There aren’t many meals that are as sweet and comforting as butternut squash soup. Believe it or not, this soup is all fruit: an apple, an orange, and yes, a butternut squash. (It is, indeed, a fruit!) With a crusty loaf of bread on a winter’s night, there’s really not much better.
Butternut soup is not only delicious, it also has plenty of health benefits. From helping your vision to healing your gut microbiome, you’ll be fooled into thinking that something that tastes this good can’t also be healthy.
But it sure is.
What Is Butternut Squash?
“Smooth as butter, sweet as nut,” the butternut squash was bred in the 1940s by Charles Leggett in Massachusetts. As he said, butternuts have a smooth and pale outside, and an orange and sweet inside. They’re the lovechild of hubbards and goosenecks, with a long neck atop a round bottom.
Not all squash are created equal. There is acorn squash, spaghetti squash, winter squash and summer squash. Other squashes include pumpkins, hubbards and kabochas. But butternut squash remains my personal fave. No other squash matches its sweetness, and it tastes complimentary as a side to just about anything.
Butternut Squash Soup Ingredients
Only a few staples are necessary for a delicious butternut squash soup. You’ll need a good-sized butternut, of course, plus some kind of broth. (Vegetable broth keeps it a vegan soup.) And the best butternut squash soup ingredients would also include a granny smith apple, an orange and an onion.
I’m not sure if this a South African thing or just a good thing, but following my mother’s steps I always add in a little curry powder and a pinch of nutmeg.
To make it extra indulgent, a can of coconut milk does wonders. (For any creamy vegan soup, actually.)
Butternut Squash Soup Health Benefits
Butternut Squash: First and foremost, this dense fruit (you read that right) is super high in fiber. It’s also high in minerals and vitamins, providing over 400% of your daily vitamin A needs in one cup. This squash’s nutritional profile is most famous for preventing eye disease and certain cancers.
Onion: Not to be outshined by more exotic ingredients, the common yellow onion is a wonderful source of prebiotic fiber to feed the healthy bacteria in your gut. It’s also been shown to reduce blood pressure and bad cholesterol.
Apples: Providing both soluble and insoluble fiber, an apple a day really can improve your overall health. Eating apples reduces your risk of many diseases, from strokes and heart disease to high blood pressure and diabetes. Their pectins are even more powerful when cooked, think: homemade applesauce.
Oranges: Natural compounds in citrus fruit known as liminoids have been proven to protect against a variety of cancers. Known for their immune boosting vitamin C content, oranges are also high in flavonoids that lower inflammation and blood pressure.
Extras:
Coconut Oil: One of the safest oils in the kitchen, coconut oil can be heated to high temperatures without its structure changing and becoming toxic (like olive oil). It has a high concentration of medium-chain triglycerides, popularly referred to as “MCTs.” MCTs are antimicrobial, can reduce appetite, and make your skin look great (or your pet’s skin).
Curry Powder: Most curry powders include some kind of mixture of turmeric, coriander, mustard, cumin, fenugreek, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and cayenne. All of these spices are so rich in their own nutrients that only one thing can be said for sure: curry powder is very good for you.
Coconut Milk: Half coconut flesh, half water, coconut milk is a luxurious canned product to enhance soups, stews, smoothies and desserts. High in medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) fat, coconut milk is filling, and full of minerals like iron, magnesium, manganese and copper.
Vegetable Broth: All the hype is about bone broth these days, but veggie broth packs a powerful nutritional punch. Vegetables provide plenty of amino acids, which studies show are what you need to make collagen. (Not eating collagen, which doesn’t actually translate to more internal collagen production.) Loaded with vitamins and minerals, vegetable broth makes any dish more detoxifying, anti-inflammatory and generally healthy.
How To Make Butternut Squash Soup
This butternut squash soup recipe starts with sauteing onions in coconut oil. Once the onions are soft and translucent (about 5 minutes), add the squash, curry powder and nutmeg, and saute for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. This won’t cook the butternut fully, but it will lend it some extra good flavor.
Add the apple, orange rind and juice, vegetable stock, salt and pepper, and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the squash is soft and cooked.
Turn off the heat and add the coconut milk. Then, pour it into a high speed blender or a food processor and blend. (One of my tricks with soups that I’m going to blend is to wait until it’s time to cool to add some kind of liquid—whether that’s some stock I put aside or some coconut milk, like in this recipe.)
Garnish with parsley and serve with fresh bread.
Soup + Salad = Yum
This sweet potato green salad is a deliciously fresh yet comforting side for butternut squash soup. The fresh zingy flavors bring out the soup’s warmth. It’s almost scientifically good and balanced #homeostasis
Pickled Red Onions Are The (Salad) Move
If you’re eating a salad on the side, don’t forget these easy pickled red onions, aka the perfect condiment. Their sweet, tangy crunch brings the meal together, balancing the soft warm vibes of soup and the goat cheese creaminess.
Butternut Squash Soup
This comforting and sweet butternut squash soup is also quick and easy. With a handful of ingredients, it's a super delicious dinner, lunch or appetizer and ready within an hour.
Ingredients
Instructions
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Start by peeling the butternut squash. Remove and discard the seeds. Chop into small squares (about 3/4"-1").
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Once you're finished prepping the squash, you can begin warming the coconut oil in a cast iron enamel or stainless steel pot over medium heat. While the oil is heating, Dice onions and apple, juice the orange, then grate a teaspoon of the orange rind.
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Saute the onion for 5 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the squash, curry powder and nutmeg, and saute for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Add the apple, orange rind and juice, vegetable stock, salt and pepper, and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the squash is soft and cooked.
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Turn off the heat and add the coconut milk. Then, pour it into a high speed blender or a food processor and blend. Or, if you have an immersion blender, simply blend in the pot.
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Reheat before serving. Garnish with parsley (optional).
This looks great! I need to know the size of the coconut milk, I have three cans on my shelf, and they are all different sizes. Also, if you don’t have access to coconut oil, what is a good substitute? Here in Spain, we have olive and sunflower oil.
Hi Darlene! Thanks for your comment, I will actually go edit the amount above to be more specific. Standard can size in the U.S. is 13.5oz or 400ml but of course it could vary! Glad you caught that! I would say if you don’t have coconut milk and you want to keep it vegan, either skip the coconut milk or use unflavored cashew milk. Homemade would probably be nicest for the cashew milk, you can just blend some cashews with water if you don’t have a milk maker. I’ve never tried almond milk in the soup, thinking it might work but it also might be too thin. Hope this helps!
This is a super delicious-looking soup, especially with the rain and forecast we have for the next two weeks.
Yes Esme, it really is the perfect soup for a rainy day!