Smokey, Spicy Pumpkin Soup
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Chipotle pepper in adobo sauce adds a layer of smokey heat to balance the slight sweetness of roasted pumpkin for a soup that will keep you warm.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, sliced
- 1 jalapeño, seeds removed and roughly chopped
- 1 pie pumpkin, roasted
- 3-4 cups (720-960 ml) chicken broth
- 1 tsp salt (more to taste)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper (more to taste)
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp Chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (the sauce, and the pepper if you like heat!)
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) Sherry
- 1/2 lime juiced
- 1 15 oz (425 g) can black beans, drained and rinsed
Optional
- crusty bread
- plain greek yogurt for topping
- cilantro, chopped, for topping
Instructions
To Roast the Pie Pumpkin:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and “guts”. Place the pumpkin halves face down in a glass 13 x 9 pan. Fill the pan with water, 1/4 of the way up the pumpkin. Bake for an hour or until tender. Flip the pumpkin halves over and let cool before scraping out the fresh, yummy pumpkin goodness. Turn off oven.
For the Soup:
- In a dutch oven, warm olive oil on high heat and add the sliced onions. Cook 5 minutes and then add the garlic and jalapeño. Cook an additional 5 minutes or so, the onions should start to caramelize and turn translucent.
- Stir in the pumpkin, salt, pepper, and cumin. Mix together well.
- Pour in the chicken broth and stir well until the pumpkin has mixed in to the broth.
- Bring to a simmer, and put heat at medium, medium-high.
- Add the sherry, lime, and Adobo sauce (and pepper if you want – the pepper is too spicy for me with the jalapeño, feel free to omit one but the sauce part of the Chipotle Pepper in Adobo sauce is key!!)
- Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add to a blender a little at a time (or use an immersion blender! One of these days I’ll get one…) and puree until smooth. Be sure to work in batches! It’s hot and you don’t want it exploding out of the blender…been there done that.
- Once the entire soup is pureed, add it back to the dutch oven pot, and add the black beans. Simmer for another 5-7 minutes. Serve with crusty bread, top with plain greek yogurt and cilantro.
- Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 200
If You Liked This Recipe, You’ll Love These
- Pumpkin Masala Curry
- Creamy Onion Soup
- Spicy Honey Glazed Skillet Shrimp
- Chef Thomas Keller’s English Pea Soup
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to use the whole chipotle pepper, or just the sauce?
The recipe calls for 1 tbsp of the adobo sauce — the liquid the chipotle peppers are packed in. The pepper itself is optional: the author notes it is too spicy when combined with the jalapeño, so feel free to skip the pepper and use only the sauce, which delivers the essential smoky depth.
Can I use canned pumpkin instead of roasting a pie pumpkin?
The recipe calls for a whole pie pumpkin roasted at 350°F for about an hour face-down in a water-filled pan. A 15 oz can of pure pumpkin purée can stand in if you need to save time — just skip the roasting step and stir it in directly when the recipe says to add the pumpkin to the dutch oven.
What do the sherry and lime juice do for this soup?
The 1 tbsp of sherry adds a subtle savory complexity, and the juice of half a lime brightens the rich pumpkin and smoky flavors. Both are added after the broth and adobo sauce go in, just before the 10-minute simmer, and stay in the pot through blending. 
How do I safely blend a full pot of hot soup?
The instructions specifically warn to work in small batches in a standard blender — hot liquid can blow the lid off. Fill the blender no more than halfway, hold the lid firmly with a folded towel, and vent steam. An immersion blender lets you blend directly in the dutch oven with no transfer at all.
