Easy Pumpkin Coconut Soup
Made with canned pumpkin & coconut milk, & flavored with vanilla, cinnamon & maple syrup, this easy pumpkin coconut soup is perfect all year.
We have an inside joke in our family. It started way back when our oldest was a toddler and declared, “Fall is the best time of my year.” We’ve quoted it ever since!
But “fall” treats don’t need to be restricted to fall. Especially if they’re as easy and nutritious as this Pumpkin Soup with Coconut Milk. In fact, I decided to make a double batch since it’s an easy healthful dish that’s perfect for freezing as leftovers.
We’ve enjoyed the recipe for years, based on a roasted winter squash soup from a Daisy Martinez cookbook. We liked it so much, I decided to simplify it and make it (optionally) vegan.
Why You’ll Love This!
Tasty. Rich, pumpkin-y and lightly spiced, this soup is a taste treat!
Easy. Just sauté some shallots, add in a few ingredients, heat, and you’re done. So easy, it’s one of my emergency meals!
Healthy. Pumpkin is so healthy, I love getting a dose of it in this lovely soup.
Freezes Well. Make a double batch so you can freeze extras for busy days!
What You’ll Need
Ingredient Notes
- Coconut Oil. This is used to sauté the shallots and it adds a little flavor.
- Shallots. This adds a delicate savory note.
- Pumpkin Puree. This provides the pumpkin flavor and loads of nutrition.
- Unsweetened Coconut Milk. This adds flavor and creamy richness to the soup.
- Vegetable Broth. This provides the liquid base of the soup.
- Vanilla, Cinnamon, Ground Cloves. These add a subtle spiced flavor to the soup.
- Maple Syrup. This adds a hint of sweetness and enhances the flavor.
- Optional garnish of your choice. Consider sprinkling with pepitas, toasted coconut, black sesame seeds or another garnish of your choice.
Special Tools
- No special tools are needed.
Step by Step Directions
Sautee shallots
Stir in remaining ingredients
Canned Pumpkin, Fresh Pumpkin and Winter Squash
Is canned pumpkin puree the same as fresh pumpkin? Canned pumpkin is the same as fresh pie pumpkin that has been cooked and pureed. Pie pumpkins are smaller and more flavorful than the big jack-o-lantern pumpkins you carve at Halloween.
Most stores also carry canned pumpkin pie filling, which you don’t want to use. That has spices and sweeteners added and would make the soup too sweet.
If you want to go fresh rather than canned, you can always ask at the pumpkin farm or farmer’s market to see if they grow the tastier pie pumpkins. Or see below for another option.
Pumpkin Alternatives
This recipe is based on one that used winter squash–which is similar to pie pumpkin in terms of flavor. So, if you’ve got fresh winter squash, you can cook and puree that, then use it in this recipe. Just drain it well first. And, of course, canned winter squash would work as well.
Finally, in a pinch, I’d even give pureed sweet potatoes a try. In that case, I’d check to see if it needed a little more broth to make up for the extra density.
How to Serve
This soup is perfect for a first course since it’s light enough not to fill you up before the entrée arrives.
And with some minor additions, it can make a meal. Consider adding a salad that has some protein or a (full or half) sandwich. For a meal, a loaf of crusty bread or a basket of muffins makes a wonderful accompaniment as well.
Variations and Special Diets
If you’d like more of a good thing, how about a few ther pumpkin soup recipes. We also like Curried Pumpkin Mushroom Soup or Southwest Pumpkin Black Bean Soup. And for something really fun there’s my Pumpkin Soup in a Pumpkin.
Now if you want to keep the pumpkin theme going through dessert, consider Mini Pumpkin Cheesecake Or Pumpkin Pudding https://artofnaturalliving.com/pumpkin-pudding/
Special Diets
As long as you use a vegetable broth in this, this Pumpkin Coconut Soup is both vegetarian and vegan. Of course, that makes this dairy free as well.
Pumpkin is pretty high in carbs, so you’re unlikely to turn this into a low carb dish. But you can reduce the sugar by using a sweetener like stevia or allulose instead of the maple syrup.
Leftovers
This will keep refrigerated for 3-4 days with no noticeable change in quality. This means that it’s a great make-ahead dish!
The leftovers also freeze well so I’ll typically make this in bulk and freeze the extras. I like to do some individual servings (so my husband gets some vegetables if I’m gone) and some in family size containers.
Tips & FAQs
If you want to go local and can’t find pie pumpkins, just use winter squash. Roast, puree and drain it some before adding it to the soup. This isn’t much harder than using canned, though it requires a little more lead time.
As a frugal move, I sometimes buy local squash and pie pumpkins on sale at the end of the season. Then I store and use this throughout the winter. A few will spoil early and these go right into the compost.
At some point (which seems to vary from year to year), they start to go bad at a faster rate. Then I’ll roast everything that’s left and make a giant batch of this soup for the freezer.
Freezer Meals
- Easy Freezer Breakfast Burritos from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Pumpkin Coconut Soup from Art of Natural Living
- Slow Cooker Chicken Ragu from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Strawberry Freezer Jam from Jen Around the World
- Vegan Cauliflower Kurma from Magical Ingredients
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Easy Pumpkin Coconut Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
- 1/4 cup finely diced shallots about 3
- 14 ounces pumpkin 1 can, not pie filling
- 14 ounce unsweetened coconut milk 1 can
- 2 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 Tablespoons maple syrup or other sweetener, or to taste
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- Garnish with toasted coconut, sesame seeds ... optional
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, sautee shallots in oil.
- Add remaining ingredients (except garnish) and cook briefly until hot and flavors have blended.
Nutrition
Updated from Oct 20, 2014
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That soup looks super delicious! And so creamy. I could totally freeze lunch portions to take to work.
Maybe I didn
‘t know you yet when this first premiered… but it sounds wonderful. I have never had coconut paired with pumpkin, but it seems like a natural pairing. Definitely one to try ths fall.
I love pumpkin soup but I’ve never made one myself!
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your photos are awesome!! captivating, actually. thanks for sharing. 🙂
this soup actually makes pumpkin sound good to me, so kudos for achieving that!
Thanks Grace. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough for my non-pumpkin loving daughter… Though I think she ate it when I did the squash version, so maybe it’s psychological!
This soup reminds me of toasty chips, a fireplace and a massively warm chair 😀
It looks lovely! And I never would have thought to add coconut, genius!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Oooooo, now I’ll need to try eating this with chips in a massively warm chair in front of a roaring fire…
Hi Inger, thanks for sharing your beautiful pics of pumpkins and Harvest Party, I love this pumpkin coconut soup. So healthy and irresistible too. So tempted to give this a try. Once again, thanks for sharing and you have a wonderful autumn. Warmest regards 🙂
Thanks Ivy. I hope you get a chance to try this. Would love to hear how it works out if you do.
This post makes me miss the CSA potluck events at HighCross Farm. I forgot to get coconut milk the last time I was at Trader Joe’s, but when I do, I’m planning to make this soup!
While checking out Woodman’s (per your chip recommendation) I found they have a good price on the coconut milk I’ve been getting through my buying club. Will need to check out Trader Joe’s too. Interesting I’m getting my buying tips from someone out of state 😉
Love the photos in this post! This soup reminds me of our lunch in Door County–is it the same one you made for us? That was so delicious!
Thanks Lisa! I can’t remember if I made the original or this version for Door County. In addition to fresh squash the original used vanilla bean and cinnamon stick instead of extract and powder, but they are virtually identical (except for the amount of work). Loved Karis’s idea about doing the boat tour in a future visit.
These pictures are lovely Inger! This sounds so perfect for the temps right about now, I hear it’s going to start getting to freezing soon, brr!
Thanks Abby! Yes, we did get our first frost the other night. I have covered up the raspberries twice to get a little more harvest, but it will all end soon won’t it…