Did you know this is Ina Garten's favorite soup recipe? Instead of a plain butternut squash that's pureed, this recipe adds fresh apples and some curry spice. Make a big batch and freeze the leftover for later.
The festive orange color makes this a fun soup for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or a cozy fall dinner.
Butternut squash is ideal for making a creamy soup without actually using heavy cream. This soup would also pair really well with a green bean casserole and wild rice pilaf. If you like curry spice, you might try a Thai butternut squash curry served with blue jasmine rice.
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Inspiration
Ina Garten featured this soup in her book, Barefood Contessa Parties! As she states, "This is my all-time favorite soup, and it's good for you. It's a vegetarian creation of a popular soup from The Silver Palate Cookbook and is one of the best-selling soups at Barefoot Contessa. The creamy butternut squash and sweet apples balance the spicy curry."
I like this recipe because the curry spice is unexpected. I've adapted the cooking instructions and garnishes, but the ingredient ratios are true to the recipe.
Ingredients
- Butternut Squash - These oblong pumpkins are the season's must have food item every year. The only problem is cutting them. (I once avoided that for so long, the butternut squash sat on my counter for an entire year.) To avoid cutting hard squash, so many stores sell precut squares. Otherwise, peel off the skin with a vegetable peeler, scoop out the seeds, and cut into even sized chunks, about 3-4 inches.
- Apple Cider or Juice - Darker brown than juice and cloudy in appearance, cider is not filtered or pasteurized. Other than drinking it fresh, it also makes a really nice salad dressing.
- Onion - Cut the onions last, so you're not crying while cutting the rest of the vegetables.
- Apples - I used granny smith apples, but you can use the apple of choice.
- Butter - Use a non-dairy butter or regular butter.
- Olive Oil or other cooking oil of your choice.
- Curry Powder - This might be the secret ingredient. it doesn't make it taste like a curry soup but just adds a little bit of interest with a sprinkle of spices. I use a yellow curry powder rather than a dark garam masala blend, which makes the soup turn a dark brown.
- Black Pepper (Optional) - This adds black flecks to your soup if it is not finely ground. If you don't want to see black flecks, either omit or use a finely ground black pepper.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Peel the apples and butternut squash. Cut into 2 in chunks with as uniform sizes as possible, so they cook at an even rate.
Peel and dice the onion into about a ¼ inch dice.
Heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat.
Once the oil is hot, add the onions and saute until soft, about 6-8 minutes.
Take care not to brown the onions. Turn down the heat if they start to brown. You just want them to sweat down and soften.
Add the curry powder. Stir for 30 seconds to a minute to bloom the spices in the hot oil.
Add the butternut squash, apples, and water to the pot. Cover and bring to a boil. It will seem like there's not enough liquid, but the squash and apples will release their juices as they cook.
Once the liquid comes to a boil, stir the ingredients so all the pieces get a chance to cook evenly. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the squash is soft.
At this point, there should be plenty of liquid in the pot and the pumpkin should easily fall apart when pressed with a spoon.
Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth. Alternately, you can do this in batches in a blender.
Add the apple cider to thin out the soup to the a soupy consistency. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. I like adding a touch of maple syrup for extra sweetness.
Serve hot and top with optional garnishes. I like using coconut milk for creaminess and toasted pumpkin seeds for crunch.
Storage
Store leftovers in the fridge and eat within 3 days. Freeze without the garnishes for up to 3 months.
Helpful Tips
- This recipe can be easily doubled to make 3 ½ qt of soup. Use at least a 5 qt sized cooking pot.
- Take care when blending any hot liquid in a blender. If the cap is sealed too tightly, the hot steam and liquid can cause explosions. It's best to remove the plastic round seal from the cap and cover it with a thick towel held down with your hand. This will allow at least a little bit of air to escape. Also, pulse gently and work your way up to a full blend.
- Restaurant style - A fine dining restaurant would push the blended soup through a fine sieve to make the soup extra creamy and smooth.
One Pan Recipes
Vegetarian Recipes
Recipe
This recipe makes about 4 bowls of soup. You can easily double the recipe to have leftovers to freeze.
Recipe
Butternut Squash Apple Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tb unsalted butter
- 1 Tb extra virgin olive oil
- 2 c chopped yellow oions
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tb mild yellow curry powder omit if you don't like spiciness
- 2 ½ lb butternut squash this is about 1 l medium sized butternut squash
- ¾ lb sweet apples such as McIntosh
- 1 c water
- 1 c fresh apple cider or apple juice
Optional Garnishes
- fresh ground black pepper
- maple syrup
- coconut milk
- toasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
Instructions
- Heat the Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the oil and butter.
- Add the onions and salt. Sweat the onions for about 8-10 minutes until softened. They should not be browned or start to caramelize. Turn the heat down if they start to brown.
- Add curry powder. Stir and bloom the spices for about 30 seconds to a minute.
- Add the butternut squash, apples, and water to the pot. Cover to bring to a boil. It will seem like there's not enough liquid in the pot, but the squash and apples will release their juices as they cook.
- Once the pot comes to a boil, give the pot a stir.
- Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the squash is soft and cooked through.
- Turn off the heat. Add the apple cider and blend with an immersion blender or in a blender in batches. See Note 2 on blending hot liquid in a blender.
- Taste the blended soup for seasoning. Add salt and pepper as desired. I like adding maple syrup for a little more sweetness. Thin out with additional apple cider if the soup is too thick. It should generously coat the back of a wooden spoon but still drip off the spoon with ease.
Notes
- This recipe can be easily doubled to make 3 ½ qt of soup. Use at least a 5 qt sized cooking pot.
- Take care when blending any hot liquid in a blender. If the cap is sealed too tightly, the hot steam and liquid can cause explosions. It's best to remove the plastic round seal from the cap and cover it with a thick towel held down with your hand. This will allow at least a little bit of air to escape. Also, pulse gently and work your way up to a full blend.
- Restaurant style - A fine dining restaurant would push the blended soup through a fine sieve to make the soup extra creamy and smooth.
Food safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
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