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Spicy Pumpkin Soup

Spicy Pumpkin Soup

I love pumpkin soup, don't you? This recipe is adapted from one featured in Oprah Magazine. The original called for the soup to be served in roasted carved-out sugar pumpkins - a nice touch, but a little overkill for my taste. Helping with the cooking were my young friends Alden and Reilly. We all agreed that the original recipe was a little too spicy, so we added some heavy cream and some brown sugar and it turned out just perfect.

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Spicy Pumpkin Soup Recipe

Ingredients

  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 2 teaspoons curry powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
  • Pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)
  • 3 (15 oz) cans 100 percent pumpkin or 6 cups of chopped roasted pumpkin*
  • 5 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)**
  • 2 cups of milk
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream

*To make pumpkin purée, cut a sugar pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff, lie face down on a tin-foil lined baking pan. Bake at 350°F until soft, about 45 min to an hour. Cool, scoop out the flesh. Freeze whatever you don't use for future use.

**If cooking gluten-free, use gluten-free broth.

Method

1 Melt butter in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add spices and stir for a minute more.

2 Add pumpkin and 5 cups of chicken broth; blend well. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

3 Transfer soup, in batches, to a blender or food processor. Cover tightly and blend until smooth. Return soup to saucepan.

4 With the soup on low heat, add brown sugar and mix. Slowly add milk while stirring to incorporate. Add cream. Adjust seasonings to taste. If a little too spicy, add more cream to cool it down. You might want to add a teaspoon of salt.

Serve in individual bowls. Sprinkle the top of each with toasted pumpkin seeds.

Serves 8.

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34 Comments

I made this recipe using butternut squash instead of pumpkin, and it turned out great! It is very spicy (I think I went a little overboard on the "pinch of cayenne"), but luckily my husband and I both love spicy food.

This is a wonderful recipe for these gray, rainy Fall days.

Posted by: Steph on September 27, 2005 12:09 PM

Hey, my husband and I tried this soup for a small dinner party. We halved the recipe and it was great! We didn't have any coriander, so we just added a pinch more of every other spice (esp cayenne), and we loved it. Thanks!

Posted by: Jeni on September 30, 2005 4:16 PM

Great soup! We didn't have time (or the will) to blend it and it still turned out wonderfully. A nice way to use those cans of pumpkin that have been in the pantry for years...

Posted by: Melissa on October 5, 2005 7:39 AM

Oh boy, this ought to be grrrrreat....!!!

Posted by: kleitch on October 23, 2006 8:28 AM

Made this last night and it is quite good. I did not do the addition of brown sugar and heavy cream at the end to keep the fat/calories down and I couldn't find any ground coriander so I used some cumin ('cause I like it...) and it turned out just fine. It's creamy and tastey without being heavy like cream-type soups are want to be. I can't wait to see how it goes over with my family tonight.

Posted by: Tony on October 25, 2006 7:35 AM

Lovely! Made this for a fundraiser at work and it went like crazy. I was heavy on the spices to great effect, and also added some fresh grated ginger with the onions. Lastly, I added the cream (without mixing) to each portion seperately at serving time, which made for nice presentation. Highly recommended!

Posted by: 40wattclub on November 2, 2006 8:32 AM

I make a similar pumpkin soup.
I use butternut pumpkin and some sweet potato; the two work beautifully together.

Posted by: Cassandra Nicholls on April 9, 2007 5:57 PM

I made this soup tonight it's great. I added a half of a yellow Jamaican scotch bonnet pepper to the pot. WOW!

Posted by: Tristan on October 14, 2007 9:37 PM

I made this soup in a double batch for a church soup dinner. Everyone loved it. The cream and the brown sugar elevated the flavor profile. It was outstanding.

Posted by: Robyn on October 15, 2007 12:15 PM

This soup is sooooo good! The first time we had it, we cooked for several guests. They all loved it too. We made it again today but used Red Onions vice the Yellow Onions and in my opinion, it was better. My cooking style differs in that after I finished Step 1 (softening onions and adding spices), I transferred them and added everything else into a crock pot (minus the milk and cream). I then used a hand blender until everything went smooth. Finished it off by pouring in the milk and cream. A pinch of Cayenne Pepper was a mandatory requirement in this household but the extra salt was not at all needed.

Posted by: Tim Kirkup on October 15, 2007 3:11 PM

I made this soup exactly as the recipe calls for except I used low sodium chicken broth. It was incrediably bland. I had to doctor considerably using salt much more spice and then try to bring out the pumpkin flavor with traditional pumpkin pie spices. I finally had a soup that was acceptable but hardly exceptional.

Note from Elise: if you cut back on the salt, you have to up all the other spices.

Posted by: mandy on October 18, 2007 4:47 PM

Thanks Elise, I sort of just kept adding them in, would you suggest amounts, also how much sea salt do you think I should add. I'm fairly salt sensitive so I try to stay away from soups etc with a lot of salt already in them-- I like to add it myself.

Mandy

Note from Elise: I always just add spices and salt to taste. Also, taste your spices before putting them in. Spices do grow old and as they age they lose their potency. A good rule of thumb is to replace any spices or herbs that are over a year old, unless they are still in the pod, so to speak, like cardamom, cloves, or nutmeg, or whole pepper. Spices before they are ground will usually last longer than the ground spices.

Posted by: mandy on October 19, 2007 7:45 AM

Just made this soup. It's delicious -- perfect for Halloween Eve!

Posted by: Sarah on October 30, 2007 6:49 PM

Vegans gotta eat too! This soup is flat-out delicious and I decided to switch it up for a few of my omnivoric friends. First, I used a butter alternative (i.e. Earth Balance Spread)and vegetable broth without a problem. In order to cut out the cream and milk I substituted coconut milk (full fat works best!) The coconut milk added a natural sweetness to the recipe so I cut out the brown sugar. In the end I ended up with a soup that was fast, easy, cheap, healthy and vegan safe. Yum.

Posted by: Mallory on November 3, 2007 12:25 PM

Big Hit! Made this for a Potluck for a finicky crowd (members of local gourmet club), they loved it,commented on it's merits all evening and wanted the recipe (the best compliment).

Posted by: Anonymous on November 7, 2007 6:02 AM

Made this recipe exactly as directed (skipping the optional cayenne), except that I omitted the pumpkin seeds on top. Everyone absolutely LOVED it.

For my own portion, I chose to add a dollop of sour cream at the table, which looked attractive when swirled through the surface with the tip of a knife.

I also found, to my surprise, that the soup even tastes good STONE COLD out of the refrigerator.

Posted by: Maureen on November 23, 2007 5:03 PM

We skipped the cayenne and added more red pepper flakes, and we tried a 1/4 cup of orange moscat champagne vinegar to offset the sweetness. It was really quite nice.

If I did this again, I'd puree the onions and garlic before making the broth, it would make it easier both in checking texture and in cleanup.

Posted by: ethan on April 13, 2008 5:42 PM

Thanks for the great recipe! I had a small pumpkin from halloween that I did not want to waste and after raking leaves all morning this soup really hit the spot. I cut the recipe in half as I didn't have enough ingredients. I used skim milk and only had a little light cream in the house so I added skim to make the cup and a half. I also substituted chile powder for the cayenne. I added a little ground sea salt too. Since I was not using the recommended milk and cream, I made up for it by cooking the pumpkin mixture down until is was nice and thick before pureeing it, about 20 minutes. My husband and I both enjoyed it and we have some left for lunch tomorrow.

Posted by: Rosemary on November 22, 2008 11:57 AM

My husband and I made this soup for dinner tonight and really enjoyed it. We had it with some Nan bread and a cucumber and tomato salad. YUM!


Posted by: Rita on November 25, 2008 9:43 PM

Made this recipe because I have been looking for healthier ways to use up my roasted pumpkin than the traditional Thanksgiving pie or pumpkin bread. I used vegetable broth instead of chicken. I tested the recipe before the soup was put into the food processor(between steps 2 and 3). It was described as vegetarian french onion soup. I now have a couple variations to enjoy. This recipe will be used every year in my seasonal cooking. It is hard to please vegetarian and non-vegetarians family members with one dish!

Posted by: Trish on December 6, 2008 7:34 PM

Spicy Pumpkin Soup is great stuff! Sweet, nutty, spicy enough to be interesting without being seriously hot (I used 1/4 tsp. cayenne and 1/4 tsp red pepper flake.). I also like that the spice level can be increased or decreased at time of service to suit each individual's taste, which is great.

I made this for a dinner party and had enough left over to send 'to go' cups home with people... One said he wasn't going to take his leftovers to work for lunch the next day because it smelled so good he knew his co-workers would ask to try it and didn't want to share.

Thank you very much for a recipe that I'll get a lot of use and enjoyment from! =)

Posted by: Azirkah on October 6, 2009 3:15 PM

I just made this last night. Sooooo yummy! I followed the recipe. Used can pumpkin and it was delish! I would definitely make this again. Thank you!! :)

Posted by: Emly on October 11, 2009 9:43 AM

I made this soup close to the recipe, and it was delicious! I used fresh pumpkin, cubed and roasted. For stock, I use dehydrated vegetables that I pulverize in the blender and keep in the freezer (about 2 Tbs per cup of stock). Ended up only about 3-4 cups of stock and doubled the milk (1%) to thin out the final product. Left out the cream. Also, I substituted 3-4 Tbs of maple syrup for half of the brown sugar. Thanks!!

Posted by: Derv on October 12, 2009 3:57 PM

I just made this and it was amazing! I will definitely be making this one again.

Posted by: Charis on October 20, 2009 7:55 PM

I made this tonight for a dinner party tomorrow. It's delicious! I used light coconut milk instead of the regular milk listed here, as I am lactose intolerant. I then left out the brown sugar since the coconut milk adds sweetness. I also left out the cream. I definitely needed to add salt, as my stock wasn't salted and the coconut milk did make it sweeter. This is a great soup, and I hope tomorrow's guests will agree!

Posted by: Amber on October 23, 2009 7:20 PM

Made this today and all I have to say is WOW! I went heavy on the "heat" and it was balanced perfectly with the brown sugar/whip cream. I also substituted 1 cup milk for another 1/2 cup cream making it out to be 1 cup total for each. Turned out excellent!

Posted by: Steve on October 24, 2009 5:28 AM

This was a hit at our companies Halloween potluck! I did modify it and remove the Curry & Coriander since a lot of people don't like Curry and I was out of Coriander. It worked out really well.

Posted by: Jimmi on October 29, 2009 1:35 PM

I made this for a dinner party last night (Halloween) and it was a hit! I used fresh pumpkin puree and the flavors were a perfect blend. Guests called it an "elegant soup".

Posted by: Chris Atkinson on November 1, 2009 11:38 AM

I am making it for a second time tonight - last time for our family and tonight for a potluck. I am a big fan of curry, so this was a great twist on pumpkin. We use fresh roasted pumpkin and homemade chicken stock. Tastes amazing!

Posted by: charis on November 1, 2009 5:38 PM

This is the best soup I've tasted in a while. My husband summed it up by saying "you make great soups - but this is special". Fab!!

Posted by: Jeanne on November 12, 2009 5:13 AM

This soup is amazing! I made it with all the fatty goodness added. The brown sugar and heavy cream combined with the spicyness make it decadent and yum.

Posted by: Shea McFusick on November 16, 2009 8:11 PM

I really enjoyed this soup, this is a perfect flavor of pumpkin that I was looking for in a soup. Excellent!!!

Posted by: L. Davis on November 17, 2009 8:00 PM

My family, friends and I absolutely love this recipe! I make this with Silk brand vanilla soy milk and Silk creamer instead of milk and cream, respectively. I made 2 batches for Thanksgiving last year, one with milk and the other with soy milk. My family actually liked the soy milk one better.

Posted by: Chuck on November 28, 2009 3:46 PM

Everyone loved my soup!
Changes:
Eliminate milk/sugar/cream.
Add: low fat coconut milk.

I did use a real pumpkin and made the puree. STEP 3: I added low fat coconut milk, and eliminated step 4.

Posted by: Lexi Sgt on December 21, 2009 6:13 AM

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