Butternut Squash Potato Soup

Why Does Everyone Love This Soup

Fall season is a time for some of the best vegetables. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, and squash to name a few. There are so many variations of each one of those vegetables, we’ll never even see them all at the store.

I’m a simple girl, I tend to go for the basics. Butternut squash, pumpkin, and acorn squash are my three favorite ones. When it comes to taste, acorn squash is a more savory out of the three, pumpkin is a little sweeter, and butternut squash is the sweetest one.

This flavor combination of a little sweetness from butternut squash with potatoes is very pleasant in this soup. These vegetables make it very comforting on cooler days.

Key Ingredients and Substitutions

Butternut squash – this type of winter squash has a slight sweetness to it and it balances beautifully with the hearty potatoes. If you want less sweetness in the soup, I would recommend acorn squash.

Potatoes – I would recommend using either gold potatoes of Idaho potatoes for the soup.

Heavy whipping cream – this is a great ingredient to add rich creaminess to the soup. If you don’t have any available, you can use half and half but nothing with less fat. To increase the richness of the soup, you can stir in a couple of tablespoons of sour cream or plain Green yogurt.

Cheese – I absolutely love using sharp cheddar cheese because it gives the soup more flavor. If you wish, you can use mild cheese instead.

How To Make Butternut Squash Potato Soup: Step by Step and Tips

1. Mise en place: always start with prepping your ingredients first, otherwise you’d be frantically trying to peel and chop while that pot is burning.

Expert tip on working with butternut squash: cut it in half (lengthwise) first, before starting to peel. It’s pretty slippery to trying to cut it after it’s peeled, could result in an injury. It’s a lot more sturdy when cut in half, so it will be easy to hold and peel and then chop.

2. Once your veggies are chopped, start cooking onions first and then adding garlic and finally squash and potatoes last. I always let my vegetables sauté until golden brown because that will add more flavor to the soup. To get the golden sear, don’t stir and disturb the veggies too much.
3. When the veggies got some sear, pour in the broth but just enough to so they are all covered. Too much liquid will result in a runnier soup.
4. Add the seasoning and let the soup simmer on medium-low heat until veggies are fork-tender. And that’s exactly how you’d check, just poke them with a fork to make sure they are very tender.
5. Time to blend! Take out bay leaf first, it is NOT pleasant blended into the soup. You can transfer the soup into a heat-proof blender or use an immersion blender. Just make sure the soup is blended smooth with no chunks.
6. Once blended, just stir in the cream and grated cheese and stir until cheese is blended. That’s it, the soup is done!

Variations and Additions to Try

Cheeses – you can always bump up the cheese flavor by using another softer cheese with rich flavor. If you want to use parmesan cheese, make sure it’s freshly grated off the block because it will melt better.

Bacon – you can always cook some bacon separately and then stir in some crunchy bacon pieces into the soup or add some on top.

Other root vegetables – you can also add carrots, yuka, or parsnips to this soup.

Vegan option – to make sure soup creamy without using dairy, use unsweetened coconut cream (NOT cream of coconut). I hear cashew cheese or cashew puree can substitute cheese, although I have not tried it myself.

Can I Freeze This Soup?

Technically, yes, you can freeze this soup but I have a couple of recommendations and warnings.

• If you plan to freeze it, make the soup without adding cream of cheese, cool it completely, and freeze in freezer bags or freezer containers. Thaw slowly, in the refrigerator, for up to 24 hours.
• Add the cream and cheese while reheating the soup.
• Note that the texture will change slightly. Potatoes tend to change texture after freezing and thawing so it may affect overall texture of the soup.

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More Comforting Soups To Try

• The Best Butternut Squash Soup
• Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
• Pumpkin Soup
• Slow Cooker Winter Squash Beef Stew
• Loaded Baked Potato Soup Recipe

This recipe was originally posted on Will Cook For Smiles on October 6, 2012.