spicy coconut & pumpkin soup $4.90 recipe / $0.82 serving

spicy coconut & pumpkin soup

$4.90 recipe / $0.82 serving

This one is a keeper for sure. It's super quick to make and insanely delicious - my favorite combination! If you're looking for an easy side dish to an Asian, Indian, or Middle Eastern flavored meal, this will do the trick.

The soup is creamy but not overly heavy which makes it doable despite the strong summer heat. It's spicy, thanks to the crushed red pepper flakes, but completely customizable. If you're leery of the heat, start with half the amount and work up from there. OR spice it up with a mild curry powder in place of the cumin and crushed red pepper for maximum flavor without the heat.

I garnished my bowl below with a little plain yogurt. The cool, tart flavor of the yogurt was a nice contrast if you have some on hand.





Total Recipe cost: $4.90
Servings Per Recipe: 6 (1 cup each)
Cost per serving: $0.82
Prep time: 10 min. Cook time: 20 min. Total: 30 min.

INGREDIENTS		COST
1 Tbsp	olive oil	$0.11
1 medium	yellow onion	$0.74
1/2 Tbsp (2-3 cloves)	minced garlic	$0.10
1 inch	fresh ginger	$0.16
1 tsp	ground cumin	$0.05
1/2 tsp	crushed red pepper	$0.03
1 Tbsp	chicken base or bouillon	$0.20
3 cups	water	$0.00
1 (15 oz.) can	pumpkin puree	$1.43
1 (14 oz.) can	light coconut milk	$1.73
to taste	salt & pepper	$0.05
1/4 bunch	fresh cilantro	$0.20
TOTAL		$4.90

STEP 1: Dice the onion and grate the ginger (see photos below for instructions). Add the onion and ginger to a large pot along with the minced garlic and olive oil. Cook over medium heat until the onions are soft and transparent (5-7 min.).

STEP 2: Add the cumin and red pepper to the pot. Stir and cook for about 1-2 minutes to allow the spices to toast just slightly.

STEP 3: Add the pumpkin puree, coconut milk, chicken base (or bouillon), and water. Use the amount of bouillon and water that your brand suggests to yield 3 cups of broth. Stir until everything is combined and continue to cook until everything is heated through (about 5-10 minutes). Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking (I added 1/2 tsp of salt and 10 cranks of the pepper mill).

STEP 4: Wash and shake dry the cilantro. Remove the leaves from the stems and roughly chop. Once the soup is heated through, stir in the fresh cilantro and then serve. If you want a smooth soup with no chunks of onion, use an immersion blender prior to adding the cilantro.

Step By Step Photos

This is perhaps one of my favorite flavor combinations ever. Garlic, ginger, and onion smell heavenly when cooking together. Since my grocery store switched to selling garlic per head rather than by the pound, I have found it much less expensive to buy this large jar of pre-minced garlic... plus it's super fast and easy. There are still some recipes that I'll only use the fresh garlic for but for now, I'm using this.


To grate the ginger, first peel it and then use a small cheese grater. I do it right over the pot because a lot of juice will drip down and you want to catch every bit of it.


Dice the onion and add to the pot with the grated ginger, minced garlic, and olive oil. Cook over medium heat.


Cook until the onions are soft and transparent (about 5-7 minutes).


Add the cumin and crushed red pepper. Stir and cook for about 1-2 minutes more to allow the spices to toast just slightly.


Next build the broth by adding the pumpkin puree, coconut milk, and enough bouillon and water to equal 3 cups of chicken broth. The brand I use is 1 tsp of bouillon per one cup of water so I used 1 Tbsp plus 3 cups of water.


Stir everything together and heat through (about 5-10 minutes). Give it a taste and add salt and pepper to your liking. I added about 1/2 tsp of salt and about 10 cranks of the pepper mill. If you'd like a smoother soup with no onion chunks, use an immersion blender to blend the soup at this point.


While the soup is heating, rinse and shake dry the cilantro. Remove the leaves from the stems and give them a rough chop. Add The cilantro to the soup just before serving.


Now it's ready to eat!


I sprinkled a little crushed red pepper on top and drizzled some plain yogurt just for kicks.