This pumpkin chestnut soup is creamy, delicious, and perfectly warming! All pumpkin soups are sweet and tasty but they sometimes tend to taste a little bland. I boosted the taste of this soup with a bit of ginger, brown butter, chestnuts and to break the sweetness – a little bit lemon juice. I served it with swirls of yogurt and topped with lightly caramelized chestnuts and crunchy, toasted pecans. Doesn’t it sound wonderful? This soup is really worth a try!
Ingredients:
This soup is made with really basic pumpkin soup ingredients:
- Pumpkin puree or roasted pumpkin. You can also use canned pumpkin puree or roast the pumpkin yourself, it’s really quick and easy. You can use either pumpkin or butternut squash for this recipe.
- Broth – you can use vegetable or chicken broth.
- Cream – for little extra creaminess.
- Aromatics: onion, ginger, and garlic.
- Surprise ingredient: chestnuts. You’ll need already cooked or roasted, and peeled chestnuts. Here you can read a helpful article about how to roast chestnuts. Chestnuts are not nuts, despite what the name suggests! Chestnuts taste similar to pumpkin/sweet potato and beans. They have a nutty, earthy taste and go with pumpkin perfectly.
- Brown butter – onion, ginger, garlic, and chestnuts are cooked in butter, which is transforming it into brown butter – it adds even more flavor to the soup. What is brown butter? Brown butter is simply butter, that has been cooked for a couple of minutes until slightly caramelized, it‘s very fragrant and nutty, goes perfectly with chestnuts and pumpkin!
- A very important ingredient that finishes the soup – lemon juice. It breaks the sweetness of the soup and it really can not be omitted!
Optionally you could make caramelized chestnuts to serve on top of the soup – you will only need sugar, butter, and chestnuts.
How to make pumpkin chestnut soup step by step:
Make the caramelized chestnuts:
- Add the sugar into a small pot.
- Heat the sugar over low heat until caramelized – it will turn golden brown and start bubbling. Make sure to use low heat and keep an eye on the sugar as it can quickly burn and be bitter.
- Add the butter and stir until melted.
- Add lightly crushed chestnuts.
- Toss until coated in caramel.
Make the soup:
STEP 1: Melt the butter in a large pot, add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is soft.
STEP 2: Add finely chopped garlic and ginger, then the chestnuts.
STEP 3: Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring from time to time until the butter will turn golden brown and all the aromatics are fragrant.
STEP 4: Add the pumpkin puree or roasted pumpkin chunks and the broth. Bring to a boil and cook partially covered over low heat for about 15 minutes.
STEP 5: Add the cream and take the pot off the heat.
STEP 6: Puree the soup until smooth. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
Serve it with plain yogurt, caramelized chestnuts, and toasted nuts (pecans or walnuts).
Enjoy!
Storage and freezing:
Store this pumpkin chestnut soup in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. It reheats very well.
This soup can be frozen without cream. If you freeze the soup with cream it will curdle but you can blend it again in a blender and the soup will be as new. Freeze it for up to 3 months.
What to serve it with:
- With puff pastry appetizers. On the photo are these cheese sun-dried tomato and olive puff pastry pinwheels, but these puff pastry cheese straws would also go great.
- Garlic knots or bread sticks.
- You could serve this soup as an appetizer, before the main dish like turkey roulade with butternut squash, mushrooms, and cranberry stuffing or white lasagne with pumpkin and mushrooms.
Other pumpkin/butternut squash recipes you may like:
- See also my other pumpkin soup recipe: Pumpkin ginger and orange soup!
- Turkey pumpkin chili
- Roasted butternut squash with cranberries, rosemary, pecans, and feta
- Thai red curry with shrimp, pumpkin, and spinach.
Pumpkin, ginger and brown butter soup with caramelized chestnuts
Ingredients
pumpkin chestnut soup:
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium onion
- 3.5 oz (100g) chestnuts about 10 chestnuts, peeled and cooked
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 inch (3cm) piece of ginger
- 4 cups pumpkin puree or roasted pumpkin chunks, about 2 lbs / 1kg
- 3 cups vegetable / chicken broth 750ml
- ⅓ cup heavy cream 30-36%, 80ml
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice or to taste
caramelized chestnuts (optional):
- 4 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons butter
- 3.5 oz (100g) chestnuts peeled and cooked, about 10 chestnuts
to serve:
- plain yogurt
- pecans or walnuts lightly toasted on a dry pan
Instructions
caramelized chestnuts (optional):
- Add the sugar into a small pot, heat over medium heat until sugar dissolves, starts to simmer, and then turns golden brown (be careful to not burn it or it will become bitter).
- Add the butter, cook, until melted then add the crushed chestnuts, cook for about 2 minutes, transfer on a plate, set aside.
soup:
- Dice the onion, chop the garlic and ginger finely.
- In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat, add the onion, cook for about 7 minutes, stirring, until translucent.
- Add the chopped garlic, ginger, and chestnuts, cook for a few minutes, stirring from time to time, until the butter turns golden brown.
- Add the pumpkin puree or roasted pumpkin chunks and broth, cook over low heat, covered, for about 10-15 minutes.
- Add the cream and take the pot off the heat. Puree the soup until smooth.
- Season to taste with salt, black pepper, and lemon juice.
- Serve with plain yogurt (can‘t be omitted! the soup is naturally sweet, yogurt needs to balance this sweetness), top with caramelized chestnuts and chopped and lightly toasted nuts.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- 1 cup = 240 ml
- How to make pumpkin puree/roast pumpkin: cut the pumpkin into equal-sized big chunks (don‘t peel the skin), arrange on a baking tray, lined with baking paper, bake at 200°C / 400 °F / Gas Mark 6 for 30-60 minutes, until tender (the baking time will depend on the size of the chunks). Use a spoon to scoop out the pulp, puree until smooth (discard the skin). Unused puree can be frozen and kept for several months in the freezer.
- This soup can be frozen without the cream. If you freeze the soup with cream it will curdle but you can blend it again in a blender and the soup will be as new. Freeze it for up to 3 months.
- Store the soup in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. It reheats very well.
- Calories count = 1 serving = 1/4 recipe.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know how you liked it and give it a star rating in the comments below! You can also add a photo of your creation!
2 Comments
Karly
14 October 2018 at 18:26This soup looks super fun!! Can’t wait to try.
Aleksandra
14 October 2018 at 19:55I’m happy to hear that! Let me know if you liked it 🙂