Felicity Cloake’s pumpkin soup. Photograph: Dan Jones/The Guardian. Food styling: Stevie Taylor. View image in fullscreen Felicity Cloake’s pumpkin soup. Photograph: Dan Jones/The Guardian. Food styling: Stevie Taylor. Felicity Cloake's masterclass Food How to make pumpkin soup – recipe A smooth and satisfying soup in nine easy steps
Felicity Cloake Sun 11 Oct 2026 14.00 CEST Last modified on Sun 11 Oct 2026 18.36 CEST Share Prefer the Guardian on Google P umpkin soup, so delicious in theory – sweet, velvety, lightly autumnal – is so often disappointing in reality. Thin in flavour and consistency, thanks to squash’s high water content, it’s likely to make even the most conscientious cook regret not chucking those Halloween offcuts on the compost heap when they had the chance. This, I hope it goes without saying, is not that sort of pumpkin soup.
About 1½kg pumpkin or winter squash (eg, crown prince, sugar pumpkin, kabocha), washed Oil Salt 2 litres light chicken stock , or vegetable stock 1 large red or yellow onion , peeled and chopped 1 celery stick , cut into small dice 2 small carrots , peeled and cut into small dice 1 small red chilli , chopped, or a sprinkle of chilli flakes (optional) Sugar (optional) 2 tbsp butter (optional) 4 sage leaves , roughly torn, or the leaves from 2 thyme sprigs (optional) 1 handful grated parmesan , or gruyere or similar (optional) Nutmeg (optional)
The single most important step here is your choice of pumpkin. Look for something that feels heavy for its size. I like the dense, fudgy crown prince or a nutty kabocha, but, if all else fails, a butternut squash will do nicely. Asian, African and Caribbean grocers often stock a wider variety than supermarkets, as will your local greengrocer or farmers’ market.
View image in fullscreen 2 Skin the pumpkin Pumpkins can be as much as 90% water, so it’s worth roasting the flesh to concentrate its flavour. Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Wash the pumpkin, then cut off some skin from one end so it will sit firmly on a board. Use a Y-shaped peeler or sharp knife to remove the rest of the skin and put the trimmings in a medium saucepan.
Cut the pumpkin into quarters, then remove the seeds (and the flesh around them). Add all but a spoonful of the seeds to the pan with the skin, and set aside the rest for now. Cut the flesh into large, evenly sized cubes and put these on a baking tray (use a second tray if there are too many to fit comfortably in one layer).
View image in fullscreen Drizzle the cubes with a little oil (olive is nice, but anything not too strongly flavoured will do) and toss with a little salt. Bake for about 40 minutes, until soft and beginning to brown. If the cubes are colouring unevenly, turn around the tray halfway and remove any that look as if they might burn before the rest are done.
View image in fullscreen Wash the reserved spoonful of pumpkin seeds, if necessary, to remove any flesh clinging to them, then blot dry with a clean tea towel or kitchen paper. Put the seeds on a fresh tray and toss with a little oil and salt, then put them in the oven for the last 10 minutes of the pumpkin cooking time. Set aside to crisp up.
View image in fullscreen While the pumpkin is cooking, put the stock in the peelings pan – a good fresh chicken stock is my favourite, because it’s richer and more neutral than vegetable stock, but most varieties will do, as will plain water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer gent…