Roasted Cauliflower and Pumpkin Soup
This roasted cauliflower and pumpkin soup is rich, garlicky, and oh-so comforting! The smooth, creamy texture is perfectly complemented by crunchy kale and pancetta, making this simple soup surprisingly sophisticated! Oh, and did I mention it’s gluten-free?
Pumpkin soup was never a favorite of mine because every recipe I tried always tasted too sweet or too bland for my liking. This year, however, I’ve been trying to force myself to find ways to eat foods I usually wouldn’t enjoy by trying new recipes and experimenting with flavor.
For example, beets were never something I enjoyed eating until I tried Šaltibarščiai (Lithuanian pink soup). If I could make myself like beets, I knew I could come up with a soup recipe that really showcased the earthy, subtle flavor of roasted pumpkin!
The inspiration for this roasted cauliflower and pumpkin soup recipe came to me as I was making roasted garlic soup, which is one of my go-to’s whenever I’m feeling under the weather. In all honesty, I like this soup even better! The buttery, nutty flavor of the roasted garlic beautifully enhances the roasted pumpkin and cauliflower, and makes for a much more satisfying soup!
🥄 Why This Recipe Works
- This soup is a delicious way to get your daily veggies in.
- This pumpkin cauliflower soup will last up to a week in the fridge, making it great for meal-prepping!
- The soup itself is totally gluten-free! I like to serve mine with a side of fried baguette, but you can use gluten-free crackers or make your own gluten-free sourdough baguette!
- While this recipe is not vegan, you can easily tweak the ingredients to make it so!
🛒 What You Need To Make Roasted Cauliflower and Pumpkin Soup
📝 Recipe Modifications And Substitutions
- Pumpkin: I use sugar pie pumpkin, but any variety will work! I wouldn’t use pumpkin puree for this one, as you won’t be able to achieve the same roasted flavor.
- Cauliflower: Fresh cauliflower works best for roasting.
- Vegetable broth: Chicken broth works just as well.
- Garlic: I like to use 2 heads of garlic but you can even use 3 or 4 if you want it really garlicky!
- Heavy cream: Coconut milk is a great vegan alternative!
- Pancetta: Bacon bits make a great substitute.
- Herbs: I use fresh thyme, sage, and rosemary, but you may also want to add fresh ginger if you like it! You could even add a little pumpkin pie spice to give it more of a fall flavor!
*See above image or recipe card for full list of ingredients
🥣 What Equipment Do I Need?
You’ll need a baking tray, a large pot or Dutch oven, an immersion blender or stand blender, and tea sachets or soup bags!
🥘 How To Make This Recipe
Step 1: Chop cauliflower into florets, thinly slice shallot, and chop pumpkin into 1″ cubes. Slice garlic heads, exposing the cloves. Arrange vegetables on a foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, then season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast in the oven at 375° F for 40 minutes or until veggies are fork-tender.
Step 2: Meanwhile, in a large saucepan or pot, melt butter and sauté chopped onion on very low heat. Sauté for about 40 minutes or until caramelized, stirring occasionally.
Step 3: Add roasted veggies to the same pot as the onion along with vegetable broth.
Step 4: Add a sprig of rosemary, a sprig of thyme, and 1-3 sprigs of sage to a tea sachet and submerge in soup. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
Step 5: Remove herb sachet and blend ingredients using an immersion blender. Add remaining salt & pepper as well as heavy cream and stir to combine.
Pro Tip: If the soup is too thick for your liking you can add 1 cup of water to thin it out.
Step 6: Mix chopped kale into the soup, removing spines first if necessary. Continue to simmer on low heat for 1-2 minutes or until kale begins to wilt slightly. Remove from heat.
Step 7: In a small saucepan, fry diced pancetta until crispy, over medium heat about 5-7 minutes. Discard grease.
Step 8: Serve in individual bowls and top with a swirl of heavy cream, pancetta, and more fresh kale before serving.
Still hungry? Try this vegan stuffed butternut squash or this chicken pot pie soup!
More Delicious Soups To Try
Looking for more hearty, comforting soups? Take a look at these favorites!
- Gluten-free cream of mushroom soup
- Gochujang sweet potato soup
- Vegan tom kha soup
- Polish dill pickle soup
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
Pumpkin itself doesn’t have a particularly strong flavor, so you’ll need to rely heavily on herbs and spices. If your pumpkin soup tastes bland you may want to consider adding aromatics such as garlic, ginger, thyme, sage, and rosemary. It may also need additional seasoning such as salt, pepper, pumpkin pie spice, etc.
Cooked cauliflower can be an excellent soup thickener! It works best as a thickener when blended, but you can also use riced cauliflower to add both thickness and texture to a soup. This recipe requires no corn starch or roux, and is still delightfully thick thanks to the cauliflower!
👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
- Check out this guide if you don’t know how to cut a pumpkin!
- I recommend using a potato peeler to remove the skin of the pumpkin, as using a knife to remove it may result in removing too much of the pumpkin flesh.
- I suggest drizzling at least a tablespoon of oil on each garlic bulb and placing them near the edge of the pan. The garlic bulbs may need 5-10 minutes longer in the oven than the rest of the veggies, but wrapping them in foil may help them roast faster.
- I also like to line my baking sheet with foil just to make cleanup easier.
- The sachet makes it easier to remove the herbs after the soup is infused. If you don’t have a sachet, you can add the herbs directly into the soup, removing them before blending.
- You can add the pancetta grease into the soup to give it more flavor if you want, or you can reserve it and use it for something else.
- You may want to set aside some of the fresh herbs to use as a garnish!
Love this cauliflower and pumpkin soup recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
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Roasted Cauliflower and Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients
- 1 medium head cauliflower
- 1 shallot
- 3 cups sugar pie pumpkin (diced)
- 2 garlic head
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tsp salt (divided)
- ½ tsp black pepper (divided)
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1 yellow onion
- 4 cups veggie broth
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 sprig thyme
- 1-3 sprigs sage
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups kale
- 4 oz pancetta
Instructions
- Chop cauliflower into florets, thinly slice shallot, and chop pumpkin into 1" cubes. Slice garlic heads, exposing the cloves. Arrange vegetables on a foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, then season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast in the oven at 375° F for 40 minutes or until veggies are fork-tender.
- Meanwhile, in a large saucepan or pot, melt butter and sauté chopped onion on very low heat. Sauté for about 40 minutes or until caramelized, stirring occasionally.
- Add roasted veggies to the same pot as the onion along with vegetable broth.
- Add a sprig of rosemary, a sprig of thyme, and 1-3 sprigs of sage to a tea sachet and submerge in soup. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
- Remove herb sachet and blend ingredients using an immersion blender. Add remaining salt & pepper as well as heavy cream and stir to combine.
- Mix chopped kale into the soup, removing spines first if necessary. Continue to simmer on low heat for 1-2 minutes or until kale begins to wilt slightly. Remove from heat.
- In a small saucepan, fry diced pancetta until crispy, over medium heat about 5-7 minutes. Discard grease.
- Serve in individual bowls and top with a swirl of heavy cream, pancetta, and more fresh kale before serving.
Notes
- Check out this guide if you don’t know how to cut a pumpkin!
- I recommend using a potato peeler to remove the skin of the pumpkin, as using a knife to remove it may result in removing too much of the pumpkin flesh.
- I suggest drizzling at least a tablespoon of oil on each garlic bulb and placing them near the edge of the pan. The garlic bulbs may need 5-10 minutes longer in the oven than the rest of the veggies, but wrapping them in foil may help them roast faster.
- I also like to line my baking sheet with foil just to make cleanup easier.
- The sachet makes it easier to remove the herbs after the soup is infused. If you don’t have a sachet, you can add the herbs directly into the soup, removing them before blending.
- You can add the pancetta grease into the soup to give it more flavor if you want, or you can reserve it and use it for something else.
- You may want to set aside some of the fresh herbs to use as a garnish!
- If the soup is too thick for your liking you can add 1 cup of water to thin it out.
