This coconut butternut squash soup is everything you wish for a cozy meal. It's velvety smooth and creamy, hearty with a hint of warm ginger and spices.
Ingredients
1medium butternut squash about 2.5lbs, peeled and seeded (Note 1)
1shallot
2tablespoonsavocado oilor olive oil
½tablespoonginger pasteNote 2
1teaspoonsalt
1teaspooncumin
½teaspoonginger powder
2cupsvegetable brothor chicken broth
1canfull fat coconut milk(14oz)
For garnish:
¼cuppepitaspumpkin seeds, optional
2tablespoonsunsweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
Cut butternut squash into small cubes.
Finely chop shallot.
Heat a large pot over medium high heat. Add avocado oil.
Once oil is hot, stir in shallot. Cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes.
Stir in squash, ginger, salt, cumin and ginger powder. Cook for another 2 minutes or so, stirring frequently, until nice and fragrant. (Roasting spices in a hot pan is known as blooming the spices, which wakes up the flavors, making them more intense.)
Pour in broth and scrape the bottom of the pot to deglaze.
And then add coconut milk. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes, or until squash is tender.
Blend the soup, using an immersion blender, or transfer into a regular stand blender and blend until smooth. Be super careful!!!
Garnish with pepitas, or coconut flakes (or both!) and serve.
Notes
Note 1: Feel free to purchase pre-cut butternut squash, if you don't have time to cut one yourself. Also, to save even more time on a busy weeknight, you can roast the squash ahead of time. You don't even need to cube the squash in that case. Plus, roasted squash is so much more flavorful! See notes + photos below.Note 2: You can grate fresh ginger with a microplane grater instead of using a ginger paste. You'd need about ½-inch ginger.HOW TO STORE: This soup can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Butternut squash soup also freezes well. To freeze, transfer the cooled soup into a freezer-safe container and freeze it for up to 3 months. Alternatively, you can pour the cooled soup into a freezer ziplock bags, squeeze out the air and freeze it flat. To reheat, thaw frozen soup overnight in the fridge, and reheat gently on stovetop over medium heat, adding a little bit broth to thin it, if needed.