A creamy, velvety, flavorful soup that is also dairy free, gluten free, refined sugar free, and paleo!
I decided to make this soup for two reasons: 1. I was craving a warm, hearty to soup to enjoy on a cold day; 2. I wanted to try out my immersion blender!
Admittedly, I am a seasonal soup eater. I barely eat it in the summer as warm weather decreases my appetite for it. But now that it is basically winter and freezing in Chicago (it has already snowed and its only November), I am back on the soup bandwagon!
I have been on a total butternut squash kick lately. It is one of my favorite vegetables, both sweet and nutty, Plus, this is the only season where it is plentiful. It is also perfect for soup as it purees beautifully into a velvety, creamy bowl of heaven!
Let’s get to cooking!
This recipe is super easy to make. It only takes about an hour to make in total (and most of the time, the veggies are roasting in the oven, so does not take a lot of attention or time spent in the kitchen).
The first step is roasting the butternut squash, apples, and onions at 400 degrees in the oven for about 40 minutes. Roasting the veggies helps intensify their flavors to make your soup pop. I include apples to add natural sweetness to the soup, so no added sugar is necessary. Apples also pair well with the butternut squash as both are sweet and earthy. Finally, the onions provide a savory note and add another depth of flavor. I toss the butternut squash, onions, and apples in a little olive oil, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, and salt and pepper – warm, enticing fall spices that wake the whole dish up and says hellloooo fall comfort food!
Tips: You will know when the vegetables are done when the apples/butternut squash are fork tender and the onions are slightly browned and fragrant. The onions and apples may cook quicker than the butternut squash. If this happens, remove the apples and onions from the pan first and cook the butternut squash alone until cooked thoroughly too. Also, add fresh garlic to the sheet pan for the last ten minutes of cooking – if you add it too early or at the beginning, the garlic will burn and ruin the taste of the soup.
Once the veggies are roasted, you will add them to a soup pot with broth, coconut milk and the sage and bay leaves and simmer for about ten minutes. This step allows the veggies to cook down further so they will blend easily into a soup. It also allows the bay and sage leaves to impart their flavor into the broth.
Now the fun part – time to use the immersion blender! My husband and I received an immersion blender as a wedding gift…. over a year ago! I was so excited when we got it and could not wait to use it. But our apartment has limited cabinet space, so I kept it in our storage area and accidently forgot about it. I stumbled upon it the other day and knew it was time to finally test it out.
It did take me some time to figure out how to work it properly. The blender was still in the box and came in a bunch of different parts. The assembly was not that complicated – I just had to connect the top handle part with the bottom blender part. But when I plugged it in, I could not get it to actually work. I held down the low speed button, but nothing happened. I toyed around with it for about ten minutes to no avail. I even tried reading the instructions, but that didn’t help. I was seriously about to give up and just use my regular blender. Then, the ah hah moment came! I realized you have to hold down both the lock and speed buttons at the same time for it to work properly. Insert eye roll.
I am glad I did not give up and got the immersion blender to work. It…..is……AMAZING! It took only minutes to puree the soup into this creamy, luscious, texture. There was absolutely no lumps from any of the ingredients. It was perfection. I highly recommend investing in an immersion blender. And if you do, do not hesitate to reach out with questions on how to get it to work – I got it figured out 🙂
To complete the soup, I garnished it with coconut milk (or greek yogurt if you can eat dairy), smoked paprika, dried sage, and baked, crispy chickpeas coated in cumin and allspice.
The soup turned out delicious. It is rich, earthy, slightly sweet, and bursting with fall flavors. Plus, it is really good for you – the butternut squash is rich in vitamin C and potassium. The soup is also dairy free, gluten free, refined sugar free, and paleo!
I tested the recipe on one of my friends who is some what of a soup aficionado (she will eat soup all year round). She LOVED it! Ate every last drop and gave me the thumbs up on the recipe. I hope you all love it too!
Butternut Squash Soup
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 1 large butternut squash, rough chopped
- 2 small honeycrisp apples, rough chopped
- 1 onion, rough chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1 T olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
- ½ cup coconut milk
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 sage leaves
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Ona sheet pan, add the butternut squash, honey crips apples, and onions. Drizzle wit olive oil, spices, salt and pepper. Toss until all the ingredients are coated.
- Bake the veggies and apples for about 40 minutes, or until apples/butternut squash are fork tender and the onions and slightly browned. Apple and onions may cook faster than the butternut squash. If this happens, remove the apples and onions first and continue to cook until butternut squash is cooked thoroughly too. Add the garlic for the last 10 minutes of cooking so it becomes fragrant but does not overcook.
- In a saucepan, add the cooked veggies, broth, coconut milk, and sage/bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- With an immersion blender, puree the soup until creamy and velvety (if you do not have an immersion blender, you can scoop the mixture into a food processor or blender and puree that way (may take 2 batches depending on size of equipment).
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