Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Roasted butternut squash soup is a warm and creamy homemade soup recipe that tastes harder to make than it is! Butternut squash, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic cloves are ALL roasted for a deeper flavor in this classic fall soup.

Along with a batch of healthy pumpkin muffins, this roasted butternut squash soup was one of the first “fall” recipes I made this year. Never mind the fact that it was still a sweltering 95°F+ here last month when I finally had enough of our endless summer and craved something orange and squash-y.

Truthfully I surprised myself by waiting that long after wanting to make this easy butternut squash soup since July. On season 4, episode 8 of Queer Eye, Antoni prepared a butternut squash soup with one of their heroes that totally is the inspiration behind this soup right here.

While there are differences in ingredients used and measurements, I liked the premise of roasting not just the butternut squash, but as many of the ingredients as you can before pureeing it all into one satisfying soup.

Reasons to Love This Recipe

• Everything’s roasted! Well, just about everything. Roasting all of the vegetables brings a deeper flavor that shines in a simple soup recipe like this.
• Just a touch of cream (one-quarter cup) added to the whole batch balances a fancier feel while still remaining relatively healthy.
• Most of this recipe time is hands-off, due to the longer squash and vegetable roasting time.
• This soup recipe can easily be adapted to be vegetarian and/or dairy-free and/or vegan.

Recipe Ingredients

• Butternut squash: Buy a squash with a large neck vs. a large rounded base section. The neck contains all usable squash, while the curved bottom part has all the seeds and stringy bits that aren’t roastable. A larger neck means more squash to roast.
• Vegetables: Carrots, celery, quartered onions, and whole garlic cloves are also roasted for maximum flavor.
• Olive oil: Use olive oil for roasting the squash and other vegetables for its delicious flavor.
• Chicken broth: Substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth to make this soup vegetarian.
• Herbs: Fresh sage and thyme sprigs are classic accompaniments for roasted butternut squash soup, but smaller quantities of dried herbs (or even other herbs of your choice) can work, too.
• Cream: A small amount of cream (two ounces) makes this roasted butternut squash soup truly taste luxe without adding too much heaviness. Coconut milk can be used in place of the cream if you’d like to make this soup dairy-free.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Arguably the most elbow-grease-intensive part of this homemade butternut squash soup is prepping the squash.

Breaking Down a Butternut Squash

1. Slice off the very top and bottom of the squash to make two flat edges.
2. Cut the squash in half horizontally where the base of the neck and the rounded part meet.
3. Carefully peel or slice off the skin.
4. Slice the rounded part in half vertically. Scoop out and remove the stringy bits and seeds. You may wish to reserve the seeds for another use, or you can just discard.
5. Cut the resulting butternut squash into cubes.

If you’re a visual person, this Kitchn tutorial may be helpful. Just FYI: I use a sharp knife to carefully remove the skin, not a peeler. Either way works.

Roasting the Vegetables

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1. Chop the carrots and celery, quarter the onion, and peel the garlic. Place them, along with the cubed butternut squash, on a large rimmed baking sheet. You may need to use two baking sheets as you’ll want everything to fit in a single layer.
2. Pour olive oil evenly over the vegetables and sprinkle three-quarters teaspoon of the kosher salt over top. Using a spatula, stir everything up so that the vegetables are evenly coated on all sides. Roast at 450°F/232°C for 40 minutes or so, or until the squash is fork-tender.

Making the Soup

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3. Add all of the roasted vegetables to a large soup pot. Season with the remaining kosher salt and pepper. Add chicken broth and water (if using — you can use an extra cup of broth in place of the water if you prefer).
4. Heat for 10 minutes on the stove over medium heat, then blend using an immersion blender or by carefully transferring the soup to a stand blender. I have this (affiliate link) immersion blender — it’s nothing fancy but it works like a champ.

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5. Lower the heat to a simmer, then pour in the cream.
6. Stir in and heat the soup for an additional minute or two (or until everything is heated back up again). Stir in the herbs then take a taste and add more salt and/or pepper as you like.

Tips and Tricks

• Have you ever experienced squash hands? While it might seem silly, I wear disposable gloves when breaking down a butternut squash, as otherwise the liquid/sap from the flesh causes my hands to become tight and uncomfortable for hours afterwards. It’s thought this is more likely to happen with a fresher squash, so just a heads-up if you’re newer to cooking with butternut squash.

• I find cream goes a long way in a soup recipe so I landed on one-quarter cup as just the right amount. It elevates this soup and makes it a little bit more special without tacking on a lot of fat and calories to the nutritional bottom line. Of course, if you prefer a creamier soup then add more as you see fit.

• The flavors of fresh sage and thyme really drive home the cozy warmth of this roasted butternut squash soup. Because they both have such a bold presence in a dish, I suggest dicing them very finely before stirring them into the soup. Grabbing a big hunk of sage or thyme leaves in one spoonful of soup wouldn’t be that good.

• If you don’t have an immersion blender and are transferring everything to a stand blender, do use care not to burn yourself. Transfer the soup in multiple batches and do not fill the blender right up to the top. Once the blender turns on the soup will travel upwards and if it’s too full you risk hot soup spilling out of the top.

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