Pumpkin cauliflower soup with ham cubes
Two vegetables go into the pot. Pumpkin and cauliflower simmer together for 15 minutes, then an immersion blender turns everything into a thick, velvety purée. Crispy ham cubes and toasted pumpkin seeds land on top — warm and crunchy against the smooth base.
519 calories, 21g of protein, and 11g of fiber in a single bowl. The fat — 39g from olive oil and pumpkin seeds — gives this soup a richness that carries through lunch without weighing you down.
Ingredients
- onion 0.5
- garlic clove 1 clove
- carrot 1
- olive oil 1.5 tablespoon
- pumpkin (frozen) 7 ounces
- cauliflower florets 7 ounces
- water 1.5 cup
- thyme, dried 1 teaspoon
- vegetable bouillon 1 cube
- pumpkin seeds 1 ounce
- diced ham 1.5 ounce
Method
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Finely chop the onion and garlic clove. Peel the carrot and cut it into thin slices.
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Heat half of the oil in a soup pot. Sauté the onion and garlic for 2 minutes. Add the carrot, pumpkin cubes and cauliflower to the pot and cook for another minute.
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Add the water along with the thyme and the bouillon cube. Bring to a boil, then let it simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes.
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Puree the soup until smooth with an immersion blender. If needed, add a dash more water.
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Toast the pumpkin seeds briefly in a dry frying pan. Set them aside on a small plate.
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Heat the other half of the oil in the frying pan. Cook the diced ham until crispy and golden brown in 3 to 4 minutes.
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Pour the soup into a large bowl, top with the ham and sprinkle the toasted pumpkin seeds over it.
Blend the soup all the way smooth — fully puréeing breaks fiber loose from inside the vegetables, thickening the soup beyond what any cream or flour could do. A randomized crossover trial found that puréed vegetable meals emptied from the stomach 19% slower (255 vs 214 minutes) and kept participants significantly fuller than the same meal served in pieces.
Behind this recipe
Is 39 grams of fat too much for one meal?
This meal gets its fat from olive oil and pumpkin seeds, both whole-food sources rich in unsaturated fatty acids. Whether 39g fits your day depends on your total intake and goals. For context, dietary fat slows stomach emptying, which is part of why this soup feels more satiating than its calorie count might suggest. How much fat per day? covers the research on daily fat intake and body composition.
Read the full evidence reviewCan I use fresh pumpkin instead of frozen?
Yes. Peel it, cube it, and add about 196g (7 ounces) to the pot in step 2. Cooking time stays the same. Frozen pumpkin is pre-cut and softens faster, so fresh pumpkin may need an extra minute or two of simmering before it breaks down completely for blending.
Why purée the soup instead of leaving it chunky?
Beyond texture, puréeing releases fiber from inside the vegetable cells into the liquid. A randomized crossover trial found that homogenized vegetable meals stayed in the stomach 19% longer (255 vs 214 minutes) and kept participants significantly fuller than the same meal served in solid-liquid form. Chunky soup tastes fine, but the puréed version has a measurable satiety advantage.
