Austrian Pumpkin Soup (Kürbissuppe)
Kürbissuppe Say it: KUR-biss ZUP-peh
Kürbissuppe is Austria’s autumn pumpkin soup, especially associated with Burgenland, where fields of oil pumpkins ripen in late summer. Cooked with onion, potato and vegetable stock until tender, it is blended into a velvety orange soup and enriched with a little cream. The finish is what makes it unmistakably Austrian: toasted pumpkin seeds and a glossy drizzle of dark pumpkin seed oil. Mildly sweet, gently nutty and warming, it is served in bowls with rustic bread on cool days.
Austrian Pumpkin Soup (Kürbissuppe)
Kürbissuppe
Pronounced KUR-biss ZUP-peh
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Total
- 1 hr
- Level
- Easy
Also nut-free and egg-free.
Allergens: contains milk. Check labels on packaged ingredients.
Ingredients
Amounts are scaled. Cooking times and pan sizes stay the same.
Soup
To finish
Method
Put the pumpkin seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat and toast, shaking the pan often, until they puff slightly, smell nutty and turn light golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Tip them onto a plate to cool.
Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and potato and cook, stirring, until the onion is translucent and soft at the edges, 5 to 6 minutes.
Add the pumpkin, vegetable stock, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer until the pumpkin and potato crush easily with a spoon, 20 to 25 minutes.
Remove from the heat and blend with an immersion blender until completely smooth and silky, 1 to 2 minutes. If the soup is thicker than you like, stir in a little extra vegetable stock.
Stir in the cream and warm over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, without letting it boil. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
Ladle into warmed bowls. Drizzle each portion with pumpkin seed oil, scatter over the toasted pumpkin seeds and finish with a small grating of nutmeg if you like.
Regional variants
In Styria, the soup is often finished with pumpkin seed oil and seeds and sometimes served without cream; some cooks add a peeled apple or a small piece of ginger to the pot for extra sweetness.
Cook's notes
- Use a Hokkaido pumpkin if you can; its flesh is dense, sweet and less watery than many large pumpkins.
- Blend thoroughly for a truly silky texture; a high-speed blender gives the smoothest result, but an immersion blender is fine.
- Do not boil the soup after adding cream, or it can look grainy; gentle heating keeps it glossy.
Serve with
Rustic Austrian bread or a slice of dark rye bread; a light white wine or apple cider.
Make ahead and storage
Prepare through blending, cool, cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days; reheat gently, stir in the cream and garnish just before serving.
