Home > Soups & Stews > Butternut Squash Soup Butternut Squash Soup October 27, 2019 | 11 Comments SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Jump to Recipe This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy. This hearty, thick, and filling Butternut Squash Soup is loaded with flavor and is adapted from a famous restaurant recipe! All through my college years, I worked at a restaurant that was famous for its honey-whole wheat bread and butternut squash soup. The soup was only sold seasonally (fall and winter) and reservations during that time would increase dramatically, largely because butternut squash soup was back on the menu. Using that soup recipe as my inspiration, I’m excited to release my Butternut Squash Soup recipe today. It’s very thick and hearty, with a robust flavor, truly the best Butternut Squash Soup recipe I’ve ever had! How to make Butternut Squash Soup Below is a quick photo overview of the process for making this amazing soup. Arrange peeled and cubed butternut squash, onions, and garlic on a large sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F. Flip and roast for another 10-15 minutes. Melt butter in a large stock pot or soup kettle and toast the spices. Add the roasted squash and onions to the pot and mix with the seasonings. Add chicken stock and cook for 5 minutes. (Pictures lower down in post) Transfer to a blender and process until smooth. Add cream and maple syrup, and it’s ready to eat! QUICK TIP It’s easy to make roasted garlic for this recipe. Peel and discard the outer layers of the entire garlic bulb, keeping the skins of the individual cloves intact and keep the bulb together as much as possible. Cut 1/4 inch from the top of the cloves. Wrap the entire bulb tightly with foil, adding 1 teaspoon olive oil before sealing it completely. Place the foil-wrapped garlic bundle to the oven, either in the pan with other food, or by itself. The garlic will be ready in about 15 minutes. Squeeze the delicious roasted garlic out and use some in this recipe and the rest will be great on garlic toast or in other recipes. What goes well with Butternut Squash Soup? At the restaurant where we served this soup, we always served it with the house made honey-whole wheat bread. Any hearty bread or toasted baguette would go wonderfully with this soup. These Dinner Rolls would also be delicious with the soup. You can also make it a soup-and-salad meal by pairing with Italian Salad, Roasted Veggie salad, or this Fall Spinach Salad. Or pair this soup with a hearty dinner like these Short Ribs or Crockpot Pot Roast. Another great side dish would simply be more veggies; these Roasted Vegetables or Roasted Brussels Sprouts would both pair nicely What is a good garnish for Butternut Squash Soup? Roasted and crunchy pepitas (pumpkin seeds) make for the best garnish for this soup. Not only do they look pretty, but they taste amazing! You can make your own Roasted Pepitas or buy some at the store. If you opt to buy them, make sure they’re roasted and salted (not raw). You can generally find them in the bulk section of a grocery store, or with other salad toppings like candied nuts, Craisins®, etc. How to thicken Butternut Squash Soup One of my favorite things about this recipe is how thick it is. Instead of relying on a roux or thickening agents like cornstarch, this soup is thickened by the actual squash. The tender squash is blended into a thick soup that doesn’t require any additional thickeners. If you would like this soup to be a bit thinner, you can add additional chicken stock, but you’ll likely want to amp up the seasonings (or at least the salt and pepper) a bit as well. Blending the soup This soup requires a trip through the blender, and I recommend a high-powered blender over anything else. I know, I know. I’m the first to admit what a pain that is, but immersion blenders won’t get this soup to the necessary level of creaminess and smoothness. A blender really is key to getting silky smooth Butternut Squash Soup. Keep in mind: If you use a regular blender or immersion blender, you’ll want to strain the soup. If you use a high-power blender (like a Blendtec® or Vitamix®) there is no need to strain. When blending, make sure to secure the lid on tightly and then select the “soup” or “hot” cycle. Increase speed slowly and watch it carefully to avoid soup exploding out or over. Remove the lid carefully as it will likely release a burst of steam. If your blender doesn’t have a hot/soup setting, you can compensate by replacing the blender lid with a folded towel and holding it in place. This will help reduce steam pressure. Freezing Butternut Squash Soup Butternut Squash Soup freezes very well without the cream in it. Prepare the soup according to directions, omitting the cream; let it cool completely, transfer to freezer bags, and then freeze. To reheat, thaw and add it to a saucepan, adding the cream once it is fully heated through. How long will Butternut Squash Soup keep in the fridge? This soup should last 4-5 days in the fridge (using chicken stock). If you use vegetable broth or stock, it can stay good for up to a week. If you need to store it longer, be sure to check out the section above that shares how to freeze this soup! Variations Butternut Squash Soup with coconut milk: You can replace the heavy cream with coconut milk in this soup to make a dairy-free alternative. The flavor is a bit different, and perhaps not quite as thick, but it’s still delicious! Vegan Butternut Squash Soup: Replace heavy cream with coconut milk and chicken stock with vegetable stock. Vegetarian Butternut Squash Soup: Replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock. How healthy is Butternut Squash Soup? This soup contains a good helping of butternut squash, onions, chicken stock, and garlic– all which provide your body with essential vitamins and minerals. Olive oil is one of the best oils you can use and is filled with healthy fats. Heavy cream and maple syrup aren’t the healthiest additions to soup, but I believe they are fine ingredients to have in moderation. When you get down to the math of it all, 1/2 cup of cream and 3 tablespoons of maple syrup divided by six servings ends up being a very small amount. The term “healthy” is very dependent on personal beliefs, preferences, and goals. To make this soup healthier, you can replace the heavy cream with half and half (it won’t be as thick/rich). You can also reduce the maple syrup to personal preference. More soup recipes: Zuppa Toscana Soup made in the crockpot Pasta Soup with Italian sausage and veggies Chicken Tortilla Soup made on the stovetop in 20 minutes! Sausage Potato Soup my take on the famous “cheeseburger” soup Creamy Chicken Chili made in the crockpot (reader favorite!) FOLLOW ALONG! Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates, recipes and content. Butternut Squash Soup 5 from 3 votes - Review this recipe This hearty, thick, and filling Butternut Squash Soup is loaded with flavor and is adapted from a famous restaurant recipe! SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Print Recipe Butternut Squash Soup 5 from 3 votes - Review this recipe SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Print Recipe This hearty, thick, and filling Butternut Squash Soup is loaded with flavor and is adapted from a famous restaurant recipe! Course Main Course, Side Dish, Soup Cuisine American Keyword Butternut Squash Soup Prep Time 30 minutes Cook Time 25 minutes Total Time 55 minutes Servings 6 servings Calories 331kcal Author Chelsea Lords Cost $4.79 Ingredients▢ Heaping 5 cups butternut squash, cut into 1-inch pieces Note 1▢ 1 large yellow onion, halved and each half cut into 4 parts Note 2▢ 1 head garlic▢ 1/4 cup olive oil, separated▢ 1 tablespoon unsalted butter▢ 1/16 teaspoon (just a small pinch) ground nutmeg▢ 1/16 teaspoon (just a small pinch) ground cloves▢ 1 teaspoon yellow curry powder▢ 3 cups chicken stock (or chicken broth)▢ 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup▢ 1/2 cup heavy cream Note 3▢ salt and pepper▢ Serve with: toasted and salted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)US - Metric USMetric InstructionsVEGGIES: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. On a very large sheet pan, add the cubed and peeled butternut squash and onion chunks. Peel and discard the outer layers of the entire garlic bulb, making sure to leave the skins of the individual cloves intact (and keep the bulb together as much as possible) Using a sharp knife, cut 1/4th an inch from the top of the cloves. Wrap the entire bulb tightly with foil, adding 1 teaspoon olive oil before sealing it completely. Place the wrapped garlic on the sheet pan along with the squash and onions. Drizzle the remaining 3 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons oil over everything else (yes it's a lot of oil!). Season with salt and pepper to taste (I add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper). Toss and bake for 15 minutes. Remove, toss, and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Set aside the foil pack of garlic.STOCKPOT: Meanwhile, place butter to a large stock pot or soup kettle and melt over medium heat. Add ground nutmeg, cloves, and curry powder. Stir for 1 minute or until fragrant. Transfer the squash, onions, and all the oil leftover on the tray into the pot. Stir to coat the squash in seasonings and butter. Add chicken stock. Cook for 5 minutes over medium high heat. Carefully transfer everything to a large high-powered blender (process in batches, if needed). Add 2-3 cloves of the cooked garlic (more or less, depending on how much you love garlic; I add 3 cloves.). Secure the lid on the blender and carefully blend (if you have Blendtec, blend on soup setting). Avoid too much power or pulsing as it could explode out of the blender. Once very smooth, transfer back to the stock pot and set at medium heat.FINISHING TOUCHES: Add in maple syrup and heavy cream (see Note 3). Stir to combine and warm through. Season to taste with salt and pepper again; I add another 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper, but add to preference. Ladle into bowls and garnish with toasted and salted pepita seeds. Video Recipe NotesNote 1: If you buy the pre-cut squash that comes in 16 ounce bags, you'll need 1 and 1/2 bags. Note 2: Use an onion (or you may need 2) around 14 ounces in size. Note 3: Non-dairy and vegetarian/vegan variations: Butternut Squash Soup with coconut milk: You can replace the heavy cream with coconut milk in this soup to make a dairy-free alternative. The flavor is a bit different, and perhaps not quite as thick, but it's still delicious! Vegan Butternut Squash Soup: Replace heavy cream with coconut milk and chicken stock with vegetable stock. Vegetarian Butternut Squash Soup: Replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock. Nutrition FactsServing: 6servings | Calories: 331kcal | Carbohydrates: 35.1g | Protein: 6.5g | Fat: 20.1g | Cholesterol: 31.1mg | Sodium: 188mg | Fiber: 3.3g | Sugar: 12.4g We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed. DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? I love hearing from you when you've made one of my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @ChelseasMessyApron or leave me a comment below.
it’s definitely soup season, at least for me, and don’t have any butternut squash soup go to recipes, so thank you, and the seeds are a nice texture tweak too Reply
Hi, I am getting ready to make this and I was wondering about freezing the soup. I normally make full recipes so I can freeze for having later in the year. Thanks! Reply
Since it has a cream base I don’t normally recommend freezing this, but I haven’t attempted it. Let me know if you do freeze it and how it turns out? Thanks! 🙂 Reply
Hi! This looks delicious – I’m planning to make it next week after my husband gets his wisdom teeth out. I couldn’t find yellow curry powder at my grocery store – do you have a substitute you recommend? Thanks! Reply
You could try making your own! 🙂 https://eatingvibrantly.com/recipes/homemade-mild-curry-powder/ (Or just using coriander/cumin in place) Reply
This is on my list of snow storm recipes 🙂 I don’t have any maple syrup (and I’m trying to avoid a trip to the store). Will this recipe really suffer without it? Thanks! Reply
This is my go-to recipe for butternut squash soup! I’m not a big fan of the coconut milk, so I love the broth option. I also add a couple carrots, a peeled apple, and fresh ginger. I also sprinkle pumpkin seeds and Greek yogurt as a topping. Reply
