Roasted Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup
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This Roasted Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup is a wonderful autumn/winter comfort food: creamy and full of warmth. Try it soon!
Butternut squash and cool weather go together like they were made for each other, isn’t that super true??
In the past, my go-to squash soup recipe has included this Roasted Pumpkin with Crispy Mushroom Bacon, but this year, I wanted to spice up (pun intended) my “traditional” recipe to make it creamy, fruity and aromatic.
This butternut squash soup is tangy and a little spicy (you can always adjust the spices to your taste), and the coconut addition makes it super creamy.
At home we’ve been loving this soup lately – it’s creamy and nourishing, perfect for satisfying cosy comfort food cravings. With as little as 10 ingredients (plus the optional garnishes), it is very easy to prepare, and it also makes a good last minute fix for those that are squash batch bakers like myself! So bake your squashes and pumpkins at ones, at enjoy all week long in dozen of delicious soups and recipes, like the followings:
– Creamy Vegan Mac & Cheese
– Vegan Butternut Squash Wellington
– Easy Butternut Squash Gnocchi
– Oven Baked Pumpkin Risotto
– Stuffed Roasted Squash
– Lentil & Squash Savoy Cabbage Rolls
– Butternut Squash Lasagna with Brussel Sprouts and Cranberries
How To Make Roasted Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup
First things first, roast the butternut squash that you’ll be using. Make sure to season it liberally with salt and pepper before baking it in the oven at 200˚C (390˚F) for fifty to sixty minutes until it’s tender. To check if it’s tender, simply poke it with a fork! You want very little resistance to a fork being pushed into it.
In the final thirty minutes of roasted, add the onions (peeled and chopped in half) they’ll add a lot of flavour and aromatics.
Once your squash is fully cooked – allow it to cool down until it’s completely cool to the touch.
Next, scoop out two to three tablespoons of coconut cream from the top of the can and set both things aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine the olive oil and the onion. Sauté the mixture over medium heat for three to figure minutes. Then, add in the garlic and the ginger before continuing to cook for another one to two minutes. This will allow the garlic and ginger to become wonderfully aromatic.
Finally, add in the salt, cayenne, turmeric, the remaining coconut milk, and broth. Stir the pan well to combine the ingredients – you might feel the benefit of using a whisk. Then, cover the skillet with a lid, reduce the heat to low, and allow the ingredients to simmer well for five minutes.
Once the squash is at a good temperature, scoop out the flesh and place it in a blender with the broth that you’ve prepared. Then, of course, blend it until it’s creamy and silky smooth. Give it a taste, and adjust the seasoning as you might need. If you’d like the soup to be smoother you can pass it through a sieve, or if you’d like it to be a little looser, you can add some broth.
If you don’t have a blender, you could add the squash to the pan containing the broth, and then blend until smooth using an immersion blender.
Now, work the coconut cream with a few splashes of lemon juice, and whip it until it reaches a sauce-like consistency.
Serve the soup piping hot, and topped with a drizzle of the coconut cream sauce. Also, make sure to top with some roasted squash seeds, freshly ground pepper, and some fresh parsley and/or coriander!
Ingredient substitutions and storage tips
You can use light coconut milk instead of full-fat if you want to cut down the calorie count. In this case you should require less broth to blend the soup.
This soup gets even better with time and will taste wonderful after a day or two in the refrigerator. Simply keep in an airtight container and store for up to 4-5 days.
Alternatively, you can freeze the soup in an airtight container or zip lock bag for max 6 months.
If you wanted, you could make this soup with pumpkin (canned works a treat too), or any other kind of squash, too – they all taste quite similar and work with many of the same herbs and spices. Give it a go this autumn (fall season), it might be perfect for the pumpkin-carving season!
Roasted Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup Recipe
Ingredients:
…for the roasted squash…
1 large butternut squash
1-2 tbsp olive oil
Salt
…for the soup…
1 can Coconut Milk (preferably full fat, refrigerated overnight)
1 cup Vegetable Broth
1/2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Onion (finely chopped)
2 Garlic Cloves (grated)
1 inch Ginger (grated)
1/2 tbsp Turmeric
1 pinch Cayenne Pepper
…to garnish…
Coconut Cream (scooped from the can)
Lemon Juice
Pumpkin Seeds
Fresh Parsley or Coriander (to taste)
Method:
1. Roast the pumpkin seasoned with salt and pepper in the oven at 200° C (390°F) for 50-60 mins or until fork tender. In the last 30 minutes add the onions (peeled and chopped in half).
2. Once cooked allow to cool down to the touch.
3. Scoop about 2-3 tbsp of coconut cream from the top of the refrigerated coconut milk can and set aside.
4. In a medium saucepan or pot combine the olive oil and onion. Sauté over medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
5. Add garlic and ginger. Continue cooking over medium heat for 1-2 minutes.
6. Lastly, add salt, cayenne, turmeric, the remaining coconut milk and broth. Stir to combine ingredients. Cover skillet with a lid, reduce heat to low, and let ingredients simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Once you can handle the roasted squash, scoop the flesh out and place in a blender bowl with the spicy broth.
8. Blend until creamy silky smooth. Adjust the seasoning if needed. If you like it smoother, you can filter it to a sieve, if you like it runnier, add more broth.
9. Work the coconut cream with a few splashes of lemon juice until it reaches a sauce consistency.
10. Serve the soup hot, topped with a drizzle of coconut cream sauce, roasted pumpkin seed, freshly ground pepper and fresh parsley/coriander.
