Savory Butternut Squash Soup
There is no better way to warm up on a chilly day than a hot bowl of Savory Butternut Squash Soup! Perfect for a fall or winter dinner!
Do you have a favorite comfort food? We love a variety of foods at our house, but one of our favorite cold-weather meals is soup (like this Roasted Sweet Potato Soup!) There are so many varieties, flavors, and textures you can’t go wrong.
This particular soup is loaded with fall flavor! With ingredients like butternut squash, apples, and nutmeg, it’s the perfect mixture of savory and sweet. It’s also a recipe from my friend Rebecca’s (Foodie with Family) new cookbook, The Ultimate Guide to Vegetable Sides. If you are a fan of vegetables, then this cookbook is for you.
How to Make Butternut Squash Soup
There are a lot of steps involved, but I promise this soup is easy! Start by heating some olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Then add onions and salt, tossing to coat with the oil. Cook the onions until they are tender (this should take about 5 minutes.) Be sure to stir occasionally as they cook so they don’t burn.
Next, add the garlic and cook for a minute or until it’s fragrant. Then add the squash, apples, carrots, sage, stock, black and cayenne pepper, and nutmeg to the pot. Give it a good stir, cover the pot with a lid, and bring the mixture to a simmer.
Reduce the heat and allow the butternut squash soup to simmer for about 20-30 minutes. You will know when it’s ready when the squash is cooked and tender!
Next, remove the sage and discard it. If you have an immersion blender, use it to puree the soup until it is smooth. If you are like me and do not have an immersion blender, you can transfer the soup to a food processor or a good blender. Blend, in batches, if you have to until it’s completely smooth.
If you need to, you can use heavy cream or stock to help with the blending. Once everything is completely blended, you can return the soup to the pot. Serve the soup in serving bowls, swirling in 2 tablespoons of heavy cream into each!
Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup
You can also make this soup in the slow cooker if you’d like to! Just start by sautéing the onions and garlic as described above. Then, transfer them to the slow cooker and add the remaining ingredients.
Cook the soup on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. After the soup has finished cooking, continue with blending as described above. The rest of the instructions are the same!
Whichever way you make it, be sure to garnish your soup for presentation and taste! You can garnish yours with whatever you’d like to, but here are some of my favorite ideas:
- pepitas
- smoked paprika
- crème fraiche
If you enjoyed this butternut squash soup recipe, check out some of these other fall dinners:
- Roasted Hasselback Butternut Squash
- Kale Salad with Maple Butternut Squash and Pomegranate Vinaigrette
- Spiralized Sweet Potato and Apple Enchilada
- Sheet Pan Chicken with Cranberries and Sweet Potatoes
Savory Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, peeled and diced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 3 lbs butternut squash, peeled, halved, and cut into chunks
- 1 large apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
- 1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 sprig fresh sage
- 3 cups vegetable or chicken stock
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1 cup heavy cream (optional)
- ¼ cup pepitas, for garnish
- ½ tsp smoked paprika, for garnish
- 2 tablespoons crème Fraiche
Instructions
- In a large stockpot set over medium heat, heat the olive oil.
- Add in the onions and salt, tossing to coat. Cook the onions, until tender, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally as it cooks. Add in the garlic and cook for a minute or until fragrant.
- Add in the squash, apples, carrots, sage, stock, black and cayenne pepper, and nutmeg to the pot. Stir. Cover and bring mixture to a simmer.
- Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the squash is cooked and tender.
- Remove the sage and discard. If you have an immersion blender, use it to puree the soup until smooth. If you are like me and do not have an immersion blender, transfer the soup to a food processor or good blender. Blend, in batches, if you have to, until completely smooth. If you need, you can use heavy cream or stock to help with the blending. Return the soup to the pot.
- Serve the soup in serving bowls, swirling in 2 tablespoons of heavy cream into each. Garnish with the pepitas, smoked paprika, and crème Fraiche.
Notes
- You can make this in the slow cooker. Saute the onions and garlic as described. Transfer to the slow cooker and add in the rest of the ingredients. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Continue with blending as described.
- Recipe from The Ultimate Guide to Vegetable SIdes
So delicious ! We left out the apple, upped the cayenne and added crispy pancetta and fried sage leaves to the top! So savory!
Is there an estimated amount of people that this will feed? Doing christmas dinner for almost 20.
about 6-8 people.
Is the squash going in raw or is it assuming that it has been roasted?
It is going in raw.
Is there any reason we should make fresh rather than making ahead for thanksgiving? Would love to get some things out of the way and this soup seems like an easy one to make today and heat up Thursday.
You can definitely make it ahead and store in fridge.
Oh, my stars! I am not a fan of sweet butternut squash recipes. ❤❤❤ this!! We added about 1 t. ground cumin and uppeded the cayenne (Texas-ized it!). C’est parfait!!
Oooo so glad to hear you loved it, Rochelle! I will be adding the cumin and cayenne next time I make it 🙂
I LOVE this recipe! I’m obsessed with Panera’s butternut soup so I was nervous that this one wouldn’t measure up but I LOVE the savory and kick that this one has! I tweaked it simply by roasting the squash, apples, garlic and onion at 425 F until soft. Soooo delicious !!
Thank you! SO glad you hear you loved it. The roasting twist is a flavor burster for sure.
So many butternut soups are just really sweet but I love that this has a savory kick to it!
Yes!! It is a nice kick and I upped my spicy level to be honest.