Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup

This slow cooker pumpkin soup is rich and comforting, but entirely vegan. It’s super easy to make, and full of complex flavors. 

When the weather gets cold I immediately turn to soups. Is there anything more soothing than a bowl of warm, hearty soup on a chilly evening? This slow cooker pumpkin soup is one of my favorite recipes, because it’s packed with fall and winter flavors. It has a deep, rich pumpkin flavor, while fresh thyme, allspice, and coconut milk add complexity. 

But the best part about this dish? It’s as simple and easy of a recipe as you’ll find. Because it’s a slow cooker soup, this dish is as straightforward as throwing a bunch of ingredients in the slow cooker, leaving it alone, and then blending. Add in the fact that it’s a fully vegan recipe, and this becomes a must-make soup when the weather turns cold.

Recipe Ingredients

Here are all the items that you need to make slow cooker pumpkin soup. Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the page to see the exact quantities for each ingredient.

• Oil – I like to use olive oil for this soup, but you can use a neutral oil, or a vegan butter. 
• Onion – A yellow or sweet onion is best for this recipe, but a red onion also works fine. 
• Garlic
• Pumpkin – You’ll need to peel and remove the seeds from the pumpkin before making this recipe. 
• Allspice
• Sea salt
• Ground black pepper
• Fresh thyme
• Cayenne pepper – This is an optional ingredient that can be skipped if you don’t like spicy food.
• Vegetable broth
• Coconut milk – I recommend using a full fat coconut milk. 
• Lime juice – For best results, use fresh-squeezed lime juice. 

Can You Use Pumpkin Puree? 

I like to use fresh pumpkins for this recipe, as they have the best pumpkin flavor. They’re also usually quite affordable. However, you can absolutely use canned pumpkin puree instead of fresh pumpkins. All you need to do is replace the raw pumpkin with the same weight of pumpkin puree. Just make sure that you’re using unseasoned, unsweetened pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. 

How to Make Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup

Here’s how to make this easy and comforting soup recipe. 

• Prep the slow cooker. Turn your slow cooker on. You can turn it on low or high, depending on how much time you have. 
• Add the oil. Place the oil inside the slow cooker. 
• Add most of the ingredients. Put the pumpkin, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, allspice, cayenne pepper, veggie broth, and coconut milk in the slow cooker. Mix all of the ingredients together. 

• Cook the soup. Cook the pumpkin soup in the slow cooker for 4 hours on high heat, or for 8 hours on low heat. 
• Add the lime juice. When the soup is done cooking, stir in the lime juice. Cook in the slow cooker for 5 more minutes, then turn off the slow cooker.
• Blend. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup until it is smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender, carefully pour the soup into a standing blender and blend until smooth.

• Season. Once the soup is smooth, add salt and pepper to taste, then serve. 

Recipe Tips

Here are a few different things that you can do to ensure that this slow cooker pumpkin soup winds up perfect every time you make it. 

• Don’t skimp on the blending. One of the most critical parts of a good soup is the texture. This soup should be as smooth as possible, so make sure you thoroughly blend it to remove all the lumps and chunks. You won’t damage the soup by blending it for a long time, so when in doubt, keep blending! 
• Make ahead of time. Soup is kind of like a marinade. The more time it has to sit, the stronger the flavors get. I recommend making this soup a day ahead of time and storing in the fridge. That will give the flavors more time to meld together, and the flavors will become even more intense. 
• Use a homemade broth. There are a lot of great vegetable broths on the market these days. But they still can’t compare to homemade stock. For the most flavorful slow cooker pumpkin soup, try making your own vegetable broth. 

Variations

Want to play with this slow cooker pumpkin soup recipe? Here are a few variations you can try. 

• Make it spicier. This recipe has some optional cayenne pepper in it. If you’re a big fan of spice, you can increase the amount of cayenne, or add some red chili flakes as well. You could even add a fresh chili to the recipe, or garnish with some jalapeño slices. 
• Add more fall flavors. The allspice in this recipe really goes well with the pumpkin. If you want to make the dish even more autumnal, you can add a touch of cinnamon or nutmeg. You can also add a little ginger, either dried or fresh. 
• Top with fun garnishes. I think that garnishing soup is underrated. You can top this soup with extra coconut milk, fresh parsley, fresh thyme, shaved almonds, avocado slices, or croutons. 
• Make it low fat. You’ll get the richest soup possible with full fat coconut milk, but if you feel like making this recipe even healthier, you can use a low fat coconut milk. Don’t worry, the soup will still be very rich and comforting. 

What to Serve With Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup 

This cozy soup goes really well with a side of bread, or some hearty vegetables. Here are a few of my favorite things to serve it with.

• Vegan cornbread muffins
• Roasted garlic bread
• Vegan collard greens
• Balsamic roasted vegetables

How to Store and Reheat

Store this slow cooker pumpkin soup in an airtight container in the fridge. It will last for up to 5 days. Reheat the soup on the stovetop over low heat until it is hot. Depending on how much soup you have, this will take between 3 and 10 minutes. You can also reheat the soup in the slow cooker, on the low setting. This method will take between 10 and 20 minutes. 

The soup often thickens up in the fridge, so you may need to add a little water to it before reheating.

Can You Freeze Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup?

Absolutely! You can keep this soup in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw or defrost before heating. Freezing the soup will often separate it, so you may need to blend the soup again when you reheat it.