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Thai Curried Pumpkin Soup

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This Thai Curried Pumpkin Soup recipe only takes about 20 minutes to make, it’s naturally vegan and gluten-free, and it is full of the best warm and cozy curry flavors.

Thai Curried Pumpkin Soup Recipe

This week, I made another pilgrimage across the city to stock up on a very special item for our little Spanish pantry…

…canned pumpkin purée.

Any expat living in Europe (or in most other countries abroad) will be the first to tell you that those convenient little cans of Libby’s — which I used to so casually toss in my cart back in Kansas City — are impressively hard to track down across the ocean! To my knowledge, there’s actually only one store in Barcelona that sells imported canned pumpkin. And of course, you’d better believe they work their little monopoly and charge for it accordingly. But hey, for our little household that can’t stop making healthy pumpkin muffins, pumpkin rolls, and pumpkin cookies this time of year, a pumpkin-stocked pantry is a must.

I immediately put our new stock to use this week, testing out a new recipe for pumpkin bread (recipe coming soon!) and making a homemade (and healthier) pumpkin spice latte. Then for dinner, Barclay and I decided to fiddle around with a more savory curried pumpkin soup recipe. And wow, it ended up being a total hit.

First of all, the whole recipe was a breeze and came together from start to finish in less than 20 minutes, thanks to using canned pumpkin instead of roasting a fresh one from scratch. It also happened to be naturally gluten-free and vegan, thanks to the addition of some creamy coconut milk and good vegetable stock. And best of all, those warming Thai curry flavors paired perfectly with the pumpkin, resulting in the coziest blend of sweet, savory, and spicy flavors that we both loved.

It’s exactly the kind of quick, easy, and healthy dinner recipe that I love this time of year. So the next time you’re at the store — or the next time you expats make a pilgrimage across town to those special import stores — pick up a few cans and let’s make a batch together!

Libby's Pumpkin Puree | Thai Curried Pumpkin Soup Recipe

Thai Curry Pumpkin Soup Ingredients:

To make this curried pumpkin soup recipe, you will need:

  • Oil, onion and garlic: Which we will use as our base sauté for the soup.
  • Red curry pasteOr green or yellow curry paste, whichever you have on hand.
  • Vegetable stock: Or chicken stock, if you prefer.
  • Canned pumpkin puree: Yessss.
  • Coconut milk: I used full-fat coconut milk to make mine extra-creamy, but low-fat coconut milk would work too. Or, you’re welcome to sub in heavy cream, or any other non-dairy milks that you prefer.
  • Ground cumin, ginger and sea salt: For seasoning. Feel free to add more of any of these, to taste.

Plus, of course, toppings! You know me, I always fall in the-more-the-merrier camp when it comes to toppings on soup. A few I’d strongly recommend here include:

  • chopped fresh cilantro: a must, really, to add some freshness
  • pepitas: or any other favorite nuts, to add some crunch 
  • sliced red or green onions: these are always a must with me and curry
  • lime wedges: a good squeeze of citrus will really brighten this soup up!
  • Thai bird chiles: thinly-sliced, if you would like some extra heat (or you can also add crushed red chile flakes)

You will also need some sort of blender to puree the soup (if you’d like). I recommend using either:

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Thai Curried Pumpkin Soup Recipe

How To Make Pumpkin Soup:

Guys, this one’s so easy! Simply…

  1. Sauté the garlic, onion and red curry paste. Sauté the onion oil until softened. Then add the garlic and red curry paste, and sauté for two minutes more.
  2. Add the vegetable stock and coconut milk. Stir to combine.
  3. Puree the soup. Then use either a hand blender or traditional blender to puree the soup until it is smooth. (If using a traditional blender, then transfer soup back to the stockpot.)
  4. Add remaining ingredients. Stir to combine. Then cook until the mixture reaches a simmer.
  5. Taste and season. Give it a taste, and add extra salt, pepper, and/or extra red curry paste if needed.
  6. Serve warm. With a generous sprinkle of your favorite toppings.

How To Make Thai Curried Pumpkin Soup

Possible Variations:

Want to mix things up? Feel free to…

  • Roast your own pumpkin. In place of canned pumpkin puree, feel free to roast and puree your own! Here is a brief tutorial.
  • Add protein. If you would like to add some protein to this soup, chicken, shrimp, beef or tofu would be delicious.
  • Make it milder. If you don’t like much heat in your food, I would recommend starting with just 1 tablespoon red curry paste, and then add more to taste. And if the soup gets too spicy for you, just add more coconut milk and vegetable stock. :)
  • Make it spicier. If you do like spicy food, feel free to add more red curry paste, and/or a few thinly-sliced Thai red bird chiles.

What To Serve With This Soup:

If you are looking for some side dish inspiration, I would recommend:

Enjoy, everyone!

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Thai Curried Pumpkin Soup Recipe

Thai Curried Pumpkin Soup

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.6 from 16 reviews
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 6 -8 servings 1x

Description

This Thai Curried Pumpkin Soup recipe only takes about 20 minutes to make, it’s naturally vegan and gluten-free, and it is full of the best warm and cozy curry flavors.  See notes above for possible ingredient variations.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small white onion, peeled and diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons red curry paste
  • 4 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 2 (15-ounce) cans pumpkin purée
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • optional toppings: chopped fresh cilantro, pepitas, sliced red onions, and/or sliced Thai bird chiles

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat.  Add onion and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.  Add the garlic and red curry paste, and stir to combine.  Sauté for 2 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
  2. Add vegetable stock and coconut milk, and stir to combine.
  3. Using a hand blender or a traditional blender, puree the soup until smooth.  (If using a traditional blender, be careful because warm/hot liquids expand when heated.  I would recommend pureeing the soup in two batches.  Then return it to the stockpot.)
  4. Add the pumpkin puree, cumin, ginger, salt, and stir to combine.  Continue cooking until the soup reaches a simmer.  Then reduce heat to medium-low.  Give the soup a taste, and add extra salt, pepper, and/or red curry paste if needed.
  5. Serve warm, sprinkled generously with your favorite toppings.  Or store in a sealed container and refrigerate up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

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24 comments on “Thai Curried Pumpkin Soup”

  1. This is soooo good! I’m salivating just thinking about it!
    Thank you!






  2. Super yummy! I tried it as my boyfriend was sick last week, it was a success when he completely loved it and felt better after that. I really love its divine taste xD one of the best treatment for sick people :)
    – Natalie

  3. Made this soup. It is quite spicy for my scale but soooooo delicious. Really super cozy and perfect for this time of year!






  4. Made it for New Year’s Eve and it went wonderfully! My family isn’t big on spice, so I did reduce the curry paste a bit, but it was just the right amount of heat for us with about 1 1/2 tbsp instead of 2. Nice and creamy, and a great vegan option.






  5. Delicious! I halved it easily for a weeknight. Also, the toppings MADE the dish.






  6. This was so delicious!! I added a serrano pepper for extra heat and a little honey, it was perfect. Thank you for a great Fall recipe!

  7. Absolutely delicious! I used one tablespoon of the red curry paste so it wouldn’t be too spicy for my 4-year-old, and then my husband and I added cayenne to our bowls. Already had cooked rice in the fridge, so we added that to our soup bowls, topped with cilantro and pumpkin seeds. Next time I might add a can of white beans during the blending stage to add more protein. This soup is so easy, especially for the great taste!

  8. This is a great soup but too liquidy for my taste. I would reduce a cup of veggie broth next time.

  9. How many calories?

  10. Wow!!!! Stupid good!!!






  11. Taste like pumpkin water. Added 3 more tablespoon s of thai red curry paste and another cup of coconut milk.






  12. Loved this and so simple to make. Lends itself well to any sort of protein or garnish addition.






  13. Just made this for lunch as I had recently roasted some pumpkin…delicious and super easy! I made a half batch and forgot to half the spices, but it was not overpowering. I actually also added some fresh grated ginger. I’ll definitely make this again.






  14. I added half a jalapeno, Berbere (tsp) as well as Vindaloo (Tbsp) which are powdered spices you can order from Penzey’s. I harvested the meat from a pumpkin my son won at a local fair so I thought it needed some additional warmth. I finished it off with some fish sauce (Tbsp) which I know sounds weird but instead of adding more salt, there is a nice complexity to a good fish sauce that can really round out the corners of milder flavored dishes. Pepitas, cilantro and a dollop of sour cream finished this dish nicely.






  15. Made this for a friend’s birthday and we all enjoyed it so very much! I only put in two cups of stock and it was a nice filling soup, not too thick but nice and creamy. I used fresh pumpkin that I had cooked myself and pureed so it was nice and thick to begin with. Topped it with cilantro and roasted pepitas. Heavenly taste! It will be made again and again, that’s for sure.






  16. I’m not sure how someone said this tastes like pumpkin water! Mine was so thick, creamy and flavorful. Maybe they had some expired curry paste and cumin. I did have a soup at a festival where the coconut and ginger were more pronounced but had very similar flavors and I was curious if I could do 2 cans of coconut milk and maybe halve the veggie stock and use fresh ginger but twice as much. I’m not sure if it would work but I used a full can of coconut milk (1 and 2/3 cup) and just could not taste coconut over the curry. My other thought was to lessen the curry but I love the flavor and do not want to change the curry and cumin. I’ve read you cannot always switch out fresh ginger with ground but I prefer the taste.






  17. i dont get how the photo looks so creamy? i had to add the whole can of coconut milk another tablespoon of curry paste and a tablespoon of flour to get the consistency i wanted. without this, it tasted like water. :/ but after all that, it turned out pretty good.






  18. I made this two nights ago, and it’s delicious! I made the recipe mostly as written, with a couple of exceptions:

    1.) I used Trader Joe’s Miso Ginger Broth, as that is what I always have on hand. worked great!
    2.) I only had one can of pumpkin. I’m guessing the soup would have been a bit thicker if I had used two cans as the recipe calls for?
    3.) I added some cubed tofu along with the pumpkin and spices
    4.) I just made cilantro pesto, so I drizzled that on top. Delicious!

    This will definitely be in my regular rotation!






  19. Delicious! I made it with homemade puree rather than canned, but still an excellent soup! Very easy and the perfect amount of spice.






  20. I added fresh lime and cilantro and it was sooo delicious

  21. i made this recipe yesterday and let me tell you it is my new favorite thing

  22. Great flavor and quick to prepre






  23. Is delicious. I lived in Spain and we used squash instead of pumpkin. Pumpkin is a squash after all. Couldn’t tell the difference even in pumpkin pie.

  24. I love pumpkin soup for winter nights but sometimes I get over it because it’s a bit sweet for me so this recipe made me fall in love again with it. Absolutely beautiful, perfect balance with the spiciness. Already sent it to few of my friends.
    Thank you for sharing!