I get a weekly produce box from Riverdog Farm in the Capay Valley, in the…
Butternut Squash Soup — Deliciously Simple
Just four ingredients make this soup an autumn through winter regular. It is so easy and tasty! The only not-so-easy thing to do, is cut up the very hard butternut; a large heavy knife helps. Or, try roasting the squash whole. It was a game-changer for Rosie! This soup is a great make-ahead recipe to take to parties, or to freeze and enjoy months later. The recipe is very flexible: use a smaller or larger squash, and more or less butter to suit your taste. Use broth and water, or all broth. Let your taste buds be your guide. You cannot ruin this soup; just enjoy its flavor and simplicity.
Butternut Squash Soup – Deliciously Simple
Butternut squash soup can be made with sauteed cubes of squash, or, roast the squash whole in the oven then cut and scoop. Roasting whole saves the possibly risky task of cutting the hard squash with a sharp knife. Plan extra prep time if roasting. Either way, this is a super simple soup.
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash, 2.5-3lbs
- 3 Tbsp. butter or olive oil
- 1 leek, trimmed and sliced or about 3/4 cup diced yellow onion, plus 1-2 cloves chopped garlic
- 1-2 14.5oz cans chicken or vegetable broth
- garnish sour cream or plain yogurt, optional
Instructions
- Cut squash into cubes, or roast un-cut squash on a baking sheet in 400F oven until soft. Depending on size of squash, this will take 45-75 minutes. Roast until the skin browns and starts to separate from the squash and the flesh is soft to the touch. Cut in half lengthwise; remove seeds and discard. Scoop flesh from the skin and skip to sauteing leek or onion.
- To cut raw squash, first cut off the long neck part of the squash. Cut the bulb part in half and scoop out the seeds with a sturdy metal spoon.
- Use the heavy knife to slice vertically down to remove the skin, or use a heavy vegetable peeler. Cut into 3/4-inch cubes.
- To slice leek, cut off the root end. Cut the leek lengthwise with a sharp knife; rinse well to remove dirt between layers. Slice again lengthwise into quarters. Then cut cross-wise about 1/4-inch slices.
- Melt butter or heat olive oil in large (5-6qt) pot. Add leeks (or diced onion) and cook over medium heat until softened.
- Add cubed or roasted squash to pot. Stir in enough broth to cover the squash. Bring to a boil; cover pot and simmer until squash is very tender, 15-20 minutes for cubes. If using roasted squash, cook until mixture is hot, breaking up the squash first with a spoon.
- Remove from heat and cool slightly. Puree with hand-held immersion blender or carefully in a blender jar (never fill blender more than half with hot liquid; hold lid down and start on low speed as liquid may burst to the top when warm.)
- Add additional broth or water to desired thickness. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt.
Nice to see photos of how to cut up a squash. I use Ina Garten’s technique of peeling off the skin. That works too.
I wish there was more room for how-to photos. Tell me about Ina Garten’s method for peeling butternut.
Bee-utiful Soup
a little suggestion: Instead of sour cream, I’ve been using Leban/Kefir cheese; a Lebanese yogurt – very rich, same calories as sour crm, but 1gm more saturated fat; but so good with everything and by itself.
Plus it has probiotics!
Joyce, a swirl of yogurt is just as good as sour cream (maybe better). Where did you get the Leban/Kefir cheese? Is that Leban as in Lebanese?
I have a squash just waiting for this soup!
We made this and froze half. Reheated soup was just as tasty as fresh.
We added a bit of water to thin it some. Perfect!
Glad you like it and that freezing worked out.
Glad you like the soup and that freezing it works so well for you.
I love the photos of peeling and cubing the butternut, Rita! I use a potato peeler – not sure if that’s what Dianne was alluding to in her above comment or not, but it’s worked well for me with butternut. And butternut still makes one of my favorite soups!!
Susan, my hubby uses a potato peeler on butternut. He’s the one who most often preps it for this soup! But not all peelers are created equal. For the hard skin on butternut, he uses an especially sturdy, sharp peeler that does a nice job.