Butternut Squash Soup
This Butternut Squash Soup is packed with layers of flavour (including sweet potatoes and apples) and is a perfect addition to the menu during your family gatherings this harvest season.
Happy Thanksgiving, my fellow Canadians! Autumn ushers in a range of hearty fruits and vegetables, as seen in the colourful produce aisles of grocery stores as of late. This recipe for my butternut squash soups uses a few of them: butternut squash, sweet potatoes and apples (yes, apples)!
I’m used to making chunky soups with big pieces of meats and veggies, but even though this is a smooth and creamy soup, it’s packed with layers of flavour. Butternut squash is a variety of winter squash (which also includes pumpkin, acorn and spaghetti squash).
If you’re intimidated about cutting these into chunks for a recipe, many stores sell them already peeled and pre-cut. Sweet potatoes are one of my favourite vegetables. They’re naturally sweet and very versatile. I decided to add in an apple to this recipe as well. It’s important to use a tart, green one (like Granny Smith) to help balance out the flavour of the squash and sweet potato. Freshly grated ginger, garlic and an onion are the other ingredients I used for this delicious soup along with a few spices that pair well with the veggies.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can blend your soup in batches using a regular blender (be careful not to over-fill). The cream is optional (so you can leave it out if you’re vegan or lactose-intolerant), but I find it adds a lot to the smoothness of the dish.
Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 600 g butternut squash about 1/2 a large squash, peeled and chopped
- 1 medium sweet potato peeled and chopped
- 1 Granny Smith apple peeled and chopped
- 1 small onion chopped
- 900 ml low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 125 ml half-and-half cream optional
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch of nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt more or less to taste
Instructions
- In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, sauté the onions and garlic in the oil for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the grated ginger and cook for another minute.
- Add in the chopped squash, sweet potatoes, apple and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the squash and sweet potato is tender. Remove from heat and stir in the cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- Pureé the soup using an immersion blender until smooth.
- Blend in the cream into the soup, if desired.
