This roasted pumpkin and cauliflower soup has all the fall flavors and is so cozy and warming! Easy to make on the stove top, it combines roasted vegetables with a touch of spice and coconut milk for a creamy vegan soup perfect for a winter lunch or light dinner.
Love pumpkin soup? Then you may like to see my pumpkin pesto soup as well, for a delicious herby, garlicky flavour.
This vegan pumpkin and cauliflower soup without cream is cozy comfort food at its best! It's a hearty soup packed with flavor from delicious roasted pumpkins and cauliflower, as well as fragrant spices.
Making this creamy pumpkin soup is super simple - it comes together so easily with just a bit of roasting of veggies and cooking up on the stove top. Nothing complicated to do!
As fall always means one thing, all the pumpkins, perhaps you may like a cozy dinner with my pumpkin alfredo or maybe my pumpkin spice oatmeal cookies as a fun sweet treat!
Have a peek at my orzo vegetable soup for another veggie option for a tasty lunch!
⭐ Why this recipe is so good
Fall flavors. Make the most of seasonal pumpkins by making a hearty soup perfect for lunch or dinner!
Vegan pumpkin cauliflower soup. We don't use cream or other dairy in this soup, but make it lovely and creamy with a splash of coconut milk.
Simple recipe. Just a little roasting of veggies, and then we cook up the soup in your pot on the stove top. No fancy equipment needed!
🍲 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
A few notes on some of the ingredients:
- Pumpkin - not just for carving into scary faces for Halloween! Fresh pumpkin is delicious, but be sure to pick a fresh unbruised one without any wrinkles (a sign it is older). You can use pie pumpkins (sugar pumpkins), Kent pumpkin, Japanese pumpkin (kabocha squash) or other types such as butternut squash.
- Coconut milk - for a creamy pumpkin soup that's dairy free. You want the type in a can rather than a carton used for coffee.
- Onion and garlic - to provide a ton of flavor to the base of the soup.
- Sweet paprika - for a touch of spice. Sweet paprika isn't hot as regular paprika is. I like the Szeged sweet paprika.
📖 Swaps and variations
Swap sweet paprika for ginger. If you like a bit more spice to your soup, then a small knob of diced fresh root ginger would be lovely.
Swap pumpkin for other types of pumpkin / squash. You can easily swap out for butternut squash or similar.
🔪 Step by step instructions
The full instructions are in the recipe card below, but some pictures to help guide you make this easy fall pumpkin cauliflower soup:
Step 1
Roast the pumpkin and cauliflower. Add the diced pumpkin to a lined baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and the herbs and spices (image 1). Roast for 20 minutes, then add the cauliflower florets and cook for a further 20-25 minutes until the vegetables are fork tender with light browning on their edges.
Step 2
Sauté the onion and garlic. Drizzle olive oil in a large pot and sauté onion and garlic for a few minutes, then add the celery and continue to cook for a further few minutes (image 2).
Recipe tip: scatter the pumpkin on one side of your baking tray so you have room to add the cauliflower later!
Step 3
Cook the pumpkin cauliflower soup. Add the vegetables along with the vegetable stock to the pot and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat and pour in the coconut milk. Stir well, and cook on a very light simmer for 5 minutes (image 3).
Step 4
Blend the soup. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup (image 4). If it is too thick for your preference you can add some more hot vegetable stock.
Season with salt and black pepper to taste, ladle into your serving bowls and then serve immediately and enjoy!
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- Don't be tempted to add the cauliflower to the baking tray at the same time as the pumpkin! It will likely burn on the edges as it takes less time to cook.
- Dice the cauliflower and pumpkin into roughly similar size pieces for an even roast.
- This makes a fairly thick soup. If you prefer a thinner consistency, simply add another half or full cup of vegetable stock.
- If you don't have an immersion blender, simply transfer batches of the soup to a food processor. You may need to allow it to cool slightly before blending.
📋 Frequently asked questions
Yes, butternut squash would work equally well in the soup. You may need to add a touch more vegetable stock to the pot while cooking.
You can skip roasting the vegetables, but the soup won't have the same depth of flavour that you get from roasting them.
If you want to add extra vegetables, carrots or a small amount of parsnip would be good. Make sure to adjust the amount of vegetable stock and herbs to account for the extra veg!
🧊 Storage and freezing
This pumpkin cauliflower soup will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
You can easily freeze this soup for another easy lunch or dinner! Simply portion into freezer-safe containers or ziploc bags and freeze for 2-3 months. To use, simply heat on a very low gentle heat in a large pot on the stove top.
I suggest that my low histamine readers will want to freeze leftovers rather than keep them in the fridge.
🥘 More fall-inspired recipes
Find lots of tasty fall recipes to try for a main meal or snack, including my cinnamon overnight oats and these recent recipes:
I’m always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And please do leave a star rating ⭐ if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Roasted Pumpkin and Cauliflower Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil divided
- 1.5 pounds sugar pumpkin peeled and diced, or other pumpkin
- 2 cups cauliflower florets diced
- ½ onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced or finely diced
- 1 celery stick diced
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 1 cup coconut milk
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 rosemary sprig
- pinch salt to taste
- pinch black pepper
- fresh parsley to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 390F / 200C and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Once at temperature scatter the diced pumpkin on one side of the tray. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle on the dried thyme and sweet paprika and nestle the rosemary between the pumpkin cubes. Roast for 20 minutes.
- After the pumpkin has had 20 minutes, add the cauliflower florets to the tray and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for a further 20 minutes.
- Sauté onion and garlic in a little oil in a large pot for a few minutes, then add the diced celery. Cook for another 2-3 minutes until the onion has softened.
- Discard the rosemary sprig, then add the roasted pumpkin and cauliflower along with the vegetable stock to the pot. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a very light simmer. Pour in the coconut milk and stir well. Cook for five minutes.
- Blend the soup with an immersion blender, adding more vegetable stock if you prefer a looser consistency. If required keep the pot on the heat for a few minutes to warm through.
- Ladle the pumpkin soup into your bowls and garnish with fresh parsley. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
Notes
- Dice the pumpkin and cauliflower into roughly similar sized pieces for an even roast.
- Don't be tempted to add the cauliflower along with the pumpkin at the start of the cook time as it will likely burn.
- This recipe makes a fairly thick soup. Add another half or a full cup of vegetable stock if you prefer a thinner consistency.
- If you don't have an immersion blender you can transfer batches to a food processor and blend that way.
- Please note that nutritional information is offered as a courtesy. It is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- garlic, which scores 1.
- black pepper, which scores 2.
- vegetable stock is not rated on the SIGHI list.
- pumpkin scores 0 on the SIGHI list, but a couple of readers have mentioned that they have been advised not to consume it. Always follow the advice of your doctor or dietician.
Zuzia says
hii~ i was wondering if it’s okay to use frozen pumpkin? if yes, how should one proceed with it?
btw, i really love your recipes and i’m so thankful for your site! thank you <3
Claire says
Hi Zuzia, I haven't used frozen pumpkin myself for this soup but it should work fine. It may release a little more liquid than fresh, so adjust with the amount of stock as needed. I would thaw it for a little while before adding to the soup. And thank you - so glad you like the recipes!
Lucy says
This is delicious! The perfect warm comforting meal for the autumn months!
throughthefibrofog says
So glad you like it Lucy!
Sheryl Chan says
This looks autumn perfect! Admittedly i don't like pumpkin all that much but only in thick creamy soups. Yum!
throughthefibrofog says
I guess it isn't really a Singapore appropriate dish, but maybe on the odd random cold day if you get them?!
Shruti Chopra says
I've never had pumpkin soup or maybe I have and can't remember but I've been living in a warm city for so long now that I don't remember when I last had such a wholesome thick soup - now I'm really keen to experience after ages. I'll need to give it a go soon considering pumpkin is really easily available here and of course, with October just a few days away - it's the right time to believe its winter (with the help of the AC) while slurping away on this soup!
throughthefibrofog says
I always forget that you don't really have a winter Shruti, I don't know why. But maybe you had pumpkin soup when you were here in London? Hope you enjoy if you give it a go (with the help of the AC of course!!
Carrie Kellenberger says
Terrific recipe. I was thinking about you last night and wondering about coconut cream while making a Thai soup. Now I have my answer. I've just finished another round of freezer meals today and here we are with you mentioning meal preps being THE thing to do. I feel so on trend today. 🙂
throughthefibrofog says
Haha! Meal prep is great isn't it. Always feels good to have some meals to heat up on a more difficult day when cooking feels like too much. Thai soup sounds so delicious. I use to have it a lot near where I used to work. Will have to try and recreate it!
Holly Perkins says
Can i sub pumpkin puree instead of a raw pumpkin? If so, how much?
throughthefibrofog says
Hi Holly, I haven't used pumpkin puree in this soup myself, but I've had a look and there are similar recipes online which do use puree. To serve 4 persons, the usual quantities seem to be 2 15 ounce cans of puree with 2 cups of stock. You will need the stock as raw pumpkin has quite a high water content, and puree won't have as much. Let me know how you get on!