This creamy pumpkin soup is packed with nutrients and flavor, and only requires five minutes of hands-on time to make. Get a pot going on the stove. Then, enjoy 20 minutes of downtime, while it finishes cooking.

Far too many pumpkin soup recipes call for roasting a whole pumpkin to create the puree for your soup. That’s pretty ambitious stuff for a week night, which is why this recipe calls for canned pumpkin puree. Just pick up a couple cans from the grocery store, or do what I do, and make your own pumpkin puree a couple times a year, so you always have plenty on hand. You’ll actually end up with better soup, if you make your puree ahead. Pumpkin has a ton of water in it, so it’s really best to drain it overnight, before you use it. This gives you a product that’s as reliable as store-bought.

This recipe makes eight cups or five bowls of creamy pumpkin soup. If you’d like to serve this soup for Thanksgiving dinner, just double or triple the recipe. To cut down on your workload on Thanksgiving day, consider making your soup a couple days ahead. It tastes even better after a bit of fridge time, and reheats beautifully.

Creamy Pumpkin Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

1 29-oz. can pumpkin puree, 2 15-oz. cans, or 4 cups homemade
1 quart chicken broth, store-bought or homemade
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves (1 tsp) garlic, minced
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)

What You Do:

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, and sautee, until the onions are soft and translucent.

Add the broth and pumpkin puree. Then, bring the pot to a boil; reduce the heat; and simmer for 20 minutes.

Stir in the heavy cream (if using). Then, puree your pumpkin soup. This can be done in the pot, if you have an immersion blender, or by carefully transferring the soup to a blender in small batches.