Made with minimal, whole food ingredients, this creamy vegan pumpkin peanut butter soup is a hearty, healthy soup that everyone will enjoy this fall season!
We love soup all year round. Red lentil soup, creamy tomato zucchini soup, maafe (aka African peanut stew) and others are always on rotation, no matter the season. This plant-based pumpkin peanut butter soup is a unique twist on classic pumpkin soup that you will adore! Adding peanut butter to pumpkin soup creates a creamy richness to it, while still keeping it light and healthy. We love drizzling some coconut cream on top and serving this soup with either a crusty sourdough bread, this wonderful artisan bread or fluffy pumpkin vegan cornbread muffins!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe!
- This pumpkin peanut butter soup requires less than 10 ingredients and one-pot to make. Count me in!
- This is a very hands-off recipe. The only ingredient you have to sauté is the fresh ginger. After that you put all of the ingredients into the pot, bring the liquid to a simmer and let the stove do the rest of the work. It's the perfect recipe for any beginner-soup-makers.
- If you've had pumpkin soup before, you'll love the subtle addition of peanut butter in this recipe. Natural peanut butter adds a beautiful richness, but the peanut butter flavor doesn't overpower the pumpkin.
- Allow this soup to sit in the fridge and it will taste better the next day, making it great for meal prep!
Ingredients
- Ginger - I always have fresh ginger in my fridge. When stored properly, it lasts forever! I love using about 1 heaping tablespoon of freshly grated or minced ginger in this pumpkin peanut butter soup. If you don't have fresh ginger on hand, you can also try using ground ginger.
- Onion - Again, fresh is best. I roughly slice my onion since the entire soup will be pureed in the end.
- Garlic - Did I mention fresh is best? Especially when a recipe calls for so few ingredients, using freshly bought and cut aromatics makes a big different. You can use anywhere from 3-5 (or more!) cloves of garlic.
- Pumpkin (obviously) - I love to use freshly cut pumpkin in this recipe. It's tedious to cut the skin off pumpkin and then cut it into cubes, but it's worth it. I know some people use pumpkin puree in their pumpkin soup as well. That would cut down the cooking process drastically and you may also have to reduce the amount of vegetable broth.
- Peanut Butter - Any natural peanut butter should work. I always have my homemade peanut butter on hand, so that's what I use, but as long as the only ingredients are peanut butter and some salt, you're good to go! Peanut butter adds a beautiful depth of richness that is subtle but such a game-changer!
- Vegetable Broth - Vegetable broth from a carton or from a stock cube both will work in this recipe. I find veggie stock cubes super affordable and easy to store, so that's what I use in this recipe.
- Spices - This simple vegan pumpkin soup calls for only cumin and some salt. However, I'll list out some different variations below incase you want to jazz things up even more!
Substitutions & Variations
- Curry Pumpkin Soup - I love this soup with some curry powder instead of peanut butter and cumin. Simply add in 1-3 teaspoons of good quality curry powder to the ginger after it cooks and toast the curry powder for a minute or two. Then continue on with the recipe, but omit the peanut butter and cumin at the end.
- Red Lentil Pumpkin Soup - If you want to bulk up this recipe with some extra veggies and protein, then you need to try this red lentil pumpkin soup!
- Coconut Pumpkin Soup - To make this pumpkin soup creamy, you can add in a can of coconut milk before pureeing the soup and either keep the peanut butter or omit it. Just keep in mind that adding more liquid may mean you need to add in some more salt and spices.
How to Make Pumpkin Peanut Butter Soup
Step 1: In a large sauce pan, heat the olive oil and sauté the minced ginger until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Step 2: Add in the next few ingredients, from the pumpkin to the water, and bring everything to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and allow the soup to simmer for 10 minutes or until the pumpkin is fork tender.
Step 3: Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth.
Step 4: Add in the peanut butter, cumin, a pinch of salt and pepper and blend again. Taste and add more cumin, peanut butter or salt as desired. Serve with a drizzle of coconut cream and a side of artisan bread if desired!
Top Tips
- Most peanut butter is already salted, so keep that in mind when you add in the salt. I start with just a pinch and add more as needed!
- This pumpkin peanut soup thickens as it sits in the fridge, so you may need to thin it out a bit with more water or vegetable broth when you go to reheat it.
- Usually I like to add a burst of citrus to my soups, such as a squirt of lemon or lime juice. I personally don't do that with this pumpkin peanut butter soup, but you may want to in order to add some lightness and freshness.
Recipe FAQs
Start by sautéing your aromatics (garlic, ginger, onion) in a little oil in a large sauce pan. Add in desired spices and toast for another minute. Add in your cubed pumpkin and cover the pumpkin with liquid, either water, veggie broth and/or some milk. Allow the pumpkin to simmer until fork tender before blending until smooth with an immersion blender.
Most basic soups just require one large pot and a spoon for the cooking portion. To prepare the ingredients for the soup, you'll need a good knife and cutting board for cutting up your aromatics and veggies. Once your soup is cooked, you may want to use an immersion blender or a regular blender to blend the soup until smooth.
If you have any leftover pumpkin soup, you can simply place it in an airtight container in the fridge. The leftover soup should last for 3-4 days. Alternatively you can freeze leftover pumpkin soup for a couple of months in a freezer safe container.
It really depends on the recipe. If it's a creamy pumpkin soup, chances are it contains dairy, such as milk, cream or cheese, all of which aren't vegan. It's easy to make pumpkin soup vegan, however, simply by using vegan butter, non-dairy milk/coconut milk and omitting the cheese.
Many pumpkin soup recipes call for butter, milk, cream or cheese, or some combination of all 4. So be sure to read the ingredients or the label if buying a store-bought pumpkin soup. If eating at a restaurant, ask your server if the pumpkin soup is vegan. However, this pumpkin peanut butter soup doesn't have any dairy in it!
One way I like to jazz up any leftovers from this delicious vegan pumpkin soup recipe is to use the soup as a pasta sauce. The day after we enjoy this soup, I simply boiled some pasta and added the pasta to this soup. With some green peas, sautéed mushrooms and a touch of soy sauce for umami, this pumpkin peanut butter soup made a delicious pumpkin pasta dish!
More Veggie-Filled Soups!
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📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Peanut Butter Soup
Ingredients
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 2.4 pounds pumpkin, peeled and cubed (about 6-7 cups)* 1.2 kg
- 1 onion sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup natural peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional: coconut cream for garnish
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan, heat the olive oil and sauté the minced ginger until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Add in the next few ingredients, from the pumpkin to the water, and bring everything to a boil. The liquid will probably not cover the pumpkin completely and that's okay. Reduce the heat to a simmer and allow the soup to simmer for 10 minutes or until the pumpkin is fork tender.
- Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth.
- Add in the peanut butter, cumin, a pinch of salt and pepper and blend again. Taste and add more cumin, peanut butter or salt as desired.
- Serve with a drizzle of coconut cream.
Agatha says
What a brilliant idea to repurpose this is a pasta sauce! This sounds yummy-can’t wait to try it!
Faith VanderMolen says
Yes, let me know if you try it out and what you think Agatha! Thanks for commenting!
Poiema says
I made this with half butternut squash and half pumpkin, because that's what I had on hand. Loved the peanut butter! Since I had a couple of tablespoons of date syrup leftover from breakfast, I threw that in, too, and topped with Trader Joe's pumpkin spiced pumpkin seeds for garnish. Great recipe!
Faith VanderMolen says
Oh yum! Love all those substitutions. So glad they worked out for you and that you enjoyed the soup!
Joshua Howard says
Omg! Just made this for my family and they LOVED it. This soup was so delicious and hearty. This will definitely one of my new go-to recipes. Thank you!
Faith VanderMolen says
Yay! So so glad to hear that Joshua. Isn't it so easy too? If you have time to leave a star rating by clicking the stars at the top of the recipe card, that would be so helpful. Enjoy the soup...if you have any leftovers!
Erin says
This was so good! I was thinking of using butternut squash next time I make it, do you think the flavor profile would work the same? Thank you!
Faith VanderMolen says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it Erin! Yes, butternut squash would work great in this recipe, at least in my opinion. I hope this soup becomes a favorite! Thanks so much for sharing and rating the recipe. Happy fall!
Erin says
Thank you Faith! I'm definitely looking forward to making it again!
Faith VanderMolen says
You're so welcome Erin! Enjoy!
C S says
Can canned pumpkin be used instead of fresh?
Faith VanderMolen says
Hi! Yes, you should be able to use two cans of pumpkin puree instead of the fresh! Just add the canned pumpkin puree when the recipe says to add the fresh pumpkin and continue with the recipe. Let me know how you like it!