Hearty Pumpkin-Potato Soup Recipe

Homemade puree from pie pumpkins stars in this classic fall soup.

article image
Flickr/Pierre Wolfer
30 minutes DURATION

Ingredients

  • 1 whole pie pumpkin, cooked and peeled (cut in half, stab a few times and stuff it in the microwave for 7 to 8 minutes)
  • 2 cups chicken bone broth
  • 2 medium potatoes, chunked
  • 1 pound ham, chunked into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • 2 cups frozen broccoli, thawed
  • 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  • Add cooked pumpkin and broth to blender, process for 30 seconds, or until a soupy puree with no chunks. You may need more broth. Set aside.
  • In medium-sized pot, boil potatoes until tender (able to stab them with a fork). Strain and set aside.
  • Add ham to same pot as potatoes and let cook a bit until slightly crisp.
  • Pour the pumpkin/broth mixture over ham. Add cheese, stir, and let melt.
  • Drain any excess water from broccoli and add to soup. Salt and pepper to taste, and toss in red pepper flakes. Add potatoes back to the pot.
  • Let soup sit on low for 1 to 2 minutes, then dish up and enjoy!
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Learn how to make pumpkin puree at home for this warming pumpkin potato soup recipe with broccoli and cheese.

Pumpkins (along with apples) are like the trumpet blowers of the fall season. First you see them turning from green to orange in your garden. Then you see a bunch of those happy little gourds sitting on the hill of a farmer’s barn on your way to town. The next thing you know, the leaves are turning and you are craving pumpkin spice lattes, hot cider and a slice of yummy warm fresh pie.

While you are busting out the flannel and getting cozy with that hunk of pumpkin pie, pie pumpkins everywhere are wiping away a goopy tear because they know the truth. Unless you grow your own pie pumpkins or buy them from a local farmer, that stuff you are scooping out of the can is not pumpkin. It’s actually more along the lines of a butternut squash, and companies like Libby have developed their own breeds of squash over the years to maximize yield, sugar content, and consistency in their final product. It tastes good and technically the squash in the can is a cousin to pumpkin. (The USDA’s definition of pumpkin is rather loose, encompassing a range of fleshy and flavorful squash, including what what most people think of as a traditional pumpkin.)

How to Make Pumpkin Puree at Home

Types of Pumpkins to Use

You can make your own pumpkin puree! But first, a note about pie pumpkins: Don’t drag in that pumpkin off your porch that your children carved a face into to hack up and puree. It will be gross. Put it back. What you want is a small round pumpkin called a pie pumpkin. Pie pumpkins have a higher sugar content than jack-o-lantern types, and they are less stringy, too.

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