This Creamy Pumpkin Soup Has No Cream, and There's an Apple Hiding in It

Pumpkin and sweet potato make an easy base for fall soup, but this version brings another fruit into the baking dish. Chopped apple roasts with sweet potato and onion before everything gets blended with pumpkin, vegetable stock, maple syrup, garlic, and spices.

Cream doesn't enter the pot. Unsweetened almond milk gives the blended soup its creamy finish, while the roasted apple adds a sweet-tart note that works with pumpkin without turning the soup into dessert.

Roast the Apple With the Sweet Potato and Onion

Heat the oven to 365 degrees Fahrenheit, then add peeled, chopped sweet potato, apple, and sweet onion to a baking dish with a small amount of water. A tart apple works best here since pumpkin and sweet potato already bring plenty of sweetness.

Roast the mixture for 45 to 60 minutes, until the pieces are tender enough to pierce with a fork. This step softens the apple along with the vegetables and builds the base before anything reaches the blender.

Fresh pumpkin can also go into the baking dish. Remove the peel and seeds, cut the flesh into pieces close to the size of the sweet potato, and roast them together. Canned pumpkin puree skips that step and gets added during blending.

Keep the Garlic Out of the Oven

Once the roasted ingredients have cooled, transfer them to a food processor. Two chopped garlic cloves go in raw rather than roasting beside the vegetables.

Maple syrup joins the garlic at this stage, followed by the pumpkin puree if you're using canned pumpkin. Add enough vegetable stock to help the food processor turn the roasted ingredients into a smooth mixture.

Depending on the size of the food processor, the soup base may need to be blended in batches.

Almond Milk Takes the Place of Cream

Transfer the blended mixture to a large pot and pour in the remaining vegetable stock. Two cups of unsweetened almond milk provide the creamy element without adding dairy or heavy cream.

Cumin and nutmeg season the soup, with salt and black pepper added to taste. The cumin brings a savory note against the pumpkin, sweet potato, and apple, while nutmeg fits the sweeter fall flavors already in the pot.

Let everything simmer over low to medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring as it heats.

Roasted Apple Does More Than Add Sweetness

Apple could disappear among pumpkin and sweet potato, but roasting it first makes it part of the soup base rather than a garnish added at the end. Its tartness helps offset the maple syrup and naturally sweet vegetables.

The result gets its body from blended pumpkin, sweet potato, and apple, with almond milk loosening the puree into a creamy soup. No cream is needed, and unless someone knows what's in the roasting dish, the apple may be the ingredient they have the hardest time guessing.