Pumpkin Soup
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This Pumpkin Soup Recipe is rich and savory with plenty of sage flavor, plus a hint of maple and apple. It starts with sage brown butter, uses canned pumpkin puree, and blends up smooth in a blender.
This easy Pumpkin Soup recipe has the most incredible balance of flavors! Rich, savory & sage-y, with just a hint of maple and apple.
Let me tell you, I had to make this more than once to get the result I was after. The first time it was pretty good. But I felt like something was missing.
So I went back to the drawing board. Tinkered with the seasonings a little bit, added a little sweetness here and tanginess there, and wow! It was so worth the effort. It really was a wow moment! My older son couldn't get over it.
So that made me really happy and excited to share it with you. Now, I feel like it can stand up proudly, next to any of the other soup recipes on this site. If you've tried and liked my tomato soup, French onion soup, or cream of mushroom soup, I would urge you to give this one a whirl too.
I think it's really something special!
What I love most about this is the balance of flavors. It's mostly savory, with earthy pumpkin and all those Thanksgiving-y herbs, but there's a hint of sweetness too that's very subtle.
And that little whisper of apple cider vinegar that just keeps you wanting more!
It's also rich, without being heavy. There's a touch of cream and a little bit of browned butter that adds depth of flavor and really allows all the wonderful tastes to linger on your palate.
Here's Why You'll Love This Recipe
- It's fast. You need 15 minutes of prep and 15 minutes of cooking.
- It uses canned pumpkin, so there's no need to roast or peel anything.
- The flavor is balanced. It is savory and full of sage, with a touch of maple and a bright note from apple cider vinegar.
- Brown butter adds depth and a nutty flavor to the soup, plus you get crispy fried sage leaves to sprinkle on top.
- It works for lots of meals. Serve it as an appetizer, a light lunch, a side with dinner.
- It's easy to make in a blender. Once the onion is cooked, everything goes in, and then you just reheat the soup in a pot.
Ingredients You'll Need
The recipe card at the bottom of the post contains the full list with all of the amounts. Refer to that when you're cooking.
- Unsalted butter: Brown it in a skillet to start the base for the sage and onion. I like unsalted butter because it lets me control the salt in the dish. Different brands of butter can contain different amounts of salt, so this way you get a more consistent result.
- Sage leaves: When I think of fall, I think of sage. It's the Thanksgiving herb! It complements pumpkin beautifully. You can buy fresh sage in the produce department of your local supermarket. Fry them in the butter until crisp. They'll flavor the butter and make a great garnish.
- Onion: Cooked in the sage brown butter until tender and translucent. A medium onion, roughly chopped, is all you need. This ingredient adds flavor and a hint of sweetness.
- Chicken stock: I prefer chicken stock, but vegetable stock would work well too.
- Pure pumpkin puree: I use canned pumpkin puree, but you can also use pumpkin you roasted and mashed yourself. If you buy canned, make sure it's pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling contains a lot of added ingredients like sugar and spices that don't belong in soup.
- Heavy whipping cream: Cream adds a rich, velvety quality to this soup. I prefer heavy whipping cream (aka double cream), but you can lighten it a bit by using light cream or half and half.
- Maple syrup: Add just a tiny bit to balance the savory herbs and spices. Use pure maple syrup, not pancake syrup.
- Apple cider vinegar: Again, a very small amount, but it adds the most craveable complexity to this dish!
- Seasonings: Poultry seasoning (a blend of ground herbs and spices), salt, garlic powder, and ground black pepper provide the savory backbone. I like kosher salt best because it doesn't have any additives (table salt usually contains iodine, which can leave a bitter taste), so the flavor is pure. It's also inexpensive and easy to find in a regular grocery store.
In Photos: How To Make Pumpkin Soup
Step 1: Make some sage brown butter
Butter is great but brown butter is even better! It adds a nutty richness to this soup.
Just melt the butter over medium-low heat in a light colored skillet.
Allow it to bubble. This will release some of its water into steam.
After a little while the bubbles get smaller and the butter becomes foamy. Now's the time to really keep a close watch.
It will quickly change color from pale yellow to amber-brown. Take it right off the heat so it doesn't burn, and toss in a few sage leaves.
Stand back! They'll sizzle and pop.
Once they're crisped, scoop them out with a slotted spoon, and allow them to drain on paper towels.
They're going to make a great garnish at the end, but at this point they've also released so much flavor into the browned butter!
Step 2: Sweat the onions
Add the onions to the sage brown butter, and cook them over medium-low heat until tender and slightly translucent.
Step 3: Blend the soup
Dump the onions and the butter they've cooked in into the blender, and add stock, pumpkin, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, poultry seasoning, salt, garlic powder, pepper, and cream.
And whiz it all up until the soup is satin-smooth.
Step 4: Warm the soup
The final step is just to bring the soup up to temperature!
You can do this in a big pot on the stove, over low heat, or you can use a crockpot or instant pot.
This dish is best served steamy hot. It's so comforting!
I like to also drizzle just a little extra cream on top, then hit it with the crispy sage leaves and a sprinkling of fresh ground black pepper.
Enjoy it for lunch, dinner, as an appetizer or side dish, or for a snack.
To build it out as a full meal, consider serving it alongside this fall salad recipe, Cobb salad, or ramen noodle salad, with a hunk of homemade bread. I especially love a crusty baguette or soft dinner roll! It would also be wonderful with Moist and Sweet Cornbread or Southern-Style Buttermilk Biscuits.
Helpful Tips and Tricks
- Watch the butter closely. Take it off the heat when it turns golden and smells nutty, since you'll add the sage right after.
- Fry the sage until it's crisp, then drain it on paper towels so it stays crunchy for the garnish.
- Use pure pumpkin puree. Pumpkin pie filling has sugar and spices, which will change the flavor.
- Scrape the skillet well. Get every bit of browned butter into the blender, since that's where all the flavor is.
- Keep the heat low. Warm the soup gently, covered, so the cream doesn't boil.
- Save a little cream to drizzle on top right before serving.
- Taste the soup before serving and add more salt or pepper if you like.
- Blend carefully. If the soup is hot, vent the blender lid and cover it with a towel so steam can escape safely.
Recipe FAQ
This recipe makes approximately 6 servings. The nutritional info noted in the recipe card below is for â…™th the whole recipe.
You can keep this soup on the stove or in the crockpot, over very low heat, for a couple of hours. If you have any leftovers, allow them to cool completely, then stash them in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.
This should last 5 to 7 days in the fridge; 2 to 3 months in the freezer. Thaw it in the fridge and reheat in a pot over low heat, or in the microwave until warmed through.
If you have an instant pot, you can pretty much do every step of this recipe in there. Brown the butter, crisp up the sage, and cook the onions on the saute setting. Then add the other ingredients and allow it to warm through. Then hit it with a hand blender to smooth it out.
Pretty much the same as above, but since a slow cooker doesn't usually have a saute setting, you'll need to brown the butter, crisp the sage, and saute the onions in a separate pan on the stove.
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Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons (42 g) unsalted butter
- 6 (0.6 g) sage leaves
- 1 (110 g) onion, medium, roughly chopped
- 32 ounces (907.19 g) chicken stock
- 15 ounces (425.24 g) pure pumpkin puree
- ½ cup (119 g) heavy whipping cream, plus extra for garnish
- 2 tablespoons (40 g) maple syrup
- 2 ½ teaspoons (12.5 g) apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon (2 g) poultry seasoning
- 1 ½ teaspoons (9 g) kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon (1.5 g) garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon (1 g) ground black pepper, plus extra for garnish
Instructions
- Place the butter in a small skillet and cook over medium-low heat until beginning to brown.*
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the sage leaves.
- Fry the sage until crispy, then remove it with a slotted spoon and allow it to drain on paper towels.
- Place the skillet back over medium-low heat and saute the onion in the sage brown butter until tender and transparent.
- Transfer the onion and browned butter to a blender, and add the remaining ingredients (chicken stock, pumpkin puree, cream, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, poultry seasoning, salt, garlic powder, and pepper.)
- Blend until smooth.
- Pour the soup into a pot and heat (covered) over low until warmed through.
- Ladle into serving bowls, drizzle with cream, garnish with fried sage, and sprinkle with pepper.
Notes
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