A fresh and warming soup recipe to tuck into around the dinner table this Thanksgiving.

This smooth and flavorful creamy pumpkin soup recipe is perfect for autumn, obviously Thanksgiving, but anytime during the colder months! The addition of ginger lends a sweet and spicy flavor to a traditional seasonal dish, while the cinnamon croutons are lovely and make the soup reminiscent of pumpkin pie.

If you are cooking the fresh pumpkin yourself, carve it in half, scrape out the seeds and string and save the seeds to roast or sauté.

Add salt and pepper and bake in a bain-marie pan with water to cover about 1/4" of the pumpkin placed flesh side down. Roast at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until just tender, depending on size. Keep checking so as not to overcook.

Thanksgiving pumpkin soup recipe

Ingredients:

  • 3 tablespoons margarine, softened
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 4 slices whole-wheat bread
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 2 (14.5 ounce) cans of chicken broth
  • 1lb fresh pumpkin cooked and pureed OR a (15 ounce) can of pumpkin puree
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Spread butter mixture evenly over one side of each bread slice. Place bread, buttered side up, on a baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until the bread is crisp and the topping is bubbly. Cut each slice of bread into 8 small triangles or squares.

Sauté onion in butter in a medium saucepan until tender.

Add 1 can of chicken broth; stir well. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.

Transfer the broth mixture to the container of a blender or processor. Process until smooth.

Return mixture to saucepan. Add the remaining can of broth, pumpkin, salt, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground pepper; stir well. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in whipping cream and heat through. Do not boil. Ladle into individual soup bowls. Top each serving with cinnamon croutons.

And finally ...

What's the ratio of a pumpkin's circumference to its diameter?

3.1415926535897932384626433... {Ahem, pumpkin pi!}

* Originally published in 2011, last updated in Nov 2023.