Cauliflower and Pumpkin Soup

This Cauliflower and Pumpkin Soup is a cozy, cool-weather soup that starts with roasted cauliflower and ends on the stove with canned pumpkin, and lots of aromatics, spices, and parmesan cheese. It's creamy, nutty, and full of flavor.

The second it hits September we're ready to dive in with all things pumpkin! Anyone else? Whether it be sweet or savory, we absolutely love the delicious and versatile gourd! 🎃

Plus, there's nothing quite like curling up with a warm, cozy bowl of soup that's loaded with seasonal pumpkin goodness!

This creamy, satisfying pumpkin soup with cauliflower is perfect to accompany lunch or dinner. It's also elegant enough to serve guests for holiday gatherings.

Looking for more savory squash and pumpkin recipes to try? Don't skip our pumpkin chicken risotto, this creamy butternut squash and Italian sausage with gnocchi, this maple chicken with harvest veggies, or this creamy parmesan chicken butternut squash recipe!

❤️Why We Love This Recipe

• Hearty & comforting. While it's true this soup is packed with seasonal veggies and aromatics, it's also very hearty, filling, rich, and satisfying from the heavy cream and parmesan cheese!
• Great for meal-prep. We love to make a big batch of this soup to serve alongside sandwiches, roasted veggies, and a variety of proteins all week long. It's a great way to help get a quick well-balanced meal on the table!
• Made with simple ingredients. Everything you need to make this recipe can be found at any grocery store, and because it uses canned pumpkin, it can even be made year-round if you'd like!

🎃Ingredients

Here are the ingredients we used for this recipe. You can find more information for substitutions below.

• Pumpkin puree. In a can. Just make sure you're getting pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie mix which has added sugar and spices.
• Broth. Any broth of your choosing works. We often opt for chicken bone broth for added protein, but you can use what you have on hand!
• Spices. We used red pepper flakes for some heat, smoked paprika for a little smokiness, and nutmeg for warmth and depth of flavor.
• Parmesan cheese. We'd recommend grating it yourself so that it melts better in the soup. Pre-shredded cheese has anti-caking agents added to it that prevent it from melting well.

Visit the recipe card for the full quantities and nutritional information.

✨Substitutions

Here are a few suggestions on additional flavors to try, or simple variations to this recipe.

• No fresh herbs. Feel free to use dried herbs instead of fresh if you'd like. Just keep in mind that dried are about 3x as potent as fresh, so you may not need as much.
• Skip roasting the cauliflower. You can also boil the cauliflower on the stovetop until soft if you prefer to save a little time. However, if you can roast the cauliflower, we recommend it, because it adds so much flavor!
• Sheet-pan soup. Go full sheet-pan mode with this soup and roast garlic and onion alongside it, then simply puree everything together! This will give the soup even more sweetness in particular from the roasted garlic.
• Use squash. Butternut squash and pumpkin are easily interchangeable, but you can follow this keto roasted butternut squash soup.

✨Variations

• Spicy. Add your favorite spices like red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper, or try adding salsa macha or chili crisp for an extra spicy flavor.
• Add more aromatics. Add additional aromatics like fresh ginger or shallots to this soup for even more depth of flavor.
• More herbs. You can't go wrong with more fresh herbs like rosemary or parsley to add even more flavor to this soup.
• Lighter-version. Use half-and-half or milk instead of heavy cream if you want to lighten the soup up slightly.
• Dairy-free. Swap the regular butter for vegan butter or cooking oil of choice. You'll also want to swap out the heavy cream for your favorite plant-based milk or cream alternative. Full-fat coconut milk (in a can) works great. You will also need to omit the parmesan or swap it for a vegan version.
• Vegan. Follow all of the steps to make the recipe dairy-free, and then be sure to swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth or stock.

This recipe hasn't been tested with any other substitutions or variations, so we can't guarantee any results. If you make a change, let us know how it goes in the comments below!

🔪Prep Work

• Dice onion.
• Mince garlic.
• Chop fresh herbs.
• Chop cauliflower into roughly equal-sized florets.
• Preheat the oven to 425°F.
• Measure out the spices, seasonings, and remaining ingredients.

Roast the cauliflower

Place cauliflower on a baking sheet, and season with salt, pepper, some nutmeg, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, and herbs. Toss with oil. (Image 1)

Roast in a hot oven for 35-40 minutes, until the cauliflower is golden brown. (Image 2)

Cook the aromatics

While the cauliflower is roasting, you can start the soup on the stovetop.

In a large Dutch oven or stock pot, melt the butter. Add in the onions with a large pinch of salt, and cook until softened, about 5-7 minutes.

Once the onions have softened, add in the garlic, the remainder of the herbs, nutmeg, smoked paprika, and red pepper flakes. (Image 3) Cook, stirring often, until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add in the pumpkin puree, and cook down for about 5-7 minutes to deepen the flavor and infuse with the spices, onions, and herbs. (Image 4)

⭑Pro tip: Cooking the pumpkin puree is optional, but it does help develop a more pronounced pumpkin flavor.

Puree the soup

When the cauliflower finishes roasting, add it to the blender along with the cooked pumpkin puree and aromatics, the parmesan cheese, chicken broth, and heavy cream. (Image 5)

Blend until smooth and creamy. If desired, return the mixture to the stovetop to warm through some more, and taste and adjust seasonings. (Image 6)

⭑Pro tip: A high-powered immersion blender will also work well here (ours had just run out of battery life for the photo shoot). 😉

Serve with more fresh herbs and toppings of choice. Enjoy!

This soup is pretty filling on its own, but it's great to serve alongside this pear arugula salad and some crusty bread!

✨Top Tips

• Roast the cauliflower for a deeper flavor. This makes a big difference in flavor! Sure, you can just boil cauliflower in broth on the stovetop, but adding that extra roasted flavor makes a lot of difference.
• ​Cook the pumpkin puree for a few minutes. Again, this is all about building layers of flavor. Cooking the pumpkin puree on the stovetop intensifies the pumpkin flavor, and allows everything to meld together with the spices and aromatics.
• Add liquid as needed. This soup is a bit on the thick side, so if you'd like, you can add more broth to thin it out.
• Season to taste. Feel free to add more spices and seasonings to taste!

More Cozy Soup Recipes to Try

• Keto veggie soup (extra chunky!)
• Ham and collard soup with beans
• Italian sausage soup
• Creamy chicken potato bacon soup
• Creamy Finnish salmon soup