The Best Butternut Squash Soup
Butternut squash soup is wonderfully comforting fall soup that is smooth and creamy, with a touch of sweetness. This soup is made with a few simple vegetables, herbs, and cream. It’s easy to make butternut squash soup dairy free so read about it below.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
This is one of my favorite soups to make for the family, mostly because the kids will actually eat it and it’s healthy for them. I also love that I can find butternut squash in stores year-round. I can make this delicious soup any time.
It’s a wonderfully tasting soup and made with a few simple vegetables. Besides butternut squash of course, and I also like to add the classic onion, carrots, and celery vegetable base. When I want to make the soup a little heartier, I add potatoes, but not when I want the classic butternut squash soup.
There are a few things that make my butternut squash soup so good. For the best taste, I like to use butter to saute the vegetables instead of oil. It gives the vegetables and soup a tasty buttery finish. I also add a little touch of spice with red pepper flakes to balance out the sweet and savory flavors of the vegetables.
To blend the soup, I highly recommend transferring it into a blender as opposed to using an immersion blender. I’ve use both several times and it seems to yield best results when I use a standing blender. Immersion blender tends to whip the vegetables while blending and changes the texture somewhat.
HOW TO MAKE BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
Make sure to prepare the vegetables ahead of time so that it’s all ready to go once you start cooking. Melt butter in a cooking pot and saute vegetables until they start to soften.
Once veggies start to soften, add chicken broth, herbs, and seasoning. The broth should be just enough to cover the vegetables. If you add too much, the soup will be too thin. Lower the temperature to medium-low and simmer the vegetables until completely softened.
Transfer the content of the pot into the blender. I like to pour out some of the broth to make sure the soup is not too thin. If the soup too thick after it’s blended, it’s easy to add the broth back in.
After the soup is blended, add it back the pot and add heavy whipping cream of coconut cream (unsweetened kind). Stir it in well and cook for just a couple more minutes. Be careful, if the soup starts to boil, it will splatter.
BUTTERNUTS SQUASH SOUP DAIRY FREE
It’s very easy to make this wonderful soup dairy free or lactose free, whichever you prefer. There are two ingredients here that contain dairy and that is butter and heavy whipping cream.
Butter can be easily substituted for a non-dairy butter like I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. I prefer to use butter over oil because of the richer taste it gives the soup.
Heavy whipping cream is easily substituted by coconut cream. Use the Thai kind of coconut cream and not the sweetened one.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
Butternuts squash soup has a light, creamy, and slightly sweet flavor. It goes wonderfully with a grilled cheese or croutons on top. You can make the grilled cheese into sticks or even cut it up into small squares and make grilled cheese croutons.
This soup also goes well with a salad and many other sandwiches. Try a vegetables sandwich, chicken sandwich, or turkey sandwich with it. The slight sweetness of chicken and turkey will go well with the soup.
If you want to stay away from bread, try a cauliflower grilled cheese. For lighter topping options, try pumpkin seeds, chick peas, Parmesan crisps, or crumbled crispy bacon.
SOME MORE SOUP RECIPES TO TRY
Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
Sweet Potato and Chorizo Bisque
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Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2.5 lbs butternut squash
- 2 medium carrots
- 2 ribs of celery
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 - 2.5 cups chicken broth enough to cover the vegetables
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes more if desired
- 1 tsp dried sage
- salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream or 5.4 oz can of coconut cream
Instructions
- Dice vegetables into small cubes before starting to cook.
- Melt butter in a cooking pot, over medium heat, and saute vegetables until they start to soften.
- Once veggies start to soften, add herbs and seasoning. Pour in chicken broth, enough to cover the vegetables.
- Lower the temperature to medium-low and simmer the vegetables until completely softened.
- Transfer the content of the pot into the blender. (Pour out some of the broth to make sure the soup is not too thin. If the soup too thick after it’s blended, it’s easy to add the broth back in.) Blend until smooth.
- Add it back the pot and add heavy whipping cream (or coconut cream). Stir it in well and cook for just a couple more minutes. Be careful, if the soup starts to boil, it will splatter.
Notes
Nutrition
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Can you freeze this soup
Hi Denna,
Yes, you can freeze this soup but make sure to not add heavy whipping cream until reheating. You can get more details on how to freeze this soup at my Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup recipe which I will link here so you can read it. I hope you enjoy the soup!
https://www.willcookforsmiles.com/instant-pot-butternut-squash-soup/
can half and half be substituted for heavy cream?
Hi Caroline,
Sure, you can substite with half and half but the fat content isn’t the same so it will be less creamy and rich but you can still use it.
Yummy! I can’t wait to try it!