Creamy, rich and delicious, this Maple Roasted Butternut Squash Carrot Soup is essential for chilly fall days! Butternut squash, roasted until sweet with real maple syrup, is blended smooth with lots of veggies for a simple homemade meal everyone will love.
If you can beat the squash vine borers, butternut squash is wonderful to grow in the garden! When the tomato and basil of summer starts to fade, butternut squash is ready for comfort food season!
This soup is great for families, a little sweet with the savory, and loads of healthy vegetables blended up so nobody can tell! If you love butternut squash, try these
- Butternut Squash Red Pepper Soup with Lentils and Coconut
- Creamy Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sausage and Kale
- Orzo Butternut Squash and Spinach Soup
Ingredients
Such a healthy and veggie loaded ingredient list! This soup tastes like a cozy pot of delicious fall harvest!
- Butternut Squash - The star of the soup, your butternut squash is roasted with olive oil and real maple syrup to really bring out its natural sweetness.
- Onion, Carrots and Apple - These are your veggie base, healthy and flavorful. All 3, the onion, carrot and apple are loaded with natural sugars that intensify as they are cooked. Along with the maple butternut squash, these sweet elements balance the savory!
- Garlic - Always use fresh garlic if you can! This is a strong layer of savory flavor.
- Vegetable Stock - The basic liquid, I've used vegetable stock to keep this soup vegetarian. If that doesn't matter to you, chicken stock is a fine substitute.
- Heavy Cream - Adding cream at the end gives your pureed butternut squash soup that rich velvety texture. A little indulgence with all those vegetables!
- Fresh Thyme - Fresh herbs added at the end bring an earthy savory tone that marries with all the sweetness. I used thyme, but rosemary or sage would be great variations.
- Water - As you puree the soup, you can decide how much water to add to be the consistency you like. The thickness of the soup is a personal preference and can vary with the size of the squash and other vegetables used. The soup will thicken as it cooks and sits, so just add a little water as needed.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
This is a simple soup, made completely from scratch by oven roasting the squash, and cooking everything else in the soup pot before pureeing it all together at the end.
Peel the squash with a vegetable peeler, slice it in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Cut into cubes.
Spread the squash on a sheet pan and toss with olive oil, maple syrup and salt. Roast at 425° for 45 minutes.
Chop your other veggies. Don't worry about perfect chopping, it will all get pureed anyway!
Saute veggies in olive oil and season with salt until they are soft and beginning to caramelize.
Add garlic and cook another minute. Then add stock and continue to simmer until your squash is ready.
After 45 minutes, your squash will be roasted, a bit caramelized, and deliciously fragrant with a hint of sweet maple syrup.
Add the squash back to the soup pot.
Add the heavy cream and blend. You can transfer to a blender in batches or use a hand-held immersion blender.
Continue to blend until very smooth. Add water as needed to reach the consistency you like.
When the soup is completely pureed, add fresh herbs and simmer a few more minutes. Serve hot with the toppings you like!
Hint: Save the ends of your onion, carrot and squash in the freezer to make Homemade Chicken Stock!
Equipment
This soup is meant to be smooth and velvety, so blending it well is an important step! You can use whatever blending equipment you have:
- Hand-Held Immersion Blender - A very handy kitchen tool, a stick blender takes a bit of time but can certainly puree a whole pot of soup until ultra smooth! A little tip when using an immersion blender, while blending the soup with your right hand, lift the side of the pot with your left hand to tilt it at an angle. This creates a little deep well on the right side of the pot, which allows the blender to more easily blend everything in a little whirlpool.
- Blender - If you have a Vitamix, butternut squash soup is the time to use it! However, any blender should be able to get your soup totally pureed and smooth if you blend it long enough. Blend in batches so you don't overfill, and be careful with the hot soup! Remove the little insert on the cover to allow steam to escape but hold a clean kitchen towel tightly over the hole! The smoother the better, be patient when blending!
Storage & Freezing
Fridge - Store leftover Roasted Butternut Squash Carrot Soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop. Add a bit of water if it becomes too thick.
Freezer - Butternut Squash Soup can be frozen in containers for up to 6 months. When freezing butternut squash soup, always cool completely in the fridge before transferring to the freezer, and leave room in the container to allow for expansion. Soup can also be frozen in glass jars for individual servings, just make sure to only fill ¾'s full. Thaw overnight in the fridge, or use the defrost setting on the microwave before reheating. Never run frozen glass jars under hot water or place in a bowl of hot water to thaw, they can crack!
Topping Ideas
It often seems like the toppings are the best part! Butternut Squash Soup toppings can be simple, fancy, and in our house, a couple small bowls are always served kid-friendly! Leave it plain or top it any way you like!
- Fresh Herbs and Seedy Crackers - Keep it simple! Try thyme, rosemary or sage.
- A Swirl of Maple Syrup or Cream
- Toasted Seeds or Nuts - Try pumpkin seeds or sliced almonds.
- Croutons - Cube crusty bread and toss it with olive oil, salt and dried herbs. Roast in the oven at 400° for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Candied Pecans - Steal the 3 minute candied nuts from this Blueberry Goat Cheese Salad Recipe!
- Crumbled Goat Cheese and Pomegranate Seeds - Looks fancy, tastes delish!
- Kid Friendly - Now this is the fun part! My kids call this "Halloween Soup" and we serve it topped with candy corn or yellow and orange M&M's! This super healthy, veggie-packed soup feels like an October treat!
What to Serve with Butternut Squash Soup
Roasted carrot and butternut squash soup is a complete meal on its own, but it could also be part of a larger menu. Serve it with:
- Soup and Sandwich Night - Add simple grilled cheese sandwiches or feed a larger group with these Italian Subs with Giardiniera or Garden BLT's with Pesto Aioli.
- Soup and Salad Night - A big salad and some crusty bread makes this soup a feast! Try it with this Blueberry Goat Cheese Salad , this Prosciutto Parmesan Salad, or a Kale Apple Slaw Salad.
- The Perfect Lunch - Have friends over for lunch, this soup would be delicious with Egg Salad or Curry Chicken Salad Sandwiches!
Top Tip
Keep blending until the soup is super smooth! Add a little water to help with blending and to get it the thickness you like.
Yes! Butternut Squash is a naturally gluten free soup. That's because it is thickened simply by pureeing all the hearty veggies that are in it instead of using flour.
More Favorite Fall Recipes!
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Maple Roasted Butternut Squash Carrot Soup
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Print Pin RateEquipment
- soup pot or Dutch oven
- high speed blender or immersion blender
Ingredients
To Roast the Squash
- 1 butternut squash peeled, seeded and cubed
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
For the Soup
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 3-4 carrots chopped
- 1 apple chopped
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 sprig fresh thyme or rosemary or sage
- water as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425° convection bake (this means the fan is blowing). Peel the butternut squash with a vegetable peeler, cut off the ends and slice it in half lengthwise. Remove the seed cavity with a spoon or an ice cream scoop works great! Chop the squash into 1 inch pieces. Toss on a large sheet pan with olive oil, maple syrup, and salt. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, chop your other veggies. In a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, add olive oil and saute the chopped onion, carrot and apple, season with salt. Stir often until soft and beginning to caramelize, about 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook another minute.
- Add the stock and simmer over medium low heat until the squash is finished roasting.
- Add the squash and cream to the soup pot. Turn off the heat and blend the soup until very smooth. You can transfer the soup in batches to a blender, or use a hand-held immersion blender. You may need to add a bit of water while pureeing the soup to reach the right consistency. I added a little more than 1 cup, but add a little at a time until it looks right to you.
- Return the soup to the stovetop over low heat for a few more minutes. Add the sprig of thyme or rosemary/sage so its flavor can incorporate. Taste and add a pinch of salt if you like. Soup can be served immediately or can sit over low heat until ready to serve.
Notes
- Hand-Held Immersion Blender - A little tip when using an immersion blender, while blending the soup with your right hand, lift the side of the pot with your left hand to tilt it at an angle. This creates a little deep well on the right side of the pot, which allows the blender to more easily blend everything in a little whirlpool.
- Blender - Blend in batches so you don't overfill, and be careful with the hot soup! Remove the little insert on the cover to allow steam to escape but hold a clean kitchen towel tightly over the hole! The smoother the better, be patient when blending!
Linda says
This sounds amazing!