Lemongrass Pumpkin Soup with Coconut Milk (Pressure Cooker & Stovetop)
This lemongrass pumpkin soup with coconut milk is super easy to whip up. You can make it on the stovetop or with a pressure cooker. With a few slices of crusty bread, this tasty and healthy vegan soup is great as an appetizer, light lunch or supper.
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 130kcal
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb peeled pumpkin, cut into large chunks
- 1 small or half a medium/large onion, thinly sliced (about 2/3-3/4 cup sliced)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 3 lemongrass stalks, slightly smashed, cut into 3-inch sections (white part only)
- small apple, peeled, core removed, cut into large chunks (optional)
- olive oil
- 1 3/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1/3 cup coconut milk
- freshly cracked black pepper
- a few lime wedges (to serve)
Instructions
- Prepare all ingredients: peel and cut pumpkin and apple (if using) into chunks, slice onion and mince garlic. Peel off the dry outer layer of lemongrass, cut off the green part, bruise/slightly smash the white part and cut into 3-inch sections.
- Place a pot over medium heat, add olive oil. Add onion and sauté until fragrant, then add lemongrass and minced garlic and sauté for a few more seconds until fragrant. If using an electric pressure cooker, you can sauté the aromatics in the inner pot with Sauté function.
- Add water and salt. If cooking on the stovetop, bring everything to a boil and then lower to a simmer, cover and cook until pumpkin is very tender (around 10-15 minutes). If using a pressure cooker, cook on High pressure for 3 minutes and then release pressure immediately.
- Discard the lemongrass sections. Blend until smooth with a regular blender or stick blender.
- Put the soup back on a very gentle simmer, add soy sauce. Then stir in coconut milk. Taste and adjust seasonings and thickness of the soup to your liking.
- Transfer soup to serving bowls. Sprinkle with a lot of black pepper. Serve hot with crusty bread and some lime wedges. Garnish with cilantro if desired.
Notes
You can use any types of pumpkin (except the Halloween pumpkins :) ), butternut squash or Asian squash like kabocha squash.
If you want to make the soup gluten-free, you can use tamari or just add more salt instead of using soy sauce.
After testing, I find that sautéing onion, garlic and lemongrass briefly before boiling/pressure cooking helps to bring out their flavors so much more, and subsequently helps all flavors to meld together in harmony. So if you are not short on time, please do this extra step for the best result :).
Using boiling water will help cut down on time needed to build up pressure in an electric pressure cooker such as an Instant Pot. When releasing the pressure immediately, I usually a long chopstick to toggle the valve to open halfway. It's safer and less messy that way.
Nutrition
Calories: 130kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 681mg | Potassium: 707mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 18080IU | Vitamin C: 38mg | Calcium: 95mg | Iron: 2.2mg