Jamaican Pumpkin Soup: Frugal Recipe

Got a pumpkin and don’t know what to do with it? Try making Jamaican Pumpkin Soup!

This soup is warm, cozy comfort food at its finest. Don’t be deterred by the long list of ingredients. There’s nothing exotic or difficult to find in this international-sounding soup. If you don’t have pumpkin, you can substitute any winter squash and make this soup.

If you have a family member who dislikes spicy food, you can omit or reduce the cayenne pepper. However, you’ll find even with the cayenne, it’s not an overly spicy dish.

Ingredients

• 4 cups of pumpkin peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil or butter
• 1 cup of minced onion
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1/4 cup of chopped celery
• 1 cup of diced carrot
• 1 cup of diced potato
• 1 teaspoon of dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice
• 4 cups of water (you can also use chicken or veggie broth)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Garnish: Unsweetened coconut milk or sour cream, roasted pumpkin seeds, chopped green onions

Directions

1. Heat the oil or butter in a stockpot and sauté the onion and garlic until it is golden and fragrant. Add in the celery and carrot and continue to cook for 3 more minutes.
2. Add in all the rest of the ingredients except the garnish.
3. Bring this to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer for half an hour to 45 minutes.
4. Use a stick blender or food processor to puree the soup.
5. Serve immediately with a garnish of coconut milk or sour cream, roasted pumpkin seeds, and chopped green onions.

Variation: If you want to cook up some boneless chicken thighs and season them with the spices in the recipe, they can be chopped and added to the soup after pureeing for a heartier meal.

What’s your favorite pumpkin soup?

Did you try this recipe? How did it turn out? And if not, do you have a pumpkin soup recipe you’d like to share in the comments? I’d love to hear about it.