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This Soup in a Pumpkin is the BEST fall recipe. It makes the house smell amazing as it cooks and the bits of pumpkin in the soup are SO yummy!
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This Soup in a Pumpkin is a Fall favorite at our house! October is finally here which means we will be cooking and eating all things pumpkin! (Make sure to also check out our Dinner in a Pumpkin and Pumpkin Juice recipes — more of my fall favorites!) I love making this easy pumpkin soup recipe because the pumpkin makes such a festive serving dish.
A lot of pumpkin soups are made with pumpkin purée or canned pumpkin but this soup uses an actual pumpkin for its delicious pumpkin flavor. It is so fun to scoop the soup right out of the pumpkin — be sure to scrape the sides with a spoon so you can get nice, bite-sized chunks of pumpkin in your soup.
Flavors of Fall
I found the most perfectly round pumpkin at the grocery store the other night and I knew I HAD to make this recipe (you can also try our Spicy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds). When you take it out of the oven, be careful — it is VERY heavy. Also, don’t try and lift the pumpkin because it gets very soft when it bakes and it can tear easily.
Soup in a Pumpkin reminds me of Our Version of Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana, but the pumpkin and thyme make it taste more like fall. Both soups have sausage and kale which add a really rich flavor. If you aren’t a big kale fan, you can substitute broccoli or spinach. You can store leftovers of this soup in an airtight container in the fridge.
Ingredients for this Pumpkin Soup Recipe
Blend these ingredients together to create a smooth and creamy soup. Grab a pot and let’s get started making the best fall soup!
- Pumpkin – Cut and hollow out a pumpkin for soup to be cooked in.
- Butter – Melt the unsalted butter in a saucepan.
- Onion – I used a white onion. It is slightly milder in flavor.
- Italian bread crumbs – A dry ingredient that will add flavor and thickness with the flour.
- Flour – Helps create a thickness and stability in the soup.
- Celery seed – Is a spice that adds celery flavoring without the actual celery.
- Italian sausage – Cook and brown sausage according to package and drain any excess grease. Any pork sausage will work but we like the zing to the Italian sausage.
- Cheese – Grate Swiss and cheddar cheese ahead of time.
- Chicken stock – Stock or chicken broth will work.
- Thyme and parsley – Dried is best!
- Kale – Fresh kale that has a strong and earthy taste. It will be soft in the soup and cooked.
- Kosher Salt and pepper to taste.
- Heavy cream – Creamy and smooth soup.
Substitutions and Variations
Use an immersion blender to speed up the process of blending the soup together. Create this soup diary-free or lighter with a few substitutions and changes to the soup. Make this your way!
- Vegetable broth is a great substitute with the same flavor like the chicken stock.
- For a lighter soup, but still creamy pumpkin soup, try coconut milk, almond milk, or half and half.
- Add fall seasonings like ginger, cinnamon, garlic cloves.
- Warm up the soup with some heat from cumin or cayenne pepper.
- Use the pepitas to roast pumpkin seeds for salads or snacking on.
- For some added flavor add some Italian seasoning, coriander, or parmesan cheese.
- For added spice add some red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, or Sriracha sauce.
- Add more veggies like mushrooms or carrots for added nutrients.
- Garnish with some parsley or fresh basil or thyme.
“This was so yummy! I’ve never considered cooking in a pumpkin before but now I want to do it with all my soups!”
-Britni
Frequently Asked Questions – Soup in a Pumpkin
Not just any type of pumpkin. Sugar pumpkins or pie, sweet pumpkins are best! These pumpkins are usually small and round.
First, cut lid out of pumpkin. Next, cut around the stem, angle the knife towards the stem so the ring on the inside of the pulp is smaller than the ring on the outside of the pumpkin. The lid won’t fall in when it is baking.
Add in a tablespoon of cornstarch with pumpkin puree. Then stir together the soup and cornstarch making a roux.
Yes! Pumpkin soups are normally healthy and made with simple and fresh ingredients. In general, pumpkin is heart healthy. Loaded with fiber, potassium, and vitamin C. There are several health benefits eating pumpkin.
Yes, you would just need to substitute the flour for a gluten-free flour or use corn starch as a thickener. And use gluten-free breadcrumbs.
Yes, you would need to use dairy free substitutes for the butter, cream, and cheese.
Serving and Storing Pumpkin Sausage Soup
For a fun serving idea, hollow out some small pumpkins- like pie pumpkins to use as bowls.
Make this soup ahead of time and reheat when ready to enjoy! Store this soup in an air tight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days long. When ready to reheat, warm on medium-low heat to avoid separating the soup.
More Fall Soup Recipes
When the leaves start to change and the temperatures drop, nothing tastes better than a hot bowl of soup. Try these delicious soup recipes on a crisp fall day.
How to Make Soup in a Pumpkin
Soup in a Pumpkin
Video
Ingredients
- 1 large pumpkin
- 1/2 cup butter + 1 Tbsp divided
- 1 cup white onion diced
- 1 1/2 cups Italian bread crumbs
- 1 cup flour
- 1 Tablespoon celery seed
- 1 pound Italian sausage cooked and drained
- 1/2 cup Swiss cheese grated
- 1 cup cheddar cheese grated
- 2 quarts chicken stock or broth
- 1 teaspoon thyme dried
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup parsley dried
- 2 cups kale fresh
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Cut lid out of pumpkin. As you are cutting around the stem, angle the knife towards the stem so the ring on the inside of the pulp is smaller than the ring on the outside of the pumpkin. This will make it so the lid won't fall in when it is replaced for baking.
- Preheat oven to 400. Remove seeds.
- Rub the inside of the lid with 1 Tbsp butter.
- In a skillet, melt ½ cup butter and sauté onions in the melted butter until tender.
- Add bread crumbs, flour, and celery seed. Stir until coated and cook for 3 minutes.
- Remove from heat and pour into pumpkin.
- Add sausage, grated cheeses, chicken stock, thyme, salt, parsley, and kale.
- Put lid on pumpkin and bake on cookie sheet for 1 ½ hours then carefully remove from oven.
- In a medium saucepan, bring cream to a simmer. Add to contents of pumpkin. Stir well.
- When serving, scrape sides of pumpkin with the ladle or a spoon so that bits of pumpkin are added to the soup.
Notes
Making Ahead and Storing Soup in a Pumpkin
Make this soup ahead of time and reheat when ready to enjoy! Store this soup in an air tight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days long. When ready to reheat, warm on medium-low heat to avoid separating the soup.Nutrition Information
The kale I got was quite bitter, so the soup had a strong bitter flavor. In the future, I will use broccoli or spinach in place of the kale. Also, I baked the pumpkin for 1 1/2 hours as directed. It burned on the outside, and caved in after I took it out of the oven. So, next time I would bake it only 1 hour.
I am excited to try it again!
Soup came out good and was a big hit! I had to improvise a bit. I would say that it’s meant for a pretty big sugar pumpkin since I had a hard time fitting all the ingredients in. The one I used was medium. So I ended up making a second pot of extra soup to save as leftovers for the next night, which worked out great. The pumpkin survived for 2 nights in a row and I was able to serve this soup to different dinner guests each night.
Also it was done baking in only 45 minutes. If I were to have cooked it any longer it probably would have fallen apart. Another important tip- be careful when scraping out the pulp of the pumpkin. Try to avoid scooping too close to the top or on the lid, otherwise it will affect the integrity of the pumpkin and it will start to cave in.
Do you remember how you reheated everything for night two? Did you just warm up the soup and place it back into the pumpkin – or did you re-heat the pumpkin + soup in the oven?
Trying to plan for an upcoming dinner party. Thank you!
Made this for Halloween, i skipped the Sausage and used Broccoli instead of Kale. It turned out absolutely delicous wow! This will become a staple for me for a long time 🙂
This was so good and I love the idea of serving it from a pumpkin. So delicious!
This was so yummy! I’ve never considered cooking in a pumpkin before but now I want to do it with all my soups!
This recipe is a keeper! I had made chicken sausage and peppers the other night and still had enough left over for this recipe. I even threw in the sweet peppers with it. It was delicious!
We loved this soup! So fun to serve it in a pumpkin!
Oh goodness!!! I need this soup in my life! Looks so amazing
Do you use any pumpkin or a pie pumpkin?
You can use any pumpkin!
Uh, so I tried this and my pumpkin completely collapsed in the oven, sent soup everywhere. What did I do wrong??
What kind of pumpkin did you use? Pumpkin pie pumpkins work best for this recipe. Another thought I had was if you scraped too much of the skin out before you added the soup it might have weakened the walls. I am so sorry it didn’t work for you!
Can’t you use multiple smaller pumpkins so everyone gets their own pumpkin?
Oh yes that sounds so fun!!
So it says any pumpkin can work. I’ve always heard carving pumpkins aren’t good for cooking. Can anyone attest to the worthiness of a carving pumpkin in this recipe? Other pumpkins hard to find in my area.
I’ve used a carving pumpkin for a similar recipe and it was delicious!
This is awesome! Perfect soup for a chilly fall day, and I love the presentation!
What a savory soup! Can’t wait to curl up with this on a cold day! Yum!
I love this idea of the soup actually in the pumpkin. It makes for a great dinner party presentation! Love!!!
Actually I reread the directions and will cook and drain it before adding 🙂
Yes, you do cook the sausage before adding it to the pumpkin. Thanks for asking! Happy Halloween!
Do I have to add the pumpkin? The rest cooks so nice but my husband is allergic to pumpkin plus it’s hard to find this time of year
No, you can make the soup without doing it in a pumpkin if he is allergic. It just won’t have that pumpkin-infused flavor but it sounds like he would probably be ok with that 🙂
I have not tried your soup in a pumpkin recipe and would like to do it. Is the 1 c. of flour the correct amount plus the l 1/2 c. Italian bread crumbs?
Yes, those are the correct amounts. Hope this helps!