Vegan Butternut Squash Soup

This tasty from scratch butternut squash soup recipe will keep you warm through the holidays!

Step 1: Ingredients

Ingredients include:
5 lbs Butternut Squash - I bought a gigantic 5lb one, you may need to buy 2-3 smaller ones.
4 cups Vegetable Broth
4 cups Water
1 Onion
2 Potatoes
Olive Oil (1/4 cup)
Nutmeg
Salt
Pepper

Serves 8

Step 2: Prepare Vegetables

Peel butternut squash and potatoes.  Chop into cubes (about 1" in size).

Peel and dice onion.

Step 3: Steam Butternut Squash

Put vegetable broth and water into large pot with cubed butternut squash and potatoes.  Put on medium heat.

Leave squash to cook and start working on onions.

Step 4: Saute Onions

Add olive oil to a large skillet.  Heat up oil and add onions.  Saute onions for 8-10 minutes until onions are clear.

Take onions and put into pot with squash.  

Cook the pot on low heat until squash is tender.

Step 5: Blend Soup

I have done this step using a stick blender, regular blender, food processor, and by hand.  All methods work it just depends how easy you want to make it on yourself.

The easiest is to use a stick blender.  Once the butternut squash is tender use stick blender to mix contents in pot.  This is the easiest because you don't have to transfer any ingredients in and out of the pot.

If you were to use any of the other methods.  Sift the squash and potatoes out of the pot put in blender, food processor, or mash with a spoon.  Then put contents back in pot and mix well.

Once contents are mixed keep on low heat for 20-30 minutes.

Comments

[Beekeeper]

I love squash soup too but peeling the squash is always difficult. An easier way to deal with them is cut them in half length ways, scrape out the seeds, put them cut side down on a cookie sheet and bake them in the oven at 350 for about an hour. Poke the thick part with a pointed knife and you will know if they are done. After baking, the skin can be just pulled off and nothing goes to waste. I grow these butternut squash in my garden and this year from 4 plants I harvested 71 (yes seventy one) squash, so I have lots of experience with them. I give lots away. For variation a little curry in this soup would be good too or some tomatoes to give a bit of acidity.

[ClareBS]

This recipe looks good but you can save a step and cook the onion in the stockpot before adding the stock and squash (which doesn't have to be cut into such small pieces).
For a tasty variation, while blending, add about a cup of trim or skim milk powder. It makes it creamy without the calories.

[mersmom]

Skim milk powder in not vegan.

[ClareBS]

Right, I didn't notice the "vegan" in the title. But there is soy milk powder.

[shrdlu]

Or if you are really lazy and don't have a garden, frozen squash works just as well.

[Beekeeper]

Ah, but baking caramelizes some of the sugars in the squash and improves the flavour. You can bake store-bought ones as well. Are you saying you are lazy?

[AmyLuthien]

I was just going to say that baking the squash first would intensify the flavor lol!

[shrdlu]

You can get caramelization is you sauté the squash in a non-stick pan, albeit mushy, but I don't notice a great difference since the flavor is so delicate. I also bake at 350º for a half hour with intact squash (peeling a winter squash can actually be dangerous), but if I'm doing several courses and am short on time, I will buy frozen cubed squash.

I am lazy indeed. In the spirit of full disclosure, other things I buy frozen sometimes:

Spinach (to use with pasta or creamed)

Lima beans (for Thanksgiving succotash)

Raspberries (for making coulis)

Peas

[jkvetter]

I make this soup a lot! I use onion and a few carrots with it, as I don't eat potatoes very often. I use cumin and smoked paprika in mine with olive oil and vegetable broth. I don't find it bitter at all.

I also garnish with homemade smoked paprike "vegan" croutons and garnish with parsley flavored olive oil which I make myself by blending together 1 bunch of parsley in 1 cup of olive oil.

it is delicous. In fact, I'm serving it today at a little restaurant I "guest" chef at.

[trgz]

I make a non veggie version with my own home-made chicken stock, but that aside I'd suggest roasting some garlic too and adding rosemary rather than nutmeg - really rather yummy. I never have thought of adding potato but it's the second time today I've heard that so I'll be giving it a try in the next batch

[tqwerty]

You could also use a potato masher right in the pot..

[shrdlu]

I would leave out the nutmeg as I do not like squash soup that reminds me of pumpkin pie.

Instead, I use ginger root, garlic, hot pepper sauce or flakes, ground coriander seeds, and cracked tellicherry pepper . I also chicken broth as when all these flavors meld it's something special.

I've made the soup using vegetable broth for vegetarians. Although they loved it, the vegetal bitterness ruined it for me. Next time I need to go veggie, I will forego the broth entirely.

Olive oil is a cause of unwelcome bitterness as well that I would avoid, especially extra virgin. I use butter, but grape seed or some other flavorless oil would be better in my opinion.

I also garnish it with heavy cream. I know. I'm worse than Hitler.

[randofo]

I don't particularly like butternut squash, soup or vegans... but these pictures are lookin' great. 5 stars yo!

(I'm just kidding... soup is okay... I mean vegans... that's right...vegans... vegans are great!)

[Carleyy]

Thanks! I'll accept that compliment only if your dislike of vegans stays...I mean soup, wait what were we talking about?