Creamy Vegetarian Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

This is definitely a guilt-less Creamy Vegetarian Roasted Butternut Squash Soup recipe that is very creamy, smooth, and silky with no extra heavy cream involved! Pureeing all the cooked vegetables mainly forms the creamy texture of this soup.

This Roasted Butternut Squash Soup will warm you up with its semi-sweet flavor and slight hint of spicy kick; fill you up, as it is quite hearty. With an addition of a scoop of sour cream, the soup will have an enhanced balance of flavor of sweet, sour, and a hint of gingery spice.

As it looks quite sophisticated, this soup is one of my go-to-holiday-meal ideas. You can make it ahead of time and just heat it up when you want to serve it. The soup also goes well with other Thanksgiving or Christmas meals. Yes, the holiday is over, but I like to make it once in a while when I feel a little bit under the weather and make a full use of my favorite dutch oven. If you have plenty of leftovers, you can also freeze the soup to consume it later – say for the next month or so.

Note: You can add more water to thin out the soup. Also, you can always try out many different toppings. To give an idea, for non-vegetarian, sprinkle some bacon crumbles. Yum!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium-sized butternut squash – peeled, seeded and diced
• 2 stalks celery – cut into small pieces
• 3 cloves garlic – minced
• 1 inch ginger – thinly sliced
• 2 medium-sized shallot – thinly sliced
• 1 medium-sized onion – diced
• 4 cups water (or more if you like thinner soup)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
• Salt and pepper to season

Optional Topping:

• Sour Cream
• Crispy French Onion
• Avocado slices

Directions:

• Roast the diced butternut squash in the over under 425 degrees Fahrenheit or 220 degree Celsius for about 45 minutes. Set aside after the squash is done roasting.
• While the squash is roasting, pre-heat the oil and butter in a dutch oven or a pot under medium to high heat to make the butter a bit brown.
• Lower the heat to medium or low heat. Add garlic, shallot, garlic, and onion. Stir it constantly until the onion is translucent.
• Add 3 cups of water and celery to the dutch oven or pot. Stir and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the celery is soften. Turn off the heat.
• Add the roasted squash and the remaining water.
• Transfer everything inside the dutch oven or pot to a blender and blend until it is completely smooth. (Or you can blend it directly using a handheld blender stick).
• Transfer back to the dutch oven or pot and turn on the heat to low. Add nutmeg, sage, salt and pepper. Stir and simmer for about 10 minutes.
• Serve the soup immediately, put a scoop of sour cream, add avocado sliced, sprinkle it with crispy onion and enjoy while it’s hot!