Roasted Garlic Pumpkin Soup

By
Leah Maroney
Leah Maroney
Leah Maroney
A recipe developer and food photographer, Leah Maroney is an ardent home cook and food blogger who has written over 300 recipes for The Spruce Eats.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 07/22/21
pumpkin soup in a bowl

The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 40 mins
Total: 50 mins
Servings: 8 servings
Yield: 8 bowls
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
224 Calories
16g Fat
18g Carbs
7g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories 224
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 16g 20%
Saturated Fat 5g 24%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 1134mg 49%
Total Carbohydrate 18g 7%
Dietary Fiber 4g 13%
Total Sugars 8g
Protein 7g
Vitamin C 12mg 62%
Calcium 56mg 4%
Iron 3mg 17%
Potassium 728mg 15%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Chilly fall and winter nights are no batch for this warm and creamy pumpkin soup. We roasted garlic right inside the pumpkin for a truly exceptional flavor. 

This recipe only calls for a few ingredients and the soup itself comes together quickly. You can even roast the pumpkin ahead of time, then make the soup when you’re ready. 

It's a bonus that the soup is vegan! It’s full of flavor even without cream or cheese, though you can easily replace some of the ingredients with heavy cream and chicken broth if you’re not vegan.

This soup is the perfect lunch or light dinner. If you want to make it a complete meal, you can serve alongside a salad and some crusty bread or homemade breadsticks.

Ingredients

  • 1 4-pound sugar pumpkin

  • 1 small garlic bulb

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

  • 1 tablespoon salt, divided

  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  • 1 large onion, diced

  • 4 cups vegetable broth

  • 1/2 cup coconut milk

  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

  • Pepitas, fresh thyme, for garnish

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    pumpkin soup ingredients

  2. Preheat the oven to 400F.

    Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds. 

    Place the pumpkin on a large baking sheet, cut side up.

    seeds scraped out of a pumpkin

  3. Cut the bulb of garlic in half. Place a half of the garlic onto each half of the pumpkin, drizzle the olive oil over the garlic heads, sprinkle with salt and then flip over, cut side down onto the pumpkin.

    pumpkin with garlic

  4. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender when pricked with a fork.

    roasted garlic and pumpkin

  5. While the pumpkin is baking, begin cooking the other ingredients. 

    Add a tablespoon of the olive oil to a large, heavy bottomed pot like a dutch oven. Add half of the diced onion and saute with a sprinkle of salt on medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes.

    sautéed onion in a pot

  6. Add in the vegetable broth and cook on low heat until the pumpkin is finished cooking.

    vegetable broth and onions in a pot

  7. Remove the garlic cloves from the bulb and scoop the pumpkin out from the skin. Add the cloves and the pumpkin flesh to the pot and cook for 10 minutes. You can add as many or as few garlic cloves as you wish. The more cloves you add, the more intense the garlic flavor.

    pumpkin, onions, and vegetable broth in a pot

  8. Add the remaining onions, coconut milk, maple syrup, and ground nutmeg to the pot. Then add the entire contents to a blender (or use and immersion blender) and blend until completely smooth. Add more salt and pepper to taste, heat to desired temperature and serve with more coconut milk and some toasted pepitas.

    blended pumpkin soup

Recipe Variations

  • You can make this recipe with canned pumpkin, but it won’t have the same robust roasted garlic flavor. You can roast the garlic on its own by drizzling with olive oil and wrapping in foil. You will use about 1 1/2 cups of canned pumpkin. Do not use pumpkin pie filling.