Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

I love this roasted butternut squash soup recipe so much! It's the perfect comfort food on a cool afternoon; besides being delicious and super healthy, its beautiful bright color just lights up the table.

If you're looking for festive fall recipes or Thanksgiving recipes, this one definitely ticks both boxes. And it's as pretty as it is scrumptious!

For other must have holiday recipes, you can also try these delicious roasted Brussels sprouts or these perfect homemade mashed potatoes.

The ingredients

This healthy roasted butternut squash soup is vegan and is just packed with nutrients! The ingredients I used in this soup are:

• one butternut squash
• yellow potatoes
• carrots
• a Granny Smith apple
• a yellow onion
• garlic
• olive oil
• low-sodium vegetable broth
• nutmeg
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper

You may even have the majority of these on hand already, they're so simple. But just wait and see how these flavors come together--sooooo, so good. One secret is the Granny Smith apple which imparts a rustic sweetness to the soup, and the other secret is roasting the squash, potatoes, carrots and apple before cooking the soup. That's when these flavors really pop!

How to make butternut squash soup

Once you have the prep done for this soup, the rest is a breeze--just hands-off roasting and simmering. The butternut squash itself is the only ingredient that requires some tips (if you haven't cooked with one before), and here they are.

You'll want to look for a medium-sized squash, weighing roughly 3 pounds, but don't worry if it's a little smaller or larger than that.

Use a sharp vegetable peeler to remove the skin first, and then start slicing 1-inch chunks off the skinnier end until you get to the main bulb where the seeds are.

Cut another slice or two until you can easily access the seeds, and then use a metal spoon to scrape out all of the seeds--those can be discarded or composted.

Now the hard work for your butternut squash soup is done! That wasn't so bad, right? 😉

You can continue chopping up the squash into 1-inch chunks, and then peel and chop the potatoes, carrots and apple as well. Mix all of those up in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil and some salt and pepper for roasting.

Roast those veggies (and apples!)

Next up, the roasting. I like to line a baking sheet with parchment paper to make cleanup easier, but you can also roast the butternut squash, veggies and apple directly on the sheet pan if you prefer to brown then a little more. Note that the apple will get a little soft/mushy either way you roast it, and that's perfectly fine (it's all just going in the soup pot anyway.)

You're going to roast the vegetables and apples at 400 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until just tender and browned.

After that, you'll sauté the onion and garlic in some olive oil in a big soup pot and then add the broth, roasted veggies and apples, and spices and simmer for about 15 minutes.

And lastly, carefully blend the soup in a couple batches using a high-speed blender like a Vitamix if you have one, or just use a regular blender on the purée setting. Warning: the soup will be extremely hot; be careful not to place you hand directly on the lid while blending as steam will coming up through the lid.

Adjust the seasonings if needed, and you're done! This is honestly the best butternut squash soup I've ever made. It makes a perfect first course to dinner, but has enough calories to easily stand alone as a light lunch paired with some crusty bread. Enjoy!