This amazingly smooth butternut squash soup will become a winter favorite. With roasted garlic added, there is a deep flavor that will satisfy your craving for comfort food.
How healthy is butternut squash soup?
Butternut squash soup is low in calories, fat, and carbs. It’s a great source of vitamin A, vitamin C and fiber. No matter what diet you follow, this is a great choice.
How do you peel a butternut squash?
Because of its shape, butternut squash can be very awkward to peel. These tips will make it easier:
- Microwave the entire squash for two minutes first. This softens the otherwise very tough outer skin.
- Cut the squash in half so you have one half that is the neck and the other half is the round part with the seeds.
- Cut each of the halves in half so they have flat stable edges to rest on the cutting board.
- Use a vegetable peeler or serrated knife to remove the peel from the squash.
Another option is to roast the butternut squash halves before you peel them. They will take longer to roast, but when they cool, the skin will slip right off.
And keep the seeds! Just like its cousin the pumpkin, the seeds of a butternut squash can be roasted and eaten.
How do you roast garlic?
You can roast garlic right with the butternut squash for this soup. The roasted garlic adds a dimension to the flavor that you don’t want to miss.
Follow these steps for perfect roasted garlic:
- Peel the outer layer of papery skin from the entire bulb of garlic. Don’t separate the individual cloves yet.
- Cut the top off the bulb so that you can see the cloves
- Drizzle the bulb with olive oil so it drains down inside each of the cloves
- Place the entire bulb in a Dutch oven or cocotte. If you don’t have either of these, you can cover the garlic with foil.
- Let the garlic roast with the butternut squash. When it’s done, slide all of the cloves out of the paper.
What is a good garnish for butternut squash soup?
This soup may look rather plain in the bowl, but the flavour is amazing! Add some garnish to dress it up and add even more flavour. Ideas include
- Black pepper
- Oregano
- Sage
- Cayenne pepper
- Thyme
- Cilantro
- Sour cream
- Yogurt
- Creme fraiche
What to do with leftovers
Butternut squash soup will last in the refrigerator for four days. You can reheat a single bowl, or if you have a large portion to reheat, use a large pot on the stove top.
This is a great dish for meal prep. You can make it in advance for a quick weeknight meal. Or, divide it into single servings and be prepared with a healthy lunch for several days.
NOTE: The soup will thicken the longer it sits. For a thinner consistency, you can add a little water to the soup while reheating it.
This soup also freezes well. It will keep well in the freezer for three months.
Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Soup
This amazingly smooth butternut squash soup will become a winter favorite. With roasted garlic added, there is a deep flavor that will satisfy your craving for comfort food.
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash (about 2.5 lbs/1200g)
- 1 bulb garlic
- olive oil
- 1 liter broth (vegetable for vegan/vegetarian versions, beef for carnivore version)
- thyme
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 F (200°C).
- Peel and deseed butternut squash and dice into 1" pieces.
- Put butternut squash on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and pour about a tablespoon of olive oil on it and move around with your hands to make sure all dice are well coated with oil. Then spread out evenly into one layer.
- Peel off the paper-like outer layer of the garlic bulb, leaving intact the skins of the individual cloves and being careful to keep the bulb as a whole.
- Cut the top part of the garlic in order to expose the upper part of every clove (see video).
- Drizzle a few drops of olive oil onto each clove.
- Place garlic bulb in cocotte and cover.
- Put butternut squash and garlic in the oven for about 40 minutes or until soft and golden.
- Take out from the oven and transfer squash (whithout peel if you didn't peel) and peeled garlic into a pot, add broth, 1 teaspoon very finely chopped fresh Thyme and bring to the boil.
- Once hot, remove from heat and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Add more broth or water if needed to reach desired consistency.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Top with a little pepper and a string of thyme.
Recipe Video
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gail says
i made this soup and its delicious i give it 5 star and a even 6 stars if i could making it again at Christmas
Lorena says
Your comment made my day Gail!!!
Dorothy says
Going to try this . Would also like to know where you can get that blender to mix the soup up ?
Lorena says
It’s called an “immersion blender”. The brand that I have specifically is Breville. I bought it in a kitchen store but I’m sure you can find one at Target or Walmart or Amazon.
James Fink says
I give it one star because it needs to be re-written. If you do not peel the garlic completely BEFORE roasting it is hard to peel after and you will get little pieces of garlic skin in the soup even after blending which is like chewing on pieces of straw. Second, saying one bulb garlic is not good enough. Just like the average onion in Texas is the size of a softball, the garlic bulb must be bigger too because it was so garlicky it was not edible. But, I imagine if you roast pre-peeled garlic, and the author specifies the amount of garlic to use in weight or another measure, I bet the recipe would be worthy of five stars.
Lorena says
Hi James, sorry for the confusion. The amount of garlic is irrelevant if properly roasted and properly removing all skin. It will not taste garlicky (only nutty) regardless of if the bulb weighs 10 or 20 grams. This is why I didn’t add a weight. I have made this recipe countless times with all sizes of bulbs with similar results. If you peel the cloves out of the skin “before” roasting, they will all just burn and not roast. You need the skin to protect the bulbs and achieve garlic caramelization. However, it is VERY important to add only the cloves to the soup not the garlic skin (as shown in the video for better visual clarification). You probably didn’t achieve garlic caramelization in the first place (please watch the video to see what garlic consistency we want to achieve) and you did not thoroughly remove the skin. I hope you give this recipe another try making sure you don’t add any skin to your soup, that will always taste terrible.
Farco says
I have one word to describe this soup — yumm!!! Thank you!
Eva says
Delicious!
Lorena says
Thank you :D
Florenca kalemi says
I am glad I found your website! Awesome healthy recipes! I will try the one by one.
Karine says
I am not a fan of thyme. Do you recommend any other spice?
Lorena says
Have your tried fresh thyme? It’s much milder than the dried or ground. Otherwise I would just leave it out completely. Rosemary would be too strong and others wouldn’t really fit.
Sara says
I’m definitely interested in trying this out. What dishes do you normally pair with this?
Lorena says
It depends what or who you’re cooking it for. If I want a “light” lunch or dinner I just pair it with bread. If I want it to be a starter I serve less and then make a main dish of protein and salad or vegetables. A lot of people have commented they’re made this soup paired with bread for their vegan and vegetarian guests on Christmas/Thanksgiving and that they were super happy about it.
Nancy K says
Is there a way to reduce the sodium levels and still achieve the same taste?
Lorena says
No Nancy, I’m sorry. Nothing can really replace salt. Some recipes contain a lot a lot a lot of spices and salt isn’t as needed anymore to make tasty food. Simply recipes depend strongly on salt and pepper to make them tasty.