Pumpkin Soup
This easy pumpkin soup recipe has the most incredible balance of flavors! Rich, savory & sage-y, with just a hint of maple and apple.
I can’t wait for you to try this pumpkin soup recipe!
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.
Everyone else who tasted it was like, it’s good! There’s nothing wrong with it.
And I was like, there’s nothing wrong with it, but I feel like it could be better.
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. He was going crazy for this pumpkin soup!
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!
Table of Contents
- What’s great about this pumpkin soup recipe
- What does this pumpkin soup taste like?
- Ingredients
- Special equipment
- How to make this pumpkin soup recipe
- How to serve pumpkin soup
- Expert tips
- Frequently asked questions
- A few more of my favorite pumpkin recipes
What’s great about this pumpkin soup recipe
- The flavor: The balance of flavors is off the charts! It’s interesting and complex, but wonderfully harmonious.
- Few ingredients: You probably have most, if not all, of the ingredients on hand already.
- Easy to make: It all comes together in around half an hour.
- Seasonal: This recipe has some of the best ingredients fall has to offer!
What does this pumpkin soup taste like?
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.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this soup.
Butter
I like to use unsalted butter because it lets me control the amount of salt in the dish. Different brands of butter can contain different amounts of salt, so this way you get a more consistent result.
Onion
This ingredient adds flavor and a hint of sweetness.
Sage
When I think of fall, I think of sage. It’s the Thanksgiving herb! It compliments pumpkin beautifully. You can buy fresh sage in the produce department of your local supermarket.
Stock
I prefer chicken stock but vegetable stock would work well too.
Pumpkin
I use canned pumpkin puree but you could use pumpkin that you roasted and mashed yourself. If you do buy canned, make sure it’s pure pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling contains a lot of added ingredients like sugar and spices that don’t belong in soup.
Maple syrup
Just a tiny bit, to balance out all the savory herbs and spices.
Apple cider vinegar
Again, a very small amount, but it adds the most crave-able complexity to this dish!
Seasonings
Poultry seasoning (which is a blend of ground herbs and spices), salt, garlic powder, and ground black pepper provide the savory backbone here.
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.
Cream
Cream adds a rich, velvety quality to this soup. I prefer heavy whipping cream (aka: double cream), but you could lighten this up a little by using light cream or half and half.
Special equipment
These are the tools you’ll need to recreate this recipe.
- Measuring spoons: To measure out the seasonings.
- Saute pan: For making the sage brown butter and cooking the onion.
- Blender: A hand blender or a regular blender will work, to make this soup velvety smooth.
- Large pot: Or a slow cooker or instant pot, to warm the soup.
How to make this pumpkin soup recipe
This soup comes together really quickly, in just 4 simple steps.
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.
How to serve pumpkin soup
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!
Expert tips
Instant pot pumpkin soup
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.
Crock pot pumpkin soup
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.
Frequently asked questions
This recipe makes approximately 6 servings.
The nutritional info noted in the recipe card below is for 1/6th 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.
A few more of my favorite pumpkin recipes
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Pumpkin Soup
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
- 1/2 cup (119 g) heavy whipping cream, plus extra for garnish
- 2 tablespoons (40 g) maple syrup
- 2 1/2 teaspoons (12.5 g) apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon (2 g) poultry seasoning
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (9 g) kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon (1.5 g) garlic powder
- 1/2 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.
