This Spicy White Bean Pumpkin Soup is sure to warm you up on these chilly Fall evenings. It's deliciously creamy and packed with nutritious flavor from butternut squash, white cannellini beans, and homemade harissa. Yum!
It's been raining again, a lot, and that always makes me crave soup.
Soups are infinitely comforting. There really is nothing like slurping on a steaming bowl of soup when it's wet and miserable outside.
Add a touch of spice and you have a double dose of heat. This weekend, I enjoyed creating this delicious and spicy White Bean Pumpkin Soup. It's become one of my favorite pumpkin recipes.
The spices in this pumpkin and bean soup come from what is commonly known in the Delicious Everyday house as "Magic Sauce".
Magic sauce came about when I needed Harissa for recipe I was putting together, and couldn't find harissa paste at any of the supermarkets or grocers I visited. So I had to come up with my own version.
I looked through a ton of recipes and found that the main ingredient was chili peppers. I used a mix of red bell peppers and red chili peppers until I found the right spice level, and it worked out beautifully.
So beautifully in fact, that it's since shown up in a number of recipes such as Spiced Pumpkin and Feta Tarts and Feta & Tomato Tartlets.
Knowing how wonderfully versatile this homemade harissa paste has proven to be I thought I would apply it to a soup and see how it turned out.
Of course, if you want to make this recipe even simpler to prepare, you can always use store-bought harissa.
Let's Make Spicy White Bean Pumpkin Soup!
The Spicy White Bean Pumpkin Soup is made from a simple combination of vegetable stock, pumpkin, white cannellini beans, onions, homemade harrisa paste, and coconut milk.
The first step is to make the "magic sauce", or homemade harissa paste.
While there are quite a few ingredients - all you have to do is blend everything together in a food processor. I used red bell peppers, red chili peppers, salt, cumin, coriander, and paprika.
You can adjust the spice level to your personal taste. Add more chili peppers if you like more heat, or substitute more bell peppers to tone down the spiciness.
Then, you just cook all the veggies on the stove top until they are nicely softened.
Mix in the vegetable stock and let it all simmer together. Toss the white beans into the soup for some added protein!
Honestly, the hardest part of this soup recipe is peeling the pumpkin!
I personally like this microwave trick to make the process faster. And if you can't find fresh pumpkin, you can substitute butternut squash. It will be just as delicious.
When the soup is finished cooking, use an immersion blender to blend it all together until it's nice and creamy. This step is optional.
You can leave the soup chunky if you prefer it that way. Top the soup off with a drizzle of coconut milk and a sprinkle of cilantro.
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Spicy Pumpkin and White Bean Soup
Ingredients
- MAGIC SAUCE:
- 2 red chili peppers deseeded and roughly chopped
- 1 red bell pepper roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- SOUP:
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 2 yellow onions peeled and chopped
- salt to taste
- 1 large pumpkin or butternut squash, seeded, peeled, and chopped
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 15 oz cannellini beans rinsed and drained
- 2 tbsp "Magic Sauce" or harissa paste
- 2 tbsp cilantro, fresh for garnish
Instructions
- To make the "magic sauce", toast the cumin and coriander seeds in a frying pan over medium, heat until fragrant. Set aside to cool. Once cooled add to a food processor and process until a powder forms. Add the remaining ingredients and process until you have a smooth paste. Decant into a clean jar and refrigerate.
- To make the soup, heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and onions along with a pinch of salt. Fry the onions until golden. Add 2 tbsp of the "magic sauce", and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the pumpkin and toss in the onions and sauce and allow to brown slightly.
- Add the vegetable stock and beans. Bring to a boil, before reducing to a simmer for 10 minutes, or until the pumpkin is tender. Add the coconut milk and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and, using a hand held blender, blend the soup until smooth. Serve with a drizzle of coconut milk and fresh cilantro.
Aria says
OMG! I just love this soup! I will definitely gonna make this!!! Thanks for sharing
Nicole says
Thanks Aria!
Eija says
Lovely soup and the magic sauce is just that.
I used it as a sauce with a couple of steaks as well
as in place of tomatoe paste in chicken parmigiana.
It is very versatile and much milder than Harissa which I find to be too hot.
delicieux says
Hi Eija,
Thank you so much for your lovely comment. I'm glad you enjoyed the magic sauce just as much as we do and thanks for the feedback on the different ways you've used it 😀
Eija says
Since its cold, wet and windy here today I made this soup for lunch:)
Excellent combination of flavours and the magic sauce gave it a nice lift. Well done.
Martyna@WholesomeCook says
I always add coconut milk and chilli to my pumpkin soup but the magic sauce would make it that much more flavourful, good on you for making the paste! I tend to use coriander a lot to add a delicious zing to soups and other dishes - BLT with coriander instead od letucce is the best thing in the world!
delicieux says
I love coriander too. 🙂
Nicole Leigh (@veggpanda) says
RT @ledelicieux: Did you miss Friday's post? Spicy Butternut Squash & Cannellini Bean Soup http://t.co/NlrFcdet deliciously comforting & vegan.
Liz says
I love soup...and this one is gorgeous! I love that it has a bit of spice, too...so yummy!
JasmyneTea says
Magic sauce! I have a "magic" dressing for steamed vegetables, it's just grated tomato flesh, lemon juice, and olive oil, but it lifts anything I put it on!
Moya says
Pumpkin soup with a bit of spice (magic sauce) added is a family favourite, I love using butternut squash as it is so versatile! I like to use fish sauce as my magic ingredient to liven up some sauces and stews! 🙂
Asmita says
This soup looks wonderful! So comforting and perfect for this weather.
Vijitha says
I love pumpkin and this soups looks perfect for the season. I love the name magic sauce and anything spicy good will be my favorite. I am just loving this agave nectar. I totally replaced my sugar with coconut palm sugar and agave nectar. They are low glycemic. What more do we want?!
Daisy@Nevertoosweet says
Yum I love pumpkin soup hehe but hahaha i don't think i've successfully made it at home before, I always burn it or somehow manage to destroy it.
Hmm can't think of any special ingredient that I use...maybe it's bacon cuz it makes the world a better place 😛
Kiri W. says
Interesting! I've never had squash with beans, but it sounds like a lovely combination, and I adore the color on your creamy soup!
delicieux says
Hi Kiri,
The squash and beans make it quite a hearty soup with that added protein from the beans. 🙂
Marina@cowboycountryvegetarian says
Oh, it's colder here today too, and one of those soups would be so good! Great post!
delicieux says
Thanks 😀
Katie @Epicurean Mom says
Whoa!!! This soup sounds magnificent! Love your magic sauce!! I'll have to try it ! Also, thanks for reminding mr to add a blurb in about the agave nectar. It does make it slightly harder but I find if I let it sit out for a few minutes it's ok. I like to use agave nectar, when I can, in replacement of sugar since its slightly healthier. 🙂 although I like making sorbets Botha as 🙂
xx
Katie
JJ @ 84thand3rd says
Lovely recipe, I've been making pumpkin and white bean soup quite a bit lately but really like the addition of your 'magic sauce' and coconut. My fav sauce - homemade siracha hot sauce, I go for the spice every time! And yet another set of dishes for me to covet - gorgeous!
delicieux says
Hehe thanks JJ 🙂 As for the dishes I picked them up the night before and couldn't wait to put them to good use right away.
Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen says
I must try your "magic sauce" as I have a hard time dealing with too much heat in my food but I still like a hit to liven up the flavors.
thelittleloaf says
I love the idea of 'Magic sauce' and if it tastes anything like harissa then I know I'd love it! The colours in this dish are absolutely gorgeous.
delicieux says
Thank you so much 🙂
tania@mykitchenstories.com.au says
This looks delicious and I love your magic sauce. Its a bit like the Eastern European Avjar
delicieux says
I've never heard of Avjar. I will have to look it up. Thanks 🙂
Claire @ Claire K Creations says
The weather has just started to get cold today :-(. Definitely soup weather.
Rosa says
A marvelous soup! Great flavors, colors and combo.
Happy Friday!
Cheers,
Rosa