Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

Enjoy in the warmth of our creamy butternut squash soup, a wholesome soup for chilly nights. Made with butternut squash, carrots, onions, and celery, it's both delicious and nutritious. The addition of coconut milk provides a luxurious, creamy texture. On your table in 40 minutes or less!

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Total Time40

Servings: servings

Calories: 145kcal

Author: Sandra

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter Unsalted. See Note 1.
1 large onion Diced. Note 2.
3 teaspoons garlic Minced.
2 teaspoons fresh ginger Chopped. Note 3.
1½ teaspoons sea salt Note 4.
½ teaspoon white pepper Note 5.
½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves 1 to 2 sprigs. You can sub 1½ teaspoons dried thyme leaves. Note 6.
1 large butternut squash Peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 6 cups). Note 7.
2 celery stalks Roughly chopped. About 1.5 cups.
2 medium carrots Roughly chopped. About 2.5 cups.
4 cups vegetable stock
1 cup coconut milk Full fat canned coconut milk. Note 8.

Instructions

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.
2 tablespoons butter
Add onion, garlic, ginger, salt, and pepper. Stir and cook until the onion is soft. Note 9.
1 large onion, 3 teaspoons garlic, 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, 1½ teaspoons sea salt, ½ teaspoon white pepper, ½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Add squash, celery, and carrots and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
1 large butternut squash, 2 medium carrots, 2 celery stalks
Pour stock into the pot and bring to a boil.
4 cups vegetable stock
Once boiling turn heat down to low. Add the fresh thyme sprig(s). Simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until carrots are soft.
Remove from heat. Strip any remaining leaves from the thyme sprigs and drop the leaves back into the pot. Discard the woody stems. Puree the soup with an immersion blender.
1 cup coconut milk
Stir in the coconut milk.
Serve warm and add garnishes if desired.

Notes

This recipe calls for unsalted butter to provide better control over the salt content. If you only have salted butter on hand. It's okay to substitute salted butter, but you will likely need to adjust the amount of salt you add to the soup. Give it a taste and adjust the amount of salt as desired.
A yellow onion would work best in this recipe. They have a slightly sweet and savory taste that works well in butternut squash soup recipes. In addition, they provide a subtle onion flavor without overpowering the sweetness of the squash. If you prefer, you can substitute a white onion. It's a good choice if you want a more delicate onion presence in your soup. For a sweeter soup, go for a sweet onion variety, like Vidalia or Walla Walla.
You can substitute ½ to 1 teaspoon of ground ginger.
For the fresh ginger, because the ginger skin is edible, you can take the time to peel the ginger or not. The choice is yours. For this soup, peeling the ginger is an unnecessary step because the simmering will soften the skin. If you do choose to peel it, the easiest way is with a spoon. I demonstrate how to do this in my spicy chicken soup post.
This recipe calls for sea salt. Sea salt is less salty than regular table salt. You can substitute regular table salt, but you will need to use less. Start with ¾ teaspoon and adjust from there according to your preference.
This soup calls for white pepper for two reasons: color and flavor. I didn't want any black pepper granules to show in the finished dish. White pepper also has a milder flavor than black pepper. In a delicate soup like butternut squash, white pepper's milder flavor allows the sweetness of the squash to shine through more prominently.
I used fresh thyme sprigs in step 5 of the recipe (the simmering stage). If you don't want to deal with the woody stems later, you can strip the leaves off of the stems and stir them in at this stage.
You also have the option of substituting 1½ teaspoons dried thyme leaves in this recipe. If you substitute dry thyme leaves, add them at steps 2 or 3 when you are pre-cooking the vegetables.
Do you have to peel the butternut squash? Not really. The skin is edible. However, I do recommend peeling it so that the final product has a smoother texture. However, the choice is yours. If you're pressed for time, go ahead and leave the skin on, but bear in mind that the skin can sometimes result in specks in the soup so that it would not look exactly like the photos in this recipe post.
This recipe calls for full fat canned coconut milk. You can usually find this in the Asian section of your grocery store. The coconut milk you find in cartons near the regular milk is not a suitable substitute in this recipe. The coconut milk is what provides the creaminess.
If you are substituting dried thyme leaves. Add it at this step.

Nutrition