I know fall has arrived when I sit down to a big bowl of this curried pumpkin soup. I’ve been making a giant pot of this pumpkin soup every autumn for years now. I somehow managed to eat every last drop of it and now my stomach is growling at me wanting more.
Mmm bacon. Why must you be so damn delicious? And how is it that bacon manages to make EVERYTHING taste better? Curried pumpkin soup, caramel popcorn, devilled eggs, peanut butter cookies, turtles …
Now if you really don’t want to eat bacon, I understand. No, actually I don’t, but I promise I won’t judge. Bacon has been a new addition to the curried pumpkin soup I am used to making and it is also really great without it.
Try serving this soup in hollowed out mini pumpkins like this Curried Pumpkin Soup with Maple and Ginger Caramelized Onions for some serious autumn cuteness.
Recipe adapted (aka: bacon was added) from Food.com
- 4 slices of bacon
- 2 large onions, one thinly sliced and the other finely minced
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 15-ounce can unsweetened, unseasoned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix!)
- 1-2 tablespoons oil
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste
- 1 large apple, peeled, cored and diced
- Juice of 1 large orange
- 3 cups water, stock or milk of your choice (I prefer almond milk)
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- Add bacon to a medium frying pan and cook over medium heat until bacon is crispy. Remove bacon from frying pan and set aside. When it is cool enough to handle, crumble into smaller pieces. Drain all but 4 tablespoons of bacon fat from the pan.
- Add sliced onions to the pan with the bacon fat and cook till very soft and lightly browned, about 5 or 6 minutes. Add the maple syrup and ginger, reduce heat to medium low and continue cooking, stirring often, until the onions are thick and caramelized, about 10 minutes. Stir in crumbled bacon and set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a large soup pot over medium high heat, combine couple of tbsp of oil and the remaining finely minced onion, the curry powder, red pepper flakes and the apple. Sauté until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes
- Mix in the pumpkin and orange juice, then transfer everything in the soup pot to a food processor or blender. Add the milk or water and puree until smooth
- Return the soup to the pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Season generously with salt and pepper
- To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with caramelized onions.
Want to curl up by the fireplace with a big bowl of soup? Check out:
Black Bean and Corn Chilli with Avocado Salsa
Acorn Squash and Coconut Curry
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve definitely joined the rest of the world and fallen back in love with bacon this past year too. Will be making this soup for sure!
It so good, right! I don’t know how I managed to go so many years without eating bacon
Wow! I love the combo of bacon and onions as the ultimate soup topper. I have a bacon marmalade recipe and can’t wait to use it atop soups. Thanks for the inspiration!
I’m most intrigued by those maple onions. They’re beautiful!
Thank you so much, Michelle!
I am such a huge fan of curried anything and I think I am the biggest pumpkin fan known to man so this combination sounds unreal!!
Holy crap, this soup is so good! I used frozen butternut squash instead of pumpkin because my grocery store was out (In October…how dare they!) and it is still delicious. Eating leftovers for lunch right now!
How dare they is right! I love butternut squash too … I might just try that next time
Wow, this looks absolutely perfect. I can’t wait for the weather to get a little cooler, and I will definitely be trying this!
Looks awesome! If I wanted to use fresh pumpkin vs canned, do you know how much I would need to roast? Thanks~!
Thanks, Rachel! A 15 oz can is almost 2 cups (8oz per cup) so you are going to want that much in the end. I would start off with at least twice as much pumpkin as it will shrink as you bake it. Remember to use pie pumpkins or squash and not the kind of pumpkins used for carving as they don’t have much flavour. Also, if you add a little more or a little less the recipe will still work out great
I am looking forward to making this soup tonight! I was thinking of making it with pumpkin the first time and then butternut squash another time. How much fresh butternut squash should I use? Thanks for sharing!
Hi Erika,
I would love to hear how it turns out using butternut squash!
If I were going to make it with butternut squash I would add a little more than the 15 oz the recipe calls for. Maybe start with 3 cups and then adjust the seasonings and liquid after you blend it.
If you are using fresh butternut squash you will need it to cook in some liquid so you may want to add some of the liquid with the squash. Also, remember that milk can curdle when boiled so it is probably best to use something else. I really like almond milk in this recipe but water or stock would be great too.
Let me know how it turns out
That soup is heaven! So great. I’m not a huge pumpkin fan but was going to try but couldn’t find the plain cooked pumpkin at the store and wasn’t ready to carve one up and cook so I baked a butternut squash and subbed that. Delicious!! I used just slightly more than the 15 ounces and it was great.
The crunch of the bacon on top was incredible!
Thank you!
That’s so great to know that butternut squash works too. Thank you so much for letting me know!
We are full time Airstream dwellers, and while the process was a little challenging in my tiny kitchen, I have never felt as snuggly and at home as I just did lapping up this soup. Thank you for warming our bellies with this amazing creation! And cheers to bacon from us as well.
Hi Brette,
Full time Airstream dwellers? That sounds so romantic!
You’ve put a smile on my face thinking of you guys all warm and cozy in your Airstream with a bowl of soup in your hands
Hi this recipe looks delicious !!!!!
Love the pictures !!
But i’m trying to print and wont let me, can you tell me why?
Hi Gabriela,
I’m not sure why that was happening. I tried myself and it seems to be working. Maybe it was just a temporary glitch in the system when you were trying. I hope it works now for you!
This recipe looks delicious, gonna try it today.
I printed successfully when clicking on the print icon, but the text “Print” takes me to a different sites such as Yellow Pages for example. It is yet another ad!
Hi Cathy,
I’m not sure what is going on with the ‘Print’ button. I don’t have an ad there so that’s really strange! So you think it is possible that you accidentally clicked on the ad that is beside the recipe? I’ve tried it several times and it seems to be working ok from my end. If you notice this again can you let me know? I would really appreciate it!
Thanks
My family enjoyed this soup! I tried it before adding the onions on top and it was a bit plain, but with the onions it was great. Thanks for the recipe.
I agree that the caramelized onions make the soup
Awesome Recipe
I love soup… Here is another one you might like.
http://www.wascene.com/food-drink/healthy-butternut-pumpkin-soup/
Thanks for sharing,
Jen
I made this soup last night and it was increadible! I will definitely add this to my list of favorites!
Wonderful soup! We make our own maple syrup and I’m always happy to find another way to use it. It was a big hit, thanks for sharing your recipe!
You make your own maple syrup? Wow … I have to admit that I’m a little jealous right now. I’ve never tried homemade maple syrup but I can imagine it is absolutely delicious!!
I’ve never made soup with pumpkin before, but the combination of flavours is incredible!
I have an immersion blender so it’s very easy now to make cream soups. Thanks for the recipe!
No problem at all, Suzanne!
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