Pumpkin Soup with Smoky Roasted Chickpeas

This pumpkin soup is topped with smoky roasted chickpeas and fresh thyme, making it the ultimate cozy autumn recipe for busy weeknights!

I’m not usually a soup person. Blame it on the impatience in having to eat it one sip at a time, or my Pavlovian association between soup and being sick. But when I saw this recipe for pumpkin soup with crispy bacon and chickpeas, I decided I could probably be a soup person.

To find an equally delicious substitute for the bacon, I drew inspiration from this killer recipe by Sarah over at Well and Full. With a careful combination of spices and sauces, she transforms coconut flakes into crispy mock bacon. So I applied all of that smoky flavor deliciousness to roasted chickpeas, one thing led to another, and this bonkers tasty, smoky, hearty, savory-yet-sweet-yet-spicy soup was born!

Let’s start with the chickpeas!

Toss a can of chickpeas together with olive oil, soy sauce, sriracha, maple syrup and smoked paprika. We’ll bake these until they’re a bit crispy and caramelized. Fair warning: these will become the very essence of the soup and also your life and you’ll be forced to go buy chickpeas in bulk to supply your exponentially growing appetite for these insy flavor vessels).

How to Make Pumpkin Soup from Scratch

The two main ingredients in this pumpkin soup are the pumpkin and the roasted red bell pepper. For quicker cooking, I prefer to use canned pumpkin and store bought roasted bell peppers, but you can also make them yourself!

To make your own pumpkin puree: Sugar pumpkins (also known as pie pumpkins) are smaller and sweeter than the traditional jack-o-lantern variety. So get two of these (plus more if you want to be adorable and serve this soup IN THE ACTUAL pumpkin), scoop out the seeds and gunk, halve them, drizzle in some oil, and roast them for about an hour. (Full guide for homemade pumpkin puree here!)

To make your own roasted red pepper: At the same time, we’re going to roast a red bell pepper. This is probably one of the best flavors known to man. Just stick it directly onto the oven rack above the pumpkin (to catch any pepper-y drips), and let it blacken.

Then you’ll just get some shallots and garlic sizzling in a pot and mix in the pumpkin, roasted bell pepper, a bit of vegetable stock, and almond milk. Puree it with either an immersion blender or a countertop blender (always be careful when adding hot liquids to a countertop blender not to cover it completely – the hot air needs to be able to escape!)

Mix in a few seasonings to taste (salt + pepper + cinnamon), ladle it out, and top with the best damn roasted chickpeas you ever did taste.

Pro-tip for serving (that’s not in the photos because I discovered it later): feta cheese! A sprinkle of crumbled feta cheese brings the perfect amount of tanginess to this soup and takes it out of this world 🤯

P.S. Love these chickpeas? You’ll also love them on our Sauerkraut Soup!