The Best Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
This really is the best roasted butternut squash soup. It is creamy, easy to make, and has the perfect balance of flavors!
My friend, Rachael, brought this soup to our book club, and everyone went crazy for it! I’ve tried so many versions of butternut squash soup over the years, and I’ve always been underwhelmed. Until now! This soup is intensely delicious and is definitely the best butternut squash soup I’ve ever had!
Ingredients for Butternut Squash Soup
One of the reasons I love this butternut squash soup so much is that the flavors are perfectly balanced. Butternut squash is naturally sweet, so it’s important in a savory squash soup recipe to compliment the sweetness with a bit of salt, heat, and creaminess.
- Butternut squash: Pre-packaged squash cubes work brilliantly well in this recipe. One large or two small-medium butternut squash, peeled and seeds/pulp removed, will yield the 2 pounds/6 cups squash cubes needed for the recipe.
- Onions: Use two medium onions for this recipe. White, yellow, or red onions can be used. This may seem like a lot of onions, but once they are roasted in the oven, the pungent flavor mellows and sweetens.
- Chicken bouillon paste: This ingredient packs a hefty flavor punch and is important in the recipe. I use Better Than Bouillon brand paste. You can sub 2 cups chicken broth in place of the water + bouillon; however, I would still recommend adding a scoop of bouillon paste or 1 to 2 bouillon cubes to deepen the savory flavors. You can sub in six bouillon cubes for the 2 tablespoons bouillon paste.
- Garlic: Use 2 to 3 medium cloves garlic and finely mince or press through a garlic press.
- Cream cheese: This ingredient adds creaminess and a bit of acidity, which helps balance the sweetness of the squash. No need to let it soften first – it melts when added to the hot soup.
- Milk + Cream: I suggest using 2% or whole milk. You can sub in 1 cup half-and-half for the milk and cream, if desired.
- Cayenne pepper: Don’t skip this ingredient! It doesn’t make the soup spicy. Rather, a pinch of cayenne pepper will cut through the richness and add delicious contrasting flavor.
A few other everyday ingredients, like water, salt and pepper, are also used in the recipe. I’m pretty sure you don’t need me to spell out the ins and outs of how to obtain those secret ingredients. 😜
How to Make Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
- Roast the squash and onions in the oven with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper until lightly caramelized and golden.
- Scrape the squash and onions into a soup pot and add the water, bouillon, and garlic. Bring to a simmer.
- Add the cream cheese and let melt into the hot soup for a few minutes.
- Use an immersion blender and puree the soup until smooth (alternately, you can ladle the soup into a blender to puree – make sure to vent the lid to let steam escape!).
- Stir in cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to tase. This might be the most important step of the entire recipe!
- Serve the soup warm with cooked, crumbled bacon (optional, but really delicious!).
This recipe makes a moderate amount of soup. It can be easily doubled for more servings.
Just between you and me, I’ve had some very lackluster experiences with butternut squash soup in my lifetime. But this amazing roasted butternut squash soup has changed that for good!
Let’s set aside the fact that I very much embarrassed myself when my friend, Rachael, served this at book club (as in, begging for the recipe after dishing up seconds and thirds – hey! The bowls were reallllly small, ok?) and just focus on the fact that everyone else was also raving about it.
My family absolutely loved this soup when I made it for them, and I am so, so happy to finally have a butternut squash soup worth passing down through the generations. This one is a keeper!
What to Serve With This:
- Cooked, crumbled bacon
- Easy no-knead peasant bread
- Harvest Apple Salad
The Best Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds butternut squash cubes (see note)
- 2 medium onions, peeled and sliced into thin half moon strips
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
- â…› teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon paste (see note to use chicken broth or bouillon cubes)
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 6 ounces cream cheese
- ½ cup milk (I use 2%)
- ½ cup heavy cream (see note)
- â…› teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus more, to taste
- Optional garnish: cooked, crumbled bacon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Scatter butternut squash cubes and onions evenly over half sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lightly toss. Roast in the oven for 1 hour without stirring until the squash and onions are tender and golden.
- Scrape the squash/onion mixture into a 4-quart pot. Add the water, bouillon, and garlic. Bring to a simmer.
- Stir the cream cheese cubes into the soup. Turn the heat off and let the cream cheese melt into the soup, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the milk and cream and stir to combine.
- Using an immersion blender (or ladling the soup into a blender), blend the soup until smooth. *If using a blender, vent the lid so steam can escape.*
- Return the soup to medium-low heat to heat through. Stir in the cayenne pepper. Add additional salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste.
- Serve warm with crumbled, cooked bacon on top, if desired. The soup will thicken a bit as it cools.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe (inspired by a recipe my friend, Rachael, brought to book group – from her friend Kat F. – I changed up the cooking method substantially and varied the ingredient amounts, reducing the cream cheese just a bit, adding garlic, giving exact amounts for estimated ingredients, etc)