Curry Spiced Butternut Squash Soup
October 19, 2011 It may be orange.
But it’s not pumpkin!
And it’s not sweet.
We’re going savory today.
Butternut squash, may just be my favorite, out of the squash family. It seems the most versatile. Very similar to pumpkin, acorn and kabocha, but different all at the same time. Butternut squash stands up better to roasting. It’s texture is more like a creamy sweet potato and doesn’t get quite as limp when roasted.
It’s also much smoother. Seriously! Butternut squash puree is silkier than pumpkin puree. It’s just a fact. If you’re making pumpkin spice smoothies, you need to pause, put the can of pumpkin down, and pick up a can of butternut squash. The butternut squash smoothie, inspired by Gena, is probably my favorite of all time. If a smoothie were ever going to be called luscious, this would be the one. It’s the thickest, creamiest smoothie, you will ever gulp down.
And now I’ll stop gushing about my love for this veg.
I always seem to have a heck of a time cutting this squash. It’s bulbous and just plain awkward. Today, I peeled the outside. And luckily didn’t lose a finger. I have the world’s sharpest vegetable peeler!
It took a few minutes to get down to the good stuff.
3 minutes of peeling is definitely worth your time.
In about 45min you’re rewarded with what you see below.
Liquid gold.
I cannot tell you how many “taste testing” spoons dipped into the pot today. Or, how many finger swipes were licked from the photo prop bowls. I do know however, I’m currently out of spoons. Big + small. That’s over 16 spoons in 2 days, between 3 recipes, and only 1 was used by Chris.
Have I seriously not talked about the contents of the soup yet?
I’ll just let the recipe do the talking.
Curry Spiced Butternut Squash Soup [serves 4-6, vegan/gf]
- 8c cubed butternut squash [not 8c pureed]
- 1med onion, diced
- 1T +1t garlic, minced
- 2T sunflower oil
- 6c veggie broth
- 1T curry powder
- 1/2t turmeric
- 1/2t ground ginger
- 2t sucanat
- 1/4-3/4t garam masala [spicy!]
- 1/4c full fat coconut milk [opt]
- salt to taste
- In a large pot, over medium/med-low heat, add the oil.
- Dice the onion and add it to the pot for about 5-8min, stirring frequently, until soft and lightly golden in color.
- Peel + chop butternut squash. Buy a 3-3.5lb squash.
- Add all spices + garlic to the pot and stir for 30 seconds.
- Add in butternut squash, broth + sucanat, then stir to combine and bring to a boil covered, over medium heat.
- Reduce heat to simmer for 30min.
- Puree [carefully!] until smooth, with an immersion blender, food processor, stand blender, etc.
- Pour back into the pot and simmer for 10min.
- Taste + add salt or more garam masala if desired.
- Top each bowl with a dollop of coconut milk or stir 1/4c into the whole pot. This is optional and you can also use 1/2 + 1/2 instead.
*You can sub sweet potatoes, kabocha, or pumpkin instead of butternut squash.
Feel free to add a helping of chickpeas to bump up the protein and add a little chew.
Or, add creamy coconut quinoa instead. [melt 1T coconut oil in a pot over med. heat – rinse 1c quinoa and toast in the pot for 2-3min, stirring frequently – add 1.5c water + .5c coconut milk – bring to a boil – stir once, cover and reduce heat to simmer – cook 15min – take off heat and let sit for 10min – fluff with fork = perfect quinoa] The coconut flavor is very light, it more just adds a rich, creaminess.
Or, add both.
It’s up to you!
If you guessed that I added both, you know me too well.
Cheers to kitchen experiments.
And cheers to orange food!
Ashley
Reader Comments (70)
Ashley it looks delish and I love the vertical picture of the soup with the white swirl, off centered to the right. So striking!
Looks perfect!! I am making this tonight for sure :)
Ummm looks yum,..
I love the pop of white swirl on top of the soup!
I'm going to try this! Sounds amazing and I've never made butternut squash soup before!
Have you ever tried delicata squash? I discovered it this year and cannot get enough of it! Definitely my favorite fall/winter squash!
I just had my first bowl of butternut squash soup the other day and it was like fall in a bowl. I rarely cook with curry but I think this would be excellent.
this sounds SO good!
I love butternut squash as well - I ws thinking of making a soup with apples & butternut squash. I have a 5 pounder to use!
I love it Ashley! Last night, my dog started to gnaw on my kabocha squash and now I have to use it! This would be a great recipe, I'll just sub the butternut for the kobocha. Hope it tastes the same, I never had kabocha squash. Thank you for the recipe!!!
Love. Butternut squash is my all time favorite winter squash!
please tell me you've seen the velveeta commercials with the guy singing "liquid gold"! hilarious...and your liquid gold sounds better than his :)
YUM thank you for this recipe! my goal this winter is try more soups!!
Wow, what a great recipe...I love all the flavors..definitely a great one for the cooler temps!
I have a tiny baby butternut squash to use up, I wonder if I could make soup for 1 with it! This looks so comforting and delicious
Love the colour! butternut squash offers the ultimate creaminess to soups
I LOVE your kitchen! And this soup looks absolutely amazing. There are no words. Love the shot of it with the chickpeas on top.
I had butternut squash soup for dinner...Yours sounds so much better than the premade version I had :)
That soup looks and sounds amazing! I love savory butternut dishes. I'm also intrigued by your coconut quinoa—I'll have to try that asap!
I would have added both too. Why not? Have you tried peeling butternut squash with a veggie peeler? Works really well and doesn't take 3 minutes! Although I'd spend 10 minutes peeling if it meant a nice warm bowl of this soup at the end. :)
I absolutely love curried soups and we've made a similar butternut squash soup that is one of my favorites! Some of our favorite ways to top it are with coconut, dried banana chips, or roasted cashews! :)
Those are great topping ideas!!
Yup! I did use a veggie peeler, and was saying in the post I'm lucky I didn't lose a finger. It has a serrated edge and is SO sharp! Definitely took a few minutes to peel the 3lb squash, and get to the vibrant orange!
If you want a little more coconut flavor, use 2T coconut oil, 1c coconut milk/1c water. :)
Oh! And you can use the low-fat canned coconut milk for this one!
Double thanks!
A baby butternut...I'm not sure I could use it because I bet it's the cutest little thing. ;)
Unfortunately no...hehehe Thanks girl ;)
Kabocha is really good! Hope you love the soup!
Yes!! Another delicious member of the squash family. :)
Ashley,
This soup sounds delicious. I can't wait to try it. Are you considering adding a print function for your recipes? I love the Recipage function. It's so easy.
This looks fabulous! While I love butternut, my favorite squash is delicatta. You can eat the "skin" and it's delightful in soups, either as pieces or pureed...I love squash and autumn!
Mm, this soup looks incredible. I don't like most winter squashes due to their stringy texture, but I LOVE butternut squash puree.
If you're going to chop up the squash anyway, you could do what I do and chop up the squash, then slice off the little bit of peel. I don't know that it is any faster, but I always feel steadier than if I try to peel the thing whole.
The soup looks so good, too! I wish I could get my husband over his distaste for anything orange so I could make this for dinner without him getting fussy!
Beautiful photography! It's obvious you put a lot of thought and time into your food pics.
This recipe sounds perfect for the dreary fall weather we have in Boston right now. I just need to muster up the energy to peel the squash - that's my least favorite part!
This looks incredible! What brand of garam masala do you use? I haven't bought it before and have been hesitant to just buy the first jar I can find since I've heard the mixture can vary from brand to brand.
Yum! I definitely share your unbridled love for butternut squash. Beautiful pics!
Beautiful photos, per usual. Phone chat necessary soon. Can't make complete sentences. Miss you.
Where do you get canned squash? I have never seen it canned or frozen so I am forced to buy it and roast it myself. Which sucks, because I find them very difficult to cut without almost losing a finger. This looks delicious!
Orange food is the best this time of year! I've been meaning to try kabocha, but your descriptions of butternut will force me to keep this recipe as is. The quinoa sounds great too!
My goodness. I want to swim in this soup.
Also, your pictures are breathtaking. Hard to do with soup - but you did it!
My workmates and I were all admiring this today. Looks beautiful!
I never tried butternut squash, but you're post has inspired me to try it out. I also love your photography. I hope to get my pictures up to par with yours!
I love soup recipes! I've been eyeing the butternut squash since I've seen it come back to the supermarkets. Yum :)
Niiiiiice oven! Very nice! Soup looks fantastic, bet it would be insane with a blob of cashew butter on top :)
So glad you posted this recipe. I'm moving this weekend and was staring at the cabinet going "What am I going to make with a butternut squash, chickpeas, coconut milk and couscous?" ... trying not to pack too much food/produce!
That's awesome!!! Perfect ingredients to have on hand!
Oh my god....that sounds outstanding!!
Thanks so much Thao!
That's awesome...thanks!
I did swim in it...and drank it all up at the same time! Less than 24hrs and it's gone. :) Thanks about the photos!!