Easy Butternut Squash Soup (One Pot, 30 Minutes)

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Truffle rolled the butternut squash across the inn’s kitchen floor like a prize at the county fair. It was almost as long as Truffle.

“Soup,” Truffle announced. “Orange soup. No bacon, no ham, nothing that ever said oink.”

A long brown face pushed in through the open window. Clyde never fits through the kitchen door, so he does all his talking from out there. “You’ll never peel that,” he said. “The skin on that thing is tougher than my hooves.”

Gerzsi handed over a Y-shaped peeler. Pale strips of skin piled up on the board, and a few of them went straight into Clyde’s mouth. “Quality control,” he mumbled.

Half an hour later the pot was blended smooth and the whole kitchen smelled of onion and squash. Truffle got the first bowl. Clyde got the second one, balanced on the windowsill.

Why this one works

It has seven ingredients, and the squash does most of the work. The cubes simmer in broth instead of roasting in the oven, so everything happens in one pot in about 30 minutes. A half cup of cream at the end makes it silky without hiding the squash.

Easy Butternut Squash Soup

Servings: 9 (about 1 cup each)
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
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A smooth one-pot butternut squash soup with onion, garlic, vegetable broth and a little cream.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium butternut squash, about 3 lb (1.4 kg), peeled and cubed
4 cups (about 950 ml) vegetable broth
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream
Optional, to serve: a little extra cream and crispy fried sage leaves

Directions

Get the squash ready first, since it takes the longest. Peel it, cut it in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and cut the flesh into cubes of about 1 inch (2.5 cm). Chop the onion and mince the garlic.
Warm the oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring now and then, until it turns soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and give it about a minute, just until you can smell it.
Add the squash cubes, pour in the broth and season with the salt and pepper. Bring it up to a boil, then turn the heat down, put the lid on and let it simmer until a fork slides easily into the squash, roughly 10 to 15 minutes.
Take the pot off the heat and blend until completely smooth. A stick blender can go right into the pot. If you use a countertop blender, work in batches, fill the jar no more than halfway, and leave the lid vent open with a folded towel over it so the steam can escape.
Put the soup back over low heat and stir in the cream. Warm it through, but don’t let it boil. Taste and add more salt if it needs it.
Ladle into bowls. If you like, swirl a spoonful of cream on top and add a few crispy sage leaves.

Make ahead: the soup freezes well. Freeze it before you add the cream, then stir the cream in after reheating so the texture stays smooth.
Lighter version: plain Greek yogurt can stand in for the cream.
With vegetable broth, the whole pot is vegetarian.

How Chef Tamás makes it

Chef Tamás (a real head chef, 25 years in professional kitchens) answered our questions about this soup. He makes it differently in one big way: he roasts the squash first instead of simmering it from raw. He sprinkles the cubes with sugar before they go into the oven so they caramelize. His seasoning goes in at the end, together with butter or cream. And he puts orange in it, either a splash of orange syrup or a real orange.

At the restaurant he makes 5 to 10 liters (about 5 to 10 quarts) at a time, and he doesn’t bother storing it: “It’s done fast. No need to keep it around.”

🧰 Tools we use

A stick blender, straight in the pot. See America’s Test Kitchen’s winning stick blender on Amazon
A Y-shaped peeler for the squash. See the Y-peeler ATK rated best on Amazon
A big pot. See ATK’s Best Buy Dutch oven on Amazon
His own knives.

Tamás didn’t name brands for this one. The linked models are America’s Test Kitchen’s picks for the same jobs.

💡 Chef Tamás’s tricks

Roast the squash with a little sugar sprinkled on top, so it caramelizes before it goes into the soup.
Season at the end: spices like nutmeg or ginger, then butter or cream.
Add orange. A splash of orange syrup or a real orange brightens the squash.
The two mistakes he sees most often: too little salt, and a soup that isn’t blended smooth enough.
On top: pumpkin seed oil and toasted pumpkin seeds, or bread cubes tossed in pumpkin seed oil.

🛒 Worth buying for this recipe

Braun MultiQuick 5 hand blender (MQ505). The winner of America’s Test Kitchen’s immersion blender test: light, easy to steer, with simple buttons you can work with one hand. It lets you blend the soup in the pot, so there is no hot liquid to pour around. About $80 at the time of their review. See it on Amazon
Kuhn Rikon Original Swiss Peeler. America’s Test Kitchen’s best overall peeler. In their test it went through hard butternut squash skin without trouble and stayed sharp. About $9. See it on Amazon
Cuisinart Chef’s Classic 5 qt enameled cast iron casserole. The Best Buy in America’s Test Kitchen’s Dutch oven test. A 5 quart pot holds this batch (about 2 1/4 quarts of soup) with room to blend without splashing. Check price. See it on Amazon
Pumpkin seed oil. Chef Tamás’s topping of choice for this soup. Look for a dark green Styrian-style oil. Check price. See pumpkin seed oil on Amazon

Adapted from Butternut Squash Soup on Taste of Home. Cooked our way at the inn. Chef Tamás’s notes are his own.