With Thanksgiving just a week away, I am definitely ready for some turkey. If I’m being completely honest, I’m ready for turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry relish and some pumpkin pie. You can’t have Thanksgiving without some pie.
Every year, my family has our staple dishes that always show up on our Thanksgiving table, but we also like to add a few new recipes to the rotation. The ‘extras’ that round out the menu and keep things interesting. Some years it’s an interesting roasted vegetable or wild rice stuffing. This year, I’ll be serving up savory and sweet Butternut Squash Soup.
The idea for this soup came about when I was making a batch of my mom’s Squash Apple Bake. It’s a dish that my mom made when I was little, and it’s roasted butternut squash (sometimes she used acorn) roasted with sliced apples and cinnamon. It’s got sweetness from the apples and some earthy savoriness from the squash and I knew these flavors would make a spectacular soup.
For the base of the soup, I added sautéed onions and fresh ginger to the roasted butternut squash and apples. With the addition of warm spices, the resulting soup was creamy and full of complex flavors. It’s a great starter course for Thanksgiving, even if your family is like ours and our meal is often a casual buffet.
Serve this Roasted Butternut Squash soup in cute little mugs topped with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of maple roasted pumpkin seeds or praline pecans and your family will be quite pleased with you. Make an extra big batch of soup and freeze some for later. You will thank yourself later, trust me!
Happy Thanksgiving!
November 20th, 2013
Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
Yield: 6-8 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time:
Ingredients:
1 large butternut squash, or 2 small (about 4 lbs total), peeled, seeded and cubed
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
kosher salt
black pepper
1 tablespoon butter
2 apples, peeled and sliced (I used Gala)
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated or minced (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
pinch of ground cardamom (optional)
3 cups of stock (chicken, turkey or vegetable)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Spread squash in a single layer on prepared baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, tossing the squash to coat. Roast squash for 30 minutes or until tender and the edges are caramelized. Allow to cool slightly.
2. In a heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven, heat remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and butter over medium heat. When butter is melted, add apples, ginger, onion, cinnamon, allspice and cardamom (if using). Cook, stirring frequently, until apples and onions are soft and mixture is fragrant, about 10 minutes. Add roasted squash and stock to the pot and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Working in small batches, carefully transfer soup to blender and puree until smooth. Return soup to the pot and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Adjust seasonings for salt and pepper. Serve!
Notes:
- Soup can be garnished with sour cream and maple roasted pumpkin seeds.
About Emily
Emily is the cook, baker, photographer and rambler behind the blog, Jelly Toast. Aside from taking photos of everything she eats, her days are spent being a short order cook, story teller, tea party guest and giver-of-snuggles to her two kiddos. She has not yet mastered the clean-as-you-go cooking style, but has high hopes for the future.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
This soup is just GORGEOUS!! Bring on Thanksgiving — I want it all!!
This looks totally comforting. So delicious!
yum! those colors are perfect for thanksgiving.
i’m giving away a kitchenaid mixer on my blog! i’d love it if you came by and said hi!:
http://lovintheoven.com/2013/11/dulce-de-leche-espresso-bean-cookies.html
Mmm this looks delicious. Butternut squash is definitely my favorite fall soup. I was surprised to see apples in the recipe, but on second thought I bet the flavors are amazing together!
Mmm! It looks so yummy I could have one of these like… right now!
The picture with the butternut squash soup in the mug is very comforting. I like to add something new and different to my holiday table as well.
Butternut squash soup is perfect for this weather! I love the addition of pumpkin seeds and fresh ginger. I’ll have to add that to my next batch.
I made this tonight and it was totally delicious!! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I made the soup last night and it was delightful! I will say it was a little on the bland side (probably the apples I used) so I spiced it up with some garlic powder, rosemary, sage and thyme. I also added pine nuts since I didn’t have pumpkin seeds. I used veggie stock and I think next time I will use chicken stock for a little added flavour!
Mere-
I’m so happy that you enjoyed the recipe! All of your additions sound great, especially the pine nuts, yum! Have a lovely day and thank you for following MBA!
-Jamie
I made this with a little extra cinnamon and a half cup of heavy cream at the end, and it was delicious!
I made this tonight. The color was WAY off. It looked like baby poop. But it tasted good.
I think the color was off because I browned the apples and onions too much. Whoops!
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