Description
Smooth, creamy, and warming, this delicious Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup is the perfect meal to celebrate the fall season.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 medium large sugar pie pumpkin (about 4lbs, give or take) (see note 1)
- 4 medium large sweet potatoes
- 1 large yellow or sweet onion, peeled and diced
- 3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth, divided
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
- Fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon rubbed sage, divided
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
- Juice of a small lemon (about 2-3 tablespoons juice)
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit (218 degrees Celsius and line a two half sheet baking trays with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- Process the pumpkin: Use a large sharp knife to chop the pumpkin into quarters, cutting around the stem. If you’re having a hard time cutting it, try microwaving it or baking it for a few minutes to soften it. You don’t need to peel the pumpkin now--you can remove the skin after it’s roasted. Remove the innards and set aside. I find grapefruit spoons to be really useful for this task.
- Save the seeds: You can separate the seeds from the membrane while they roast, but you don’t want to roast the seeds at the same time since they’ll burn at a higher temperature.
- Season pumpkin: Cut the pumpkin into smaller crescents (easier to peel later) and add to a baking tray. I don’t like mine to dry out, so I recommend you rub them with a little bit of grapeseed oil or spray them with vegetable broth. If opting for the broth, I’d cover the tray in tin foil so they stay moist and the broth doesn’t evaporate. Season the pumpkin with sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper.
- Process the sweet potatoes: Slice the sweet potatoes lengthwise into halves or quarters, then add those to a different tray. Add oil or broth and season the same way. Cover if using broth.
- Roast pumpkin and sweet potatoes: Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit (218 degrees Celsius) for approximately 35-45 minutes or until both pumpkin and sweet potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. Let cool enough to handle and remove the skin.
- Saute onions and garlic: While the pumpkin and sweet potatoes are cooking, take this opportunity to saute onions until they are translucent (over medium high heat, about 4-5 minutes), then add the garlic and saute another minute. Set aside.
- Blend: Blend everything--you’ll likely need to do this in batches. I have a 64 oz blender and I did it in two batches. So if doing in batches, add half the peeled pumpkin, half the peeled sweet potatoes, half the onion and garlic mixture, and half of the spices and broth. If you want an ultra silky smooth texture, you can add a splash of oil but I didn’t think this was needed. I blended my soup for about 1 minute per batch. If you only have an immersion blender, you can add everything to a big pot and blend until smooth that way.
- Combine and heat: Add all the blended ingredients to a large pot and cook for 10 minutes over medium heat (with a lid on… it will bubble and because of how thick it is it can kind of get everywhere if you don’t cover it) until everything is nice and hot.
- Roast those seeds: The 10 minutes while it cooks are perfect for roasting the seeds. Spread the cleaned seeds out in a single layer on a parchment paper lined baking tray. If they’re a little wet when you season them you don’t need oil to make it stick. I just put salt and pepper on mine but use what you like. Roast for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius), stirring at the halfway point. Once they cool, you can store these in a jar on the counter. Or your stomach.
- Serve: Serve pumpkin and sweet potato soup warm with crusty bread, a sprinkle of seeds, a little fresh thyme or sage, and a grind of black pepper. Enjoy!
- Store: Refrigerate leftovers up to 5 days in an airtight container. It also freezes quite well.
Notes
- Note 1: So while you can use other squash for this like butternut, acorn, or kabocha squash, I definitely do not recommend using a giant carving pumpkin that one would use for jack-o-lantern because they’re not very fleshy, sweet, or flavorful. Sugar pie pumpkins are moderate in size, pack a lot of flesh (and seeds!), and are nice and sweet.
- Note 2: You can take a shortcut and use canned pumpkin puree and canned sweet potato puree… but I wanted a LOT of flavor. Roasting both the pumpkin and sweet potato gives a LOT of flavor to the soup. I promise it’s worth the annoyance of cutting and seeding the pumpkin. Which is honestly kind of fun. AND you get awesome pumpkin seeds out of it that are just begging to be roasted and sprinkled on top of the soup.
- Note 3: Preparing the pumpkin goes a lot faster with 2 or more people. Separating out the seeds is a fun task for kids, too
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stove top, Baking
- Cuisine: American, Fall
Keywords: Vegan, Gluten-Free, Oil-Free, Nut-Free, Soy-Free, Sugar-Free, Vegan Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup, Fall