How to Prepare the Creamiest Soup Consisting of Butternut Squash

Here are some of the things that make me interested in butternut squash soup: In this sunny bowl of cozy, soothing soup, my favourite seasonal ingredients come together to create a dish that warms me from the inside out. One good thing about winter-at least-is the opportunity to indulge in homemade Butternut Squash Soup lightly flavoured.

This one-pot chili-which I will get to in a second-is based on the soup that I love to eat more than any other at Panera Bread-you know the one. When that freezing-cold winter hits, their Autumn Squash Soup is all that I can really think about; it’s a flavour that is a little sweet but balanced, with a wonderfully creamy texture. Here is how to make an even better version at home, and a version that’s ready in under an hour.

Better-than-Panera Butternut Squash Soup

This Butternut Squash Soup is Better than Panera’s

Panera’s Autumn Squash Soup is often referred to as the best butternut squash soup. That’s not only for reasons that it’s very popular but also because it contains the perfect mix of flavour and textual features.

Some ingredient detective work led us to this home hacks version of this house favourite. On its website, Panera touts that its über-popular soup is made with cream cheese and apple juice concentrate, and we leveraged that intel by adding whole apples and a splash of cream cheese to our basic butternut soup-and oh boy, did the resulting formula fly. We didn’t stop there, however. With just a few more steps, this will be the best butternut squash soup there is.

3 Key Steps for the Best Butternut Squash Soup

• Instead of roasting, blow the squash. It seems easier to just throw some unpeeled halves of squash in the oven to roast until tender, but this will actually take twice as long to cook. Or you can boil peeled cubes.
• And if you are really in a bind, you can use frozen butternut squash, which is what you should do. Spices are flowering. You add the spices at the same time you are sautéing the onion, apple, and squash in a little oil. Adding spices so early may be paradoxical, but the warm oil amplifies their flavour, yielding a soup that is more robust and satisfactory of flavour.
• Add in a dollop of pumpkin puree. Other recommendations that were inspired by the list of ingredients at Panera include pumpkin puree added to the soup for creaminess and added dimension to the squash.

Serving Butternut Squash Soup

Once tender, the pot of puréed squash gets the addition of pumpkin, cream cheese, and maple syrup. You get a velvety-smooth soup with the help of an immersion blender. Serve hot, swirl heavy cream, half-and-half or even yogurt in every bowl and sprinkle ground cinnamon on top.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 small butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (or 1 pound cut squash)
• 1 large honeycrisp apple, peeled and chopped
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 quart (32 ounces) low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 cup pumpkin purée
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 ounces cream cheese
• Heavy cream or half-and-half, for serving

Equipment

• 6-quart Dutch oven
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Chef’s knife and cutting board
• Immersion blender
• Can opener
• Wooden spoon
• Vegetable peeler

Instructions

• Saute the apple, butternut squash, and onion in a skillet. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high until it shimmers.
• Add the onion, squash, and apple. Season with half a teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for ten minutes; the onions will be translucent, the squash and apples will start to brown.
• Spices bloom: Add curry powder, ginger and cinnamon. Stir frequently to coat vegetables well. Cook, stirring frequently, two minutes until spices are fragrant.
• Add broth; boil, stirring to scrape up browned bits from bottom of pan. Once the liquid has reached a boil, reduce the heat to a low.
• Cover and continue to simmer for approximately twenty minutes, or until the squash is extremely
• soft and the soup has a golden brown colour and a fragrant aroma. Remove the pan from heat when its not hot anymore, add pumpkin puree.
• Turn the heat off; take the pot out. In a mixing bowl, whisk together pumpkin, maple syrup, cream cheese, and remaining half teaspoon of salt, until cream cheese is melted.
• With an immersion blender, puree soup as smooth as possible. Alternatively, transfer soup to a stand blender and blend in batches.
• Now it’s time for soup serving. Sprinkle some ground cinnamon on top while serving the soup and add a splash of heavy cream or half-and-half in the mixture.

Recipe Notes

Storage: Store the container in the refrigerator, making sure it is airtight. Freeze up to two months.

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