Pumpkin, coconut and ginger soup

I love a good soup and by good, I mean bursting with flavour, packed with fresh vegetables and simple enough to make a decent batch that sees you through the week without resorting to sad desk lunches, expensive takeaway or settling for a greasy bag of chips and being hungry 10 minutes later.

This is one I come back to again and again, particularly once the weather starts to cool. Pumpkin soup can easily become bland, sweet, baby-food on its own — not this version. It’s laced with coconut milk and loaded with flavour from fresh ginger, lemongrass and a squeeze of lime that cuts through and brings the perfect balance.

To keep things interesting, especially if you’re making this for lunches, the toppings can change depending on your mood or what you have lying around. Fresh green onions, crispy shallots, chilli oil, toasted pumpkin seeds, roasted chickpeas, toasted coconut, sour cream, a dollop of yoghurt are all excellent choices and all capable of making leftovers feel less like leftovers or liven up the ‘same’ ‘same’ lunch if eating all week.

And to avoid the boiled vegetable mush texture and taste that this type of soup can bring, the vegetables are roasted first. This is honestly the hardest part of the recipe. The rest mostly involves throwing everything into a pot to simmer away together before blitzing into warm golden goodness that reheats beautifully for an easy homemade lunch or dinner. It keeps well in the fridge for about a week and can easily be frozen.

Worth Making?

• Yes — if you want a soup that tastes layered and comforting instead of bland
• Yes — if you meal prep lunches and need something that reheats beautifully through the week and won’t leave you feeling heavy after eating it
• Yes — if you enjoy adding toppings to mix things up and stop it from getting repetitive, this works with a multitude of choices from crispy chickpeas to chilli oil and crispy onions
• Skip it — if you’re after a traditional mild pumpkin soup
• Skip it — if roasting vegetables feels like too much effort because that step is what gives this soup its depth and flavour
• Skip it — if your ideal pumpkin soup comes from a packet because that’s about as much effort as your willing to give to pumpkin soup

Make it your own way

• Add roasted chickpeas on top for crunch and extra protein
• Stir through shredded chicken just before serving to turn it into a more substantial meal
• Finish with chilli oil, fresh chilli or crispy chilli if you like a little heat
• Blend through a handful of roughly chopped spinach at the end for extra greens without changing the flavour too much
• Thin the soup slightly, add a tablespoon of red curry base at initial cooking and serve over rice noodles for more Asian inspired version
• Add coriander at the end if you want the soup tasting fresher and brighter
• The variety of topping options are endless – fresh sliced green onions, toasted chopped nuts, pepita seeds, unsweetened coconut flakes, yoghurt, sour cream
• Use extra lime at the table if you prefer more zing over sweeter pumpkin notes