Vegan Roasted Butternut Squash Soup is one of my go-to fall recipes using butternut squash, potatoes, a simple mirepoix, and vegetable stock. I like to add a small amount of chipotle in adobo for a smokey flavor. Potatoes are optional, but can add a silky smooth texture.
| vegan + dairy free |
I’m definitely a soup-lover, and fall is the perfect time of year for soup. My mother, who was a wonderful self-taught cook, made the most delicious soups, and I like to think I inherited my love of soup from her. She always had some concoction simmering on the stove, and especially relished making her home made stocks, which would sometimes percolate on the back burner of the stove for days.
For my Vegan Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, I start by roasting butternut squash and potatoes that have been tossed in grape seed oil, salt and pepper in the oven for about 25 minutes. I buy the butternut squash that has already been cut up and is sold in bags of about 12 ounces, like this one from Trader Joe’s. As for the potato, I use a Russet potato that has been washed, peeled, cubed, and tossed in oil, salt and pepper as well.
While the squash and potato are roasting, I make my mirepoix, a mix of vegetables that is one of the most essential steps in adding flavor to soups. In traditional French cuisine, mirepoix includes onions, celery and carrots using a 2:1:1 ratio, or two parts onion to one part celery and one part carrot. As I consider half an onion to be one part, I chop up two halves of an onion, one celery stick and one carrot. I then sauté the chopped vegetables in grape seed oil, and add 3 garlic cloves that have been minced.
I sauté the the vegetables on medium heat for about 20 minutes, and add the roasted squash and potatoes, and a quart of vegetable stock. I bring this pot to a boil and lower the heat to simmer an additional 10 minutes. The soup is now ready to blend. Having taken the soup off the heat, I use an immersion hand blender like this one, but you can also blend the soup in batches in a blender. Be sure to cool it down a bit first or it will splash everywhere. NOTE: with immersion blenders I find the cordless ones break very easily so I highly recommend one with a cord.
Lastly, it is time to flavor the soup. Start with salt and pepper and then add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of chipotle with adobo, depending on your tolerance of spice. Top with pumpkin seeds and herbs like thyme, sage and parsley.
What to Serve with Vegan Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
My ideal dinner meal would definitely include a hot soup like this Vegan Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with a large salad and a side of multigrain bread with salted butter from Brittany. Yum…my mouth is watering just thinking about it! My husband, mainly a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy, for the most part subscribes to the same ideal, as long as it includes some sort of protein. I feel pork tenderloin or Cornish game hen would be a great accompaniment to this soup, and will get working on those recipes to share with you in the future! Here are some other ideas:
- Kale Caesar Salad or the Stetson Chopped Salad
- Sandwiches
- Grain-free crackers
- Weeknight Coq Au Vin
All photos by Marci Symington for TEXAZTASTE.com. Be sure to tag me on Instagram @texaztaste if you make this!
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Equipment
- Immersion Hand Blender
Ingredients
- 3 12 oz. bags of chopped butternut squash
- 1 Russet potato, peeled and cubed
- 2 tbsp. avocado or grapeseed oil
- kosher salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 1 tbsp avocado or grapeseed oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme, plus more for garnish
- 1 qt. low sodium or home made vegetable broth
- 1 tsp chipotle in adobo, or less if you are sensitive to spice
- roasted and salted pumpkin seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400º. On a large baking sheet, toss butternut squash and potatoes with 2 tablespoons avocado oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Roast until tender, 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium heat, heat remaining tablespoon avocado oil. Add onion, celery, and carrot and cook until softened, 7 to 10 minutes. Season generously with salt, pepper, and thyme.
- Add roasted squash and potatoes and pour in vegetable broth. Simmer 10 minutes, then remove from heat, and using an immersion blender, blend soup until creamy. (Alternately, carefully transfer batches of the hot soup to a blender.) Season with salt and pepper and chipotle.
- Serve garnished with thyme, sage and pumpkin seeds.
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