Low-carb pumpkin soup made in the Thermomix® only works if the coconut milk goes in after cooking. Added earlier, it splits at 100°C and the soup turns oily instead of creamy.
We have been making this soup for years as a low-carb version of our classic pumpkin soup. The difference lies in using coconut milk instead of double cream and leaving out the potatoes. The result is a soup with 17 g of carbohydrates per serving rather than 35 g in the classic version.
Low-Carb Pumpkin Soup, Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 10 ✓
- 2 shallots
- 2 garlic cloves
- 10 g ginger
- 30 g rapeseed oil
- 2 tsp Ras el Hanout spice blend
- 500 g Hokkaido pumpkin
- 500 g vegetable stock
- 1 tsp salt
- 200 g coconut milk
- freshly ground pepper
Instructions 0 / 6
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1
Chop shallots and ginger.
Peel the shallots and garlic, peel the ginger, add to the mixing bowl and chop for 7 sec / speed 5, then scrape down with the spatula.
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2
Sweat.
Add the oil and Ras el Hanout and sweat for 3 min / Varoma / speed 2.
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3
Prepare and cut the pumpkin.
Meanwhile, scrub the pumpkin thoroughly and cut into pieces.
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4
Cook the pumpkin.
Add the pumpkin with the vegetable stock and salt, chop for 5 sec / speed 5, then cook for 15 min / 100°C / speed 1.
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5
Blend.
Add the coconut milk to the mixing bowl and blend for 50 sec / speed 8.
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6
Serve.
Serve the soup sprinkled with pepper.
Tip: You can finish your pumpkin soup with a pinch of chilli flakes.
Video
Nutrition per serving
Why Hokkaido and not butternut
Hokkaido has a thinner skin than butternut and does not need peeling. That saves 10 minutes of prep time. We scrub the pumpkin with a brush and cut it straight into pieces. The skin blends so finely that you will not notice it.
Butternut has more flesh and fewer seeds, but the skin has to come off. On a low-carb plan, every saved minute counts, because you are already preparing more vegetables than you would for pasta or rice.
Ras el Hanout gives the character
2 tsp of Ras el Hanout is not a suggestion, it is the backbone of this soup. The North African spice blend contains cumin, coriander, cinnamon and cardamom. This combination lifts the sweetness of the pumpkin and makes the soup complex rather than one-dimensional.
Sweating at Varoma for 3 minutes at speed 2 matters. Spices need heat and fat to release their essential oils. Simply stirring them in later does not work, and the soup will taste of raw spice powder.
Chopping before cooking saves time
We add the pumpkin pieces to the mixing bowl with the stock and chop them for 5 seconds at speed 5 before the 15-minute cooking time starts. This cuts the cooking time by 5 minutes, because smaller pieces soften more quickly.
Alternatively, you can cook larger pumpkin pieces for 20 minutes without the initial chop. The result is the same, but it takes a little longer.
Coconut milk goes in after cooking
The coconut milk goes in only after the 15 minutes of cooking and is then blended for 50 seconds at speed 8. This sequence is critical. Coconut milk splits at 100°C because the fat it contains separates. You will see oily patches on the surface and the soup will taste greasy rather than silky.
If you let the coconut milk cook along with the rest, the soup is not ruined, but you will see and taste the difference. The texture becomes grainy rather than smooth.
Chilli flakes as an optional kick
We usually serve the soup with a pinch of chilli flakes. This adds a sharp contrast to the sweet pumpkin base and keeps the soup from feeling one-note. If you are cooking for children, leave the chilli out or put it on the table separately.
A dollop of creme fraiche also works as a finishing touch, but it does raise the carb count slightly. For a strict low-carb bowl we skip it and stick with pepper and chilli.
Fridge and freezing
The soup keeps in the fridge for 3 days in a sealed container. When reheating, do not go above 80°C or the coconut milk may split. We reheat it for 3 minutes at speed 2 and 70°C.
Freezing works well for up to 3 months. The coconut milk may separate slightly on thawing, but a quick blend of 10 seconds at speed 5 brings the texture back to smooth.
More Thermomix® pumpkin recipes: our classic pumpkin soup in six variations, steaming pumpkin in the Varoma, pumpkin bread and pumpkin spread.
