Butternut Squash Soup

When the cold winds of change begin to blow (seemingly straight through your bones) and the sky hangs heavy and grey, nothing will warm you up quite like a bowl of Butternut Squash Soup. This soup is extremely versatile, easy to make, and is loaded with health benefits from boosting your immune system, improving heart, eye, bone, and brain health, improving blood sugar control, reducing inflammation, and reducing the risk of certain cancers. All three of our star ingredients, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and potatoes, are excellent sources of Vitamins A, K, C and B6 and also contain minerals like potassium, magnesium, and fiber as well as antioxidants. Even the lowly white potato, which often gets a bad wrap, offers these and is also a good source of Folate. Sweet potatoes have also been linked to helping improve your mood, which may also be part of the warm factor in this soup.

A word on the versatility of this soup:

The Ingredients:

This soup is versatile in just about every aspect. For the ingredients, I use a blend of Butternut Squash, Sweet Potatoes, and Potatoes. But, you could use all Squash. You could do any ratio of the above and could also add some carrot or even celery. I like to do a blend. Squash is good but it has a very strong flavor. Adding the Sweet and White Potatoes cut back on the strength of the squash flavor and really just let the goodness of that flavor shine. You can also use fresh or frozen. When I started making this soup, I used fresh, but butternut squash is hard to peel and cut yo…so, I started using frozen. It’s so much faster, easier, and really affordable. Also, frozen produce often has a higher nutritive value because it is usually frozen within eight hours of harvest giving the vegetables less time to lose their nutritive content.

I cook the onion in a combination of vegetable oil and butter but you don’t have to. You could use any oil you like and omit the butter for a healthier option but for me…mo butta is mo betta.

To finish the soup, I like to add a pat or two of butter, a drizzle of maple syrup and sometimes a bit of cream, milk, or the cooking liquid to get the soup to the desired consistency. When I made it last night, I didn’t need the addition of any liquid so I just finished with the butter and syrup. You could also use honey, brown sugar, pure cane sugar or whatever sweetness your prefer in place of the maple syrup…or you could omit it all together.

The Cooking Method

I simmer my vegetables in stock on the stove top but you could roast them. I have found that dicing and roasting them doesn’t offer as smooth of a soup. Roasted vegetables get hardened brown bits on the outside that don’t want to break down as well. You could cut the squash in half and roast it while baking your potatoes whole if you wanted. I find that simmering the vegetables in stock (you could use water…or water and bouillon) really compounds the flavor and incorporates the spice into the soup.

The Flavor Profile

This soup can be whatever you want it to be. Honestly. From sweet to savory. You could do garlic, thyme, rosemary, even oregano would be nice. I like mine to lean on the sweet side and really like it to reflect good fall flavors, so, I use onions, ginger, nutmeg, and maple syrup to form the flavor profile.

With that in mind, here’s how I like to make it.

Yield: Four very generous bowls of delicious soup.

The Ingredients:

1 Large Onion- cut into a large dice

Butternut Squash – 2 10 oz bags of frozen, diced

Sweet Potatoes – 2 10 oz bags of frozen, diced

Potatoes – 3 smallish, diced

Chicken Stock – about 32 oz. or enough to cover

Butter – about 3 pats

Vegetable Oil

salt, pepper, ginger, nutmeg – to taste

Maple Syrup – a generous drizzle or two to taste

Cream or Milk – optional

The Method:

To a large pot, add oil and butter over medium to medium high heat.

Cut the onion in a large dice. This increases the surface area allowing for maximum caramelization, sweetness, and flavor. Then, go ahead and add it to the pot. Once it gets some heat on it, I reduce the heat to medium or even medium low depending on your pan and stove. Let the onion cook until it’s golden brown, caramelized, and delicious.

Next, go ahead and add in all of those delicious root vegetables. Often, when making soup, people go straight to adding the cooking liquid but I like to let my soup ingredients get acquainted with the heat for a little bit. The heat does so much to enhance the flavors and to release the aromas of the ingredients. While they’re warming up, I add salt, pepper, ginger, and nutmeg and stir to coat. Once warmed, go ahead and add enough cooking liquid to cover the vegetables.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer until vegetables are good and tender.

Once tender, I remove the excess cooking liquid with a ladle and reserve. You don’t have to get every last drop, just what flows into your ladle when pressing it into the soup.

Now it’s time to get your puree on. You can achieve this with an immersion blender, a food processor, or a blender. I have used an immersion blender in the past but mine decided it didn’t want to work anymore. Sad face. So, I used the food processor and the results were better. So…into the food processor goes the contents of the pot. Pulse at first to prevent overflow. Blend until smooth…adding liquid (cream, milk, or cooking liquid) as needed to achieve desired consistency. I didn’t need to add any liquid this time, but, I have in the past.

Once silky smooth, remove the lid and add a generous drizzle of maple syrup (or preferred sweetness) and a pat of butter, if desired, puree again until butter is melted and sweetness is incorporated. Ladle into bowls and give a light dusting of nutmeg on top and enjoy!