It is full on soup season my friends and one of my favourite soups to make that is UNBELIEVABLY nourishing and filling is my homemade butternut squash soup.
Think: creamy (without the dairy), fluffy, deliciousness. IT'S.SO.GOOD.
Do you like your soup with crackers or crackerless? Tell me in the comments!
I did an Instagram poll on this exact question last week and it was overwhelming 'crackerssssss.' Cause, same! Gluten-free Mary's Rosemary & Garlic crackers to be specific haha.
This soup is so easy to make, wit the prepping being the majority of the work: peeling the squash, de-seeding it, cutting in into chunks and preparing it to bake with some avocado oil and seasoning. Cutting the onions too makes me cry, although I have tried multiple methods to avoid it and the one that works the best is wearing my snowboard goggles = sexy if you ask me.
Okay, so let's get in to how we make this delicious and nourishing soup! Before we start anything, let's preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, start by peeling the squash, deseeding it by scooping out the flesh with a spoon, or your hands, whatever feels best for you in the moment. Next, cut the squash into small chunks and place them on the baking sheet.
Next season with the avocado oil*, black pepper, pink salt, and garlic powder and mix to coat and combine. Please feel free to use any other spices and herbs that you LOVE to make it your own. But for me, I find the basic salt, pepper, garlic powder is so so good.
*Avocado oil has a high smoke point which means that it doesn't go rancid (bad) at certain high temperatures. Therefore, this oil is best to use in this recipe.
Once the squash chunks are ready and seasoned to go in the oven, put them in to bake for 20 minutes, mix them around, then bake for another 20 minutes or until tender when poked with a fork.
While the butternut squash is baking, put on your snowboard goggles OR prepare to cry (unless you have an amazing hack to not cry while cutting onion PLEASE share in the comments), and begin to cut the onion into smaller chunks. Place a large pot over medium heat, add some avocado oil to the bottom of the pan and add the onions to sauté. Stir them around every minute or two so that they don't burn. Once the onions begin to turn translucent you can add the diced garlic to the pot and stir. Cook for a few minutes until you smell the fragrance of garlic in the air.
Once the onions and garlic have sautéed for about 5-10 minutes, add in the veggie broth and turn down to low and let simmer until the squash is ready. Once it is ready you will add the cooked squash chunks to the pot mix and simmer for 5 minutes.
Turn off heat and let sit for a few minutes, unless you have a high powdered blender that allows you to put hot things in it, then add it right away to the blender. Add the creamy stuff of the can of coconut cream to the blender, some more seasoning with the addition of turmeric, and blend to combine. If you don't have a big enough blender to add it all in at once, just do it in sections and transfer back to the pot once blended nicely.
Depends on peoples heat tolerance, but you may eat the soup just as is or heat it up again on the stove over low-medium heat for a few minutes. Turn off heat, serve yourself and any loved ones some soup, top with crackers if that is your thing and ENJOY!
This recipe makes enough for 4-5 servings, so it is great to use this recipe in your meal prep so that you can have it for easy lunch or dinner through the week. I have no ever put this soup in the freezer, dethawed it and consumed it so I am not sure how it will hold up, but if you try it and it works or doesn't can you please let me know in the comments.
Happy Soup Making!
Recipe: Homemade Butternut Squash Soup
Serves: 4-5
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Total time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cups vegetable broth
1 can of coconut cream, separated
3 cloves garlic, diced
2 tbsp avocado oil, split
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pink salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Peel squash, deseed, and cut into small chunks and place on baking sheet.
Add 1 tbsp. avocado oil to squash chunks with seasoning of black pepper, garlic powder, and pink salt. Mix around and place in the oven to bake for 20 minutes, mix around, and bake for another 20 minutes or until squash is tender to poke with a fork.
While the squash is baking, place a large pot on the stove over low-medium heat with the other tbsp of avocado oil.
Prepare the onion by peeling it and dicing it into small chunks and adding it to the pot to sauté. Make sure to stir the onion every minute or two so that the onion doesn't burn. Turn down the heat if it begins to burn too fast.
Once the onions begin to turn translucent, peel and dice the garlic and add them into the pot and stir. Sauté until you smell that beautiful garlic fragrance.
Add the vegetable broth and turn down to low and simmer until the squash is ready.
Add the squash chunks to the pot and simmer for another 5 minutes and remove from heat.
If your blender can handle high heat you can add the mix right in to the blender, but if it can't or your are unsure then wait 5-10 minutes to let it cool a bit before adding it to the blender.
Add the coconut cream, turmeric, and other spices to taste and blend until smooth and creamy.
Add the mixture back to the pot over low heat and heat to desired temperature.
Serve and add some cracker (or not) of choice and enjoy!
This recipe makes 4-5 servings so if you aren't using it all at once then wait until it is cooled down and store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. I have not tried freezing this recipe and reheating it before, so if you try it and it works (or not) please let me know in the comments.
Thank you for being here, I appreciate you.
Peace, love, & avocados,
Katie