Butternut Squash, Carrot & Ginger Soup

Who doesn’t love a nice warm soup on a cold day?! This butternut squash, carrot and ginger soup is so smooth, creamy and delicious that will become one of your favorites. I’m using a mixture of spices to coat the vegetables before roasting them, that is going to give me a mild sweet squash soup with lots of flavors and add some sour cream towards the end to make it extra creamy. To add some more texture and crispiness, I serve it with some homemade aromatic croutons and some chopped chives or chilli.

Why you should try my recipe

• Very easy to make! It will take you just 10 minutes to prepare the ingredients.
• The oven does most of the job with roasting the vegetables.
• Stores in the fridge for 3 days and in the freezer for up to 2 months!
• Can be made with any type of squash like butternut, carnival, red kuri etc.
• Great for babies and little ones as it’s thick and sweet.

Ingredients & How-to

The ingredients you will need to make this butternut squash soup are: a medium-size butternut squash, one onion, a couple of carrots, one whole garlic head, some sour cream or yogurt, olive oil to drizzle the vegetables and water or stock to blend everything together. For spices and seasoning, I’m using ginger powder, turmeric, cinnamon, ground clove, nutmeg, salt and pepper, but do read along as I offer alternatives and substitutions. Let’s get started!

01. I start by preparing and cutting the vegetables. I’m using a medium-size butternut squash that I peel and then cut into big cubes. You could also use other types of squash like Carnival squash, Sweet Dumpling squash or Red Kuri squash. Next, I peel the carrots and cut them into big chunks and same with the onion, I simply cut it into four. I put everything on a baking tray that is lined with parchment paper.

02. Using a sharp knife, I cut around 1cm/0.5” from the garlic head. I place it on some kitchen foil and drizzle with olive oil. Then wrap it well and place it on the sheet pan with the other veggies. There is no need to remove any of the dry leaves, the garlic head will cook inside the foil and then we will squeeze out the cloves.

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03. Before I put the veggies in the oven, I coat them with the spices. I like to mix some ginger powder, turmeric, cinnamon, ground clove and nutmeg. I know it sounds a lot! But that’s what is going to give a nice sweet flavor to the butternut squash soup. If you don’t have ground ginger then you could use one teaspoon of freshly grated ginger instead. As for the rest of the spices, you could use one teaspoon of mixed spice instead all of them separately or one teaspoon of garam masala. I mix all the spices well and then coat all the vegetables well.

04. I put the sheet pan in the oven and bake them for about 40 minutes until they are all tender and easy to prick with a fork.

05. Now that the butternut squash, onion and carrot are roasted, I add them to a big pot so I can blend them. I open the foil, remove the garlic head and let it cool down for a minute as it’s going to be super hot to handle with my fingers. When it cools down, I squeeze out the garlic cloves by pressing with my fingers and immediately add them to the pot with the rest of the veggies.

06. To blend the soup, I add to the pot around 2.5 cups of water or stock, that’s around 600ml or 1 pint. I’m using an immersion blender, but if you don’t have one, then you could use any type of blender that you have at home. Simply add all the vegetables to the blender instead of the pot and add the stock or water to blend everything until smooth. If your blender is small, then you could try it in two batches. If you want your soup to be extra smooth, then you could use a sieve or chinois to strain it and then add it back to the pot.

07. When all the veggies are blended and smooth, it’s time to heat up our butternut squash, carrot and ginger soup, because who wants to eat a cold soup, right? I place the pot on the stove and turn on the heat at medium. At this point, I add the sour cream or yogurt to the soup and season with salt and pepper. The sour cream or yogurt are not too heavy compared to cream and will make the soup extra creamy and delicious, trust me! Keep stirring for a couple of minutes to incorporate the sour cream and to prevent the soup bubbles from splashing everywhere.

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Serving suggestions

I like to serve this butternut squash, carrot and ginger soup with some chopped chives and croutons on top as they really compliment the flavors and the croutons add texture and crispiness. You could also serve it with a slice of crispy bread on the side and a spoonful of sour cream on top or some sliced chilli for an extra kick of heat.

This squash soup is also great for little ones as it has a mild sweet taste that they are going to love. They can eat it with a spoon or drink it from a cup, and you could also give them some breadsticks to dip them in and suck all that goodness. Just remember to adjust or skip the salt according to your little one’s diet, especially if they are under 12 months.

Storage

If you have any leftovers, you could store the butternut squash, carrot and ginger soup in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days. When you are ready to eat, just warm it up in the microwave or the stove for 2-3 minutes until hot. The soup is also freezable for up to 2 months. To defrost, take it out of the freezer and leave it in the fridge overnight until it’s completely thawed. Then, simply warm it up, garnish and eat as you like.

FAQ

• What type of squash can I use for a squash soup? You could use any type of yellow squash you have in your pantry like butternut squash, Carnival squash, Sweet Dumpling squash, Red Kuri squash etc.

• How to make the squash soup vegan? To make the butternut squash soup vegan, you can replace the sour cream with a vegan yogurt or cream of your choice.

• What can I serve with the squash soup? To add some texture, you could serve the squash soup with some croutons or a slice of bread to dip in the soup. You could also garnish with some chives or coriander leaves and some sliced chilli for an extra kick of heat.

• Is the squash soup suitable for babies? The butternut squash, carrot and ginger soup is great for babies and little ones as it’s mildly sweet and thick. Serve it with sticks or slices of bread to dip in the soup. For babies under 12 months, remember NOT to add any salt to the soup as you should keep daily salt intake as low as possible.