Spiced Pumpkin Soup Recipe with Sour Cream, Crunchy Croutons, Crispy Shallots and Chilli Oil

This spiced pumpkin soup recipe makes a rich pumpkin soup that’s a combination of the kind of old-fashioned Australian creamy pumpkin soups my grandmother used to make and the Cambodian spiced pumpkin soup of Khmer Royal Cuisine. Comforting and creamy, despite no cream, it’s a perfect cold weather soup that can be served as an elegant appetiser or in big bowls for a cosy casual meal.

You’re going to love this spiced pumpkin soup recipe if you’re a lover of pumpkin soups. It’s a recipe that combines two of my favourite pumpkin soups, an old fashioned Australian pumpkin soup and a classic Cambodian recipe from Khmer Royal Cuisine for a pumpkin soup made with coconut cream and infused with spices.

This pumpkin soup is incredibly delicious. It’s also super affordable. It freezes well, and it’s easy and straightforward to make, despite the longish list of ingredients. Don’t let those intimidate you, they just add depth of flavour.

The recipe is also versatile. You could use virtually any member of the pumpkin or squash families – butternut squash makes the richest version. You can also add cream or coconut cream if you prefer, and if you do, add a dollop of cream or a swirl of coconut cream on top.

Now before I tell you more about this spiced pumpkin soup recipe, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader supported. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo by supporting our first-of-its-kind Cambodian culinary history and cookbook on Patreon; buying a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestle ever; buying something on Amazon, such as these cookbooks for culinary travellers, classic cookbooks for serious cooks, or gifts for Asian food lovers or picnic lovers; or booking a cooking class or meal with locals on EatWith. We may earn a small commission but you won’t pay extra. Now let me tell you all about this spiced pumpkin soup recipe.

Spiced Pumpkin Soup Recipe with Sour Cream, Crunchy Croutons, Crispy Shallots and Chilli Oil

This spiced pumpkin soup recipe makes a delicious pumpkin soup that’s a little different to the classic Australian, European and American pumpkin soup recipes. My recipe is best described by what we call here in Southeast Asia as a bit “same same but different”.

It’s only natural that it’s something of a fusion dish. Terence and I have lived in Southeast Asia since 2011, lived in the Middle East for almost eight years, bounced around the world in the years in between, and were raised in Australia, one of the world’s most multicultural countries, so our recipes can’t not reflect that global experience.

Nowhere is that more evident in this pumpkin soup recipe, in the spices and fresh herbs; by topping the pumpkin soup with sour cream (that’s my Russian-Ukrainian heritage showing) and Southeast Asian condiments, such as crispy fried shallots, chilli flakes, and chilli oil.

It’s different to the homemade Australian pumpkin soups that I grew up eating in Sydney in the 1970s, which my Australian grandmother made with enormous pumpkins from my grandfather’s vegetable garden. Oh my, they were amazing. Pumpkins have never tasted so good.

Having grown up on Nanna’s pumpkin soup, I’m embarrassed to admit that as a student I’d buy cans of pumpkin soup. I’d stack them alongside the cans of potato and leek soup in the back of the kitchen cupboard, just in case I got sick and had to stay home from uni or work, and needed comfort food.

Pumpkin soup has a special place in the hearts and stomachs of Australians and my fondest recollections of slurping pumpkin soup are of school holidays spent with my Nanna in her sun-lit kitchen, where she made big pots of pumpkin soup from those massive pumpkins my pop grew in their backyard veggie garden.

My Aussie grandparents had been dairy farmers in the Hunter Valley – as had many of their siblings, parents, grandparents, and the generations before them, dating back to the arrival of early settlers in Australia – before they sold up and moved to the north-western suburbs of Sydney.

While my pop went from farmer to landscape gardener, he never stopped growing beautiful produce and much of their sizeable backyard was taken up by a flourishing vegetable garden that generated the bounty that Nanna used in her day-to-day cooking. What she couldn’t use, she’d gift to family and neighbours.

Tips to Making this Spiced Pumpkin Soup Recipe

Please don’t be intimidated by the number of ingredients in this spiced pumpkin soup recipe or any recipes for that matter. I know there’s a 3-ingredient recipe trend and a backlash of sorts against recipes deemed too long and complicated.

Half of the ingredients in my spiced pumpkin soup recipe are spices, condiments and garnishes and it really doesn’t take much effort to shake a few bottles, pluck some leaves from stalks, and sprinkle a few spices. Trust me, it’s well worth the ‘effort’ (although there really is none.)

The last time I made this spiced pumpkin soup recipe was just before a recent trip to the Cambodian capital to apply for yet another emergency passport for Terence so he could renew his Cambodian visa on time. Australia’s passport delays have caused us incredible headaches and expense this year.

That I was able to make this soup, as well as a spread of other dishes at the same time for several recipe shoots for the site, stressed out of my mind, on the eve of organising our trip to Phnom Penh says a lot about the simplicity and ease of making this recipe. Make it and you’ll see what I mean. It freezes well, too, so is fantastic for meal-planning.

For this spiced pumpkin soup recipe, you’ll need some Southeast Asian condiments, such as crispy fried shallots, chilli flakes, and chilli oil – my own additions, even the Cambodian pumpkin soup isn’t traditionally served with condiments.

Spiced Pumpkin Soup Recipe

Spiced Pumpkin Soup Recipe with Sour Cream, Crunchy Croutons and Chilli Oil

AuthorLara Dunston

This spiced pumpkin soup recipe is a combo of the kind of old-fashioned Australian creamy pumpkin soups my Nanna used to make and a Cambodian spiced pumpkin soup of Khmer Royal Cuisine. Rich, comforting and creamy, despite there being no cream, it’s a perfect cold weather soup that can be served as an elegant appetiser or in big bowls for a cosy casual meal.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Course Soup

Cuisine American, French

Servings made with recipeServings 4 People

Calories 558 kcal

Ingredients

  

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• 3 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp Chinese five-spice powder
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp chilli powder
• 600 g pumpkin - sliced into small wedges, skin-on
• 1 medium onion - finely diced
• 1 garlic clove - minced
• 500 ml chicken stock – or vegetable stock - or vegetable stock
• 1 small knob ginger - fresh, peeled and minced
• 1 large carrot - sliced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• 1 tbsp chilli oil
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp croutons - pounded into crumbs
• 2 tbsp crispy fried shallots - optional

Garnish

• 2 tbsp basil leaves - or coriander (cilantro) sprigs

Instructions

 

• Heat your oven to 200°C (390°F) and while it’s warming up, in a small bowl stir the Chinese five-spice powder, ground cumin, chilli powder and salt into 2 tablespoons of olive oil until well combined.
• Lay the pumpkin wedges out evenly onto a baking tray and use a pastry brush to spread the spice oil onto all sides of each piece of pumpkin. Bake for 20 minutes, slide the tray out of the oven, turn all the pieces over and bake for another 20 minutes, by which time they should be soft and spices should be permeating your kitchen.
• While the spiced pumpkin is baking, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan until the oil is shimmering, then add the onions and fry until soft and translucent, add the minced garlic and ginger and fry for another minute, then transfer all to a soup pot.
• Pour in the chicken stock, or vegetable stock if you prefer, and add the carrot slices, then bring to a simmer and leave to simmer until the pumpkin is finished.
• By the time the pumpkin is done and is soft, the carrot should also be tender and the stock reduced. Turn off the heat and remove the tray of baked pumpkin, and set all aside to cool a little.
• Slice off the pumpkin skins and transfer both the pumpkin pieces and carrot and onion in stock to a blender, and pulse for a few minutes until thick and creamy.
• Return the spiced pumpkin soup to the pot, reheat, season with salt and pepper, taste, and adjust to your palate. If the soup is too thick for your liking, add more stock, cream or milk, stir in and reheat.
• When your spiced pumpkin soup is ready, ladle the soup into bowls, add a dollop of sour cream to each, drizzle on the chilli oil, sprinkle on the crouton crumbs and chilli flakes, and garnish with fresh basil leaves or coriander sprigs, and serve immediately with crusty sourdough bread.

Nutrition

Calories: 558kcalCarbohydrates: 51gProtein: 13gFat: 36gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 24gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 1708mgPotassium: 1584mgFiber: 5gSugar: 17gVitamin A: 32206IUVitamin C: 35mgCalcium: 145mgIron: 5mg

I’ll be making this pumpkin soup recipe this week. Please do let us know in the comments below if you make this spiced pumpkin soup as we’d love to hear how it turned out for you.