Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Name: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 3 1/2 pounds butternut squash; 1 tablespoon avocado oil; 1 small yellow onion (halved); 1 garlic clove (peeled); 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg; 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger; 4 cups vegetable broth; cracked black pepper (to taste); 2 tablespoon butter (optional); pepitas (pumpkin seeds); parsley; cracked black pepper

by Lisa Bryan — October 24, 2020 259 Comments

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Butternut squash soup is a classic fall and winter soup recipe. But today we’re roasting the butternut squash, which gives so much more depth of flavor and makes the soup easier to prepare (as you don’t have to cut the butternut squash).

Best Butternut Squash Soup

Roasting veggies is one of my favorite preparation methods, so it should come as no surprise that I opted for a roasted butternut squash soup over a more traditional stovetop butternut squash soup. That earthy, roasted flavor gets me every time.

Butternut squash soup is one of the top 5 fall and winter soup recipes usually on anyone’s list. And it’s one of my personal favorites, along with Carrot Ginger Soup, Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup, Roasted Cauliflower Soup and Taco Soup.

Of course, butternut squash soup is also the quintessential soup recipe for Thanksgiving.

What’s in Butternut Squash Soup?

Butternut squash soup is made from butternut squash, onions, garlic, maple syrup, nutmeg, ginger, vegetable broth, salt and pepper. It’s naturally ultra-creamy (without any cream). But if you do tolerate dairy, adding just a tablespoon or two of fresh butter definitely boosts the creaminess factor.

This soup is gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian and paleo friendly, which makes it perfect to serve to a large crowd.

The Benefits of Roasting Butternut Squash

You could certainly make a traditional butternut squash soup on the stovetop, but there are two key benefits to roasting the butternut squash first:

Depth of flavor: roasting any vegetable imparts an earthy, smoky, caramelized sweet flavor. And butternut squash is no different. In fact, it’s quite similar to roasting spaghetti squash.
No dicing needed: butternut squash are notoriously hard to slice and cut. Many a kitchen accident has been had with folks trying to cut through pumpkins and squash. But when you roast the butternut squash no additional peeling or dicing is necessary. You just have to make one slice down the middle of the squash, then scoop the flesh out after it’s cooked. Far easier.

How To Make Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Slice the ends off the butternut squash. Making a flat surface on the ends is key, so you can stand the butternut squash on end and slice through it lengthwise. Once that’s done, use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and membrane.

Place the butternut squash on a baking tray (with the cut side up) and coat with avocado oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Once it’s coated, flip it over so that the cut side is down. Cook for 60 minutes at 425F, but keep an eye on the clock because at the 30 minute point we’ll add the onion to the baking tray (also cut side down) and continue cooking for another 30 minutes.

Let the butternut squash and onion cool to the touch. Then scoop out the flesh of the butternut squash with a large spoon and transfer to a high-powered blender like a Vitamix (this is the Vitamix I use).

Add the butternut squash and onion to your blender along with the garlic, maple syrup, salt, nutmeg, ginger and vegetable broth. I’d recommend starting with 3 cups of vegetable broth and blending to see if you like the consistency. You can always add more to thin it down. If you’re adding the butter, you can add that now as well.

Blend all of the ingredients on high for several minutes, or until creamy. If you’re using a Vitamix you can also use the soup setting to achieve a creamy and hot soup.

Pour the soup into serving bowls. Garnish the roasted butternut squash soup with pepitas, parsley and cracked black pepper – and enjoy!

More Thanksgiving Recipes to Serve with This Soup

Butternut Squash Soup Recipe Video

It’s easy to make this soup in your blender, but in the video below I give you a quick step-by-step tutorial. Give it a watch!

Recipe originally posted Nov 2018, but updated to include new information.

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