Pumpkin soup is one of those comforting classics, but sometimes it's nice to mix it up a little bit and try something different. This recipe is based on my Quick and easy pumpkin soup recipe and has a few simple changes to turn the pumpkin soup everyone knows and loves into something new and exciting.
This recipe takes the pumpkin soup you know and love and turns it into a Mexican inspired soup with cumin and smoked paprika, along with corn and black beans. Garnished with corn chips, tomato, avocado, coriander and sour cream or yoghurt it makes an impressive dish on the table.
This post is fairly short, and mainly calls out the differences between my Quick and easy pumpkin soup recipe. That recipe goes into in-depth details about preparing the vegetables and making the soup, pureeing it in a blender or using a stick blender. If this is your first time making a pumpkin soup, you should give that post a read 🙂
Mexican-style pumpkin soup ingredients
- Pumpkin, the star of our show today. My preference is to use butternut squash, but any good eating pumpkin should work well. Don’t use a decorative pumpkin like what you’d use for a Jack O’ Lantern.
- Stock - vegetable or chicken stock. Powdered stock is usable but ideally get a decent carton of stock or use some freshly made stock.
- Onion brings a little sweetness and a good amount of savouriness to the dish. We'll slowly fry this in oil to bring out the sweetness.
- Spices - cumin, smoked paprika, salt, pepper. The cumin and smoked paprika are evocative of Mexican flavours. Use salt and pepper to season to taste at the end.
- Corn and black means added whole to the soup after blending.
- Sour cream or Greek yoghurt - we use this in place of cream that we'd normally use in pumpkin soup.
- Garnishes - coriander/cilantro leaves, corn chips, diced tomato, jalapeño, avocado and a little corn and black beans.
How to make Mexican-style pumpkin soup
Just a reminder, this is based on my Quick and easy pumpkin soup recipe - if you haven't made pumpkin soup before I suggest reading that post because it goes into more detail than this post.
- Prepare the vegetables; cut the pumpkin into manageable pieces, peel and deseed, and then cut into smaller chunks. Slice the onion.
- Cook onion - add oil to a large pot and heat over medium heat. Cook the onion slowly for about 6-7 minutes until translucent and soft. Don't colour it. Add the cumin and smoked paprika and stir well and cook for a further 30 seconds.
- Cook pumpkin - add the stock, water and pumpkin. Bring to the boil, reduce heat slightly and cook, covered, until the pumpkin is tender - about 15-20 minutes.
- Blend - use a stick blender, blender or food processor to process the soup until smooth.
- Adjust consistency - if needed, adjust the soup consistency. If it's too thick, thin slowly with some water. If it's too thin, return to the heat and reduce, checking every few minutes.
- Add corn and black beans - add the corn and black beans to the soup and stir them through. Optionally reserve 1-2 tbsp of each for garnishing.
- Season - season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve - serve in a bowl with the following garnishes:
- Plain, salted corn chips
- Sour cream or unsweetened Greek yoghurt
- Diced tomato
- Sliced jalapeño
- Diced avocado
- Sliced cilantro/coriander leaves
Tips
- The corn chips will soften in the soup. Add them immediately before serving.
- If you want to bulk the soup out further, try adding a can of drained and rinsed mixed beans - something like a mixture of cannellini beans, kidney beans and chickpeas.
- If you like your soup spicy, add some chilli / red pepper flakes at the same time you add the cumin and smoked paprika.
How to reheat and store leftovers?
Reheat in the microwave or on the stove over a low heat - if using the stove, you might need to add a little water to account for evaporation.
The soup will keep in the fridge for 4 days and will freeze for at least 3 months. Don't add the garnishes until you're serving the soup, so don't put them in the fridge or freezer in the soup itself.
What to serve with Mexican-style pumpkin soup
Here’s some ideas on what to serve with pumpkin soup:
- A bowl of corn chips for dipping into the soup
- Toasted cheese sandwich - it's a classic soup pairing for a reason
- Crusty bread - perfect for dunking!
Mexican-style Pumpkin soup
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
- 1.5kg pumpkin, peeled and seeded, diced use any eating pumpkin, see note 1
- 1-2 cups water
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Plain, salted corn chips see note 2
- Sour cream or unsweetened Greek yoghurt
- Diced tomato
- Sliced jalapeño
- Diced avocado
- Sliced cilantro/coriander leaves
- Add vegetables and stock - to a large pot, add the pumpkin, onion and stock. Bring to the boil and cook, covered for 15-20 minutes, until the pumpkin is soft.
- Blend using a stick blender, food processor or blender. Make sure you get all the lumps so you end up with a soup that's uniform in texture.
- Return to the boil if needed and adjust soup thickness by adding water or further reducing the soup.
- Add cream and spices - remove the pot from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Stir through the cream and then add the nutmeg, salt and pepper and adjust according to taste.
- Serve with a drizzle of cream in the bowl and with chopped chives to garnish.
- Pumpkin - I like to use butternut squash, but use whichever eating pumpkin you like.
- Corn chips - these will go soggy after about 5 minutes in the soup. If you want to keep them firm, add just when serving or place in a bowl on the table.
- Leftovers - keep in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for about 3 months. Reheat in the microwave or over a low heat in a pan.
