Roasted butternut squash soup
A creamy butternut squash soup recipe with almost no cream. Roasting the squash with an onion and an apple first is what makes it taste of more than squash.
- 200
- kcal
- 5g
- protein
- 10g
- fat
- 27g
- carbs
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 50 min
- Serves
- 6
Photograph by Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels
Ingredients
- 1 large butternut squash (about 3 lb, or 2 lb once peeled and seeded), cut in 1-inch cubes
- 1 onion, cut in wedges
- 1 sweet-tart apple, such as Honeycrisp, cored and quartered
- 3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- A pinch of cayenne
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
- 1/2 cup half-and-half
- 1/4 cup toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and a few sage leaves, to serve
Method
-
1
Heat the oven
Heat the oven to 425°F and line a large sheet pan with parchment.
-
2
Roast the vegetables
Toss the squash, onion, apple and garlic with the oil and salt and spread them out in one layer, using two sheet pans if they crowd. Roast 35 to 40 minutes, turning once and swapping the pans halfway, until the squash is soft and browned at the edges.
-
3
Simmer
Squeeze the garlic from its skins into a large pot. Add the roasted vegetables, the broth, nutmeg and cayenne, and simmer 10 minutes.
-
4
Blend
Blend until completely smooth, in batches in a blender with the lid vented, or with a stick blender in the pot.
-
5
Finish and season
Stir in the half-and-half and warm through without boiling. Thin with broth or water if it is thicker than you like, and season with salt.
-
6
Serve
Serve topped with pepitas and sage.
Why roast the squash instead of boiling it
Most butternut squash soups simmer raw squash in broth. The squash cooks, but its flavor stays thin and slightly vegetal. Roasting at a high heat browns the edges, and that browning brings out the squash's natural sweetness. It is the same reason roasted squash tastes better than steamed. The onion and the apple go on the same pan for the same reason. The apple adds a little acidity that keeps the soup from tasting flat. You will not taste it as apple.
Leave the garlic in its skin on the pan. Unpeeled cloves roast soft and mellow instead of burning, and they squeeze out like paste.
How to peel and cut a butternut squash
This is the only awkward part of the recipe. Prick the skin a few times with a knife and microwave the whole squash for 2 to 3 minutes first. That softens the skin enough for a vegetable peeler to get through it. Cut off both ends, then cut across where the narrow neck meets the round bottom, so each piece stands flat on the board. Peel each piece, halve the bottom and scoop out the seeds, and cut everything into cubes of about an inch. Pre-cut squash from the store works fine. Use about 2 pounds.
Making it creamy without much cream
Squash blends into a thick, velvety puree on its own, so this soup does not need heavy cream. Half a cup of half-and-half across six bowls is enough to round it out. For a vegan version, use vegetable broth and finish with half a cup of light coconut milk instead of the half-and-half. The coconut works well with the nutmeg and cayenne. A high-speed blender gives the smoothest result. With a stick blender, keep going a minute longer than seems necessary.
Adjusting the thickness
Squash varies a lot in how much water it holds, so the same recipe can come out as a thin soup or a puree. Start with the 4 cups of broth, blend, and then add more broth a splash at a time until it coats a spoon and runs off slowly. Add salt after you have adjusted the thickness, not before. Every cup of extra broth dilutes the seasoning.
Stovetop version, without roasting
If you would rather not turn on the oven, cook the onion in the oil for 8 minutes, then add the cubed squash, apple, garlic, broth and spices. Simmer 20 to 25 minutes, until the squash is tender, and blend. It is lighter in flavor than the roasted version, but 30 minutes faster.
Keeping it
The soup keeps 4 days in the fridge and freezes for 3 months. If you plan to freeze it, freeze it before adding the half-and-half. Dairy can turn slightly grainy after thawing, so stir it in when you reheat. It thickens when cold, so reheat it with a splash of water.
What it is worth nutritionally
About 200 kcal a bowl, with 5 g of protein and a good amount of fiber from the squash and apple. Butternut squash is one of the richest common sources of beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A. A bowl of this soup supplies close to a full day's needs. Beta-carotene is fat-soluble, so the olive oil and half-and-half help you absorb it. The soup is light enough to start a meal, but on its own it is low in protein. To make it a full dinner, serve it with a grilled cheese, a chicken salad or a handful of white beans blended into the pot.
