This deliciously creamy and Easy Butternut Squash Soup is made with farm-to-table veggies and a smoky chipotle sauce. Make ahead of time and freeze for up to 3 months!
Chipotle Roasted Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
Time to make the soup! Butternut squash is one of the best winter veggies around and I love making it into a soup. This chipotle butternut squash soup recipe is super easy to make, can be made ahead of time, and there’s always lunch leftovers for the next day. Wooohooo!
I usually make a curry and ginger version of this soup but one day I left those out and put in some chipotle peppers instead. The smoky/slightly spicy flavors against the sweetness of the squash and carrots were delicious.
This time I used canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, but I’ve used Tabasco Chipotle sauce before and it’s a great substitute, maybe just a touch milder in spiciness.
These carrots came from a local organic farm so no need to peel them. I always leave carrots unpeeled if they come from a reliable organic source and I just scrub the outside really well with a soft vegetable brush.
It’s nice to get a little caramelization on the carrots and onions. A light brown color is what you are want. Just don’t burn them because the soup will taste burnt and nobody likes burnt soup.
Roasting butternut squash
Normally when I make this soup, I peel the raw squash, cut it in half, and scoop out the seeds. Then, I cut the raw squash into 2-inch cubes and roast the cubes. Well, today I bought a huge 5 pound squash and, since I really like having all my fingers intact, there was no way I was cutting into this monster of a veggie raw. Y’all know how hard it is to cut into a winter squash!
Since this squash was so large, I roasted the squash whole in the oven. Once it was done roasting, I cut it in half, removed the seeds and pulp, then finished cooking it in the broth.
Top the soup with homemade roasted pumpkin seeds
This soup is so good topped with roasted pumpkin seeds. Make them at home by putting some raw (green hulled) pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet and roast for about 4-5 minutes in a 400F degree oven. You’ll hear them popping so just keep an eye on them so they don’t burn. And that’s it! Simple and easy. No need to season them unless you want to.
To make seasoned ones, toss the raw pumpkin seeds with a little oil and whatever seasonings you prefer and then roast for 5 minutes.
Pictures above of raw green pumpkin seeds (on the left) and roasted (on the right). See how they plump up when they are roasted?
Pumpkin seeds are better tasting and healthier to snack on than peanuts. You can also use them to make pumpkin seed butter to use in place of peanut butter (perfect for peanut allergies).
Enjoy this chipotle easy butternut squash soup recipe and please leave a comment below to let me know! Don’t forget to serve some garlic cheddar angel biscuits with it too.
Chipotle Easy Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 5 pound butternut squash (about 10 cups cubed)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion , diced
- 2 medium carrots , diced
- 6 cups vegetable broth (can substitute chicken broth)
- 1 tablespoon canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce , finely mince the peppers or just use the sauce (can substitute Tabasco chipotle sauce)
Optional accompaniments: top with vegan sour cream (or dairy sour cream or plain yogurt), roasted pumpkin seeds, chopped cilantro, and/or chipotle sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/176C degrees. Wash outside of squash, pierce with knife in 3-4 places, place on baking sheet and roast whole for about 90 minutes, or until knife easily slides in. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
- After squash has cooled enough to handle, cut down the middle, carefully scoop out seeds, then scoop out all the pulp. At this point, the squash pulp can be tightly covered in a container and placed in the refrigerator for a few hours or days, until you are ready to use it.
- Put olive oil in large heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat. Saute onion and carrots until slightly brown.
- Stir in cooked butternut squash pulp, broth and chipotle sauce (can add more than 1 tablespoon if want soup spicier). Heat the soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from heat and use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Top with optional accompaniments: vegan sour cream (or dairy sour cream or plain yogurt), roasted pumpkin seeds, chopped cilantro, and/or chipotle sauce
Recipe Notes & Tips:
- Soup can be made and frozen, for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for a day before using.
- Blend the soup again before heating to get a smoother consistently, if needed.
Katie Crenshaw says
Karrie, this soup is calling my name!! I will be making a batch of this tonight!! Thanks for the fabulous recipe as always! xoxox
[email protected] says
Yay Katie! Please let me know how you like it
Joleen Moe says
I had this similar soup in a restaurant once and instead of the cream sauce on top, they used a balsamic glaze. It was excellent
[email protected] says
That sounds delicious!
Sadie says
This soup sounds great and I REALLY like “make ahead”!
I do not like to peel and cube the squash – far too much work ! I use the packaged cubed squash. How many cups of squash do you get from a 5 # squash?
Thank you and looking forward to making and eating this soup !!
Karrie says
Thanks Sadie and I LOVE made ahead anything soups too! Really , I love make ahead anything, lol! You should need about 6 cups of cubed squash to equal 5 pounds. If it’s a little more or less, I’m sure that would be okay. Hope you enjoy the soup and please let me know how the recipe turns out for you!
Karrie says
Hi again Sadie, I just made this soup the other day and measured out the cubed butternut squash. 5 pounds is actually 10 cups of cubed squash, so it’s around 2 cups of cut squash per pound.