This delicious and satisfying Kabocha Soup comes together with sweet Japanese squash (pumpkin) and just a few simple ingredients. Enjoy this rich and creamy soup by dipping with your favorite crusty bread. {vegetarian adaptable} 

Mug cups containing kabocha soup served on a wooden tray.

The weather is getting cooler and the leaves are starting to fall. Fall has arrived and that means pumpkin and squash season upon us! Fall is my favorite season and I especially love all kinds of seasonal ingredients only available this time of the year in Japan. Kabocha, Matsutake mushrooms, chestnuts, Sanma (pacific saury), just to mention a few.

What’s Kabocha?

Kabocha | Easy Japanese Recipes at JustOneCookbook.com

Kabocha is an Asian variety of winter squash. The Japanese simply call it Kabocha (南瓜、かぼちゃ、カボチャ) and the word kabocha refers to all kinds of pumpkins in Japan. In Australia and New Zealand, kabocha is commonly called Japanese pumpkin and here in North America, we refer to it as Kabocha Squash or Kabocha.

bowl with kabocha soup on top of black napkin and marble table

Kabocha has dull-finished deep green skin (it’s edible!) and really bright yellow-orange color flesh on the inside. It has a naturally sweet flavor, even sweeter than butternut squash, and it’s often used for desserts and baked goods in Japan.

Be forewarned, even though it doesn’t look it, kabocha is really hard. If you are going to cut it for the first time, please be careful with the knife. Keep your fingers away from the knife’s sharp edge.

Mug cups containing kabocha soup served on a wooden tray.

Kabocha’s Health Benefits

Kabocha doesn’t just look pretty and taste good, it is also an excellent source of beta-carotene which can be converted to vitamin A in the human body. Vitamin A is important for healthy white blood cells and good immunity. Kabocha is also a good source of iron, vitamin C, and some B vitamins and it has lots of fiber!

Over the past few years, I’ve seen kabocha available not just in Asian grocery stores, but they are also available at my local grocery stores during this season. If you love butternut squash and other vegetables similar to pumpkins, definitely try and make this easy soup recipe or other kabocha recipes.

For this recipe, I removed the peel to get the nice intense yellow-orange color for the soup, but you could include the (totally edible) skin as well so you don’t waste the food AND extra nutrition!

Mug cups containing kabocha soup served on a wooden tray.

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Mug cups containing kabocha soup served on a wooden tray.

Kabocha Soup

4.86 from 101 votes
This delicious and satisfying Kabocha Soup comes together with sweet Japanese squash (pumpkin) and just a few simple ingredients. Enjoy this rich and creamy soup by dipping with your favorite crusty bread. {vegetarian adaptable}

Video

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients
 
 

For the Garnish

  • parsley (chopped)
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

Instructions
 

  • Gather all the ingredients.
    Kabocha Squash Soup Ingredients
  • Thinly slice ½ onion.
    Kabocha Squash Soup 1
  • Using a spoon, discard the seeds from 1.4 lb kabocha squash and cut into 6 thin wedges. Tip: For step-by-step instructions and a video tutorial on how to cut and peel it, see my post How to Cut a Kabocha Squash.
    Kabocha Squash Soup 2
  • Remove the skin. Then, cut into small, equal-size cubes.
    Kabocha Squash Soup 3

To Cook the Soup

  • In a pot, heat 1 Tbsp unsalted butter over medium heat and cook the onion until soft and brown.
    Kabocha Squash Soup 4
  • Add the kabocha and sauté to coat with the butter.
    Kabocha Squash Soup 5
  • Add 2 cups chicken stock/broth (or vegetable broth) and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 12–15 minutes.
    Kabocha Squash Soup 6
  • Using a skewer, insert into kabocha and check if it’s fully cooked.
    Kabocha Squash Soup 7
  • Pureé the soup in batches in a blender or with an immersion blender until smooth.
    Kabocha Squash Soup 11
  • Add 1½ cups milk and ½ cup heavy (whipping) cream and stir until combined. Do not let the soup boil.
    Kabocha Squash Soup 8
  • Season with 2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper. Stir over moderately low heat until it is hot.
    Kabocha Squash Soup 9

To Serve

  • Ladle the Kabocha Soup into bowls, garnish with chopped parsley, and serve.
    Kabocha Squash Soup 10

To Store

  • You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer for a month.

Nutrition

Calories: 244 kcal · Carbohydrates: 21 g · Protein: 6 g · Fat: 18 g · Saturated Fat: 11 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 5 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 57 mg · Sodium: 620 mg · Potassium: 727 mg · Fiber: 3 g · Sugar: 9 g · Vitamin A: 2859 IU · Vitamin C: 21 mg · Calcium: 197 mg · Iron: 1 mg
Author: Namiko Hirasawa Chen
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: creamy, pumpkin soup
©JustOneCookbook.com Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any website or social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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Editor’s Note: Original post was published on Oct 1, 2014.

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4.86 from 101 votes (81 ratings without comment)
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Should I bake or microwave the squash before sautéing it with the onions?

Hi, Alexandra! Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe.
You don’t have to bake or microwave the squash. The squash will cook while you simmer them. We hope this helps!

Made the soup last night with my dinner the only thing I changed was I use 0 sugar oat milk instead of full fat milk!!! Outstanding! We love ❤️ I will definitely make it again 🙏5 stars

Hello, Marie-France! We are delighted to hear you enjoyed the soup!
Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your experiences with us.

I made this for a dinner party. I paired it with a nori crème fraîche (just some creme fraîche loosened with milk, + a teaspoon of very a Korean soy sauce and a handful of pulverized nori) and a swirl of perilla leaf oil. It really elevated it to be something luxe, despite the rather minimal effort of those two extra components !5 stars

Hello, Sandra! Wow! It sounds wonderful!
Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your ideas with us.
Happy Cooking!

I always have a hard time for my sons to eat their vegetables, but when I saw your kabocha squash soup and cook it, they instantly liked it. So thank you very much for all your delicious and healthy meals.

Hello there! We are so happy to hear your sons enjoyed this soup.🥰
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback.

This looks interesting.
Using sweet potato with butternut squash is helpful.
I wonder about the quantity, though.
Your knife is fascinating.

Hello, Mike! Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe.
We haven’t tried this recipe with other vegetables yet, so we’re not sure how much will provide a good balance.
Here’s a recipe for potato leek soup that you may use as a guide. We hope this was helpful!
https://www.justonecookbook.com/potato-leek-soup/

So tasty! I used a pumpkin I had leftover from Halloween. The soup was surprisingly sweet, I’ve never eaten pumpkin before so I didn’t expect it! It was lovely though. Caramelizing the onions and pumpkin chunks did wonders for the flavour. I’ve also saved my pumpkin seeds and plan to do something with them, like fry them with soy sauce, I’m not sure yet. Thank you for the recipe!5 stars

Hello, Axis. We’re delighted you enjoyed the pumpkin soup!
It sounds delicious to fry the seeds and season them with soy sauce. If you attempt it, please let us know how it goes!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Nami’s post.🙂

WOW, this was so good, and relatively quick to make! I had a little leftover pumpkin puree from making muffins, so I added that to the kabocha after it was soft and simmered. I found that the immersion blender still left a little more texture than I wanted, but it was silky smooth after I pureed it in my Vitamix. I used about 1/2 the amount of milk and cream called for, and topped with chives. Yum!5 stars

Hi Lexi! We are glad to hear you enjoyed Kabocha Soup!
Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your cooking experience with us.
Happy Cooking!

Hi there Nami,

could I substitute with Hokkaido? It’s orange outside and inside and the skin is edible too and it’s really sweet. This is everywhere buyable in organic quality in germany. The green outside and orange inside kabocha is not that available here.

Thank you.5 stars

Hello, Anna! Yes, you can use Hokkaido pumpkin if you like. The flavor would be different, but it would be delicious as well!
Happy Cooking!

Can I double this recipe by just doing everything x2? That’s what I did but it seems to be very milky/creamy even though it still has a good taste. Also, did you use only half of the pumpkin for the original recipe or the whole thing? I feel like this should have been specified. Otherwise good recipe. Thanks.4 stars

Hello, Danielle. Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipe.
When doubling the recipe, we recommend reducing the chicken stock amount so that the estimated evaporated liquid volume does not result in a watery soup.
Regarding the amount of pumpkin, we recommend using the scale to measure it because pumpkin size varies, and you might need more than half of the pumpkin.🙂
We hope this helps!

I steamed the whole thing and the skin practically fell off. Also, instead of parsley we added roasted seaweed. So good! Thanks so much!

Hi Karen! Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipe and for sharing your cooking tips.
Roasted seaweed sound so delicious! Happy Cooking!

I have not made this yet and will rate it when I do… but I encourage you to just cut your squash in half and roast it. 1 – this will deepen the flavour of the soup if you get a bit of caramelization on the squash, 2. the squash typically separates from the skin during baking/roasting and you won’t have to go through the hassle of cutting the insanely difficult squash OR peeling the crazy hard skin.

Hi Trish! Thank you for reading Nami’s post and for your suggestions! 😊

おいいし! Once I got through the battle of chopping down the kabocha, everything else was so easy. A delicious and filling soup. Thank you for your post on kabocha too. I didn’t know what to look for in picking a kabocha and caution on slicing through the tough skin. ありがとう!5 stars

Hi Jean! We are so happy to hear you enjoyed Nami’s post and recipes!
Thank you very much for your kind feedback. Happy Cooking! 🤗

This was so easy and SO GOOD! Thank you!5 stars

Hi Leisa! Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
We are so happy to hear this recipe was easy and so good!🥰
Happy Cooking!

My favorite squash ….
My favorite soup …
My favorite recipe!
I usually have too many apples around when I make this in the Fall, so I peel one or two (depending on size) and add them in with the squash.5 stars

Hi Jiyo! Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post and sharing your tip with us!🙂
We are happy to hear you enjoyed the Kabocha Soup!