5-Ingredient Butternut Squash Soup

I lied. You really only need three ingredients to make this amazing soup. With five ingredients, you can garnish the soup with beautiful toppings, too!

Since I learned the trick of no-chop roast pumpkin soup from RecipeTin Eats, I can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t know about you, but I hate chopping squash and pumpkin. I always hurt my hand whenever I do this. I even bought a pair of cut resistant gloves just for this purpose!

If you haven’t heard of RecipeTin Eats, it is my go-to website for weekday dinner ideas. Nagi, the smart lady behind the site, shares tons of tricks and techniques to make gourmet dishes with home cooks. She never stops to amaze me with simple steps that transfer a complicated dish to a practical one, with excellent flavors.

The trick of roasting squash without chopping is the best example.

I’ve read tons of butternut squash soup recipes. Most of them require you to cut the squash into even squares before roasting to promote even cooking. But do you know that not cutting the squash yields an even better result?

You see, when you roast half a butternut squash without chopping, you will slightly overcook the surface and the bottom before the whole squash turns tender. It translates to a perfectly caramelized and dehydrated squash. The result works best when making butternut squash soup. The long roasting process will make the soup so rich that you don’t even need chicken stock to create a bowl of delicious soup.

In this recipe I choose to use coconut milk and fresh ginger to finish up the soup. Coconut milk adds a sweet richness to the soup, while ginger balances it out for a more refreshing taste. That’s it! To cook this soup, you only need three steps:

• Roast the butternut squash.
• Scoop out the squash meat.
• Blend the squash with coconut milk and ginger.

Once you finished the puree, you will get a silky soup that has an intense squash flavor and a hint of sweetness. It tastes so good that you won’t believe you only used three ingredients.

I’ve shared two ways to finish up the soup.

Coconut chips with lime zest

A super quick way to garnish the soup. If you like your soup on the sweet side, this method had your name on it. The soup almost qualifies a dessert if you serve it cold with extra coconut chips.

Sauteed mushrooms with chopped cilantro

This topping is perfect for you if you like savory food. To cook these mushrooms, simply heat up a large pan very hot, cook the mushrooms with salt and pepper. Serve them on hot soup with cilantro.

Other options

You can serve toasted bread with the soup to make it a light meal. If you want to make dinner slightly fancier, grill some seafood in a pan. Any white fish, shrimps, and scallop go extremely well with it.

If you want to stick to the classic flavor of the fall butternut squash soup, use the method of no-chop roast pumpkin soup by RecipeTin Eats, where Nagi roasted a whole head of garlic and onion with the squash and used the caramelized veggies as the soup base. YUM!

For more delicious winter soup recipes, check out Napa Cabbage Soup with Meatballs, Authentic Hot and Sour Soup, Traditional Egg Drop Soup, Easy Split Pea Soup, and Winter Melon Soup with Meatball.

I hope you all enjoy this soup as much as me!

Want to Know More?Receive our 5-Day Chinese Cooking Crash Course & Recipe Updates! Subscribe

5-Ingredient Butternut Squash Soup

5 from 2 votes

I lied. You really only need three ingredients to make this amazing soup. With five ingredients, you can garnish the soup with beautiful toppings, too! 

Author: Maggie Zhu

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Asian Fusion

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 to 6

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 pound (1.5kg) butternut squash , halved lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 1 thumb ginger , coarsely chopped
• 1 can coconut milk (or to taste)

Toppings

• 1 Lemon zest and coconut flakes (Option)
• 2 Sauteed mushrooms and chopped cilantro, chili flakes if you like it spicy (Option)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 F).
• Place butternut squash cut side up on a baking tray. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 70 to 90 minutes, or until it is very tender and the surface is caramelized. You can test this by inserting a skewer to the thickest part, if there is no resistance it’s done. It is better to slightly overcook the squash instead of undercook.
• Make squash puree in two batches. Scoop out seeds and discard. Scoop out squash meat from half of the squash, transfer to a food processor or a blender. You can use a pot and a immersion blender as well.
• Add half of the ginger and 1/3 can of coconut milk. Blend until smooth. Adjust consistency and flavor with water and/or coconut milk until desired texture. (*footnote 1)
• Puree the other half of squash by using the same method.
• You can serve the soup hot or cold. Either way is tasty.
• To reheat the soup, pour in a small pot and cook over low heat. Stir occasionally to prevent from scorching the bottom. You might need to add a bit water from time to time.
• To save the soup and serve later, transfer the puree to a container to cool. Once the soup cools down completely, seal the container and store in the fridge for 2 to 3 days, or in the freezer for 1 month. To heat up leftover soup, make sure to bring it to a simmer, for food safety purposes.

Nutrition

Serving: 278g, Calories: 234kcal, Carbohydrates: 29.8g, Protein: 3.4g, Fat: 13.9g, Saturated Fat: 10.4g, Sodium: 307mg, Potassium: 935mg, Fiber: 5.7g, Sugar: 6.6g, Vitamin A: 24100IU, Vitamin C: 67.7mg, Calcium: 120mg, Iron: 2.5mg

Did You Make This Recipe?Don't forget the last step! Leave a comment below, and tag me @OmnivoresCookbook and #OmnivoresCookbook on Instagram!