Vegan Butternut Squash Soup
This easy and creamy vegan butternut squash soup is comfort food in a bowl. It's sweet, smoky, and spicy, and it makes a satisfying meal with a hunk of crusty bread.
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 94kcal
Equipment
- Dutch oven or large saute pan or large soup pot with lid
- Blender or immersion blender
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or any neutral oil
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- 1 small leek (green and white parts chopped)
- 1 small carrot (cut in small dice)
- 1 stalk celery (cut in small dice)
- 20 oz butternut squash (cut butternut squash into small cubes)
- 2 teaspoons dried sage
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 4 cups vegetable stock (or water)
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or sugar. If sugar-free, use stevia or erythritol instead)
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
For optional pumpkin cream
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
- ¼ cup vegetable stock (or water)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Saute the aromatic base ingredients. Heat the oil, add the crushed ginger and saute for a few seconds. Add the leeks, carrots and celery, season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened but not brown, about five minutes over medium heat.
- Add the butternut squash and herbs. Saute the butternut squash for a couple of minutes, then add the sage, water, maple syrup and paprika. Stir, cover and cook 8-10 minutes or until the squash is soft and a fork goes cleanly and easily through.
- Blend the soup. Transfer the soup to a blender and blend until smooth. The soup is very hot, so exercise caution and follow manufacturer instructions on blending hot liquids. If you have an immersion blender you can blend the soup right in the pot. Or if you have a food mill pass the soup through the food mill to puree.
- Finish the soup. Return the soup to the pot and bring back to a simmer. Check seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed. Turn off the heat.
Make the optional pumpkin cream
- Place all ingredients for the cream into a blender and blend until smooth. Drizzle over the soup before serving.
Notes
- To make this soup oil-free, sauté the ginger, leeks, carrots and celery in ¼ cup vegetable stock.
- You can also use pumpkin, acorn squash or any other coral fleshed winter squash in this recipe.
- For easy prep use pre-cut butternut squash cubes. This saves a good bit of time peeling and cutting a whole butternut squash, making the dish much more weeknight friendly.
- Don't add too much of the leeks and celery for a more vividly colored soup. Just one small leek and one celery will add enough flavor without toning down the orange color too much.
- If you add water instead of stock or broth, add a cube or two of vegetable bouillon for better flavor.
- Make the soup as thick or thin as you like. If you find the consistency too thick, thin out with more water or vegetable stock. If you accidentally make it too thin, cook a little longer or stir in a slurry of ½ teaspoon cornstarch mixed with two teaspoons water and bring to a boil.
- Add a dash of nutmeg to the cinnamon cream, or replace all of the cinnamon with nutmeg for a different deliciousness.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 serving | Calories: 94kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 0.5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.001g | Potassium: 350mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 9182IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 1mg