Creamy Vegan Pumpkin Soup with Crispy Sage

Although pumpkin is strictly speaking out of season, soup is still very much in season, and this creamy vegan pumpkin soup recipe has every right to arrive at this time of the year! The earthy sweetness of butternut squash paired with buttery potatoes, warm spices and a dollop of tangy creme fraiche are my epitome of wintery cosiness. If I could choose one dish to get me through this most miserable time of the year, it would be this velvety hug of a soup served with a side of garlic bread and the latest episode of The Traitors on.

The recipe serves four people, is fairly quick and easy to make, involves no crazy ingredients, and freezes well in case you like to food prep for hibernation.

While the crispy sage isn’t mandatory (this soup very much shines by itself), it really elevates this dish for a date night dinner or other special occasion. So, if you have a little extra time on your hands and are in the mood to get bougie with your meal, I thoroughly recommend the crispy, salty fried sage topping.

Ingredients

For about 4 portions of soup

1 medium butternut squash (900g - 1kg)

650g - 700g Russet potatoes

1 litre vegetable stock (2 stock cubes)

1 large onion

1 tbsp soft brown sugar

2 tbsp butter

1.5 tsp salt

200g vegan creme fraiche

Pepper and nutmeg for seasoning

For the crispy sage

20g fresh sage (washed and dried)

Oil for frying

Pepper and flaky salt

Method

Crispy sage

If you’re planning to serve your soup with crispy sage, start here. Otherwise, jump right to the soup-making process below.

There are a few things to pay attention to when frying sage in order to avoid a bitter or greasy outcome. Make sure you’re using the best quality sage you can get your hands on and make sure there’s no moisture left on the leaves after washing them. For frying, you want to use a neutral vegetable oil, such as sunflower or rapeseed. Use fresh oil to prevent the sage from tasting rancid. A thermometer will help you achieve the best fry because frying sage at too high or low a temperature will make it taste bitter. The last variable to look out for is cooking time: if you fry the sage for too long, its essential oils will also turn bitter.

Step 1 Wash your sage, separate the leaves from the stem and discard any scruffy bits. Pat the washed leaves dry with a kitchen towel. Make sure the leaves are completely dry before frying.

Step 2 Pour enough oil to cover the bottom of a small pot and heat it up to 180°C. Use your thermometer to check the temperature throughout as you don’t want the oil to be too hot.

Step 3 Once the oil is at temperature, drop a few sage leaves into the oil and let them fry for around 30 - 50 seconds or until the oil stops sizzling. Remove the leaves from the oil and transfer them to a drying rack lined with paper towels to absorb any access oil. Sprinkle with flakey salt and a scrunch of black pepper.

Step 4 Continue frying the sage in batches, making sure not to overcrowd the pot. Allow the oil to come back to temperature after each batch to ensure an even fry.

Pumpkin soup

Step 1 If you don’t have vegetable stock at the ready, start by preparing 1 litre of stock by dissolving two vegetable stock cubes in 1 litre of boiling water. Set aside for later.

Step 2 Peel your squash with a vegetable peeler and scoop out the seeds, then cut the flesh into small cubes. Then, peel and cube your potatoes.

Step 3 Peel and roughly cut your onion while melting 2 tbsp of vegan butter in a large pot on medium heat. When the butter is melted and sizzling, add the onion and let it cook down for about 5 minutes. Then, add the brown sugar to help the caramelisation process along.

Step 4 When the onion is starting to get some colour, chuck in your prepped squash and potatoes, stir well, turn the heat up to a medium-high and let it all sear for about 10 minutes. You want the vegetables to brown and get some slight charring to achieve the best aroma.

Step 5 Once your vegetables are seared from all sides, deglaze everything with the vegetable stock. Let the soup simmer for another 10 minutes with the lid on.

Step 6 When the potato and squash pieces are nice and soft, take your pot off the heat and use a hand blender (stick blender) to blend your soup. It’s worth taking time with this process to ensure a super creamy, velvety consistency.

Step 7 Season your soup with a few good grinds of pepper and nutmeg as well as some salt if needed. Lastly, add 100g - 150g of vegan creme fraiche for acidity. See my notes on ingredients if you’re not using creme fraiche.

Step 8 Serve each bowl of soup with an additional dollop of creme fraiche, a few leaves of fried sage and, ideally, a little drizzle of pumpkin seed oil. Enjoy!

Notes on Ingredients

Butternut Squash

If you can’t get butternut squash where you live or have another type of squash at hand, don’t worry! The butternut squash can easily be substituted by other winter squash, such as buttercup, Hubbard and acorn squash or even sugar pumpkin. I’ve also made this recipe with Hokaido pumpkin before, and it turned out beautifully. Just make sure to choose a variety of squash with a sweet, nutty and earthy aroma.

Russet Potatoes

Again, if you can’t get your hands on Russet potatoes, you can easily substitute for a similar variety, such as Maris Piper, Kings Edward, or yellow or ‘golden’ potatoes. As long as you’re using a starchy variety, your soup should turn out creamy and delicious.

Soft Brown Sugar

The soft brown sugar can be replaced by regular brown sugar or granulated white sugar. For a sugar-free dish, you can skip the sugar altogether — just give the onions more time to caramelise at a low temperature.

Vegan Butter

In this recipe, you can use any type of vegan ‘butter’ (block or spread) or replace it with the same amount of olive or sunflower oil.

Vegan Creme Fraiche

The only vegan creme fraiche I’ve used in this recipe is Oatly Creamy Oat Fraiche simply because I don’t know of any other creme fraiche substitutes. It works wonderfully in this recipe and adds the necessary acidity, so I wouldn’t replace it with vegan cream, which will only add more sweetness. If you can’t find a vegan creme fraiche at your supermarket, you could add a small amount of unsweetened soya yoghurt and an additional tbsp of vegan butter for creaminess. However, I haven’t tested this method so can’t make any promises. If you’re not using creme fraiche and your soup is lacking acidity, you can add a small amount of apple cider or white wine vinegar, but carefully!