Thicken Up Any Fall Soup With One Canned Ingredient Hack

Fall is the season for making your favorite comfort foods, including warm casseroles, chunky stews, and an incredible array of filling, satisfying fall soups. Those comforting classics can get a little heavy, though, if they're laden with rich ingredients like butter and cream. When you want to thicken up your soup without all the dairy, turn to seasonal alternatives such as canned pumpkin. Grocery store shelves will certainly be stocked with this versatile ingredient as the autumn months unfold, as it's an essential ingredient in seasonal pies and other dishes.

A can of creamy pumpkin purée stirred into a pot of soup will not only thicken the texture to a silky smoothness but also provide that subtle pumpkin flavor that evokes thoughts of autumn. When not the focal point of the recipe, pumpkin flavor in soup is discernible but not overwhelming; it'll impart that earthy, slightly nutty taste that mixes well with a medley of other ingredients, especially those common to cool-weather dishes, such as lentils, beans, and kale.

As well as being full of fall flavor, canned pumpkin provides plenty of nutritional benefits to a dish. Antioxidants, vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, and a medley of other nutrients are present in every naturally fat-free pumpkin, adding a generous helping of nutrition to its wholesome flavor.

One way to easily infuse this nutrient-packed vegetable into your soups is to substitute it in recipes that call for cream or half-and-half, either completely or partially replacing the dairy in the recipe with canned pumpkin. It can thicken up a creamy roasted tomato soup, for example, or provide extra smoothness to a hamburger soup without the heavy dairy. Pumpkin can also be used to thicken broth-based soups like chicken noodle or chicken tortilla, packing in those extra nutritional benefits along the way. Just keep in mind that pumpkin does have a flavor of its own, so it can affect the taste of your dish. Add the pumpkin slowly and taste regularly to ensure your soup turns out just the way you like it.

Typically used in baking, but delicious in savory applications as well, canned pumpkin is simply cooked and puréed pumpkin. However, it's not uncommon for canned pumpkin to sometimes include other types of squash. Historically speaking, the USDA's distinction between what constitutes pumpkin versus other varieties of squash is not very clear.

Many well-known brands state on the label that their pumpkin purée is "100% pumpkin"; Libby's, one of the most popular and recognizable brands in America, uses a proprietary type of Dickinson pumpkin in its offering. It should be noted that technically speaking, pumpkins are a type of winter squash, so a little variety won't strongly affect the taste of the purée. But if you're concerned about other types of squash being blended into your pumpkin, check labels before purchasing.

Squash-related questions aside, when using canned pumpkin — especially in savory applications like soups — it's important to know the differences between canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie filling. Your soup could turn into a sugary mess if you reach for the wrong one, as pumpkin pie filling is pre-sweetened and pre-seasoned with pie spices. Go for the purée if you don't fancy any extra sweetness in your soup.