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Creamy from coconut milk and a little bit nutty thanks to roasted cauliflower, this creamy curry pumpkin soup is basically autumn in a bowl—warm, cozy, and just spiced enough. It also happens to be full of good-for-you things like antioxidants and fiber, but honestly, you’re mostly here for the flavor.
This isn’t your typical pumpkin soup. No real sweetness—just warm curry spices, roasted cauliflower, and that deeply golden, silky-smooth thing we all want this time of year. It’s simple, seasonal, and delightfully unfussy. And if you’ve made my vegetarian chickpea curry with coconut milk, you’ll recognize the vibes here (and probably love them).
Craving more cozy bowls to curl up with? Try the vegetarian lasagna soup, the chicken tortilla soup, or the wildly popular Italian wedding soup with chicken meatballs.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Curry Pumpkin Soup
- Freezes well—This recipe makes a large batch of soup, so you can freeze portions for future meals.
- It’s healthy—It’s loaded with veggies, antioxidants, and healing spices. Also, despite the lusciously rich texture, no heavy creams are used.
- It’s quick—I use canned pumpkin purée rather than fresh pumpkin for ultimate convenience.
Ingredients
A full ingredient list with exact measurements is available in the recipe card below.
- Pumpkin: I use canned pumpkin purée for convenience, rather than fresh pumpkin, which you’d have to peel, cut, and roast. Just be sure to get puréed pumpkin, and not pumpkin pie purée.
- Coconut milk: You want full-fat and unsweetened.
- Cauliflower: Roasted, it brings a wonderfully nutty flavor. Check out my roasted cauliflower soup with cheese for another way to enjoy it.
- Toppings: I like topping my bowl of soup off with croutons, chili flakes, microgreens, and a whirl of cream. You could also add pepitas, walnuts, or pomegranate arils for a punch of sweetness.
Modifications
- Curry paste: This yellow curry paste works great in place of curry powder.
- Broth: This recipe makes for a pretty thick soup. You can easily loosen it by adding more broth while blending.
How to Make Curry Pumpkin Soup: Step-By-Step
Step 1: Roast the Cauliflower
Preheat your oven to 425º F. Scatter your cauliflower florets over a parchment-lined baking sheet, drizzle them with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Pop the cauliflower into the oven for 30 minutes.
Step 2: Sautée and Season the Onions
About 10 minutes before your cauliflower is ready, heat the oil in a Dutch oven or stock pot. Add the onions and sauté until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and spices; stir to coat the onions.
Step 3: Add the Roasted Cauliflower and Pumpkin
Add the roasted cauliflower and pumpkin purée to the pot. Give it a good stir, then stir in the broth and coconut milk.
Step 4: Let It Simmer
Bring the soup to a simmer, then reduce the heat and simmer on low for 10-15 minutes.
Step 5: Blend Until Smooth
Carefully transfer the soup to a blender (in batches), and blend until smooth. If you’d like some texture to your soup, you could use an immersion blender to blend it right in the pot until you get the texture you want.
Recipe Tip
If the soup is too thick for your liking, add a bit more broth and blend. Do this until you get the consistency you want.
Frequently Asked Questions
To really enhance the flavor of your pumpkin soup, you can use curry powder, cumin, nutmeg, coriander, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. The spices you use depend on what flavor profile you’re going for. Cinnamon is mainly used when leaning into a sweeter soup.
Using enough salt is essential. If you’ve used a low-sodium broth and your soup tastes bland, stir in a few pinches of salt until the flavors pop.
Storage, Freezing, & Reheating
- Leftover pumpkin soup can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days.
- To freeze, let the pumpkin soup cool. Transfer it to freezer-friendly containers and freeze for 3-6 months. Thaw it out in the fridge the night before you want to enjoy it.
- To reheat, transfer the soup to a pot and cook over low to medium heat, stirring frequently until warmed through.
If you try this Creamy Curry Pumpkin Soup, please pop back and leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Creamy Curry Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients
- 2-3 TBSP olive oil
- 1 head of cauliflower (about 4 cups, give or take, once it's chopped into florets)
- 1 white or yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
- 2 cups canned unsweetened pumpkin purée, Careful not to mistake canned pumpkin purée for canned pumpkin pie filling.
- 14 oz can of unsweetened coconut milk
- 2 TBSP curry powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- Sea salt and cracked pepper, to taste
Garnish Ideas:
- A drizzle of cream
- Chopped croutons
- Microgreens
- Pepitas or sunflower seeds
- Chili flakes
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425º F.
- Prepare a parchment-lined baking sheet and distribute your cauliflower florets over it in an even layer. Drizzle some olive oil over the florets and season them with salt and pepper. Roast them in the oven for 30 minutes without tossing them.
- 10 minutes before the cauliflower is done, heat 1 TBSP of oil in a Dutch oven or stock pot. Add the onions and sautée until they've softened and become translucent. Then add the garlic and spices; stir to coat. If you need to add extra oil because the pan is seeming dry, go ahead.
- When the cauliflower is ready, add it to the pot along with the pumpkin purée. Give it a good stir, and then stir in the broth and coconut milk.
- Bring everything to a simmer, then crank the heat down and simmer on low for 10-15 minutes.
- To blend, carefully transfer the soup to a blender (you will do this in batches), and blend until smooth. If you prefer some texture to your soup, you could simply use an immersion blender and blend the soup right there in the pot until you get the texture you prefer!
- Serve and garnish with croutons, pepitas, microgreens, a drizzle of cream, chili flakes, etc.
Used lemon instead of vinegar and added a little garlic. Came out great!
I’m glad it came out great, but there is no vinegar in this recipe. So I’m glad you didn’t use it!
This is so tasty! We’ve been loving the leftovers too!
Awesome!
Fabulous! I love soups seasoned with curry powder seasoning. Such beautiful flavors.
Me too! Always adds extra coziness.
Oh, I love this so much! Such a great idea to add cauliflower to this seasonal soup.
Thanks :)
The flavors and texture is amazing!! This is my new favorite fall soup.
Aw, thanks Angela! I love this!
Gorgeous photos! I can’t wait to try this one. It looks so creamy and flavorful.
Thanks, Elizabeth. Keep me posted :)