Pumpkin Soup Without Cream

This Pumpkin Soup Without Cream is cozy and flavorful with a hint of spicy -- and uses a few basic ingredients like pumpkin, coconut milk, curry, and cayenne. The ingredients all come together to make a healthy, velvety smooth soup perfect for cold nights. Did I mention that it takes less than 30 minutes to make?!

This soup was developed thanks to a much needed getaway to celebrate our 10th anniversary in St. Lucia. We stayed at Hotel Chocolat, an ecolodge overlooking the Pitons, and it was just the ideal spot to rest and recharge...and eat. I was reminded by a friend that rest and recharging (or rejuvenating) are not synonymous. She described it as the different between unplugging and charging. Just because you're battery isn't at 2% (like my phone often is) doesn't mean it gets recharged automatically. I also need to focus on things that rejuvenate me and boost my energy. One doesn't necessarily accomplish the other.

So we tried to both rest and rejuvenate. We had stayed for a few nights prior to joining Hotel Chocolat at a beautiful place on the bay but it had subpar food. This place? I needed to be carried after each meal because it was that good. They served a Pumpkin Soup Without Cream at room temperature in a small little shot glass prior to the main course, and it was so decadent without making you feel disgusting. There was so much flavor all packed into a 2 oz. glass. I needed to find a way to replicate it.

While it's far from 80 degrees here like it was in St. Lucia, it's nice to have a hot soup on a winter day. This Pumpkin Soup Without Cream just does not disappoint.

Why I'm In Love and You Will Be, Too

• This soup takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish.
• Healthy, healthy, healthy! Pumpkin soups usually are made with heavy cream, but not this one. You can eat a heaping bowl of this soup without feeling disgusting.The Pumpkin Soup Without Cream can be served before the main course, with a main course, or as the main course. Talk about versatile!
• No fancy ingredients. You probably have most of the ingredients right now. I have 8 cans of pumpkin puree sitting in my pantry because of the run on pumpkin from 2021 (and I won't tell you how many cans I've already gone through)!
• The blender does all of the hard work. Once you've cooked the onions and added the spices, you'll put the ingredients in a blender. Let that bad boy go for a few minutes -- doing its thing until it's velvety smooth.

Ingredients to Make Pumpkin Soup Without Cream

You'll need the following 8 ingredients to make this soup:

• olive oil -- good quality extra virgin olive oil is always best
• onion
• garlic -- can you ever have too much garlic?
• yellow curry powder
• ground cayenne pepper
• canned pumpkin purée (see commonly asked questions)
• chicken stock - this soup would be vegan if it weren't for the chicken stock. You can easily make this soup with vegetable stock instead. I find chicken stock gives it a bit more flavor though.
• unsweetened coconut milk - this gives the soup some creaminess without adding heavy cream.
• salt and pepper based on your preference
• watercress, pepitas, bread - all optional for serving but highly recommended

Commonly Asked Questions

Can I freeze this soup?

Because there is coconut milk in the soup, you don't want to freeze this soup; HOWEVER, if you were looking for a soup to freeze, consider making this without the coconut milk and freezing. When you're ready to heat up, place in a medium pan and heat over medium heat. Stir in the coconut milk until combined and heated through. Voila!

Can I make this soup in advance?

This soup is absolutely DEVINE for leftovers. It almost tastes better the next day, and you can really taste more of the cayenne when the flavors have had more time to get to know one another. Store the soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Leftovers will be good for 3-4 days. To reheat, simply heat the soup in a medium saucepan over medium heat until heated through.

Can I use pumpkin pie filling?

No, no, and more no. Pumpkin pie filling is sweet and used for making pumpkin pie straight out of the can. That would be gross in this soup. Be sure to get unsweetened pumpkin puree. It's made out of 100% pure pumpkin.

How do I get the soup to be super silky smooth?

You blend the heck out of it. I blend the onion mixture first, getting the onions as small as possible. Then I add in the chicken stock and pumpkin puree and let the blender go for 3-4 minutes. Don't be shy to pulverize the onions until they can't be seen.

If I let the blender go for a few minutes, I have never had a problem with the soup not being silky smooth (especially after adding that luxurious coconut milk). If you wanted to go the extra mile, you could use an immersion blender to get at any little pieces that may be hiding.

Can I make this Pumpkin Soup Vegan?

Yes, absolutely. You can make this soup vegan by adding vegetable stock in lieu of chicken stock.

What to Serve with Pumpkin Soup Without Cream

Try some of these absolute favorite main courses to pair with the pumpkin soup -- although with a big piece crunchy French bread, this soup could easily be a meal.

• Versatile Dutch Oven Pulled Pork
• Healthy Baked Coconut Shrimp
• Copycat Cosi Signature Salad
• Copycat Chick-fil-A Superfood Kale Salad

Wishing you all a very cozy winter season!

xox,

kathryn

Pumpkin Soup Without Cream

This Pumpkin Soup Without Cream is cozy and flavorful with a hint of spicy thanks to pumpkin, coconut milk, curry, and cayenne coming together for a velvety smooth soup perfect for cold nights. Did I mention that it takes less than 30 minutes to make?!

5 from 5 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American, Thai

Keyword: homemade soup, weeknight dinner, winter soup

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Servings: 6 people

1x2x3x

Calories: 238kcal

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon high-quality olive oil
• 1 medium onion diced
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 Tablespoon yellow curry powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 2 ½ cups canned pumpkin purée
• 2 ½ cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock if making vegan)
• 1 13.5-oz. can unsweetened coconut milk
• salt and pepper, to taste
• watercress, pepitas, bread, optional for serving

Instructions

• Add the olive oil to a medium sauté pan set over medium-low heat. Once pan is hot, add the onions. Cook until translucent. Add garlic, curry powder, and cayenne pepper and cook for another minute until fragrant.
• Transfer the mixture to a blender. Blend onion mixture until it's in small pieces.
• Add the pumpkin purée and chicken stock (or vegetable stock) to the blender and blend until combined.
• Pour the soup back into the original pan and cook over medium heat then whisk in the coconut milk. Heat the soup until cooked warmed throughout. Taste and season as appropriate with salt and pepper.
• Divide the soup into bowls and garnish with micro greens and pepitas, if desired. Eat with crunchy baguette.

Notes

Making in Advance 

This soup is the perfect soup to make in advance. Because the soup is well blended, the soup doesn't separate in the fridge. Simply place the soup in a large pan and cook over medium heat until the soup is heated throughout. 

Storage

Store your soup in a airtight container in the refrigerator. Soup will be good for 3-4 days. 

Nutrition

Serving: 2cups | Calories: 238kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 3mg | Sodium: 160mg | Potassium: 543mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 15935IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 3mg