Pureed Butternut Squash Soup

Each year when the air gets crisp and cool, it seems like everyone we know is making a butternut squash soup. Sometimes the recipes have sweet apples or pears mixed in. Other times, the soups use distinct flavors like coconut milk or curry leaves. But it’s always nice to have a tried-and-true recipe to come back to year after year. That’s where this recipe for pureed butternut squash soup comes into play.

Not only does the soup have a well-rounded flavor, but it’s also good for you. The anti-inflammatory properties of fresh ginger and garlic add so much flavor to the fiber-rich pureed butternut squash. As the squash cooks down on the stovetop, the flavors become more condensed, bringing out all of the nuttiness and sweetness of the fruit. (Yes—butternut squash is a fruit, not a vegetable!) 

We finish the soup with a bit of orange juice, which adds a fresh flavor to the hearty dish. Sour cream and roasted pumpkin seeds are optional (but highly recommended) garnishes.

What Makes This Butternut Squash Soup Special

This butternut squash soup may be simple, but it has a few special ingredients that set it apart from the others.

• Fresh ginger: Sweet winter squash and spicy fresh ginger are an underrated combination. Ginger mingles with the flavor of the garlic in this recipe, while the squash mellows out all of the spices.
• Fresh orange juice: If you've ever had a butternut squash soup that tasted kind of heavy, it was probably because the recipe needed a little something acidic. We like to use orange juice, which does have some acidity but still tends to be pretty sweet. We use the orange juice to season the soup and bring out a bit of freshness, just like we would with salt or pepper.
• Sour cream: An optional dollop of sour cream adds even more creaminess to the soup, and the fattiness makes the soup a little richer than many others.

How to Puree Butternut Squash Soup

• Blender: This is our preferred method for blending soups. A high-speed blender is a great investment (especially if you make a lot of pureed soups). It gets the soup silky smooth, and you won’t find any lumps after a few seconds.
• Food processor: Pureeing soup in a food processor will take more time than in a blender, but it will work. If you still have a few chunks left behind, you can pass the soup through a fine-mesh sieve to get it as smooth as possible.
• Immersion blender: Immersion blenders (sometimes called hand or stick blenders) are great because they are easy to clean and store. Plus, you don’t have to dirty another appliance to blend the soup. Turn off the burner and let the soup cool for a few minutes before you start to blend it. Using an immersion blender usually causes some splattering, so you don’t want the soup to be too hot when you start.

Ways to Upgrade Butternut Squash Soup

• To add more flavor to the soup itself, swap out the water for a flavorful chicken or vegetable broth.
• Drizzle some fun sauces over the top. We like chili crisp and store-bought herb sauces like chimichurri.
• Roast off the squash seeds and combine them with other seeds, like sesame, hemp, and sunflower. This combination of seeds makes the soup even healthier, but it also adds new dimensions of flavor (not to mention they add a crunchy texture).
• Toast up some croutons. Tear up a few slices of crusty bread and toast the cubes in a skillet with a glug of olive oil. The same can be done with cornbread—just crumble a few hunks and toast until crisp.