Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

With flu season in full swing and the weather jumping up only to go back down again (thanks, Ohio), I found myself craving soup this week. I always love a good soup, but with my week being a little crazier than usual, I knew I wanted to make one that wouldn’t take me too much time.

If any of you read my post on my meal prep this week, you saw that I had roasted my butternut squash (and carrots) already. So, with that step out of the way, I was able to make this soup in less than 30 minutes! And it will now gloriously be packed for lunch and or reheated for dinner again later this week.

Now, let’s talk about butternut squash for a second. This vegetable is a powerhouse of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants.. you name it! Just one serving of butternut squash has 4x the recommended daily amount of vitamin A, and at least half of the recommended daily amount of vitamin C. Both of these vitamins contain antioxidants linked to helping prevent certain cancers, decrease inflammation, protect vision, reduce skin damage, and boost your immune system. In addition to vitamins A and C, butternut squash is also a good source of the other fat soluble vitamins, E and K, as well as manganese, which plays a role in enzyme reactions of antioxidants and is important for bone health. Not to mention this vegetable is super versatile and delicious.

I served this soup with a warm balsamic kale salad. Enjoy 🙂

Ingredients:

1 large butternut squash, cubed

2 large carrots, cubed

3 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1 T butter

1 T olive oil

3 cloves garlic (minced)

1 shallot bulb, finely diced

1/4 cup half and half

1 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp coriander

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add the cubed butternut squash and carrots to the baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat. Bake ~40-45 minutes, stirring halfway through. Set aside to cool.
2. While the squash and carrots are cooling, heat 1 T butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and shallots. Cook until lightly golden and soft (~10 min).
3. Using a large spoon, scoop out the butternut squash from the skin and add to a blender with the roasted carrots. Add spices (paprika, nutmeg, cinnamon, coriander) and blend until pureed.
4. Add 2 cups of the stock to the pan with the garlic and shallots and bring to a boil then simmer for a few minutes. Transfer pureed squash/carrot mixture to the saucepan and stir until smooth. Add the last cup of stock and the half and half and simmer ~10 minutes. You can add more broth if needed until your desired consistency is reached. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Soup can be stored in the refrigerator for several days, or frozen for about 1 month. When reheating, more broth or water may be needed to thin soup.