Try This Healthy Vegan Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
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When colder weather rolls into town, it’s easy to reach for all kinds of warming comfort food, like casseroles, chili, and just about anything you can make in a slow cooker. While most traditional comfort food can put a chokehold on your health and fitness plans, you can in fact enjoy cozy, filling meals that don’t put your goals on the back burner. For example, our vegan butternut squash soup recipe is the perfect combination of healthy and comforting.
Whether you whip this up as a autumnal starter or make it a meatless Monday dish, this soup is satisfyingly thick and creamy. We nixed the cream and butter, which means fewer calories and less fat, and it keeps it vegan-friendly! That makes the real star of this vegan and gluten-free meal is its namesake: the butternut squash.
Sure, it tastes great; it’s slightly sweet and has that nice “autumn” flavor, similar to a pumpkin. And this fall and winter veggie is also nutrient-dense, packed with vitamins A and C, as well as potassium and manganese. We also snuck in some carrots into this recipe to add in extra fiber, as well as vitamins A, C, and K.
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What Does Butternut Soup Taste Like?
Butternut squash soup is creamy and savory with a hint of sweetness and nuttiness. Some versions include added sugar or other sweet ingredients like apples, but this recipe keeps things simple and leans more toward the savory side. And thanks to a bit of cinnamon and some pumpkin seeds, it capitalizes on some of your favorite fall flavors!
If you want to add some extra creaminess and sweetness to your soup, you may choose to top your soup with a dollop of coconut cream as a vegan alternative to sour cream(though it will change the nutritional information below). We just suggest that you add it on top only when you’re ready to serve your soup.
Vegan Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- 1 ½ cups yellow onion diced
- 4 ¼ cups butternut squash peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
- ¾ cup carrots diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 ¼ tsp. cumin
- ¼ tsp. cinnamon
- 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 Tbsp. pumpkin seeds raw
- sea salt & ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
-
Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
-
Once hot, add olive oil and yellow
onion. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, or until onions begin to brown
on the edges. -
Add butternut squash and carrots. Cook, stirring frequently, for 4
minutes. -
Add garlic, cumin and cinnamon. Stir to combine and cook for 1 minute,
or until fragrant. -
Add vegetable broth and cover the pot with a lid. Bring to a boil, then
simmer for 25-30 minutes, or until butternut squash is fork tender. -
While the soup cooks, toast pumpkin seeds in a small skillet pan over
medium heat. Stir continuously and remove from heat once the seeds are golden
brown (approximately 2-4 minutes). Set aside. -
When soup is cooked, transfer contents to a
blender, cover the lid with a clean kitchen towel, and slowly blend until
smooth and creamy. Alternatively use an immersion blender.* -
Season with salt and black pepper, to taste. Transfer soup into bowls.
Top with pumpkin seeds. Serve warm.
Recipe Notes
- Before blending hot liquids, check your blender manufacturer’s guidelines and safety instructions as some blenders may not be intended for such use. If this is the case, allow soup to cool fully before blending.
The Nutrition Facts box below provides estimated nutritional information for this recipe.
Photography by Anguel Dimov, AB Creative
