Instant Pot Pumpkin Soup (Video recipe) - Sandhya's Kitchen (2025)

FAQs

Why is my pumpkin soup bland? ›

If you think the soup is bland, try adding salt to make all the flavors pop. Use All The Spices Listed. I know it might seem like a long list, but they are all delicious and important for giving the soup a warm and spicy quality: Thyme, Cumin, Ginger, Poultry Seasoning and Cinnamon.

“Pumpkin soup is best made with your good, old-fashioned varieties like butternut or Queensland blue — the harder pumpkins,” she says. “Soft fleshed pumpkins can make the soup a little watery. They are a different beast… from your standard greengrocer pumpkin.”

The time it takes to boil soup in an Instant Pot can vary depending on the specific recipe and ingredients used. However, on average, it usually takes about 10 to 15 minutes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure and then an additional 15 to 30 minutes for the soup to boil and cook adequately.

Pumpkin is a versatile ingredient that pairs well with both sweet and savory flavors. To complement pumpkin with sweet flavor pairings, consider using spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice and vanilla, or sweet ingredients like chocolate, maple, honey, cranberries or brown sugar.

There are several ways to thicken pumpkin soup. The easiest method is to reduce the soup by cooking off some of the liquid. Alternatively, use a slurry of all-purpose flour or cornstarch and water, add a teaspoon or two of either thickener to a small bowl and stir in 2 to 3 teaspoons of the soup to create a slurry.

Frozen food gets a bit of a bad rep for losing some of its flavour, and while this can happen, you can prevent too much flavor leakage by blanching your pumpkin before you freeze it. It doesn't take too long, but if you're not too worried about the loss of flavour, you can skip this step too.

Expert Response. The Instant pot can work like a slow cooker and when you leave it on a warm setting it will keep the food around 140 F so bacteria won't multiply. There would be a problem if they turned off the instant pot and left it over night. As long as the food stays warm out of the danger zone (40-140 degree F.)

Can you overcook soup in an Instant Pot? Absolutely! While the Instant Pot is a fabulous kitchen gadget that's reshaped the way we approach cooking, especially for dishes that traditionally take a long time like soups and stews, it doesn't grant immunity to the pitfalls of overcooking.

Do you use low or high pressure for soup in Instant Pot? ›

Soup. The soup program is 30 minutes on high pressure. Depending on wether your are using fresh or frozen meats, soup times can range from 20 minutes to an hour.

Cooking it

I like to roast wedges of pumpkin which helps to reduce the moisture content, making it taste richer and sweeter. You can flavour the pumpkin at this point by rubbing it with a spice of choice.

Perk up a Bland Soup With Simple Pantry Staples

Add a splash of vinegar (any kind!), or a squeeze of citrus. Chances are, you could use a little more salt. Go ahead—it's ok. Salt perks up flat flavors and helps balance out bitter-tasting ingredients.

Let it evaporate and cook longer.

If you find that your homemade or store-bought broth is thin and bland, you can concentrate its flavors by cooking it a little bit longer." Make sure to remove the lid or tilt it slightly to let the steam escape.

Q: My pumpkin pie doesn't taste much like pumpkin. Why not? First off, make sure you're using the right kind of pumpkin! Look for pumpkins labeled "sugar pumpkin" or "baking pumpkin." The pumpkins typically used for jack-o'-lanterns are stringy, watery, and bland.