
Kabocha Squash Soup (かぼちゃスープ)
Kabocha Soup, which is also known as Kabocha Potage (かぼちゃポタージュ) in Japan, is a thick creamy soup that's made from Kabocha squash (a.k.a. Japanese pumpkins), aromatics, and stock. It's such a popular soup in Japan, instant varieties are available all year round, and in fall, there are pumpkin soup flavored snack foods like potato chips and instant noodles.
Although it's pretty similar to a Western winter squash soup, the main difference is that Kabocha Squash Soup is often eaten for breakfast. Traditionally, Japanese breakfasts involved a bowl of rice, miso soup, and protein like grilled fish.
These days, many younger people prefer a more Western-style breakfast, including fried eggs, bacon, and toast. Old habits die hard, though, and the meal is often served with a bowl of vegetable soup like this.
Table of contents
Why This Recipe Works?
- Browning the aromatics and kabocha in butter before adding any liquid creates a flavorful base for the soup that imparts a ton of umami.
- Adding carrots adds extra depth to the soup's flavor. It also gives the soup a more vibrant orange color.
- Adding a bit of cream at the end gives this pumpkin soup a silky mouthfeel and rounds out the green flavors from the kabocha.
Ingredients for Kabocha Squash Soup
- Kabocha Squash - You can read more about Kabocha in the FAQ below, but this is a Japanese winter squash with sweet, starchy orange flesh. If you can't find it, Butternut or Acorn squash will work as well.
- Butter - In addition to boosting the soup's richness, butter also contains milk solids, which boosts the umami of the soup. If you want to get the maximum amount of flavor from the soup, I recommend using cultured butter.
- Onion - Although Kabocha is very sweet, it doesn't have a ton going on in the flavor department, so I like adding a bunch of onions and sauteeing them until they're nice and browned to add some character to the soup. Leeks are also a tasty alternative to onions if you have some on hand.
- Carrot - The carrot adds a nice vegetal flavor to the soup, but its main role is to enhance the soup's color. Kabocha is more of a yellowish-orange color, which can make the soup look a bit anemic. Adding some carrots shifts the color closer to red, which gives the soup a vibrant orange hue.
- Stock - Although any stock will work for this, I like using vegetable stock because it brings a lot of complementary flavors to the Japanese pumpkin without distracting from the main ingredient in the way chicken stock would.
- Cream - While the cream isn't necessary, it makes a pretty big difference in the finished soup's texture and flavor. If you make it without the cream, the soup ends up being much lighter and one-dimensional in taste. Alternatively, you could make this soup vegan-friendly by substituting coconut cream instead.
- Garnish - I like to garnish my Kabocha soup with some minced parsley for a splash of green, but it's also great with almost any herb you may have on hand, like tarragon, basil, or rosemary. It's also great topped with some toasted pumpkin seeds or croutons for a bit of crunch!
How to Make Kabocha Squash Soup
The first thing you're going to want to do is to saute the onions and carrots in the butter until they're tender and fragrant. You want to take your time here, as the Maillard browning that occurs is going to give your soup a ton of umami.
After the aromatics start to brown, you want to add the kabocha in and continue to saute this for a bit. This is akin to roasting the pumpkin first and deepens its flavor.
Next, you're going to add in the vegetable stock and cook the kabocha until it's tender. Depending on how thickly you sliced your Japanese pumpkin, this should take anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes.
Now all you have to do is puree the soup in a blender. I recommend letting it cool down first as a sudden release of steam can cause the lid to blow off, painting your ceiling a vibrant shade of orange. The soup will have the best texture when blended in a high-speed blender, but a regular blender or hand-blender will work in a pinch.
Once the soup is nice and smooth, you just need to heat it up in a clean pot, season it with salt to taste and add the cream.
Other Japanese Pumpkin Recipes
Kabocha (かぼちゃ or 南瓜) is a variety of winter squash that has dark green skin and vibrant orange flesh that's sweet and starchy. The word kabocha literally means "pumpkin" in Japanese, so it's often called Japanese Pumpkin or Kabocha Squash in other countries.
The texture and sweetness are almost like a sweet potato, making it a versatile vegetable that's used in everything from soups to stews to stir-fries to desserts. As you may have guessed from the orange color, kabocha is loaded with beta-carotene, but it's also a good source of fiber, potassium, and vitamin C.
Ka-bo-cha has three syllables, and each one is pronounced as follows:
ka like copy
bo like boat
cha like charge
I've used dairy in this recipe, so it is vegetarian but not vegan. If you'd like to make this vegan, you can use olive oil to saute the vegetables and add a bit of nutritional yeast to give it some buttery umami. Then you can use coconut cream to finish the soup. It will make it taste like coconut, but it will give it a similar richness as the cream.
If you can't find Kabocha squash where you live, you can substitute any sweet, starchy squash like Butternut or Acorn.
Yes, this soup freezes very well, so you can make a big batch and freeze portions. One trick I like to do is to freeze individual portions in small plastic containers. Once they're frozen, you can unmold them and then store the soup blocks in a freezer bag to save space. Then all you have to do is defrost and reheat the soup in the microwave.
📖 Recipe
Units
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons cultured unsalted butter
- 175 grams onion 1 small onion, finely diced
- 120 grams carrots 1 carrot, finely diced
- 700 grams Kabocha ¼ large pumpkin, peeled and sliced
- 5 cups vegetable stock
- Salt to taste
- ½ cup heavy cream plus more for garnish
- Parsley minced for garnish
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large pot and saute the onions and carrots until they're tender and just starting to brown (about 5 minutes).
- Add the Kabocha and continue sauteing for another two minutes.
- Add the vegetable stock and cover the pot with a lid. Lower the heat and simmer the pumpkin soup until the Kabocha is tender (about 10-15 minutes).
- Let the Kabocha Squash soup cool down, and then add it to a blender to puree.
- Return the soup to a clean pot and reheat. Season it with salt to taste, and add the cream.
- Garnish the Japanese Pumpkin soup with a drizzle of extra cream and some minced parsley.
Alica says
The soup looks tasty as of all other recipes here! It looks perfectly adapted to current autumn weather.
I was wondering if maybe adding some Japanese chestnut ("Kuri" 栗) might be a good idea?
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks Alica! I've never tried making soup with chestnut, but it has a good flavor and plenty of starch so it should work. I'd be curious to hear how it goes if you give it a shot.
Joel says
Marc, this is an excellent soup especially for eating this squash for the first time. The balance of all the flavors was perfect even with no spice so the sweetness of the kabocha remained the star.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Joel, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to let me know.
Joyce Arnette says
Fabulous soup. Going to make it all winter.
Thanks!!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Joyce, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to let me know.
Doreen Elliott says
Hi Marc!
I made the soup and instead of putting it in a blender put my emulsion blender stick in the pot and it came out very smooth and creamy. Instead of cream, I added coconut milk which added a bit of sweetness and made it a little lighter. This is a fantastic recipe that I will continue to make. Thanks for developing the recipe. Served it in a blue bowl against the bright orange color. Very striking.
I plan to make this for St. Patrick's Day--orange soup, cream accents for the white and the green parsley to make the Irish flag.
Thanks again!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Doreen, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing your modifications, and I love the idea of using this as part of a St. Paddy's day meal!
Sandi says
Hi Marc,
I tried this soup for lunch today and it was absolutely delicious! Thanks Marc.
Take care,
Sandi
Marc Matsumoto says
You're welcome Sandi, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Emily says
I grate some ginger upon serving and it tastes great because the freshness cuts through the heavy starchiness of the kabocha. Sometimes I make pumpkin curry and depending in the type, leave the rind on. It becomes deliciously soft and helps hold the flesh together.
Thanks for sharing!
Marc Matsumoto says
Great idea adding some ginger at the end, I usually like to add some turmeric to the soup when I'm adding ginger. Yep, the skin can be a nice contrast in other dishes when you're not pureeing it, and it adds a different set of nutrients, but unfortunately it makes the color really bad when pureed into the soup.
Sandi says
Hi Marc,
I tried this recipe for lunch today and it was absolutely delicious! Thanks Marc.
Take care,
Sandi
Iris says
Wait, how did you cut the kabocha? I remember kabocha being extremely difficult to cut!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Iris, watch the video. I show you how to peel and cut it. Kabocha is hard, but with a sharp sturdy knife and a little elbow grease it's doable.
Kathy says
Beautiful video and fantastic recipe! Love the color-coordinated shirt, just in case of splashes. I've been making a similar soup for quite a while. I always roast the squash, then I don't have the work of peeling it. Takes longer, though. Great tip adding carrots for color. This soup is a versatile canvas for adding flavors. I always use fresh thyme and roasted garlic(I know, so 1980's), but you could go a lot of ways with it. It can become a different soup each time you take some out of the freezer. Might be fun to see how many cuisines you can visit in a single batch! I've got about 20 ideas already. Thanks for inspiring me to freshen up this perennial fall favorite!
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks Kathy! It's always such a struggle to decide what to wear (not that I have that many choices, I'm just bad with decisions). So by matching the color with the food I'm making it takes the decision out of the equation😂 Yes, this is definitely intended to be a blank canvas. I sometimes add some curry powder, or chili powder to take it in a different direction, someone on Discuss suggested using sour cream instead of cream. Roasted garlic and thyme is such a great combo (it reminds me of roast chicken), and I bet it would go great with a little Meyer lemon zest. I can't wait to hear what you come up with!