Curried Butternut Squash Soup

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my full disclosure.

Curried butternut squash soup is one of the easiest recipes we make all year…Don’t let its simplicity fool you. It packs a big flavor punch with minimal effort! That’s a win-win around here.

This curried butternut squash soup is dairy-free and can easily be made to be vegan or vegetarian by adding vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. It’s very versatile, so play around with the types of squash you use!

How to make roast butternut squash

I often prefer butternut squash over other winter squashes because it is just so easy to clean! The squash are big so you do need a good knife, but the rest is easy because there is such a large area of firm, smooth flesh. My other favorite squash to roast is delicata because you don’t even need to peel it!

Basically, trim off the top and bottom of the squash just to give yourself a safe cutting surface. Stand the squash upright, whack the knife along the middle line, and carefully guide the knife down with your non-dominant hand pressing on top of the front of the knife to rock it through.

Once you have the squash split, remove the seeds and you’re ready to roast!

Roasting Butternut Squash Pieces

If you’re looking for cubed squash pieces, you will want to peel the squash and cut it into cubes at this point before roasting. Roast in a hot oven at 400 degrees and stir every 10 minutes until the squash is caramelized and fully cooked.

Roasting Butternut Squash for Soup

For this soup, we actually don’t mind the skin and have no need to cube it. Simple add some oil and salt and then face down on a half sheet tray. Bake at 350 until soft!

Not interested in soup today? You can still blitz up the roasted squash for an alternative to mashed potatoes.

Curried butternut squash soup is perfect for batch cooking

We are big-time meal preppers and like to prep most of our meals for the week on the weekend. We love to find ways to sneak the prep for dinner into our weekend cooking!

Because the squash takes so little prep before roasting, this is an easy dish to start prepping before the day you want to serve it. For example, you could cut and roast your butternut squash on a Sunday afternoon when you’re baking an egg casserole for breakfast during the week.

Let it cool, peel off the skin, and stick it in a container until you’re ready to make the soup!

You’ll only need to heat the oven once, you’ll have everything cleaned up when you clean up your egg casserole dishes, and making the soup later in the week will be EASY! It just takes a few minutes to blend up before it’s ready to go.

This dish is so easy, it could definitely be added to our shortlist of desperation dinners for those in-a-rush nights!

Make meals from scratch everyday with a well-stocked pantry

Cooking from scratch is healthier, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly than take out or buying prepackaged foods at the store! We know that cooking from scratch can be hard, which is why we created a free pantry checklist to help you stay organized and prepared for whatever meals you need to make.

Can I use a different type of squash?

Absolutely! We’re very squash inclusive around here. I often recommend butternut because it is so easy to find in stores and at farmers markets. I don’t typically recommend making this with delicata squash simple because they are so small and require a lot more peeling to get enough squash meat. Regular pumpkins benefit from all the added spices and fat, but may make this squash fall a little flat in flavor.

We often have a lot of squash on hand either from growing our own or bulk buying produce in the fall.

I’ve used kabocha squash for this before and absolutely loved how smooth and flavorful it came out! Red Kuri and kabocha squash are also excellent in this recipe. You have my official permission to go wild at your local farmers market and buy ALL the squash to make ALL the soup!

How to Make Curried Butternut Squash Soup

As mentioned above, you’ll want to create a flat surface on the top and bottom of your squash to allow you to cut it safely. Use a thick, strong knife.

Place the squash with the widest part at the bottom to stand it up. Whack your knife along the center of the top of the squash. Use both hands to rock the knife through the squash. I like to put the heel of my non-dominant hand over the front end of the squash. Push at the front of the knife then at the back, gentle enough to keep your hands safe but with enough pressure to crack the squash open.

Once open, remove the seeds. Oil and salt the squash and place down on a baking tray.

Bake until soft. You can bake it low at 350, but you can also roast up to 375. This makes it easy to bake the squash while you’re cooking other dishes in the oven too. We’re simply trying to get the squash to soften.

Once the squash is fully soft (you don’t want any firmness at all), peel off the skin with your fingers.

You can store the squash at this state to make the soup later in the week or you can finish cooking now!

In a large pot, empty a can of coconut milk and add two tablespoons of yellow curry powder. Allow the curry powder to heat up in the milk to draw out the most flavor.

Once all of the squash is peeled, place the roasted squash meat in a blender. Add in a quart of chicken stock (homemade or storebought). Blend on high until totally smooth.

You can strain the squash through a metal sieve into the coconut milk mixture if you like a smooth soup. Pour it without straining if you’re fine with a more rustic texture.

Whisk and stir the soup over low-medium heat until the coconut milk is fully integrated into the squash mixture. Depending on the size of your squash and how thick you want your soup, you may want to add a little more chicken stock to your preferences.

I find that all soups taste better with a big dollop of the chicken bouillon paste from Costco, so I add about 2 tbs. You can skip this or use only the bouillon paste in lieu of the chicken stock. That’s up to you! Keep it easy!

Allow the soup to simmer on low heat for about 10-20 minutes just to let the flavors integrate. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream and with hot, crusty grilled cheese.

curried butternut squash soup

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Curried butternut squash soup is one of the easiest recipes we make all year…Don't let its simplicity fool you. It packs a big flavor punch with minimal effort! That's a win-win around here.
It's also dairy-free and can easily be made vegan or vegetarian, too.
We like to serve this with a dollop of sour cream. We served it at a baby shower with really hot, crusty grilled cheese sandwiches and everyone was in heaven! 
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 20 minutes
Course Main Course, Side Dish, Soup
Cuisine American
Servings 6 servings
Calories 270 kcal

Equipment

  • Blender
  • Stock pot (6 qt)
  • Metal strainer (optional)

Ingredients
  

  • 1 large butternut squash, Can also substitute other squashes like kabocha or red kury
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 quart chicken stock, Homemade, storebought, or bouillon is fine! You may need slightly more depending on the size of your squash.
  • 1 can whole fat coconut milk
  • 2 tbs curry powder
  • 2 tbs chicken bouillon paste, Optional; to taste

Instructions
 

  • Cut a flat surface on the top and bottom of your squash to allow you to cut it safely. Use a thick, strong knife.
  • Slice the squash in half (see above for instructions on how to do this).
  • Once open, remove the seeds. Oil and salt the squash and place down on a baking tray.
  • Bake between 350-375 until soft. This takes 45 minutes to an hour.
  • Once cooled, peel off the skin with your fingers. You can store the squash at this state to make the soup later or make the soup now.
  • In a large pot, empty a can of coconut milk and add two tablespoons of yellow curry powder. Allow the curry powder to heat up in the milk to draw out the most flavor.
  • Once all of the squash is peeled, place the roasted squash meat in a blender. Add in a quart of chicken stock (homemade or storebought). Blend on high until totally smooth.
  • You can strain the squash through a metal strainer into the coconut milk mixture if you like a smooth soup. Pour it without straining if you're fine with a more rustic texture.
  • Whisk and stir the soup over low-medium heat until the coconut milk is fully integrated into the squash mixture. Depending on the size of your squash and how thick you want your soup, you may want to add a little more chicken stock to your preferences.
  • Taste and season to your preference. I often like adding 2 tbs of chicken bouillon paste at this stage to get a full, rounded flavor.

Notes

This recipe is dairy-free. To make it vegan, substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock.
Use whichever stock you have on hand! We often have homemade chicken stock available, but sometimes use boxed cartons of organic free-range stock. You can also use just chicken bouillon paste and dilute it according to the package instructions.
 

Nutrition

Calories: 270kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 7gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 13gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 1025mgPotassium: 782mgFiber: 3gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 13312IUVitamin C: 27mgCalcium: 89mgIron: 4mg
Keyword coconut milk, curry powder, squash, winter squash
Did you try this recipe?Be sure to leave a star rating!

Similar Posts

2 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This sounds so easy and delicious! One thing: you mention delicata as you don’t need to peel, then later, you say don’t use delicata as it takes too long to peel such small squash…??? So I’m confused. Do you have to or don’t you have to peel them?

    1. Hi, Carol! Thanks for asking this question! In general, you do not have to peel delicata squash. I often like to slice them in thin rings for roasting and keep the skin on. They’re delicious that way! You are eating so little of the squash skin that it does not affect the texture of the food.

      In this recipe, we roast whichever squash unpeeled and then peel the skin off the squash. I don’t recommend delicata for this purpose because you’d have to get all of the delicata squash meat out of the ridges of the tiny delicata squashes. That could be a bit cumbersome since the squash is small and their ridges are so narrow.

      You do want to eventually remove the skin from whichever squash you roast for this recipe. If you don’t, the squash skin will break down into thicker pieces in your soup that will affect the texture.

      I hope this clarifies things!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.