This healthy roasted butternut squash soup recipe is the perfect addition to any cook’s repertoire, but it’s positively perfect as we move out of the summer heat and into the crisp fall weather. While the creamy texture and sweetness of butternut squash makes this feel like the kind of comfort food we crave as the air cools off, the low calorie count and health content of the squash make this an incredibly healthy, and easy option, for the table.
The harvest season for butternut squash starts in September, and this fruit (yes, it’s a fruit, not a vegetable), is prime full of flavor and ready to cook. This simple butternut squash soup recipe allows the delectable richness of the squash itself to take front and center, heightening the flavor through the roasting and only pairing a few other ingredients to maintain the integrity of the squash itself.
What ingredients will I need?
This is a simple and quick recipe list. First, you’ll need your butternut squash. If you haven’t worked much with this fruit (I know, it’s hard to think of it as a fruit, but it is), you’re looking for a firm skin, which indicates the squash has had time to mature. The butternut squash should be tan, perhaps slightly orange, and not shiny. You want the skin a little dull, because this lets you know the fruit has been allowed to fully ripen. The squash will also be about 8-12 inches in size.
All right, now you have your butternut squash picked out, the only other ingredients you’ll need to round out your list are vegetable stock, shallots, garlic, A carrot, sage, a little bit of butter, some olive oil, nutmeg, some pepper, and a little bit of honey. That’s it. Stripped down ingredient list.
Making Healthy Butternut Squash Soup
Making a healthy butternut squash soup is as simple as the ingredient list. The most intensive part of this dish is the roasting of the butternut squash, and that’s not that hard.
First, warm your oven to 425 degrees.
Next, cut your butternut squash lengthwise. Clean out the seeds and strings so you have a nice, smooth, inside. Put the squash on parchment paper on a roasting pan. Brush the inside surface of the squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Flip the squash so the inside is flat to the roasting pan and the outside skin is facing up.
Put the squash in the oven and roast for 50 minutes.
While your squash cooks, you will lightly saute your shallots, carrots and garlic. Chop your shallots and garlic. Coat a saute pan with olive oil and warm it to medium temperature. Put your shallots and carrots in the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until they have caramelized. They will have a translucent look to them and be slightly brown. Add the garlic for the last 30 seconds of the cooking process.
Add these to your blender or food processor.
When the squash is finished the outside skin will have blistered some and have brown spots. The inside will have a smooth consistency that allows you to easily slide a spoon into the meat of the squash and scoop it out. If a spoon doesn’t slide easily into it and its still slightly hard, it might need a few more minutes of roasting.
Scrape the squash out of the center and scoop it into your blender or food processor with your shallots, carrots and garlic.
Add your vegetable broth, butter, olive oil, honey, sage, and nutmeg to the blender and season with salt and pepper. Blend on a puree setting for 4-5 minutes. You don’t need to use the highest setting on your blender as this could cause the consistency to get too runny.
The consistency of the soup should be smooth and have a texture similar to a creamy tomato soup. You don’t want it runny like the consistency of a liquid broth and you also don’t want any chunks of squash.
Once you’ve blended it to the desired consistency, all you need to do is add it to a sauce pan and warm it to serving temperature. Warm it up on a medium temperature and when it’s steaming but not boiling, you are ready to go!
Health Benefits of Butternut Squash for Multiple Sclerosis
Butternut Squash is one of those amazing winter squashes that is loaded with vitamins and nutrients and low in calories, which we love for MS. It’s got our favorites, Vitamin C, the B vitamins, and lots of antioxidant properties, but butternut squash also packs an outstanding amount of Vitamin A. We don’t talk about Vitamin A as much as some of the others, so we thought we’d bring it up here.
Vitamin A has some wonderful anti-inflammatory properties, which we we have discussed before is incredibly beneficial for MS. In addition, the main metabolite in Vitamin A is retinoic acid, which is connected to regeneration, plasticity, cognition, and behavior. This boils down to the potential for Vitamin A to help protect the brain for MS patients. As with a lot of MS research, there is plenty more to learn about the impact of Vitamin A on MS patients, and it’s not recommended as a treatment at this time, but we’re excited about the thoughts of adding a Vitamin A rich Butternut Squash Soup to the diet!
Please visit our Resources page if you are interested in finding some of the tools and gadgets Dre uses to make cooking accessible while combatting MS.
Ease into Fall with this Healthy Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Description
This healthy, simple, butternut squash soup recipe is quick and easy to make and provides the rich warmth of fall comfort food without all of the calories. Perfect to serve by itself or paired with a salad or sandwich, this is a great addition to your table!
Ingredients
Instructions
-
Heat oven to 425° in line a baking sheet with parchment paper
-
Cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper
-
Place the seasoned squash skin side up in the oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes
-
Meanwhile, heat a skillet to medium – medium high heat and sauté the carrots and shallots for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic in the last 30 seconds. Remove from heat and add the ingredients to a blender.
-
Remove squash from the oven and flip to cool. Once easy to handle, spoon/scrape the flash of the squash into the blender making sure there is no skin attached.
-
Add the honey/agave, nutmeg, cayenne and butter to the blender
-
Add 2 cups of the vegetable broth and blend 4 to 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. You may need to add more broth depending on the size of the squash.
-
It's still hot, you can pour it into a serving bowl from the blender. If not you may want to put it in a medium sauce pan over medium heat to warm. Garnish with green onions, enjoy!
