This butternut squash soup is simple to prepare and tastes amazing during the cold months. It’s silky smooth, rich, and a little sweet. I add a little orange juice to give this soup a wonderful wintertime flavor.
While for most pureed soups it is fine to just cook the vegetables in the broth, I really prefer roasted butternut squash soup over the boiled version. Roasting concentrates and intensifies the flavor of the squash. It adds a great depth of flavor to this meatless dish.
That means after the squash has been roasted in the oven, this soup is quickly assembled. You won’t need to boil the squash in the broth anymore. It’s enough to bring the soup up to a simmer and then directly puree it.
Strain your butternut squash soup to improve its texture
As much as I hate extra steps like straining soups I highly recommend you always do it with pureed soups like this one. The texture of strained soups is so much better. It provides so much pleasure to slurp a velvety smooth soup. If the texture is not as fine the soup always reminds me of baby food which is somewhat unappetizing. But that’s really personal preference. I know that a lot of people prefer chunky over smooth potato puree even though I will never understand the reasoning behind that.
I use fresh turmeric to season my butternut squash soup. If you can’t source it you can season the soup with dried turmeric powder instead. It’s just that I prefer to use fresh herbs and spices over dried products.
Butternut squash soup doesn’t need many side dishes. I like to enjoy it for dinner with a slice of buttered spelt bread. The spelt bread is perfect to soak up the flavor of the soup. It’s hard to find a more comforting and warming meal.
Butternut Squash Soup (‘Kürbissuppe’)
Ingredients
For roasting the squash:
- 1 butternut squash, about 2.2 pounds (1 kg) in weight, halved and seeds removed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt, to taste
For preparing the soup:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 red onion, minced
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- freshly grated turmeric, to taste
- freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
- lemon juice, to taste
- salt, to taste
For garnishing
- a handful of fresh cilantro
- a handful of roasted pumpkin seeds
- some extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
Instructions
Roast the squash:
- Preheat your oven to 430 °F (220 °C).
- Rub the olive oil into the flesh of the butternut squash halves. Season the flesh to taste with salt and place skin-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast the butternut squash halves in the preheated oven for 60-90 minutes, or until completely tender throughout. If they start to burn on the surface before they become tender, turn down the heat a little or cover with aluminum foil.
- Take the roasted squash out of the oven and scoop out the flesh with a spoon while still hot.
Prepare the soup:
- Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and add the minced onion. Sweat for 3-4 minutes until the onion turns translucent. Add the orange juice, chicken broth, pumpkin flesh, and heavy cream. Season the soup to taste with turmeric, nutmeg, pepper, lemon juice, and salt. While still hot, pour the soup into a blender and puree until smooth. Optionally, pass the pureed soup through a fine-mesh sieve to get a super-smooth texture. Retest for seasoning and adjust to taste.
Serve the soup:
- Ladle the soup into individual soup bowls and garnish with a few cilantro leaves and pumpkin seeds. Lastly, drizzle the soup with some high-quality extra virgin olive oil. I like to serve it with some rustic bread like spelt bread.
Delicious! I’d skip the pumpkin seed /cilantro garnish and offer up nice big croutons though!
Yes, croutons are delicious. I love them in soups and salads. For soups, there are so many delicious toppings to choose from.