Butternut Squash Soup
This delicious soup is perfect on a chilly fall day. It's also gluten free and Whole 30 approved, so you can enjoy it without any guilt! Although if you want to give it a little more pop (and don't mind eating bread), I highly recommend adding some freshly baked croutons (but the soup is delightful on its own). You can also make this a complete meal by adding cooked chicken, scallops, or hard-boiled eggs when returning the soup to the pot for the last 7 to 10 minutes of cooking. For extra greens, add a couple of generous handfuls of spinach or kale in the last 3 minutes of cooking.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp clarified butter, ghee or coconut oil
- ½ cup onion diced
- 3 cups diced seeded peeled butternut squash
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ cup freshly baked croutons (optional)
Instructions
- In a large pot, melt the cooking fat over medium heat, swirling to coat the bottom of the pot. When the fat is hot, add the onion and cook, stirring, until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the squash, garlic and ginger and stir until the garlic becomes aromatic, about 1 minute.
- Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil until the butternut squash is soft, about 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat.
- In one or two batches, transfer the soup to a food processor or blender and blend on high speed until smooth in texture. Return the pureed soup to the pot.
- Heat the soup over medium-high heat until it thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, 7 to 10 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Pour yourself a big heaping bowlful and add a handful of croutons (optional) on top or a sprinkle of freshly topped parsley and enjoy!
Notes
If you're not sure how much butternut squash to purchase, keep in mind that a 2-pound butternut squash yields 3 cups once the seeds are removed. Don't stress about having slightly more or less squash than the recipe calls for - this recipe is pretty forgiving.
Peeling and dicing squash isn't that tough if you have the right technique. First, cut a small amount off the bottom and top of the squash, to give it a flat surface. Next, use a vegetable peeler to peel the squash from top to bottom. Next, rest the squash on the flat bottom surface and cut in half from top to bottom, creating two long halves. Scoop the seeds from the middle of the squash with a large spoon. Finally, lay the two halves flat on the cutting board and cut strips lengthwise, then across, to create your dice. If some pieces are much thicker than others, cut in half again, so your cubes are all a relatively consistent size.
Recipe adapted from: Whole30 (Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig)
