Butternut Squash Soup
Rainy fall days make me want to cuddle up with a big blanket, light a wood-wick candle, have a Harry Potter movie marathon, and have a delicious bowl of soup. If you’re a fan of butternut squash soup, I think I may have created the best recipe! It is so flavorful and so easy to make! A simple roast of butternut squash with yellow onion, enhanced by delicious fall seasonings, and made even more creamy by the internet’s current favorite high protein ingredient: cottage cheese. Vigorously blended for 2-3 minutes, and you can’t even tell that there was any cottage cheese added to begin with! Cottage cheese is honestly is the perfect ingredient for this recipe because it makes the soup deliciously creamy without being high in fat (if you’re using low-fat cottage cheese), and adds some protein content to a dish that is inherently low in protein. That’s a win in my book! I did also try this recipe without the cottage cheese, and it is also good that way if you prefer a less creamy butternut squash soup, but I am personally all about the creaminess!
Tips for making this recipe:
Butternut squash is an intimidating vegetable to peel and cut! If you’ve never cubed a butternut squash before, here are some tips to help out!
Chop off the very top and bottom of the butternut squash so it creates a flat surface for you to cut it in half (length-wise). Make sure you are using a sharp knife so that you don’t have to do as much work. Using a sharper knife actually creates a safer cutting environment so that you aren’t forcing anything unnecessarily!
Using a good vegetable peeler, peel the butternut squash before you cut it in half! It looks like it would be difficult to peel, but it honestly isn’t too hard if you have a good peeler. Here is an inexpensive one that I use and like!
After you cut the butternut squash in half length-wise, use a spoon to core out the seeds. You can actually keep the seeds and roast them for a crunchy snack or topping if you so desire!
After coring out the seeds, you have a long, flat, surface for stable cutting! Cut it into equally-sized 1-inch cubes for the most even cooking.
When blending, I recommend adding the roasted butternut squash and onion to a blender with the chicken broth only and blend this first before adding the cottage cheese. After adding the cottage cheese, blend for a good 2-3 minutes total, making sure to push down the top part of the blended food to ensure that everything is getting equally blended! The point of the cottage cheese is to add creaminess without knowing that we used cottage cheese, so we don’t want any visible chunks! I used my Vitamix blender for this recipe, but you can also use an immersion blender, or blend for a longer period of time with any blender that you already own!
What to eat this soup with:
This soup is delicious all on its own, but you can also enhance it by adding certain toppings, sides or entrees! For one, I love topping this butternut squash soup with nuts or seeds. You could top it with walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or my personal favorite: pecans! If you like a little garnish for color, you could add fresh rosemary or thyme, as their dried counterparts are used as seasonings for the roasted butternut squash and onion. Some cracked black pepper, cinnamon, or smoked paprika could also be great additions for additional flavor and visual interest depending on what type of flavors you want to be at the tip of your tongue.
If you’re looking for a side dish or entree to go along with your soup, look no further than my Fall Harvest Salad recipe! This recipe features a kale base, topped with shredded chicken, roasted fall vegetables, pecans, and goat cheese, with a maple balsamic dressing. The similar flavor profiles of these two dishes are sure to compliment each other well! Who doesn’t love a fall soup and salad combo? If you’re more in the mood for a “tomato soup and grilled cheese” type of meal but are looking for a fun fall twist, that could be this butternut squash soup recipe combined with a grilled sandwich with swiss cheese and sliced apples. If you like cinnamon, you could even add a sprinkle of cinnamon to the apples before grilling for some extra flavor!
RECIPE: Butternut Squash Soup
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
1 yellow onion
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried sage
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp salt
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Peel and chop the butternut squash and yellow onion into approximately 1-inch cubes. Add to a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Add all seasonings and oil, then toss to coat the pieces evenly. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes. After roasting, add the roasted vegetables to your blender and add the chicken broth. Blend for ~30 seconds, then add the cottage cheese. Blend until smooth (about 2-3 minutes). Serve immediately with your desired toppings, and enjoy!
