Maple Pumpkin Bisque is a creamy, flavorful pumpkin soup lightly sweetened with pure maple syrup. Use as an appetizer or main dish in fall and winter. You’ll love this easy seasonal bisque made with canned pumpkin.
I love fall. Just got back from leaf peeping in Vermont with my family this past weekend. What a feast for the eyes! Vibrant reds and striking golds and oranges everywhere you look. The vivid reflections in the streams and ponds were fantastic.
While we were up in VT, we dropped by King Arthur Flour in Norwich. It’s one of my favorite haunts and they have a lovely cafe for eats as well. After shopping in the store and spending too many pesos, I went next door to the cafe to spend a few more. A cup of their delicious homemade butternut squash soup and a chai tea latte hit the spot.
Maple Pumpkin Bisque
Their butternut squash soup got me thinking about making a pumpkin bisque. Pumpkin Bisque is the quintessential creamy fall soup. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at making some, but it’s the fresh pumpkin that always intimidated me.
Call me lazy, but I don’t want to spend the time peeling, chopping and gutting a fresh pumpkin if I’m not going to get a jack-o-lantern out of it. (Yep, lazy.) That’s why I’m so glad this recipe uses canned pumpkin.
I do love surprises. A few months ago a high school friend sent me a surprise package by snail mail: a cookbook with recipes from famous inns in Vermont. She found it at a local thrift shop in Indiana. Go figure.
This is just before adding the heavy cream, which lightens the color considerably.
I’m so glad she sent that cookbook! (Thank you Christy.) Leafing through it, I was inspired to use more maple syrup in my cooking. As you can imagine, many of the recipes incorporate pure maple syrup. There were a few pumpkin soup recipes that caught my eye too.
One recipe included maple syrup, another curry and a third incorporated fresh tomatoes. I used elements from these recipes (and a few of my own) to create this unique Maple Pumpkin Bisque.
Why I love this Maple Pumpkin Bisque recipe:
- It uses canned pumpkin, chicken broth and marsala wine, to name a few of the ingredients.
- Its delicate flavor is enhanced by the marsala wine.
- It is lightly sweetened with pure maple syrup, and a touch of heavy cream makes it the creamiest ever!
- It uses canned pumpkin puree so I don’t have to peel, chop and dice a fresh pumpkin.
I used a blender to process it ’til smooth. (An immersion blender would have been easier and faster, but seeing as I don’t have one… Hint hint to the jolly man in the red suit: I’ve been a very good girl.)
Then I added the heavy cream and seasoned with salt and pepper.
We had this bisque for dinner tonight and Jon says, “What’s with the bisque? And why do the French get all the fancy words like quiche and bisque and frites?” Dunno and no fair. But he did love this pumpkin soup.
Hope you enjoy this delicious pumpkin soup bisque as much as we do! Why not treat yourself.
Tips for making Maple Pumpkin Bisque:
- Don’t boil the bisque after you add the cream.
- Reheat the soup slowly on low heat to avoid separating.
- Use pure maple syrup.
- For best flavor and to allow ingredients to meld, refrigerate overnight before serving. Then slowly reheat.
- Be safe: cool soup before processing in the blender.
Other pumpkin recipes you may enjoy: Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake, Pumpkin Pie Smoothie, and Maple Pumpkin Spice Tea Latte.
Maple Pumpkin Bisque
Ingredients
Bisque
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3/4 cup red onion finely diced (about 1 small red onion)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup marsala wine
- 4 cups organic chicken stock
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 29 ounce can pureed pumpkin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup pure maple syrup
Optional Garnish
- sour cream
- fresh herbs
Instructions
- In a heavy stock pot, melt 2 tablespoons butter over low heat.
- Add 3/4 cup finely diced onion and minced garlic cloves.
- Stir in ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg,
- Stir and cook over low heat until onions are translucent, but do not brown.
- Add 1/2 cup marsala wine and 4 cups chicken stock.
- Turn up the heat and bring to a boil.
- Turn the heat down and simmer on low for 15 minutes.
- Stir in canned pumpkin and maple syrup.
- Cook for a few more minutes until thoroughly heated.
- Cool mixture.
- Process in a food processor or use an immersion blender until velvety smooth.
- For best flavor, refrigerate in a glass container for a few hours or overnight to allow flavors to meld.
- Return pumpkin soup to stock pot and add heavy cream, salt and pepper.
- Continue stirring and slowly heat until steaming. DO NOT BOIL or soup may separate.
- Serve steaming hot.
- Optional: garnish with a dollop of sour cream or fresh herb sprigs.
You may also like: Pumpkin Spice Sugared Pecans
Carol says
I came across this recipe by accident, Allie, and I am so glad that I did. I always read your posts(you know that) and this one is no exception. I find them always to be so well written and always interesting. I am wondering if you can tell me the name of the cookbook your friend sent you. I really love cookbooks and that one sounds like it would be amazing. ESPECIALLY if it is a bit older. I just love those timeless recipes and a bit of history, too.
What really caught my eye was “maple “pumpkin soup. I was reading your wonderful post on caramelized maple walnuts and this post showed up on the side, I think on you Pinterest follow icon.Now I adore pumpkin soup and made it many times but never with maple syrup. We get such beautiful maple syrup here and I know you do too. We are so fortunate! I look forward to this recipe so much! . Our leaves are a bit slow this year, they are turning their bright colours but still not in full colour yet. Maybe another 2 weeks and they will be brighter, but it is such a glorious time of year! I hope you have a magnificent weekend!xo
Allie says
Hi Carol! I loved hearing from you as always. Thank you for the very kind words. I hope you love this bisque too! I really just love it so much. I made a double batch this past weekend and used it for a group dinner along with those Brown Sugar Hawaiian Ham Slider Rolls https://www.throughherlookingglass.com/hawaiian-roll-ham-sliders/, and as part of a meal for a friend recovering from surgery. I do think it is best made a day ahead, and then slowly reheated. The flavors are better after they have melded for a day or so. I love the maple touch too, I have quite an arsenal of recipes using maple syrup on the blog now. (Yay!) The name of the cookbook is Made in Vermont: Recipes from Vermont’s Favorite Inns, edited by Colleen O’Shea, copyright 2001. I hope you can find a copy somewhere, it looks like there are quite a few great recipes in this book. So funny you found this soup recipe before it went out by e-mail. You are clever! I published it last Thursday, but it won’t go out in the e-mail feed until tomorrow night, Tuesday. I’ve got company coming in this week, so I was working ahead to have something ready to publish ahead of time. Enjoy a beautiful fall my friend, and have a great week! XO
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop says
This is a perfect fall soup! It sounds so warm and cozy – and delicious! The touch of maple syrup sounds just perfect!
Sue says
I absolutely can’t wait to make this! My mother’s fav comfort food is pumpkin soup so I’ll be sure to have this waiting for her when she arrives from Florida next week.
I just love your blog, Allie-always makes me smile!
Allie says
Thank you so much Sue, I hope your mom LOVES this soup! xo
Denise Quattrochi says
I have never had pumpkin soup but this sounds amazing. I can’t wait to try it. I love all your recipes!
Allie says
Awww… many thanks Denise, I hope you like this one too. It’s a very creamy, smooth soup. Unfortunately, my kids don’t care for it, pumpkin can be an acquired tasted I guess. (More for me?) 🙂
Adina says
My favorite kind of soup in autumn. I buy old cookbooks in a trifty store nearby all the time, I just love them. No pictures and sometime very much lacking in explaining the cooking steps (especially when it comes to cooking times or oven temperatures), but I just love to read them as I was reading a novel or something. And when I cook something out of them, it works ok most of the times, I suppose I have enough experience now to figure some things out by myself. 🙂 🙂 But I am always wondering how the young women of those times did manage. But, unlike me, they have probably learned the basics from their mothers. 🙂
Jeff the Chef says
I’ve made pumpkin puree from fresh pumpkin many times, and I have to tell you that I can’t tell it apart from canned. So, don’t apologize. Your bisque sounds fantastic!
Shashi at SavorySpin says
I dunno why ,but I wanna make some of those pumpkin spice sugared pecans and enjoy them with this decadent bisque! I found myself the recipient of one of those ginormous pumpkin patch pumpkins Allie and, like you, I didn’t want to cut into it so I baked the whole thing! Now I have containers of baked fresh pumpkin taking over my fridge and I mightn’t just have to use some of that instead of the canned pumpkin you used to make this. But when that’s gone then it’s awesome that I can use canned pumpkin to recreate this! This looks wonderful -so dreamy so creamy! Hoping all’s well with you and your family sweet friend!
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
Oh how I miss fall in New England…I’m sure you enjoyed your trip over to Vermont for a day. Your bisque sounds very flavorful. Thanks for the tip about it being better if made a day ahead.
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop says
I love the color of this soup. I’ll bet it tastes amazing! There’s nothing better than a great bowl of soup on a chilly fall day!
Leslie Edwards says
Allie,
I have made this soup 3 times now. The first time was for a group of 10- scary when you try it the first time for friends but I trusted you and it was a success! Everyone raved over it and there was not a drop left. The second time I had 2 large butternut squash that I used instead of the pumpkin and my son said it was great! I think the pumpkin is better but he had not yet tried the pumpkin. Now I am making it for an autumn feast at work. Ill let you know how it turns out!
Thanks for a great new soup to add to my menu this fall!
Leslie
Allie says
Hi Leslie – this makes me happy. I think I’ve made it three times now too, I have some in the refrigerator. Susan sent me a pic. of you all enjoying this soup on your weekend away.:) Thanks for representing me so well, ha ha. I’m glad it was a hit. Also glad to know it worked with butternut squash. I wondered about that. Or even a combination of squash and pumpkin for a “harvest” soup. Hard to go wrong with maple syrup. I thought of you at King Arthur a few weeks ago. XO
Sue says
Oh my is this ever delicious! My mom and I enjoyed a hot cup of bisque for lunch today—it really brightened our spirits on a cold, rainy day.
Thanks much for the recipe–a keeper for sure!
Nancy says
oh my goodness! This is AMAZING! The flavor, the texture , everything is over the top perfection. Having trouble not making it everyday, but it truly is a treat.
Allie says
I’m so glad to hear it Nancy. I love this recipe too. I hosted a party last week and ‘cheated’ because I was short on time and got Trader Joe’s pumpkin bisque in a jar. (For the record, I did have another homemade soup.:)) But the jarred pumpkin bisque didn’t hold a candle to this recipe. The texture, and especially the maple syrup were missing. The jarred bisque was sweetened with honey. Good, but not amazing.
Kristy says
I am a newbie to your site. Was nust googling pumpkin maple soup and this recipe came up. Couple of days ago my husband took me to a quaint french cafe and i ordered the pumpkin bisque, well i only got to enjoy 2 spoonfuls since my husband ate it all! I decided to make it for Thanksgiving this year since i am hosting.
I have 2 concerns.
1 is i do not have red onion but i do have a shallot..think it will sub fine?
2: half my guests are vegan. So i will make 2 versions 1 with cream and the vegan version i might try canned coconut milk.? Thoughts or sub ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Allie says
Hi Kristy – I think you cld def get away with the shallot. And I think coconut milk could be a good substitute. I’ve not tried it myself, so wld love to hear back from you how it turns out, if you try it. Happy Thanksgiving, hope you love the bisque!