Jamie Oliver Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup: Gluten Free

This Jamie Oliver inspired creamy pumpkin and sweet potato soup is bound to be your next favorite fall weather soup recipe.

It’s smooth, velvety and full of savory pumpkin flavor layered with notes of sweet potato, apple and warming spices like ginger and cayenne pepper. The best part is that this soup is naturally gluten free and vegan. So it doesn’t only feel good to eat but it’s good for your gut health too!

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Table of Contents

• Why You’ll Love This Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup
• Is Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup Gluten Free?
• Is Pumpkin Gluten Free?
• Is Sweet Potato Soup Keto?
• Ingredients For This Vegan Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup Recipe
• How to Make Jamie Oliver Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Soup
• Ingredient Substitutions
• How to Store Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup
• How to Reheat Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup?
• Is This Soup Spicy?
• What Type of Pumpkin is Best For Soup?
• How Do You Make Pumpkin Soup Thicker?
• How Long Do You Boil Pumpkins For?
• How Many Calories are in Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup?
• How Does Jamie Oliver Make Pumpkin Soup?
• Why Is My Soup Different from Jamie Oliver’s Pumpkin Soup Recipe?
• Do Sweet Potatoes and Pumpkin Taste The Same?
• How Do You Make The Best Pumpkin Soup?
• Why Does My Pumpkin Soup Taste Bland?
• What Enhances Pumpkin Flavor?

Why You’ll Love This Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup

• Gluten Free
• Nut Free
• Paleo
• Vegan
• Easy to Make
• One Pot Dish
• Soy Free

Is Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup Gluten Free?

If you or someone you’re cooking for has celiac disease, a gluten intolerance or follows a gluten free diet than you are in luck! This sweet potato and pumpkin soup is naturally gluten free. So it’s perfectly safe for anyone with a gluten sensitivity to eat.

All of the ingredients used to make this soup are naturally gluten free since they are plant based. The vegetables, spices, pumpkin puree, broth and coconut milk used have no gluten since they are not derived from wheat.

Is Pumpkin Gluten Free?

Absolutely, pumpkins are naturally gluten-free. These orange squash whether big, small, don’t contain gluten in their natural state. Gluten is a protein found in certain grains like wheat, barley, and rye, and apples come from an entirely different plant family. 

However, it’s worth noting that if pumpkins have been processed or packaged alongside gluten-containing products, there might be a risk of cross-contamination. Always check labels and be cautious if you have severe gluten sensitivity or celiac disease.

Given how popular pumpkin is in baked goods, chances are a lot of pumpkin flavored products have gluten.

The question is no doubt, a pretty straight forward one, “Are pumpkins gluten-free or not?” You would think that a straight forward answer would get the job done. And the answer is simple when we’re talking about fresh unprocessed pumpkins. 

You know, the pumpkins that you pick straight off of the vine in a field in October? The ones that are perfect for carving faces in and making Jack-O-Lanterns for Halloween?

But plain pumpkin actually doesn’t have much flavor at all. Pumpkin is actually pretty bland. The flavors we associate with pumpkin are actually the spices added to pumpkin to give them favor. Cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract cloves and all spice are the true faces behind the flavor in your pumpkin spice latte.

Americans have taken this pretty bland squash and turned it into 1 million different pumpkin infused products.

From baked goods, coffee creamers, canned pumpkin puree, pumpkin pies, pumpkin ice pops, breakfast cereals, cookie mixes, Moche ice cream, cream cheese and more. There are tons of products that aren’t necessarily gluten free. Check out this post to learn about all of the pumpkin products in supermarkets in 2023. 

While going through every single pumpkin product in one blog post is nearly impossible (we would need an encyclopedia and a team of writers for that). 

I’m going to take you through the 123’s of pumpkins so you’ll know if you should take a bite, check the label or say no thank you to what ever pumpkin indulgence you’re grappling with.

Is Sweet Potato Soup Keto?

No, unfortunately sweet potato and pumpkin soup is not keto friendly. Pumpkins and sweet potatoes are naturally high in carbs. So soup made from sweet potatoes and pumpkins would knock you out of ketosis. Since it’s high in carbs this soup is not low carb friendly either.

Ingredients For This Vegan Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup Recipe

• Coconut Oil
• Onions
• Garlic
• Carrots
• Fresh Ginger
• Canned Pumpkin
• Cumin
• Cinnamon
• Cayenne Pepper
• Sweet Potatoes
• Apple (optional)
• Blood Orange
• Vegetable Stock
• Coconut Milk

How to Make Jamie Oliver Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Soup

Making sweet potato and pumpkin soup on the stove top is my favorite way to cook carrot soup. Since you don’t need any special equipment.

• Step 1: Heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and season with salt. Saute until translucent. Next add the garlic, ginger, cumin, cinnamon and salt. Allow spices to bloom for 1 minute.
• Step 2: Add the carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin puree, apple and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil and then allow to simmer with the lid ajar over medium low heat for 15-20 minutes. Until the carrots are cooked through.
• Step 3: Blend until smooth. Stir in the coconut milk, apple cider vinegar and cayenne pepper. Enjoy!

Ingredient Substitutions

1. Onions: You can use any type of onion or shallot aside from red onions.
2. Sweet Potatoes: This soup will also work with russet or white potatoes. Japanese yams are also a great choice.
3. Apple: The soup is still tasty without apple but any type will work. I like using macintosh or gala.
4. Coconut Oil – Any oil or butter will work just be aware and use an oil with a high smoke point like safflower oil or olive oil.
5. Cayenne Pepper – Black pepper works well too.

How to Store Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup

This sweet potato and pumpkin soup will last for up to 6 days in the refrigerator if stored properly.

The Best Tips To Store Sweet Potato Soup

• Storing it in an airtight container.
• Use clean spoons to ladle soup out of the container to avoid cross contamination.
• Store soup in the back of your refrigerator where it’s coldest.

If you want this soup to last even longer then you can put it the freezer where it will last for up to 6 months.

How long will sweet potato and pumpkin soup last in the refrigerator?

This soup will last for up to 6 days in the refrigerator.

Can you freeze sweet potato pumpkin soup?

Yes! Sweet potato and pumpkin soup freezes really well! Since there is no dairy in this soup the texture will remain smooth and creamy after the soup has been frozen and thawed out.

When you freeze the pumpkin soup make sure to leave an inch of room at the top of the container for expansion.

How long will sweet potato and pumpkin soup last in the freezer?

This sweet potato and pumpkin soup will last for 3 to 6 months in the freezer. Store it in a freezer safe air tight container and place the container in a plastic bag to help protect the soup from freezer burn.

How to Reheat Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup?

Reheating frozen pumpkin and sweet potato soup is an art form. The best way to reheat frozen soup is to thaw it out in the fridge first. Transfer the soup from the freezer to the fridge two days before you want to eat it. Within 48 hours the soup will defrost and then you can reheat it on the stovetop, microwave or insta-pot.

How to Reheat Soup On The Stovetop

1. Take the frozen soup container and run it under cold water for 1-2 minutes. This will defrost the soup enough to allow you to pop it out of it’s container.
2. Dump the frozen block of soup into a small sauce pot. Place the soup pot on the stove with medium-low heat. Stir the soup every 2-3 minutes to prevent the soup from burning.
3. Once the soup is fully melted allow it to heat with the lid on for 3 minutes. Stir and enjoy!

How to Reheat Soup In The Microwave

1. Place the soup in a microwave safe bowl on top of a strong paper plate and place another paper plate on top of the bowl. You could also use a wet paper towel on top of the bowl. Then set the timer for 5 minutes.
2. Pause the microwave every 60 seconds and stir the soup.
3. Once the soup is fully thawed lift it out of the microwave from the bottom plate while wearing oven mittens. The bowl itself will be too hot to touch which is why you must place a plate below the bowl.

Is This Soup Spicy?

No! Don’t like spice? No problem! You can enjoy this sweet potato and pumpkin soup because it has a touch of warmth from the cumin and cayenne pepper but it is not spicy at all! If you would like the soup to be spicy you can add another pinch of cayenne pepper when the soup is done cooking.

What Type of Pumpkin is Best For Soup?

Believe it or not, there is more then one type of pumpkin that you can cook soup with. Not only are there 11 types of pumpkin you can cook with but there are different kinds prepackaged pumpkin you can use. Like pumpkin puree! But which one is the best kind for making soup?

That’s a great question. Depending on the type of pumpkin you select for this pumpkin soup with sweet potato the flavor could be sweeter, earthier or more bland.

The best types of pumpkins for making soup are sweet and fleshy. These varieties include:

1. New England Sugar Pie Pumpkins
2. Moranga Pumpkins
3. Cinderella Pumpkins
4. Fairy Tail Pumpkins
5. Pink Pumpkins
6. Pam Pumpkins
7. Cotton Candy Pumpkins

If you see any of these pumpkins at the farms market scoop them up and pop them into a soup pot!

If you don’t want to deal with cleaning slicing and roasting a whole pumpkin you can use pumpkin puree. Pumpkin puree is what I chose to use for this pumpkin soup recipe. Pumpkin puree is easy to use since there is no prep involved. The processed pumpkin is also cooked down which intensifies the sweetness of the pumpkin.

Pumpkins are naturally pretty bland so this helps bump up the pumpkin flavor of pumpkin soup.

How Do You Make Pumpkin Soup Thicker?

Since pumpkin soup is naturally thick it’s easy to make a thick pumpkin soup. If anything your pumpkin and sweet potato soup might be too thick if you don’t add enough stock.

Despite this if you’re pumpkin soup is too thin you can:

1. Add some coconut milk to it to thicken it up.
2. You can also add a roux in the beginning of the cooking process.
3. Another option is to cook the soup with the lid off to reduce the amount of liquid inside.
4. Reducing the soup is the simplest way to thicken the pumpkin soup and intensify the flavor simultaneously.

How Long Do You Boil Pumpkins For?

You need to boil a pumpkin for 20-25 minutes until the flesh and rind is tender.

How Many Calories are in Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup?

One bowl of this pumpkin and sweet potato soup has 143 calories per serving. For more nutrition information check the bottom of the recipe card at the end of this post.

How Does Jamie Oliver Make Pumpkin Soup?

Jamie Oliver’s pumpkin soup recipe is a bit different than mine because he uses carrots instead of sweet potatoes. And he makes pumpkin soup by roasting a whole pumpkin. The famous chef also uses similar spices including chilis, coriander, cinnamon and sage to give the pumpkin a warm and slightly spicy flavor.

I read an article on Sytlecaster.com about how Jamie makes his famous pumpkin soup. He slices up the pumpkin and roasts them in the oven at 400 degrees with the coriander, cinnamon and dried chilis (which he grinds in a spice grinder first) for 40 minutes.

When the pumpkin is almost ready the sautees the vegetables (onion, carrots and celery with some olive oil. Then he adds the pumpkin and vegetable stock. After bringing everything to a rolling boil he blends up the soup and fries the sage leaves in some olive oil.

He serves up his famous soup with a swirl of sour cream.

I think his soup tastes amazing but most people aren’t up to roasting a whole pumpkin. That’s why I took the easy route and used canned pumpkin purée instead.

Why Is My Soup Different from Jamie Oliver’s Pumpkin Soup Recipe?

I made Jamie Oliver’s pumpkin soup once and I did really love it. But I thought it could have a bit more flavor. Naturally pumpkins don’t actually have a lot of flavor. They’re actually pretty bland! People love pumpkin flavored foods because of all of the sugar and spices that are added to create the “pumpkin flavor” we all love so much.

The truth is that sweet potatoes have way more natural flavor than pumpkins. So by putting in the sweet potato it helps bump up the sweetness of the soup.

I took it up a step further by adding in one apple. I find the sugar from the apple tastes great with the ginger and cayenne pepper.

So not to brag but all in all I think my soup has more flavor and is easier to make.

Do Sweet Potatoes and Pumpkin Taste The Same?

No, sweet potatos and pumpkins do not taste the same. Although they are both similar vegetalbes and have a similar color sweet potatoes have a sweeter flavor while pumpkins taste more mild and earthy.

If anything sweet potatoes are much more flavorful than pumpkins. Sweet potatoes taste great on their own while you need to add a lot of spices, salt and sugar to pumpkins to make them taste good. Read the section below to learn which spices you can add to enhance pumpkin’s natural flavor.

How Do You Make The Best Pumpkin Soup?

The way to make the the absolute best pumpkin soup ever is to add tons of spices, fall fruits and vegetables to help build up the pumpkin flavor. I suggest using:

• Carrots
• Sweet Potatoes
• Apples
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• All-spice
• Cayenne Pepper
• Salt

All of these ingredients will help build up the pumpkin flavor in your soup. If you were to make a bowl of pumpkin soup with just pumpkin and some onions, carrots and celery, the soup would taste like bland baby food.

Why Does My Pumpkin Soup Taste Bland?

I hate to be the barer of bad news here but. Pumpkin is naturally bland. People think that pumpkin is super flavorful but it isn’t. When you take a sip of a pumpkin spice latte or tuck into a thick slice of pumpkin bread you are not tasting pumpkin. What you are in fact tasting are the spices that the chef added to the recipe to intensify the pumpkin flavor.

• These spices include pumpkin pie spice blend, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. If your pumpkin soup is bland it’s because you didn’t add enough spices to enhance the flavor.

• Some spices you can add to pumpkin soup to intensify the flavor are paprika, cumin and ginger. If you have already added these flavoring agents then you can add a squeeze of lemon and some salt.

• A bit of salt and an acidic flavor like lemon or vinegar will go along way to highlight the pumpkin flavor in your pumpkin soup.

So if you’re soup tastes bland don’t give up. There is always a way to make it taste better!

What Enhances Pumpkin Flavor?

Spices, sugar, and salt enhance pumpkin flavor.

• Some spices you can add to pumpkin to intensify the flavor for savory dishes are paprika, cumin and ginger. If you have already added these flavoring agents then you can add a squeeze of lemon and some salt.
• Other spices used to enhance sweet pumpkin recipes like lattes, cakes and breads include pumpkin pie spice blend, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. If your pumpkin soup is bland it’s because you didn’t add enough spices to enhance the flavor.
• For a general flavor boost a pinch of salt will always enhance the flavor of your pumpkin.

Pumpkin soup google web story!