How to Make Butternut Squash Soup: The Best I Ever Had

Not to quote Drake or anything, but this butternut squash soup is the best I’ve ever had. It’s rich, has a slight hint of coconut milk (hello, dairy free!), and packed with flavor. Not to mention, it’s so easy to make. It basically cooks itself, (but make sure you take the credit!).

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How to make butternut squash soup

As I mentioned, the beauty about this soup, other than the taste, is that it basically cooks itself. The idea is to start off by roasting the squash so it gets nice and caramelized. Then, add it to your pot to sit and simmer with the other flavors.

When choosing your butternut squash, you can buy a whole squash or, if you want to make it easy on yourself, buy the pre-peeled, pre-cut squash. If buying it whole, you’ll want to peel and cut it into small-medium sized cubes.

While the squash is roasting, you can begin your prep for the soup. You won’t have to start cooking your other soup ingredients until you have about 5 minutes left on the squash. So this is a great time to dice you shallots, mince your garlic, and get everything ready.

Another great thing about this butternut squash soup is that it’s completely customizable. If you want more lime flavor, add another squeeze! If you don’t like cumin, feel free to omit. That’s the beauty of cooking, you should have fun with it while giving your palette what it wants!

Butternut squash soup with coconut milk

There are some words that so accurately describe delicious soups and in this case that word is velvety. The velvety texture of this soup comes from one of its key ingredients; coconut milk. I tried this soup a few times before adding it and each time it came out great, but was just missing something. Then after a few minutes browsing my pantry, the lightbulb went off as I spotted a can of coconut milk.

Another key component to the soup is the squeeze of lime. It’s the perfect complement to the coconut milk. Don’t skip that step because the balance of those flavors is a game changer.

Not to quote Drake or anything, but this butternut squash soup is the best I’ve ever had.

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Can you freeze soups for later?

You can absolutely make this soup ahead of time and then freeze what you don’t use. Just be sure to let it cool before freezing it to play it safe. It’ll stay good for up to 4 months frozen. However, it’s so good, you’ll likely finish it before then.

What should I garnish this with?

Well, I’m so glad you asked. Although this soup would be perfectly fine on its own, adding a garnish is well, the cherry on top. Toast up a few walnuts and add them to the soup for some texture and crunch.

You could also cook up a few chickpeas with a squeeze of lime and garnish for extra texture too. (And if you have any leftover chickpeas, make my creamy homemade hummus.)

Not exactly a garnish, but equally delicious; dip crusty bread in the soup and a vehicle instead of your spoon. It works just as good; even better!

And, a few sprinkles of goat cheese would be a delicious, creamy addition. But if you’re dairy free, feel free to omit.

And there you have it!

Butternut Squash Soup

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

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Ingredients

• 1 large butternut squash, peeled and cubed or you can buy them pre-cut at the grocery store
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• 1 large shallot, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 red apple, peeled, cored, diced
• 3 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup of coconut milk
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp of minced fresh ginger
• 4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only
• juice from 1/2 lime

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, add your cubed butternut squash along with olive oil and salt. Mix together to make sure all the squash is coated in oil.
2. Transfer squash to a large sheet pan and roast for 20-25 minutes or until squash is soft and tender.
3. When there's about 5 minutes left on the squash, in a large dutch oven or soup pot, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over low-medium heat. Add the shallots. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp of salt to let them sweat. Cook for about 2 minutes
4. Add the garlic. Cook for another minute or until golden. Don't let it burn.
5. Once your squash is ready, remove from oven and transfer to dutch oven/soup pot.
6. Add apple, stock of choice, coconut milk, paprika, cumin, ginger, thyme, lime juice.
7. Let ingredients simmer for 20 minutes on low heat.
8. Let soup cool and transfer to blender. Blend until smooth
9. Garnish with toppings of choice. See notes above!