This is a cosy vegan pumpkin soup that just hits the spot when the weather gets cooler. A delightful happy yellow with warming turmeric and juicy sweetcorn, and delicately spiced flavours, this is a little bowl of joy.
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I got a little over-enthusiastic about Halloween this year and ordered three huge pumpkins for carving and putting outside our front door. Needless to say, I was too busy and didn't get around to carving them and so they sat there, looking beautiful but unloved and uncarved.
The flipside of this is that after Halloween, instead of having a crumpled decaying mess outside the front door (we live in a hot climate), I had three lovely pumpkins, still at their best, and ready to chop up and use for our food! So far, I have dealt with one pumpkin and I feel like I’ve made about ten different meals from it, so we have a long way to go!
Luckily I have a few good pumpkin recipes up my sleeve so I will chop it up and put it in bags in the freezer for using throughout the year (I will definitely be making this winter squash salad with mushroom bacon which is divine!). I will also grate quite a lot of pumpkin and store that ready for making my amazing vegan pumpkin curry which the whole family loves.
Main Ingredients
- Coconut Oil - If you don't like coconut oil, you could easily swap for rapeseed or some other mild flavoured oil.
- Onion and Garlic - I tend to use these as the base for everything! It will lack depth of flavour if you skip the onion and garlic unfortunately.
- Spices - turmeric and coriander - these spices are just enough to make it a warming soup without overpowering the flavours of the pumpkin and sweetcorn.
- Pumpkin - any type of pumpkin will work in this recipe. You can use the big scraggy halloween pumpkins or go high end and choose a delicious Hokkaido or Acorn Squash or you can use regular butternut squash which is usually available throughout the year.
- Sweetcorn - For this recipe, frozen or tinned sweetcorn is absolutely fine!
- Vegetable Stock - I like Kallo or Marigold Bouillon stock powder that is mixed with boiling water to make the vegetable stock.
- Coconut Milk - tinned coconut milk adds a beautiful creaminess to this soup but without making it taste too coconutty.
- Lime - a squeeze of lime added on serving will add vitamin C and a touch of acidity to balance out the flavours. Please do not skip this bit! You can however swap to lemon juice if that's what you have available.
Please see the printable recipe card below for full list of ingredients with quantities and full instructions.
Basic Instructions
As for most soups, this is a lovely hands-off meal to make. Once you've done the initial sautéing, you just leave it all to simmer gently on the stove while the flavours develop.
- Sauté the onion, garlic and spices.
- Add the pumpkin, sweetcorn, vegetable stock and coconut milk and simmer for half an hour (10 minutes with the lid on, 20 minutes without the lid).
This is a summary only. Please see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this page for full detailed instructions. Thermomix instructions are also included in the recipe card.
Chef's Tips
- Try to chop the pumpkin into quite small cubes so that it roughly matches the size of the sweetcorn and onion pieces. This gives a nice consistent look to the soup. However, it really is up to you how big or small you make the pieces – just adjust the cooking time accordingly. (Cook the soup for longer if the pumpkin pieces are bigger.)
- The cooking time is a guide only. It can happily sit simmering slowly for longer if you are busy dealing with other things. The longer you cook the soup, the softer the pumpkin goes and it may start to disintegrate into the soup if you cook it for a very long time but it just makes for a thicker consistency so no need to stress with this recipe – it will work to your timings.
Serving Suggestions
- It is really important to serve this pumpkin and sweetcorn soup with a good squeeze of lime. This adds a little citric acid to balance the sweetness of the pumpkin and sweetcorn and a dose of vitamin C.
- If you like a little more spice, you could also add some finely sliced green chilli too.
- For a crispy garnish, you could toast some corn in a dry pan for a few minutes and sprinkle them on top of the soup to add some extra texture.
Pumpkin and Sweetcorn Soup FAQs
This soup makes a great dinner party starter as you can make it a day in advance and then just re-heat it gently for serving. As with most spiced dishes, the flavour of this spiced pumpkin soup improves with time.
This soup will sit quite happily in a sealed container in the fridge for 3 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months. It's great to have a few containers of this in the freezer for days when you haven't had time to think about what to eat as it just takes a little warming under warm water to defrost a little and then microwave for a few minutes or re-heat in a pan over a gentle heat.
📖 Recipe 📖
Spiced Pumpkin and Sweetcorn Soup (Vegan & Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 onions, finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 400 g pumpkin, (or butternut squash) cut into small cubes
- 200 g sweetcorn, frozen or tinned is fine
- 600 ml vegetable stock
- 200 ml coconut milk
- lime wedges (for serving)
Instructions
Stovetop Instructions
- Fry the onion in the oil over a medium heat until soft and golden (about 5 minutes).
- Add garlic, spices and salt, and stir until fragrant (about 2 minutes).
- Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to scrape any bits stuck at the bottom of the pan. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down to very low and simmer gently for 20-30 minutes.
- Check the taste, season with salt and pepper. Then serve garnished with a squeeze of lime, a sprinkling of coriander and some finely sliced green chillies if you like.
Thermomix Instructions
- Put the coconut oil and onion into the thermomix and set to 3 secs. / sp.5. Scrape down the sides then set to 3 mins. / 120°C / sp.0.5.
- Add garlic and spices and set to 2 mins. / 120°C / sp.0.5.
- Add the rest of the ingredients (except the lime wedges) and stir with a spatula to dislodge any burnt bits off the bottom. Then set to 20 mins. / 100°C / sp.1. (remove the MC once the temperature comes up to 100°C)
- Check the taste, season with salt and pepper. Then serve garnished with a squeeze of lime, a sprinkling of coriander and some finely sliced green chillies if you like.
Notes
- It looks good to cut the pumpkin into small cubes so that it roughly matches the size of the sweetcorn and onion pieces. However, you can make the pumpkin pieces as small or as large as you like – just adjust the cooking time accordingly (cook longer if the pumpkin pieces are bigger).
- The cooking time is a guide only. It can happily sit simmering slowly for longer if you are busy dealing with other things. The longer you cook the soup, the softer the pumpkin goes and it may start to disintegrate into the soup if you cook it for a very long time but it just makes for a thicker consistency so no need to stress with this recipe – it will work to your timings.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a ⭐ star rating ⭐ on the recipe card!
More Delicious Vegan and Gluten-Free Soup Recipes
If you like this Vegan Spiced Pumpkin and Sweetcorn Soup recipe, you may like these other delicious vegan and gluten-free soup recipes and pumpkin recipes too:
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