Butternut squash soup is sweet and filled with nutty goodness. This soup is super easy to make. Just a small change in stock and garnishes could change this soup to a vegan or vegetarian friendly alternative. With the weather changing drastically from fall to mid-winter, this soup provides that perfect cozy warm-y feeling without the need of a blanket.
Butternut Squash Soup Ingredients
To recreate this recipe you’ll need about 11 ingredients. The ingredients are butternut squash of course, salt, pepper, chicken stock, thyme, onion, garlic, olive oil, unsalted butter, crispy bacon, and carrots. The seasonings are added for taste and keep the soup from becoming bland. The unsalted butter provides the fat and in a little flavor to the butternut squash.
The thyme has an earthy floral notes, but has a subtle taste. Not overpowering and is the perfect addition to this soup. Onions and garlic cloves are added for taste. Garlic has a pungent taste and the onions in the soup are caramelized providing a rich sweetness. A single carrot is added for an aromatic flare. Olive oil is used to coat the pan and keep the onions and garlic from sticking. This oil also has a neutral taste. Lastly, crispy bacon is added on top of the soup for a much needed crunchy factor.
Roasting the Butternut Squash
Now that you’re aware of all the ingredients in this soup, let’s discuss how the butternut squash is cooked before its turned into a wonderful soup. Every dish you make, an amazing flavor profile should be of importance. Instead of chopping of the butternut squash and boiling, we are going to roast it. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In the meantime, line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Next, cut the butternut squash in half. Place the halves onto the lined cookie sheet. Season generously with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Cut cold unsalted butter into tiny little cubes. Place the cubes on butter into the cavities of the butternut squash. Bake the squash for 45-60 minutes or until tender.
How to make the soup vegan/vegetarian friendly
To turn this soup into a vegan and/or vegetarian friendly keep on reading. If creating a vegetarian butternut squash soup swap out the chicken stock for vegetable stock. In order to create a creamy consistency with an incredible flavor profile, add a few tablespoons of regular coconut milk. In addition to the milk, add one medium sized russet potato as well. The potato will thicken up the soup and provides a unique taste.
To turn the soup vegan friendly two ingredients need to be swap out. Just like the vegetarian option replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock. Instead of using unsalted butter use a vegan alternative. One of our favorites is Miyoko’s this brand is California based. They also make some of the most creamiest butters and cream cheese. I personally find it hard to believe all their products are vegan. Anyways….Similar to the vegetarian option add into the soup coconut milk and 1 medium sized russet potato. Again, these two ingredients increase the flavor profile and provide creaminess.
Necessary Soup Garnishes
Lastly let’s discuss the much needed toppings to this butternut squash soup. Rather your vegan, vegetarian, or a carnivore a crunch factor seals the deal for any meal. What do you mean by crunch factor? Normally when serving foods you try to hit a few elements that provide different textures. Such as something crunchy, salty, sweet, tangy, spicy, citrus-y, or creamy. All those elements in one bite is a bit too much. So the aim would be to at least create 2-3 of those textures in one bite. What are examples of crunch factors? We are glad you asked. Crunch garnishes would include items like croutons, bacon, pancetta, crackers, nuts, seeds, or crostini.
In addition to a crunch factor, top off your soup with some fresh herbs and black pepper. Herbs add a little extra fragrance to the soup and the black pepper is just for taste.
Looking for more comfort food?
Check out our amazingly cheesy Mac & Cheese recipe.
Butternut Squash Soup with Crispy Bacon
Ingredients
- 5 lbs. Butternut Squash
- 7 Tbsp Unsalted butter cut into cubes
- Kosher salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
- 3 oz Crispy bacon/pancetta optional
- 1 Large onion optional
- 5 sprigs Thyme extra for garnishes
- 5 cups Chicken stock
- 2 tsp Granulated sugar
- 4 gloves Garlic crushed
- 2 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1 medium-sized carrot chopped
- 2 tsp Freshly grated nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Set the butternut halves onto the cookie sheet. Season generously with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Place the cubed unsalted butter into the cavities of the butternut squash. Roast the squash for 45 minutes to 60 minutes, or until fork tender.
- Line a smaller cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place the bacon and/or pancetta on the lined cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees F until crispy (roughly 11-15 minutes). Transfer the cooked bacon and/or pancetta to a paper towel to drain. Crumble up the bacon and set aside.
- Over medium heat warm up a large Dutch oven. Drizzle in the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add in the onions and a few sprinkles of kosher salt as well as black pepper. Periodically stir the onions until soften/slightly caramelized, roughly 5-6 minutes. Add in the crushed garlic cloves, granulated sugar, fresh grated nutmeg, the chopped carrot, a sprig of thyme, and 1 cup of the chicken stock. Stir well.
- Scoop the squash out of the skins into the large dutch oven. Add in the remaining chicken stock and thyme sprigs. Season to taste. Bring the soup to a rapid boil with stirring frequently. Reduce the heat and allow the soup to simmer for 1 hour.
- Remove the Dutch oven from the heat. Using a hand immersion/blender puree the soup until a thick creamy smooth consistency is reached. Reheat the soup if necessary.
- Ladle the soup into desired serving bowls. Garnish the soup with the crispy bacon and leaves from a few sprigs of thyme. Enjoy.