Earthy, silky smooth, and deliciously warm this Spiced Butternut Squash Soup brings home the flavor with spices like allspice, clove, thyme and cinnamon. This soup is cozy and brings forth wonderful accents of butternut squash, orange and cranberry. Perfect for the fall season!
Hello September!
It’s here already. Fall is upon us and I’m SO excited! The temperatures are starting to dip, the leaves are starting to turn and I find myself wanting to crawl into my comfy pants and curl up on the couch with a blanket! The fall season is by far…BY FAR…my favorite season! Why is it my favorite season? Because of flavor memories. I know that sounds weird…so let me explain.
I grew up in an environment where my mom, grandmother and great-grandmother were always in the kitchen cooking. I’m not exaggerating when I say always…like…no down time kind of always. Well, unless they were asleep. They were always making some type of bread, soup, casserole or dessert. And in the fall season, they stepped up their game and always had smells of cinnamon, squash, pumpkin, clove, apples, oranges and cranberry coming out of the kitchen. Gosh – I remember the smell of fresh cooked bread the most. And because of that, all those fabulous fall season smells are all a part of my flavor memories.
Chef Like A Boss
What chef do you follow? Is there a chef that inspires you? Recently, I’ve been following chef John Fraser. There’s just something about his cooking style and his creativity with food that I admire. His recipes and creativity inspire me. His approach is earthly, organic and raw. And he loves to use every part of an ingredient because every aspect of the food contributes something unique to the recipe. Oh, I love that!
I recently came across one of his Butternut Squash soup recipes and I immediately knew I had to make it. This soup recipe is very ingredient-focused, vegetarian and vegan-friendly. It heavily focuses on the fall season…all-things spice. I switched things up a bit with this recipe based on ingredients and methods that personally inspire me, but I kept his “don’t scrap the scraps” method. Fraser uses the entire ingredients (including the peels) in this recipe to extract the flavors. That’s a gold nugget cooking tip. Wow – this method REALLY intensifies the flavor!
Ingredients
Let’s talk ingredients.
- Butternut Squash
- Extra-virgin Olive Oil
- Whole Allspice
- Black Peppercorns
- Salt
- Fresh Thyme Sprigs
- Whole Cloves
- Cinnamon Stick
- Chinese Five Spice
- Shallot
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Orange Zest
- Parsley
- Fresh Cranberries
- Pumpkin Seeds
How To Make Spiced Butternut Squash Soup – Step By Step
Grab the butternut squash and cut them in half, lengthwise. Grab a spoon and gut the seeds and flesh from the squash and place in a small bowl. You’re going to use those seeds so don’t discard them.
Next, you’re going to peel the squash and dice into cubes. Make sure you keep the peelings.
Heat a large pot or a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tablespoon of oil and swirl around to coat. Add in the butternut squash peelings and seeds and saute for about 10 minutes or until lightly brown. Add in 7 cups of water, the whole allspice, Chinese Five Spice, whole black peppercorns, thyme sprigs, whole cloves, cinnamon stick, and fresh whole cranberries. Bring to a boil and then cover, reduce the heat and let simmer for 45 minutes.
What you’re doing in this step is making a butternut squash stock. You’re extracting the flavors from the vegetables and spices. This is vegetable cooking at its finest!
After 45 minutes, you’re going to strain the squash stock into a large bowl. Now you can discard all the solid peelings, seeds and spices.
Return back to your large pot or dutch oven and add the remaining 3 Tablespoons of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil and shallot. Saute on medium heat for about 3- 5 minutes, or until the shallot starts to turn brown. Add the cubed squash, cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the reserved squash broth and salt. Grab an orange and zest the peeling into the soup mixture. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 40 minutes or until the squash is tender.
Once done, place half of the squash mixture in a food processor.
Blend until smooth. Repeat the blending process with the remaining butternut squash. Once all the squash is blended, pour in the apple cider vinegar and stir with a large spoon until well combined.
Ladle soup into bowls. Top evenly with fresh chopped parsley, fresh chopped cranberries and pumpkin seeds.
Why You’ll Love This Spiced Butternut Squash Soup
- It’s chef inspired. Not just any chef though…chef John Fraser inspired. He’s a star chef and his inspiration as a chef is very similar to my desire and passion to be a successful food blogger. He takes food to the another level…and that’s exactly where I am with my cooking and food blog. More on that in another post. You should look him up here.
- What’s the story? What’s the reason…Why this ingredient, Why this recipe? – because of those flavor memories. This recipe takes me back to my childhood. To the memories of my mom, grandmother and great-grandmother.
- The butternut squash is earthy and homey…the perfect comfort food. It has incredible flavors and a silky texture. With this recipe you’re extracting natural sweetness from the vegetable.
- It’s vegan, vegetarian, dairy free and gluten free. All natural ingredients. Clean ingredients. Healthy.
Tips for Making This Soup
- Get a REALLY sharp knife to cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise. I always get intimidated cutting fruits and vegetables with hard shells. Having a sharp knife really helps with cutting through the butternut squash.
- Pace yourself when making this recipe. You really want the natural flavors to extract during the process, so be patient. It’s SOOO worth it!
- Chef Fraser tops his version with cilantro and pomegranate seeds. Get creative and top this with your favorites like goat cheese, chives, bacon or fresh ground pepper. Oh…and a toasted french baguette dipped in this soup is so divine!
Other Fall Favorite Recipes You May Like
If you like this classic fall soup recipes, you’re going to LOVE these other fall favorites on my food blog:
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Apple Pumpkin Spice Cake with Butter Rum Glaze
- Hubbard Squash Soup
- Autumn Spiced Sweet Mashed Potatoes
I hope you found this blog post and these step-by-step instructions helpful! If you’ve tried this Spiced Butternut Squash Soup or any other recipe on the blog, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how it turned out in the comments below! I love hearing from you! You can also sign up for my newsletter and FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food I’m creating!
Spiced Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Butternut Squash, Cut in half lengthwise
- 1/4 cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, divided
- 7 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice, whole
- 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, whole
- 6 thyme sprigs
- 3 cloves, whole
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 teaspoon Chinese Spice
- 1 shallot, diced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- Zest of 1/2 an orange
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh cranberries, divided
- raw pumpkin seeds, for garnish
Instructions
- Grab the 2 butternut squash and cut them in half, lengthwise. Grab a spoon and gut the seeds and flesh from the squash and place in a small bowl. You're going to use those seeds so don't discard them.
- Next, peel the squash and dice into cubes. Make sure you keep the peelings. Do not discard.
- Heat large pot or a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and swirl around to coat. Add in the butternut squash peelings and seeds and saute for about 10 minutes or until lightly brown.
- Add in 7 cups of water, whole allspice, Chinese Five Spice, whole black peppercorns, thyme sprigs, whole cloves, cinnamon stick, and fresh whole cranberries. Bring to a boil and then cover, reducing the heat and let simmer for 45 minutes.
- After 45 minutes, you're going to strain the squash stock into a large bowl. You can now discard all the solid peelings, seeds and spices.
- Return back to your large pot or dutch oven and add the remaining 3 Tablespoons of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil and shallot. Saute on medium heat for about 3- 5 minutes, or until the shallot starts to turn brown.
- Add the cubed squash, cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the reserved squash broth and salt. Grab an orange and zest the peeling into the soup mixture. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 40 minutes or until the squash is tender.
- Once done, place half of the squash mixture in a food processor. Blend until smooth.
- Repeat the blending process with the remaining butternut squash. Once all the squash is blended, pour in the apple cider vinegar and stir with a large spoon until well combined.
- Ladle soup into bowls. Top evenly with fresh chopped parsley, fresh chopped cranberries and pumpkin seeds.
Nutrition
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We love eating butternut squash and I’m so glad that we’ll be getting plenty of it now that Fall is here. I love the spices you use in the soup! Also the garnish you use just makes the soup pop up from the screen. A very lovely dish.
Heartwarming soup, perfect for the autumn and love the addition of cranberries here! Slurppppp