Butternut Squash Soup

This easy Butternut Squash Soup is SO luxuriously creamy, rich and velvety, you won’t believe it’s low fat! It’s like a big, warm hug of winter velvety goodness that warms you from the inside out. Most importantly, you won’t believe how delicious this healthy Butternut Squash Soup is. It’s loaded with layers of complex flavors from butternut squash, onions, garlic, Granny Smith apple, fennel, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and a splash of maple syrup that simmer together in a fragrant aromatic bath. After just 20 minutes, you blend the ingredients until intoxicatingly smooth then curl up with a big bowl of warm, creamy soup – without any guilt! This creamy Butternut Soup recipe is make ahead friendly, and freezer friendly for stress free dinners or lunches throughout the week.


Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium butternut squash peeled, seeded cut into 1-inch pieces (5 cups)
• 1 fennel bulb trimmed, chopped
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 Granny Smith apple peeled and chopped into 1” chunks
• 1/2 tsp EACH salt, pepper
• 4-6 cloves garlic minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp EACH ground ginger, ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp EACH turmeric, ground nutmeg, ground cloves
• Pinch-1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

GARNISH

• Coconut milk or heavy cream
• Toasted pine nuts or pumpkin seeds

Instructions

1. Melt 2 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil in a Dutch oven/soup pot over medium-low heat. Add squash, onions, fennel, and apple and season with salt and pepper. Increase heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often (we are sweating the vegetables- they will not turn golden).
2. Add garlic, and all seasonings; sauté 1 minute or until fragrant. Add chicken broth, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen up the browned bits. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the vegetables are fork tender.
3. Working in 2-3 batches, transfer soup to a high-powered blender to puree, taking care to let smoke escape or it will explode (I leave a corner open and cover with a paper towel). I find my blender gives a smoother, more desirable consistency than an immersion blender.
4. Transfer pureed soup back to pot. Stir in maple syrup to taste. Season to taste with additional salt & pepper again if desired. Ladle into bowls and garnish with toasted and salted pepita seeds and drizzle with heavy cream or coconut milk (optional).

Recipe Notes
Tips and Tricks for Best Butternut Squash Soup

• Use pre-chopped squash. Peeling and chopping the butternut squash is probably the most time-consuming part of this soup so if you want to save some time, purchase peeled, cubed butternut squash.
• Microwave squash. Squash is much easier and faster to peel if you soften the skin in the microwave. First, pierce the skin all over with a fork (or it will explode!) then microwave for two minutes, no longer.
• Fennel (please don't skip!): If you aren’t familiar with cooking fennel, most grocery stores carry it or specialty produce stores such as Sprouts, Whole Foods, etc. definitely do. Look for plump, round fennel bulbs as opposed to flat elongated ones because those won’t be as sweet. We want just the bulb for our Butternut Squash Soup recipe, so chop off the fennel stalks at their base, where they join the bulb. You can discard the stalks and feathery fronds or use the fronds as a salad garnish.
• Chicken Broth: Take care your chicken broth is low sodium otherwise your soup might be too salty.
• Scale up or down. You can scale this Butternut Squash Soup recipe up or down. Just use the handy up or down arrows located next to the serving size and it will adjust the amount of ingredients for you.
• Consistency: The consistency of this soup is entirely up to you! For a thinner soup, stir in additional chicken broth. For a thicker soup, simmer with a cornstarch slurry.

SLOW COOKER:

You can also make this Butternut Squash Soup in the crockpot. Keep in mind that less liquid is evaporated in the slow cooker, so you may want to start with less chicken broth or your soup won't be quite as thick. To make:

1. Combine ingredients. Add all of the ingredients to a 6-quart slow cooker.
2. Cook until tender. Cook until the vegetables are fork tender, approximately 6-8 hours on low, or 3-4 hours on high.
3. Blend. Working in 2-3 batches, transfer the soup ingredients to the blender and puree until smooth.
4. Garnish. Season to taste with salt and pepper and garnish with pepitas, coconut milk, etc.

STORAGE

This Butternut Squash Soup will last about 4-5 days in the refrigerator. As always, use common sense and if it doesn’t smell right, then throw it out.

PREP AHEAD:

You can prep almost all of the ingredients for easy Butternut Squash Soup a day ahead of time so then it’s just dump, cook and eat! The only ingredient you’ll want to chop at the time of cooking is the apple. Here’s how:

• Veggies: you can chop the butternut squash, fennel, onions and garlic and place them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
• Seasonings: you can measure out all of the seasonings and store them in a plastic aright bag.

MAKE AHEAD:

Butternut Squash Soup reheats beautifully, so it is perfect to make in advance. You can even meal prep by adding serving size portions into separate containers for the week (or up to 5 days). You can reheat individual servings in the microwave or heat larger quantities on the stove or crockpot until warmed through – see detailed instructions below.

HOW TO FREEZE

1. Cool. Cool Butternut Squash Soup completely before freezing.
2. Package: Transfer soup to a freezer safe container. You can use sandwich size plastic bags for individual soup portions, quart size bags or freezer bags. To easy fill these bags, place them in a container that you can wrap the top around the edge of – for example, place a sandwich size bag in a mug then cuff the edges around the mug. This keeps the bag open and prevents it from collapsing when you are pouring in your soup. Squeeze out any excess air then seal and label.
3. Freeze. Freeze Butternut Squash Soup for up to three months
4. Defrost/Reheat. The easiest way to thaw your soup is in your refrigerator overnight then reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave.