin purée, chicken broth, smoked paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, and some freshly cracked pepper. Stir to combine the ingredients, then allow the soup to come up to a simmer.
- Simmer the soup for 10 minutes. Taste and add salt as needed (I added 1/4 tsp).
- Serve the soup topped with pepitas and a swirl of sour cream.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Pumpkin Soup – Step by Step Photos
Dice one small yellow onion and add it to a medium sauce pot with 2 Tbsp butter. Sauté the onion over medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent (about 3 minutes).
Make sure to read the label on your can of pumpkin purée very carefully. Pumpkin purée is not the same thing as pumpkin pie filling, and they usually have very similar looking labels. Pumpkin pie filling is sweetened and has pumpkin pie spice, neither of which will be good in this soup! Ha!
Add one 15oz. can of pumpkin purée and 3 cups of chicken broth to the soup pot.
Also add 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and some freshly cracked pepper. Stir to combine.
Allow the soup to come up to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Finally, taste the soup and add salt as needed. I added 1/4 tsp. Remember, a little salt can really make flavors pop!
Serve the Easy Pumpkin Soup with a few pepitas (pumpkin seeds) sprinkled over top and a swirl of sour cream!
Amazingly simple and so tasty – the spices were perfect! I whipped this up in no time and followed the recipe exactly as written, except I topped with toasted walnuts instead of pepitas – the sour cream is also a must! Will make again and again. Thank you, Beth 😊
Happy to hear it Barbara!
I just made this for my kids and they loved it!! I added a about 8 oz more of the pumpkin and 2 TBS of flour to thicken it a little. We are planning on having it again next week but using it as the base for a mixed veggie, ham and potato soup.
I think I’ll try this with pumpkin pie spice for extra depth.
Chiming in late, but as a side note: chicken stock is not vegetarian
Oops, thanks for catching that. I must have clicked the wrong box when picking the categories! :)
Just made it and SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YUMMY :)
This soup is delicious! I am really surprised at how much of a kick the cayenne pepper gives it. This was super easy to make and filling. Thank you so much!!
Thanks so much, this is super easy, fast and delicious!
I added about 1/8-1/4 c diced cilantro. It adds a nice flavor and touch!
xo Melanie
i am officially in love with this blog! especially with all these pumpkin recipes i’m finding :)
I love your site! Unfortunately I’ve never has much luck with canned pumpkin in soup, and this was no exception – it was so bland I had to add garam masala and about 4T of lemon juice, then a dollop of yogurt on top to make it palatable. I guess I’m back to kabocha for fall soup bases.
Thanks for your site and this great post. The pumpkin soup looks great!
I do have one suggestion, though: show the cost of having to purchase *whole* items, not parts. I understand you probably can’t do this with spices, as people don’t usually buy 1 teaspoon of something at a time. In the pumpkin soup example, though, you can’t really buy half an onion, so your cost is not $0.42 but $0.84. While you can obviously use the other half of the onion, you *must* use it for the 1/2 onion’s cost to be relevant. Just a thought.
That’s a great idea! The taste and texture of this soup would be PERFECT for a sourdough bread bowl. yum… now I want some more :D
Haha that’s exactly what we did with ours! Only we took it one step further and then spread it on toasted sourdough. Yum!
I’m here because Mary Sue recommended your blog. I now have it in my favorites. And we’re working our way through your recipes, very tasty.
KAte
you’re welcome! When I was eating it yesterday, I actually added a bit of my leftover coconut rice and they were amazing together!
Enjoy!
Thanks for this recipe. I wanted to make pumpkin soup but didn’t have a recipe. Now I do.