Our Four Favourite Pumpkin Soup Recipes

With Halloween fast approaching, we Brits will do anything to get into the festivities, whether that's carving pumpkins for display, decorating the house or making some classic autumn recipes that warm our stomachs this spooky season, and what warms stomachs more than soup? 

Let's take a look at our top 10 recipes for Pumpkin Soup, whether you're looking to add a touch of spice or some veggies. We've got a recipe to suit your needs - And best of all ! They're all healthy (as with all our Skinny Food Co recipes!)

Spicy Pumpkin Soup 

One of the most popular Pumpkin recipes is a classic spicy pumpkin soup - paired with warm spices such as cumin & nutmeg and topped with a generous serving of double cream, crushed chillies and even a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds for presentation.

Ingredients: 

• 1 large pumpkin (about 2kg) 
• 3 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 onion 
• 4 garlic cloves 
• 1 red pepper 
• 1 green pepper 
• 1 tsp chilli flakes 
• 1 tsp cumin seeds 
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander 
• 1/2 cup tomato paste 
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
• Double Cream - for topping

The best thing about soup recipes is it requires very minimal prep, you'll simply need a large baking tray to pre-cook your veggies (in this case pumpkin) and a large saucepan. After baking your pumpkin for 45-55 minutes, scoop the roasted pumpkin flesh from its skin, add to the large saucepan with onions, garlic & spices and mix well with vegetable stock and cream. 

Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Soup 

Another classic pumpkin soup recipe, this accidentally vegan pumpkin soup is rich in flavours without the added spices. Using fresh pumpkin, baked and combined with two large sweet potatoes, cinnamon & cumin, 2 onions, a dash of olive oil and 1 1/2 cups of vegetable stock. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve this Autumn classic with doorstop bread & cubes of mature chunky cheese for the ultimate cosy experience.

Or if you're keeping in with the vegan theme - stick with some great low-carb vegan bread!

If you want to add a touch of extra flare to your soup, why not add some fresh sage leaves and a gentle pouring of coconut cream?

Thai Pumpkin Soup 

Thai flavours are the perfect combination of aromatic and fresh flavours, that offers sweet, salty, bitter, sour & spicy tones. Thai soup is also one of the healthy soup recipes that once again has the potential to be made both vegetarian & vegan-friendly (depending on which curry paste jar you use, alternatively you are able to make homemade red curry paste completely vegan) 

Ingredients: 

• 1.5kg Pumpkin
• Sunflower oil (or alternative low-cal cooking oils)
• 2 large onions 
• 1 knob ginger
• 1 lemongrass
• 4 tbsp Thai red (or green) curry paste
• 2 x 200ml coconut milk 
• 680 ml vegetable stock 
• 2 squeezed limes
• 1 medium red chilli 

Pumpkin & Bacon Soup

One of our personal favourites, with crushed black pepper, toasted pumpkin seeds and smoked & salty bacon.

Another easy 2-step recipe that invoices frying onion & garlic cloves in a large saucepan on medium heat, in vegetable oil, adding 50g of maple-smoked bacon and cooking until slightly browned.

This time you won't need to oven cook your pumpkin, simply cube and bring to the boil, once the pumpkin begins to soften, add to your bacon & onions and mix well adding a pinch of salt to taste. 

Next, add your chicken stock & 100ml of heavy cream and bring to a boil once more. 

Once your mixture is piping hot, it's time transfer to blender (alternatively you can use a hand or stick blender) and blend until smooth. 

Return to the hob for a gentle simmer before serving - we like to pair it with some crusty bread and grated cheese.

There are so many classic pumpkin soup options, from creamy pumpkin soup to spicy, and what better way to celebrate the Halloween season by trying out a few new recipes & a few classics? 

Some honourable mentions include:

1. Jamaican pumpkin soup
2. Lentin Pumpkin Soup 
3. Ginger Pumpkin Soup
4. Pumpkin & Chorizo Soup 

Also - don't forget that, for most recipes, if you're not the biggest pumpkin fan - you can replace with butternut squash for similar results.