At the first hint of cool weather each fall I’m at the market buying butternut squash for soup. I made the same recipe for years, until I became a dairy-free vegetarian almost a decade ago. The switch from cow’s milk to coconut cream turned out to be a luscious upgrade. Last year I garnished my vegan butternut squash soup with pomegranate seeds. The sparkly flavor of the pomegranates seeds added a bright and contrasting element to the butternut squash soup that will be repeated for years to come.
When I thought about sharing my Butternut Squash Soup recipe to my Jackie’s Veggie Kitchen readers. I thought, how can I improve such a classic recipe? The idea of roasting the butternut squash, rather than boiling the squash in the soup broth (which is the traditional method), popped into my head. I like the way that roasting squash brings out its natural buttery flavor. Doing so could only enhance the soup’s flavor. I’m sure this is not an original idea. However, when I did a search for butternut squash soup recipes only one, out of all that I scanned, mentioned roasting the squash. It was a curry recipe, which sounds amazing but not what I was after.
Roasting butternut squash prior to making the soup does add time but, as I had guessed, definitely worth it! But wait, I went one step further… As I was loading the roasted squash into the blender with the coconut cream I couldn’t resist sampling a few of the just-out-of-the-oven, slightly browned chunks of goodness. I decided that the roasted chunks were too delicious to puree them all. I saved 1/3 of the chunks to put directly into the soup. The result was a roasted butternut squash soup with texture and flavor bombs by the spoonful.
Note: This recipe has a gentle but noticeable kick to it from the cayenne, which contrasts well with the pomegranate seeds. If you don’t want the heat cut down on the cayenne.
I was so excited after I made this recipe that I immediately called my son, who is an incredible cook, to tell him all about it. I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as I did. If so, please rate it and share a comment. I enjoy reading your comments and it helps the success of the blog.
Best Ever Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Course: SoupsDifficulty: Medium6
servings15
minutes40
minutesRoasted Butternut Squash Soup Ingredients
- Roasted Butternut Squash
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
1 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 Tsp. salt
- Soup Broth
2 cups water
2 tsp. No-chicken Better Than Bouillon
4 large cloves garlic
1 carrot peeled and roughly chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, roughly chopped
1 head shallot diced
1/2 white onion diced
4 sprigs dried or fresh whole sage leaf
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground cayenne
1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- Finish Soup
1 cup full fat canned coconut milk (shake can before measuring)
1 Tbs. maple syrup
- Soup Toppings
1 cup pomegranate seeds
1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup coconut cream (from top of full fat coconut milk can) warmed until liquid.
Directions for Vegan Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
- Roast Butternut Squash
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss butternut squash chunks in olive oil and 1/2 tsp. salt. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast on middle rack for 25 minutes, move to top rack and broil for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Add all soup broth ingredients to a stockpot. Cook on medium-high until the stock reaches a simmer. Then cover, deduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are all tender.
- Remove and discard sage. Pour broth into a blender and blend until smooth. Return to stockpot.
- Finish Soup.
- Measure 1/4 cup coconut cream (from top of full fat coconut milk can) warm until liquid and set aside.
- Add all but 1/3 of the roasted squash to the blender with 1 cup canned coconut milk and 1 Tbs. Maple Syrup. Blend until smooth.
- Add roasted squash chunks (roughly chopped into bite sized chunks) and pureed butternut squash to broth in stockpot. Taste and season with additional salt, pepper and cayenne as needed.
- Garnish Soup
- Serve warm, drizzled with coconut cream and garnished with toasted pumpkin seeds and pomegranate seeds.
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This was the most amazing soup. Extremely flavorful and delicious.
Thank you for the 5 star rating and the nice comment Dennis! It’s definitely an amped up (and in our opinions better!) version of your typical butternut squash soup. So glad you liked it.
Best soup hands down. It was 5 star restaurant quality or better I will deffintaly be making and keeping this recipe love love love thanks Jacqueline.
Thank you so much for such a nice comment and 5 star review! Did you try it with the pomegranate seeds? They complement the butternut squash incredibly well.
LOVE this recipe. We eat a lot of butternut squash in our household, and the family was very happy eating this soup. I loved the coconut cream and pomegranate garnish. I’ll be making this again!
So glad you and your family enjoyed this butternut squash soup recipe! The coconut cream adds a delicious creaminess and the pomegranate seeds add a contrasting flavor and texture that is a surprise to to the taste buds! Thank you for your comment and 5 star rating!
This soup is delicious! I cooked the squash in the liquid, I prefer it unroasted, and I used an immersion blender. The mild heat from the cayenne pepper paired beautifully with the creamy coconut milk. I’m looking forward to the leftovers!
Thank you for the 5 star review Marti! Leftovers are usually better… especially in sauces and soups!
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