Butternut squash soup is a beautiful, rich, and flavorful dish that anyone can make using a variety of ingredients that you may already have in your kitchen. Any butternut squash soup recipe is easily customizable and versatile, making it a great quick and easy dish to throw together at the last minute or one that you can mull over to make it your own.
The Basics
A simple butternut squash soup recipe generally consists of common ingredients like butter, carrots, celery, leeks or onions, potatoes, chicken or vegetable stock, and of course, butternut squash. Spices that work well with these ingredients and are often found in many butternut squash soups include cayenne pepper, cinnamon, curry powder, garlic, ginger, nutmeg, oregano, parsley, pepper, and salt. It can be as uncomplicated as sautéing some onions, then throwing in chunks of squash and any other desired vegetables and simmering until tender, pureeing, seasoning, and serving.
Customization
The best butternut squash soup recipe comes from starting with a basic recipe and perfecting it according to your taste and preference. One way to enhance and deepen the flavor is to add sherry wine to the mixture. Adding half-and-half cream or plain yogurt is a great way to thicken the soup with a heavy richness that makes it smooth, creamy, and more filling as a main course. Consider adding a dollop of sour cream before serving. Butternut squash is savory, but it has a subtle hint of sweetness that can easily be used to make a savory soup into something entirely new. Adding orange juice or brown sugar and cinnamon to the soup will introduce a surprising element of sweetness to the dish. A roast butternut squash soup recipe infuses the creation with even more flavor. Roast the squash and other vegetables with garlic cloves (wrapped in foil) until tender and puree them together. Then use the pureed mixture to form the base of the soup. You can also add things like cooked chestnuts for a more earthy tone or shrimp marinated with ginger for a more hearty meal with a sort of oriental appeal.
The customization possibilities are endless. Any butternut squash soup recipe can even very easily be tweaked to become meat-based, vegetarian, or even vegan. As you play around with the soup and discover new flavor combinations that best suit your and your family’s taste, you will no doubt come up with an arrangement that quickly becomes a family favorite.