This vegan coconut ginger pumpkin soup is the ultimate warmer for when the weather starts cooling down. It’s creamy and silky with a bit of spice, and features a slightly sweet and nutty flavor that even kids will love! Costing only $0.80 or less per serving, this soup makes a great addition to your budget vegan recipes for fall and winter!
As someone who grew up in a Southeast Asian culture, I have to admit, I always long for food with coconut milk and ginger. These two ingredients were my family’s favorites and we used to cook them with almost everything—from green jackfruit, fish and mung beans, to bamboo shoots, eggplant and even banana blossom.
Unfortunately, except for eggplant and fish, I always have to go to Asian stores or order online to get these exotic ingredients.
So, when our local grocery store put pumpkin on sale for $0.60 per lb, I thought of using pumpkin instead and made this delicious pumpkin soup with coconut milk and ginger to satisfy my cravings.
I’ve never made pumpkin soup with coconut milk before, but my family used to cook pumpkin and other vegetables with coconut milk and ginger, so I knew that this pumpkin-coconut-ginger combination was going to taste good!
I loved it, and so did my two-year-old! It’s creamy and rich with a bit of spice, which makes it the ultimate warmer for when the weather starts cooling down. This pumpkin soup with coconut milk is not only hearty and nutritious, it’s also really cheap and easy to make!
I also added two leaves of culantro from my garden to add touch of herb flavor to my soup. If you can’t find this herb at your local grocery store, you can use cilantro (coriander) instead. Both has similar taste, only that culantro has a more robust flavor.
Which kind of pumpkin is best to use for this recipe?
Table of Contents
You can use any type of pumpkin to make this coconut ginger pumpkin soup. After making this soup, I made another batch for my son using West Indian winter squash, commonly known as Calabaza, and it also tasted good!
But for me, the best pumpkin to use for this recipe is the butternut variety as it’s sweeter and creamier. It also has a slight nutty taste to it that adds more flavor to the soup.
Does this recipe require baking or roasting?
No. I did not roast or bake the pumpkin, so this recipe is perfect for when you’re in a mad rush. As many of you know, I like simple recipes and I try to avoid turning on the oven when it’s not very necessary.
Before boiling the pumpkin though, I sautéed the cut pumpkin in a pot with garlic and onion for 5 minutes until the ingredients caramelize a bit before adding in the broth.
Coconut Milk
I always use this product for most of my recipes that require coconut milk because it’s creamier and contains more coconut fat–which means you don’t need to put a lot to get that coconut taste. It also doesn’t have a weird aftertaste like the other brands, and it tastes fresh. I often buy this product at Walmart or Amazon.
Kitchen Essentials
Pot or Instant Pot
I used a regular pot to make this soup but you can also use an Instant Pot, if you have one.
Blender, food processor or immersion blender
You can use a blender, food processor or immersion blender to puree the soup. If you don’t have one, don’t worry! You can simply mash it with fork until the desired consistency is achieved.
How much did it cost me to make this soup?
Pumpkin soups are cheap to make. For 3 lbs of pumpkin, you’ll only spend $6.43 to make 8 servings (approx $0.80 per serving.) I spent less than $6 since I got the pumpkin for only $0.60 per lb. If you use the calabaza variety, you’ll spend even less.
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Vegan Pumpkin Soup with Coconut Milk
This Vegan Pumpkin Soup is the ultimate warmer for when the
weather starts cooling down! It’s creamy and silky with a bit of spice, and features
a slightly sweet and nutty flavor that even kids will love! And it is SO easy to make!
- 2 tbsp olive oil ($2.56 per 17 fl ounce or approx $0.16 per 2 tbsp (Walmart))
- 1/2 pc onion<br />coarsely chopped ($0.82/lb or approx $0.22 per 1/2 onion (Walmart))
- 3 cloves garlic ($0.42 per bulb / $0.10 per 3 cloves (Walmart))
- 3 lbs butternut<br />pumpkin, peeled and chopped<br /><br /> (Reg. 1.18 per lb/ $3.54 per 3 lbs (Walmart))
- 4 cups vegetable broth ($1.22 (Walmart- Great Value))
- 2 leaves culantro / a bunch of coriander (Approx $0.10)
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated (Approx $0.10)
- a swirl of coconut milk (about 1/2 can) ($1.98 A Taste of Thai Brand – $0.99 / half a can)
Cut squash into 1-inch chunks.
Heat olive oil in a pot and saute onion, garlic and pumpkin until onion is translucent.
Add in the broth and coriander or culantro. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low for about 20 minutes or until pumpkin is soft.
When pumpkin is soft and cooked, add in ginger, salt and pepper. Pour the mixture into a blender/ food processor, or use an immersion blender to puree the soup until a thinner consistency is achieved.
Serve with a swirl of coconut milk and top with herb, nuts or pumpkin seeds.
Do you want to try this recipe? Save this image to Pinterest so you can refer back to this recipe later!
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