Our creamy pumpkin soup for the slow cooker is perfectly delicious and warming. And it’s made with just 10 ingredients! Slightly sweet and blessing the senses with cinnamon and nutmeg, each serving is topped with swirls of cream and bacon crumbles.
Layers of Delicious Flavor
The simple 20-minute prep begins with cooking the bacon then sautéing the chopped onion and apple in the drippings. This step adds lots of flavor to the soup, flavor you’d miss out on if the ingredients were merely chopped and tossed in the slow cooker.
Once the strips of crispy bacon have cooled, they are crumbled and later used to top each serving of soup. Yum!
Creamy Pumpkin Soup That's High in Fiber and Gluten-Free
Use Plain Pumpkin Puree
Not only does this soup delight your taste buds, but it’s also high in fiber and gluten-free. In addition, the nutritional benefits of eating pumpkin are plentiful.
For example, pumpkin is a wonderful source of vitamins A, K, and C. It’s also one of the best sources of lutein and zeaxanthin, two nutrients which offer protective benefits against age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.
In short, pumpkin tastes good and is good for you!
Please note that we are using plain pumpkin puree in this soup, not pumpkin pie filling which contains sugar, salt, spices, etc. This is important because using pumpkin pie filling along with the other listed ingredients would result in a totally different tasting soup than the one described.
Creamy Pumpkin Soup
A delicious and creamy pumpkin soup for the slow cooker. Just 10 ingredients & 20 minutes of simple prep!
- Prep Time: 20 min.
- Cook Time: 6-8 hrs. LOW
- Total Time: 6 hrs. 20 min.
- Yield: 8-10 servings
Ingredients
6 slices of bacon
1 medium-size yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 medium-size apple, cored and chopped
2 cans pumpkin puree, 28 ounces each (just plain pumpkin, not pie filling)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1/2 cup light or heavy cream, plus more for optional garnish
Instructions
1. Cook bacon: In a non-stick skillet, cook the bacon until crispy then place on a paper towel-lined plate. Later, when the bacon has cooled, crumble into pieces for your delicious soup topping.
2. Sauté: Keep the bacon drippings in the skillet. If you have more than 2 tablespoons, you may want to pour some of it off. Sauté the chopped onion and apple for about 6-8 minutes or until softened and the onion pieces have become translucent.
3. De-glaze the pan: Pour the contents of the skillet into the slow cooker. While the skillet is still warm, pour in some of the chicken broth. Stir with a wooden spoon to loosen the crispy bits from the bottom of the pan. Add this high-flavor mixture to the slow cooker.
4. Add: Add the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, and brown sugar to the slow cooker. (If you happen to have whole nutmeg on hand, you’ll certainly want to grate some for this recipe. Whole nutmeg has a longer shelf life than ground nutmeg. Plus, if you enjoy its fragrance, you’ll love the way it smells when freshly grated.)
5. Cook: With the lid on, cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours.
6. Puree: Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. With most slow cookers, there’s no need to place the soup in a different container to puree.
7. Add cream: Stir in the cream and season to taste with salt and pepper.
8. Ladle your creamy pumpkin soup into bowls and top with a swirl of cream and bacon crumbles.
