Pumpkin Soup
Pumpkin SoupThis roasted pumpkin sage soup is very simple to make using just a few essential ingredients. It’s a must make for the Fall season, especially if you have left over pumpkins after Halloween. Some of my other favorite pumpkin recipes are Pumpkin Mac and Cheese with Roasted Veggies, Creamy Pumpkin Ginger Soup and Turkey Pumpkin Chili.
The aroma of roasted pumpkins and sage smells like everything I love about Thanksgiving – warmth, comfort, family and friends.
Totally optional, but I love using a hollowed out pumpkin as a bowl for a gorgeous presentation. I went pumpkin picking a few weeks ago and had so many sugar pumpkins, I knew I was going to use some as bowls. Wouldn’t this be beautiful on your Thanksgiving table! If you want to do this, look for small pumpkins, about 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 lbs, otherwise your bowls will hold too much soup. To make the bowls, I followed this method only I roasted them 15 minutes longer, it will depend on the size of your pumpkin. You can do this a day ahead, then heat in the oven before serving to keep your soup warm. I actually washed mine after using and they still look good.
Variations:
If you can’t find sugar or pumpkin pie pumpkins, you can use butternut squash or acorn squash. This soup can be made ahead and reheated when ready to serve.
IS PUMPKIN SOUP HEALTHY?
Pumpkin is high in vitamins A and C. It’s also a good source of fiber, which helps keep you full longer. Pumpkin is low in calories, with a half-cup serving having only 40 calories. This soup gets its creaminess from light sour cream or yogurt, not heavy cream, which keeps the calorie count down.
WHAT SHOULD I SERVE WITH PUMPKIN SOUP?
You could serve this pumpkin soup with bread, a salad, or half a Turkey Club. I recently had this as a starter to butternut squash risotto for dinner and it was perfect. Or, serve it on its own as a light lunch. The fiber in pumpkin will help fill you up; plus, adding Greek yogurt adds extra protein.
WHAT IS AN IMMERSION BLENDER?
An immersion blender is a handheld blender that is super convenient for pureeing soups. With an immersion blender, you don’t have to transfer the soup from the stove into another appliance to blend it. I use this Cuisinart immersion blender (affil link), which I love. If you don’t have an immersion blender, no worries – you can still make this pumpkin soup! Just transfer the soup in small batches into a blender and blend until smooth.
More Soup Recipes You Might Enjoy:
Roasted Pumpkin Sage Soup
Ingredients
- 2 medium, 6 lbs total sugar pumpkins or pumpkin pie pumpkins
- 1 tbsp butter, olive oil for dairy-free or whole30
- 3/4 cup shallots, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 4 cups fat free, low sodium chicken broth (vegetarians can use vegetable stock)
- 1 tbsp fresh sage, plus more for garnish
- salt and fresh pepper to taste
- reduced fat sour cream for garnish, (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400°F.
- Using a heavy, sharp knife, cut the pumpkins in half. Scoop out seeds and place on a baking sheet; bake for 1 - 1-1/2 hours.
- When the pumpkin is cooked and cool enough to handle, use a spoon to scoop out the flesh. This should make about 5 cups.
- Add butter to a large pot or Dutch oven, on medium heat; add shallots and sauté until tender, about 4 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook an additional minute.
- Add pumpkin and broth to the pot, along with sage, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered for about 15 minutes.
- Blend in a blender or immersion blender and blend the soup until smooth.
- (Optional) Garnish with light sour cream or 0% Greek yogurt and sage.
Last Step:
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Can I use canned pumpkin?
Wont taste as good honestly
How can you tell which is a “sugar pumpkin” or pie pumpkin at the market?
Looks yummy! Are you sure it’s 6 Green points? Looks like the points should be the same on all plans
Could you roast the pumpkin ahead of time?
DELICIOUS!!! Creamy. Perfect amount of sage (I did not use the additional garnish). I am passing this Recipe along to my friends Outstanding.
Thanks Gale, glad you enjoyed it!
Servings??? Should always include number of servings
It does, above the recipe. 5 servings.
I love it. Thanks for sharing
Do you use vegetable broth or stock?
Stock
This recipe is delicious!! I typically don’t eat a lot of soup because at restaurants or from a can it’s typically too salty for my taste. But I was craving something a bit more fall oriented and I decided to spend a free evening cooking something that takes more care and time than I typically take to cook a weeknight meal. Man, am I glad I chose this one! I chose to go with the actual pumpkins and not the canned stuff which was definitely the right call (although for time’s sake I’m sure I will resort to canned pumpkin in the future). I also reserved the seeds and made SMOKY BBQ SPICED PUMPKIN SEEDS (also a SkinnyTaste recipe, and also delicious). Thanks for sharing! This was well worth the effort.
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I couldn’t find the pumpkin bowl link (it’s broken & routes to something different) but after searching was able to find this;
Make the bowls: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. With two of the pumpkins, use a paring knife to cut a large circle around the stem of each pumpkin (make a zigzag cut, if desired). Remove the lid and scoop out the seeds and fibers. Sprinkle the inside of each with 1/2 teaspoon each sugar and salt. With the remaining two pumpkins, cut them in half vertically and scoop out the seeds. Place all the pumpkins and lids on a baking sheet; roast until tender, 35 to 50 minutes, depending on their size, until tender.
P.S. I cannot wait to make this soup! Thanks for sharing
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The link that explains how to roast pumpkins for pumpkin bowls did not work for me. Is there another link I can use for that recipe?
I will look into it.
I just updated
How many days in advance can I make this if I want to serve it on thursday for thanksgiving.
You can make it up 2 days in advance.
Love this! Actually added a little bit more sage than this called for. And the second time I made it, I added some white beans to add some protein. Great both times! Definitely a keeper.
We had pumpkins and sage from our garden, so I decided to try this. LOVED it. Definitely going in the cook book. I was so tempted to add other spices, but I refrained. The Greek yogurt garnish added just that little extra something to make it extraordinary.
I tried the link for roasting pumpkins but I couldn't find that on the site it sent me to.
Maybe it needs a new link?
Just updated!
If I use acorn squah, how much should I buy?
IS there anyway to cook this recipe in a slow cooker? I was looking for a Crock Pot pumpkin soup recipe
I made this tonight. I think I added too much salt–I forgot about the salt in the broth… But I think otherwise it would be really good! I also used a blend of dried spices because I didn't have sage, and omitted the shallots because I didn't have any. So I guess the point of this post is that the soup is forgiving, except when it comes to salt!
I did the same thing! I read that if you use the regular broth, plus salt, and you let it boil too long (thus boiling off the water and leaving the salt) soup can easily be too salty. Quick fix: 1 tsp sugar + 1 tsp vinegar seemed to do the trick!
I made this tonight for dinner for mom and I. Thirty six degree weather + hot Roasted Pumpkin Sage Soup = 2 thumbs up. Yummy. Mom said more spice would kick it out. I told her since I was using dried rubbed sage I was afraid of using to much. I will add a little more when I heat up the left overs. I think I have another keeper. Thanks Gina.
Excellent with fresh Marjoram also! Garnished with a few roasted pumpkin seeds. Thanks Gina!
when I go to click on This method to get recipe for making the pumpkin bowls it send me to a weird link? is another place I can find how to make the pumpkin bowls?
Perfect for my teenager and my 13 months old baby! thanks Gina we LOVE your recipies!! I can made them everywhere!!!
This was my dinner this evening. It was incredibly good. Once the pumpkin was well cooked and cooled, the skin of the pumpkin peeled right off. It's so filling and yet so low in calories. Fantastic find!
Hi! I just made this and it's so delicious! What a great way to use up all of those harvest pumpkins. This recipe is a keeper.
Hi Gina,
Love your site. It is a lifesaver for me with staying on weight watchers! And my husband, a former pro chef, enjoys eating all the food I've made from your site! Thank you so much for your lovely recipes. I made this pumpkin soup recipe tonight with ingredients I had on hand and so I modified your recipe quite a bit. I used 2 cans pumpkin puree and also added a large can of FAT FREE evaporated milk. I didn't have sage so I used dry marjoram and dried thyme instead. Garnished with a dollop of fat free plain yogurt on top and Parmesan shavings. Yum! It turned out great and took 25 min total!
Gina,
Is it possible to do the pumpkins in the crockpot rather than bake for 1-1.5 hours?
Thanks!
I don't see why not!
I just bought an immersion blender, I may break it in with this recipe!
the seeds don't go in the soup right? Just the scooped out flesh?
correct
Made this soup and it is FANTASTIC! Thank you for sharing!
So glad you liked it!
Does this freeze well?
Yes, it does.
Made this last night & it was delicious!
I made this tonight – my very first pumpkin dish from scratch and my very first soup – and it was delicious! Gina, I absolutely love your site and recipes – I've been sending it/them to everyone I know who loves to cook! You're awesome!!
I thought I had sage and just realized I don't. Is there another herb I can use in the place of sage?
Sage is quite a unique flavor, perhaps fresh chives?
Pumpkin soup is a favourite at this time of year and I really like the idea of serving it in pumpkins!
This looks so good! And I love your photography skills. Where is that spoon from? It needs to be a part of my life. 🙂
Thanks Sarah, it's from Such A Time Designs on Etsy.
Just made this soup with acorn squash and it's SOOOOOOO good!! Thanks Gina love your website 🙂
I made it over the weekend and it didn't sit right with us. Maybe it tasted too much like pumpkin… meaning we like pumpkin in lower doses lol
I am using canned pumpkin, should I skip the blender step?
Do you know if this Pumpkin soup recipe cans well? And if so for how long cooking and hot water bath or pressure cooker?
I heard you shouldn't can pumpkin.
Gina:
Or anyone:
Am I cooking the "serving bowl" pumpkins? Or are they just raw?
Hoping someone sees this soon, lol, I'm cooking as we speak…
THANKS!
Just cook it to get some of the rawness out.
Your soup looks amazing! So creamy and delicious.. yummy!
Such beautiful presentation and what a wonderful idea!
NOW I know how I'm going to use the chopped butternut squash I bought at Costco yesterday!
As always, Gina, thank you for all you do. Through the women who cook your recipes for their friends and families, you're impacting millions. And, you're greatly appreciated.
This looks fabulous! I have canned pumpkin on hand and will try that first. I'm veggie so I may try using unrefined coconut oil instead of the olive oil or butter…should be interesting! Thanks for sharing this recipe with all of us!
coolest presentation of pumpkin soup ever!
: )
This weekend's pre-Halloween soup!!!…Could I sub dried sage?!
Sure! For Halloween you can draw a spider web with sour cream!
Laura,
I think they suggested the olive oil if you want dairy free for lactose intolerant people. Def. going to try this as it gets colder.
I'm confused about the bowl thing. Are the bowls a different kind of pumpkin than what you use to make the soup?
Same pumpkins, but I bought extra. I discarded the skins from the pumpkin I used in the soup as they were cut in half.
This sounds great! I noticed you called for olive oil or dairy free butter, but don't understand why. What would happen if I subbed regular sweet cream salted butter?
I used regular butter. I suggested for those who eat dairy free they can use oil.
YUMMY! I just made a similar recipe after a conversation with my husband about how squash soups should be savory. I added some parmesan cheese which makes it less skinny but sprinkling a little bit on top would be a nice treat.
A note about CARVING PUMPKINS: Please don't use them for cooking/baking. Most of the carving varieties are too fibrous and dry and are NOT yummy. So take the time to find pumpkin or squash that has been cultivated for eating and you'll be glad you did!
Great advice Nina
I cut open my carving pumpkin to make roasted pumpkin seeds and decided to roast the whole thing to see how it came out and I actually think it tastes pretty good! The texture is different from the can, but the flavor is much better and it's plenty moist…
Beautiful photos and a wonderful recipe. I love my Blendtec blender. It makes the most amazing velty smooth soups!
i HEART you and you're recipes! Pumpkin Chili was a huge hit at the office today and this will surely be on my table in the next few days…m'mmm…
Delicious Gina! The best recipes are always simple and use only a few natural ingredients.
Btw am OBSESSED with your pumpkin bowls!! I always make homemade bread bowls for my chili and this reminds me of those 🙂
Aren't they pretty!!!!
Holy pumpkin that looks amazing! Thanks for sharing!
LOL!
This sounds GREAT!! What are sugar pumpkins or pumpkin pie pumpkins? Are the different from what you carve for Halloween? Sorry for the silly question.
Thanks
Bev
They are much smaller. Regular pumpkin would work too.
Would canned pumpkin be able to be substituted for the baked fresh pumpkin? I happen to have some canned pumpkin in the pantry!
Sure, use 5 cups.
Whenever I don't have time to roast a pumpkin for a recipe, I use this great "cheat"… Put the canned pumpkin in a skillet or saucepan with a wide bottom (the more surface area the better) over medium heat for about 10 minutes. You'll need to stir it often. The pumpkin should dry a bit and turn a darker orange. It concentrates and caramelizes the sugars to give it a better pumpkin flavor, and it helps to eliminate the tinny taste from the can.
I made this from can too and when I originally read through the comments (few weeks ago) I remembered you saying you cooked the canned pumpkin but misremembered how and done it in the oven. It did well that way to. So thanks for the tip. Anonymous from 11/11/13,
I love that I know what I'm doing with the pumpkins on the porch now. 😀 Do you roast the pumpkins with the cut side up or down? Does it matter?
I did it cut side up.
Thanks! I have them in the oven right now for dinner tonight. Can't wait to try it and love that I shopped my porch for the main ingredient.