Spicy Pumpkin Carrot Soup

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This luscious spicy pumpkin carrot soup is super creamy, healthy and gently spiced. It’s the perfect cozy and warming fall or winter soup ready in 25 minutes!

Top view of a bowl full of pumpkin carrot soup topped with croutons and garnished with pumpkin seeds and chili flakes.

The delicious pumpkin and carrots make an irresistible orange dairy-free pumpkin soup, while curry, turmeric, and chili flakes are perfect to jazz up that delicate sweet flavor.

Flavor, silky texture, convenience, and health benefits, this easy recipe ticks all the boxes and make a wonderful soup to serve with your favorite winter salads and even holiday entrées.

Serve it with crusty panini bread, toasted focaccia, or add some croutons like I did for these photos. It’s good that you will make it over and over again.

Another great bonus is that, with just a few inexpensive ingredients, you can make up a big batch in one go and then keep leftovers in the fridge, they taste even better the next day.

What ingredients you need

  • Pumpkin or butternut squash
  • Carrots
  • Onion
  • Garlic
  • Olive oil
  • Spices (curry, turmeric, chili flakes)
  • Vegetable broth
  • Coconut milk
  • Lemon juice (optional)
  • Salt & pepper
The ingredients for the pumpkin carrot soup are arranged over a white countertop.

How to make it

  • Saute’ onion in olive oil for 5 minutes
  • Add garlic, spices and stir for 1 minute
  • Add pumpkin, carrots, salt, pepper and give a good stir
Top view of a white pot with diced onions, spices , pumpkin and carrots.
  • Add vegetable broth, coconut milk and cook for about 15 minutes
  • Turn off the heat, adjust the seasoning, blend (I use this high-speed blender, but a good hand blender will do just fine!).
  • Serve with crusty bread or croutons and garnish with chili flakes and seeds. Easy peasy!
Top view of a white pot with pumpkin and carrot soup

Recipe notes & tips

Plus, pumpkin and carrots are low on in calories and packed with vitamins and health benefits, including being some of the best sources of beta-carotene.

To make this soup healthier, turmeric adds amazing health properties since it works as a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer spice.

Close-up of a bowl of pumpkin carrot soup garnished with croutons, pumpkin seeds and chili flakes.
Recipe updated: originally posted in September 2019, I’ve tweaked the post adding more notes and new pictures.

How to cut a pumpkin?

Firstly, it’s best to use a sharp knife and a chopping board.
Make sure the chopping board doesn’t slip and cut the top and bottom off the pumpkin to make it flat and stable.

Then stand the pumpkin with the flat-side down, and remove strips with the knife blade facing down. Once you removed all the skin, cut it into sections, and scrape the pumpkin seeds out with a spoon.

Now you can cut you pumpkin into chunks, never mind if they’re not the same size, pumpkin cooks quickly and you’re going to blend it.

Coconut milk

This light recipe calls for a small amount of coconut milk just to round out the flavors. Or, if you don’t have any coconut milk on hand, you can swap it with almond or cashew milk.

How long does this pumpkin carrot soup last?

It keeps well in the fridge for up to 3 days. t’s also freezable: divide among airtight containers (leaving 1-inch space at the top), and freeze up to 2 months.

More pumpkin recipes?

If you make this spicy pumpkin and carrot soup, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it or tag a photo #theclevermeal on Instagram. I would love to hear from you! x

Print Recipe
5 from 3 votes

Spicy pumpkin carrot soup

This luscious spicy pumpkin carrot soup is warming, creamy, and packed with health benefits. Plus, it's vegan, budget-friendly, gluten-free, and it's on the table in 25 minutes
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Soup
Cuisine: vegan
Keyword: pumpkin carrot soup
Servings: 3
Calories: 189kcal
Author: Katia

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow or white onion, sliced or chopped
  • 1 tps ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1/4 tsp chili flakes, plus more to serve if you like
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1 lb (450 grams) Pumpkin (or butternut squash), peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
  • 1/2 lb (220 grams) Carrots, cut into chunks
  • 2 cups (480 ml) low salt vegetable broth
  • 1/3 cup (80 ml) coconut milk
  • 1/2 tsp fine salt, plus more to taste*
  • 1/8 tsp ground black pepper*
  • 1/2 lemon, juice (optional)

Instructions

  • Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add onion and cook for about 5 minutes until the onion starts to soften.
  • Then add garlic, turmeric, curry powder, chili flakes, and stir for about 1 minute.
  • Add pumpkin, carrots, salt, pepper, and give a good stir.
  • Add broth, coconut milk, and bring to the boil.
  • Reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the carrot and the pumpkin are cooked through and soft. Stir occasionally.
  • Turn off the heat and let it cool slightly. Working in batches, transfer the contents to a blender (do not fill your blender past the maximum fill line and be careful with the hot soup!) and purée the mixture until smooth. Alternatively, you can use a hand blender.
  • Stir the lemon juice into the blended soup (optional), then taste and season with additional salt if necessary (I use low salt vegetable broth + ½ tsp of salt + ⅛ tsp of black pepper).
  • Ladle soup into individual bowls. Top the soup with toasted pumpkin seeds, crusty bread or croutons, and extra chili flakes if you like.

Notes

  • BROTH: I usually make my own vegetable broth cooking for about 10 minutes vegetable scraps and herbs. However, when I’m short on time I go for hot water and vegan low salt vegetable broth cubes.
  • SALT: If you use a broth that tastes quite salty on its own, it’s important to adjust the seasoning at the end and not at the beginning as you never really know how strong the salt from the broth is.
  • CHILI: The chili flakes flavor is quite predominant, you might reduce/skip this spice if you’re not a big fan of hot spicy soup.

Nutrition

Calories: 189kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 445mg | Potassium: 874mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 25028IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 73mg | Iron: 3mg

32 Comments

  1. Hello I have a couple of questions:
    First, if I use pumpkin purée instead, would I still put 450g?

    Second, is the coconut milk your using from a can or just the regular coconut milk. Can I use table cream instead?

    1. Hi Tala! I’ve never tested this recipe with pumpkin puree, but I guess 450 grams should be fine, than you can easily adjust seasoning and consistency accordingly.
      The coconut milk is from the can. You can use table cream instead of coconut milk, but the flavor will be different. : )

  2. 5 stars
    Just made this and it’s great!! You weren’t kidding though, the chili flake have a huge kick when cooked and blended!! I don’t usually comment on recipes but I was very impressed. Cheap and easy too 🙂

    Thanks!

    1. Brilliant, thanks so much for sharing your feedback, Eva.
      I love this soup too, kick included! : )
      Cheers xx

  3. Hey,

    So I posted a comment about the calories being understated by around 50%, and it was deleted…

    1. Hi Kevin, I usually don’t delete comments. That might happen ONLY when the comments are rude, spammy, and not useful.
      Re the calorie count you’re right, the nutritional info here were not accurate and I apologise for this, I usually check them carefully but it looks like I didn’t this time.
      I’ve amended them now! Thanks for pointing out the mistake (again, I didn’t delete your comment). x

  4. do I have to add coconut milk generally speaking? if so can I sub for almond milk

    1. Hi! Yes, you can use almond milk, but the final flavor would be a bit different : )

  5. can i use soy milk instead of coconut?

    1. Hi! You can use soya milk but it’s not the same, coconut milk has a richer texture and its flavor pairs well with curry powder. x

  6. 5 stars
    Delicious soup Katia. Thank you for the recipe!

    1. You’re so welcome, Angelina! I’m so glad you liked it, and thanks for sharing your lovely feedback.x

  7. Bob Wheatley says:

    I see the nutrition info, but it don’t see the serve size. How much is one serving?

    1. One serving is approx 2 cups! 🙂

  8. Could you use canned organic pumpkin puree instead at all?

    1. Hi Kristen! Yes, you can use canned puree 😊

  9. Leanne Pullman says:

    Hello, would this still be nice if I skip out on the spiciness? Or would that be gross? Thanks

    1. Hello! 😊 You might leave out chili flakes, black pepper, and turmeric if you wish, but try to add at least the curry powder, it works brilliantly with coconut milk. Spices help to balance out the sweetness of this soup, I wouldn’t skip them altogether 😉

  10. 5 stars
    YUM! I’m relatively “new” to utilizing Curries in my culinary exploration. It’s a wonderful taste explosion! I did “risk” doubling the recipe & I’m so glad I did. Thank you for sharing & it’s been saved to make again.

    1. You’re so welcome, Tina! Thank you for sharing your lovely feedback 😊

  11. what is the serving size

    1. It’s approximately 2 cups x

    2. Claire Thayer says:

      Is it 1 tsp or tbsp of turmeric?

    3. Hello Claire, it’s a tsp 😊

  12. Hi,
    don’t know if anyone has notice this before, but on the printable recipe, under ingredients the coconut milk is missing. But otherwise thanks for all the delicious recipes 🙂

    1. Thanks so much for your comment, that was an oversight, I’ve amended now! 💛

    2. Yes, you can 😊

    3. Anna Maria says:

      Loved the soup is much!!!
      Would definitely cook it again, such an autumn vibe!

    4. Thanks so much for your lovely feedback, Anna Maria! Would you pls add the start rating next time, that’s very helpful for the other readers.
      Have a nice weekend. x

  13. 5 stars
    Thank you for the recipe! I did a combination of sugar pumpkin and some butternut squash. Creamy and delicious!

    1. Hi Abigail, thanks for your feedback, I’m so happy it turned out delicious! 🙂

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