A few years ago, a friend hosted a soup swap, where a bunch of us met and swapped quarts of soup. It was an impressive affair, with soups ranging from oxtail soup to clam chowder to Tom Ka Gai.
I was relatively new to cooking and had never really made soup before, so it took me a while to figure out what I could manage. I decided to go with butternut squash soup. I actually thought I was going fancy, because for me, peeling and cutting up all that squash seemed so labor-intensive! I packaged my soup with some “homemade Acme baguette croutons” on the side, hoping that it would convince people to PICK MINE!! 🙂
The event was pretty fun, and I came home with a nice variety of soups to sample. I did, however, decide that butternut squash soup was too much work to make, so I didn’t really consider making it again… untilllll…
I DISCOVERED PRE-PEELED AND CUBED BUTTERNUT SQUASH AT COSTCO!
Sweeeeeeeeeeet!!! It’s not organic, but I read somewhere that the skin is thick enough that this isn’t one of the veggies you really need to worry about. Now, butternut squash is part of my regular soup rotation! If you always thought these blended soups looked good but hard to make, this is a PERFECT one for you to start off with, especially if you have some pre-cubed butternut squash. This ingredient alone saves like 15 minutes of work and two dishes (knife and cutting board).
With the pre-cubed squash, this recipe is seriously easy to make. You just saute some onions and squash…
…simmer in some broth…
…and then blend, preferably in a Vitamix.
Side note: We invested in a Vitamix about eight years ago, and still LOVE it and use it all. the. time. If you like to cook and have the means, I would highly recommend it. I can’t imagine using any other blender now. It’s easy to use, easy to clean, extremely powerful, and results in a super smooth blend. Not only am I usually able to fit all of my soup in one whir, but it comes out super smooth and creamy every time. <3 Vitamix <3! They’re also durable– this bad boy has lasted us 8 years and counting!
Back to soup: After pouring it into bowls, you can top with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar for a sweet acidic note…
…or toasted pumpkin seeds for a little salty crunch…
… or both!
The soup is silky smooth, naturally sweet, and creamy and delicious. I also love that beautiful orange color for autumn.
If you’re a soup-making newbie, this is a nice and forgiving first recipe to try– especially if you can find some pre-cubed squash. I no longer find peeling and cubing butternut squash that laborious, but if it’s available for a good price, why not? 🙂 Enjoy!
———————
Silky Butternut Squash Recipe
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 pounds cubed butternut squash (not “2 lbs of butternut squash, cubed”)
- 3-4 cups chicken stock
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pan. Once it’s foamy, add onions and saute until onions are translucent.
- Add squash and saute until browned.
- Add just enough chicken stock to almost cover the squash. Let simmer until you can pierce the squash easily with a fork, about 30 minutes.
- Ladle the soup into your Vitamix, cover, and blend until smooth and creamy.
(If you have a regular blender, do it in batches, trying to keep a consistent ratio of liquids to solids, and blend until smooth and creamy. I think you can also use your immersion blender to blend it (haven’t tried).) - Enjoy!
To serve: If you have them on hand, top with a light drizzle of balsamic vinegar, a sprinkle of toasted pumpkin seeds, or croutons on top! Yum!
16 responses to “Easy Peasy Butternut Squash Soup!”
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This looks so good! I love easy recipes, I will definitely try it. What a wonderful idea, the soup swap!!!
Thanks, Auntie K! 🙂 It’s one of my favorite soups to make! 🙂
Pre-cubed butternut squash. Genius!
I like to use an immersion blender for my soups to have one less dish to wash.
Good point. One less dish is always nice :).
So I stumbled onto your blog because I was googling a recipe for sea salt cream tea and have just continued reading through some of your other posts. Funny coincidence, I just bought some pre-cubed squash today at Costco for the purpose of making some butternut squash soup! Wanted to try a new recipe for it so will have to try yours out along with the snowfall tea (I prefer tea over coffee)!
Hooray! So glad you’re finding useful things here :] I lovvee snowfall tea, too! Hope it turns out well!
(Not that you asked for advice, but… be sure to make your tea reallly strong :])
Thanks for this recipe. I was going to make it for halloween potluck party. I also bought a butternut squash. Is the amount you used equivalent to 1 butternut squash? I read on Youtube or somewhere online that you can microwave it to make it easier to cut. This will be my first time to try and I hope I have good luck. The cutting part seems daunting as last time I tried, I got the knife stuck inside squash.
Hm… It’s really hard to say because I’ve seen butternut squash in a variety of sizes. My VERY ROUGH guess would be 2-3 of em…sorry! I would eyeball it so there’s enough liquid to just cover the vegetables before simmering. Never heard of the microwave trick–let me know how that goes!
I just tried cooking butternut squash soup for the 1st time and it’s really like you said “easy peasy.” I was so surprised how I received compliments about the soup. I followed your recipe except I had to peel my butternut squash. I microwave it for 6 minutes (soft enough to cut with a knife). The peeling part was more challenging. Youtube video showed how to peel it with a veggie peeler and it looked easy. When it was my turn to try, it was hard so I just used a knife to cut the skin off. I wasted some, but it was better than spending all day peeling it. My suggestion is to pick a more symmetrical squash which will make the job easier. Well, I guess I save myself $2, but a lot more time and effort went into it. The end result was very rewarding. 🙂
I’m thrilled that you tried it, and even happier that it was a success! Woohoo for the compliments you got! =D
I’m kinda glad I’m not the only one who found cutting butternut squash to be kind of a hassle. I’m also glad you found it rewarding :). If you happen to be short on time, though, I saw that Trader Joe’s now sells pre-cubed butternut squash as well. I think Costco is still a better deal, but… Costco can be a hassle, too. Thanks so much for coming back to let me know how it went! If you liked this recipe, you should also consider the zucchini and garlic soup one I posted a couple weeks back. It’s very similar, but even EASIER because zucchini is easier to work with than butternut squash. Just search it on my blog :).
Thanks! I saw the butternut squash at TJ and I was debating which one to buy. $4 vs. $2. I thought to myself….it’s going to be hard, but someone must have posted something on Youtube or the internet to make life easier for us. I’ll have to try your zucchini soup recipe. That sounds delicious. I love soups. So easy. The one I cook all the time is chicken soup by boiling chicken with onion, carrots, and celery. Your blog is definitely my recipe book. I’ve tried 2 of your recipes (mango smoothie & butternut squash soup). Both successes! Keep them coming. 😀
Thanks, Angie! I’ll do my best! 🙂 Thanks for reading and trying them!
I love butternut squash soup. Our recipe is from Cooks Illustrated, but I’m not sure that I follow even that exactly any more… I just sort of wing my soups!
Have you tried putting greek yogurt on yours? Super tasty! I haven’t tried balsamic, I’ll have to try that one!
Yay! Yum! I’m exactly the same as you. Started with Cook’s Illustrated’s recipe, and now just kinda wing soups. I’m hoping to put up a post sometime about my favorite combinations and rough ratios. While most are pretty basic, I did find that celery root is pretttyy starchy and requires a lot more liquid!
I have not tried greek yogurt yet, but will do next time! Mmm! 🙂