Sweet, buttery, savory, creamy, and above all, thick. Roasted butternut squash and apple soup combines a lot of fall flavors into a hearty soup that’s incredibly versatile in its toppings and can easily be made vegetarian or vegan with only minor tweaks.
If you know someone that loves pumpkin, they’ll probably enjoy this soup as well. Butternut squash is a type of winter squash in the same family as pumpkin. The flavor and color are similar as well, with butternut squash having a sweet, nutty flavor and tastes great when roasted. Can you make this soup without roasting the squash? Of course, you could. Should you skip roasting it? Only if you hate flavor, duh.
This version of my butternut squash soup is a little more involved and has a much larger depth of flavor than my Roasted Butternut Squash Soup recipe. Where that one utilizes fall spices and puts the squash front and center, this recipe uses fall herbs and layers flavors to complement and enhance the squash.
Ingredients for Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Some recipes for butternut squash soup will keep the list of ingredients fairly simple so that the squash flavor truly shines through. This recipe includes a full mirepoix of onion, carrot, and celery as well as multiple fresh herbs. The butternut squash is still the star, but the rest of the ingredients add layers and depth of flavor that are just incredible. If you’d prefer a slightly simpler version or you’re more of butternut squash purist, try my Roasted Butternut Squash Soup recipe also.
Butternut Squash – To make a good butternut squash soup, you’ll obviously need the main star. Look for a squash that’s give or take about 3 pounds.
Mirepoix – This recipe uses onion, carrot, and celery in the base. I used one large yellow onion, 2 medium carrots, and 2 celery ribs.
Apple – I use one granny smith apple here. Feel free to use your favorite apple, but there’s a good reason more than 90% of recipes for this soup use granny smith: the tartness of the apple balances the sweetness of the butternut squash.
Garlic - Depending on their size, 3-5 cloves is a good amount here. About a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger also goes really well if you have some on hand.
Spice – Totally optional, but I add about a ½ teaspoon of crushed red pepper as it cooks. I found that amount gives just the slightest hint of heat. Skip if you don’t like heat or double the amount if you do like heat. Alternatively, you can leave it up to the individual by having crushed pepper or cayenne as a topping.
Fresh Herbs – I use a combination of fresh rosemary, thyme, and sage here. Roughly one sprig of rosemary, 5-6 sprigs of thyme, and 2-3 sprigs of sage. I used fresh herbs from my garden, but you can also find all 3 of these in the produce section at the grocery store. Some stores will even sell all 3 in one package as a “poultry herb blend” that should work perfect and save you money. If you really want to skip using fresh and use dry instead, I’d say about ¼ to ½ teaspoon of each.
Broth – Even with everything going into the soup, you’ll need a liquid to thin it out and add volume. I use about ¾ cup of chicken stock for the flavor, but you can also use vegetable broth or even water to make the recipe vegetarian or vegan.
Cream – I like to use some cream to lighten the flavor and add a creaminess to the soup. I go with a ½ cup of heavy cream here, but you could also use crème fraiche or even sour cream. If you’re going vegan, switch this with unsweetened coconut milk.
Oil – I use 2 tablespoons of olive oil to cook the vegetables in, as well as some on the butternut squash as it cooks in the oven. You could also use butter in the soup but keep it as olive oil if you’re going for a vegan soup.
Salt and Pepper – Season with salt and pepper. You’ll season the squash before roasting, and the vegetables when you begin cooking them on the stove. After blending, taste and add more salt and/or pepper if needed.
How to Make Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Before going into the directions, I wanted to mention that there are numerous ways to make this soup. This is just my own preference, and other methods aren’t necessarily better or worse, just alternatives. I’ll go over some of them in the section below on alternatives for the soup. I like to roast the squash on its own in the oven because it gives me time to chop all the other ingredients and get them started on the stove while the squash cooks and cools.
Preheat your oven to 425°F/220°C.
Prepare the butternut squash by slicing off the top and a little of the bottom. Stand it up and cut straight down the middle, splitting the squash into 2 equal halves. In the wider section at the bottom, you’ll see a lot of seeds and fibers. Use a serving spoon, regular spoon, or even ice cream scoop to remove all of that. Set that aside if you wish to reserve the seeds as a topping, or toss.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set the two halves of squash on the sheet. Drizzle with some olive oil on both sides and season with salt and pepper. Place the two halves cut side down and place into oven. Roast the squash for 30-40 minutes. Begin checking around 30 minutes by gently probing with a sharp knife. If the knife easily slides through the skin, it’s ready. Remove from the oven and allow to cool enough to handle.
While the butternut squash is cooking, prepare the vegetables. Because the soup will be blended later, you only need to make a rough, large dice on the onion, carrots, and celery. Peel, cut, and chop the apple into a large dice as well, and roughly chop the garlic and set everything aside. Using some kitchen twine, tie together the herbs and set aside as well.
Once the squash has been removed from the oven, begin cooking the vegetables. Heat a large, heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and add your oil. Once heated, add the onion, and cook until it starts to become translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Now add the carrots, celery, and apple, season with salt and pepper, and continue cooking and stirring about 5-6 minutes longer.
While everything else is cooking, scoop the flesh out of the butternut squash and set aside. If the squash is still hot to the touch, use a paper towel to hold it while scooping. Add the squash, garlic, and ginger and red pepper (if using) to the pot and mix to combine. Cook about another minute and then add your chicken or vegetable broth, stir to combine, and place your fresh herbs into the mixture. Bring everything to a boil, then cover and lower temperature to a simmer and let it cook for 30 minutes. The time you cook it is up to you. If you’re in a hurry you could give it 5-10 minutes, or an entire hour or two if you’re not. The longer it cooks, the deeper the flavor.
After it has cooked in the pot, remove the lid, and turn off the heat. Remove the bundle of herbs and trash them. If some of their leaves fall off, that’s fine, just adds more flavor to the final soup. Allow it to cool about 5 minutes and begin transferring the mixture to a blender in batches. Be very careful when blending a hot soup and don’t fill the blender too much beyond halfway. Loosen or remove the plastic feeder cap from the lid and cover with a kitchen towel. Start slowly on a mix or chop setting, then increase to a puree, blending until the mixture looks like it has all been combined and is smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Alternatively, use an immersion blender and blend everything directly in the pot until smooth.
After the soup is fully blended, place back into the pot over low heat and add your cream, stirring until fully combined. Use a ladle or large spoon to check the consistency. If the soup is thicker than you like, add some more broth or water until it’s at your preferred consistency. The soup should be thick, but still pourable from a ladle or spoon without looking thin and watery. Now taste and adjust for salt and pepper and sweetness. Depending on the broth or stock that you use, you made need to add more salt or none at all. If you want a little more sweetness, add some honey or maple syrup.
Serve in soup bowls and top with your choice of toppings or none.
Toppings and Alternatives for Butternut Squash Soup
Toppings for Butternut Squash Soup
Toppings are completely optional and down to personal preference. They can really enhance a soup like this by providing extra flavor and added texture. Here’s a few options to consider, and feel free to combine some of your favorites.
Seeds – Save and toast the squash seeds you removed or use seeds like sunflower or pepitas (pumpkin seeds). Also consider toasted sesame seeds.
Herbs – Top with some fresh herbs like basil, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, thyme, sage. If you use sage, I do recommend flash frying it first.
Spices – Freshly cracked black pepper is great, but also consider things like cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne, red pepper flakes, etc.
Cream – Use more of the cream you used in the soup, or switch it up with heavy cream, crème fraiche, sour cream, coconut milk, etc.
Cheese – Add some crumbly cheese like queso fresco, feta, blue cheese, or a harder cheese like grated parmesan.
Bacon – Either store-bought bacon bits or some chopped up bacon made for the soup.
Croutons – Again, either some store-bought ones you like, or some homemade garlic croutons.
Oils – A little splash of extra virgin olive oil goes well or use an infused oil for added flavor.
If you’re curious about the toppings in my photos, I used a splash of heavy cream, fresh black pepper, the squash seeds lightly toasted and fried, and fried sage leaves.
If you want to reserve the seeds from the squash, pick them out of the fibrous part of the flesh you removed after cutting the squash and place in a bowl of water. Clean them as best you can, then strain them out and place on some paper towels and roll them around to finish cleaning and dry them some. Place in a small skillet over med-low heat and toast them to finish drying them and cook until just beginning to show color. Remove from the pan and add some oil. Once the oil is hot, toss the seeds back in and fry another minute or two until just turning brown and remove them to cool.
For the sage, add oil to a small skillet, just enough to cover the bottom and heat over medium heat. Place individual sage leaves into the oil and fry on both sides for about a minute or two total. The leaves should go from a bright green to deeper, slightly dark green. Pull them out and place on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil. They’ll continue to cook some after you remove them, so pull them before they get too dark, or you’ll end up with burnt and blackened leaves instead.
Alternative Methods and Options for Butternut Squash Soup
As mentioned earlier, there are several ways to make this kind of soup. The method I use is to roast the squash separately and cut in half with the skin still on, while cooking the other vegetables in some oil in a pot. Because of the amount of ingredients in this version of the soup, roasting the squash separately gives me time to prep all the other ingredients.
Roast Together – Another method is to roast all the vegetables together. For this method you may need a 2nd baking sheet and skip lining it for the most flavor. After cutting the squash in half, use a peeler to remove the skin, or just cut it off with a knife. Chop the butternut squash into large cubes, a good inch or two in size. Chop the onion, carrot, celery, and apple into large chunks as well, about a ½ inch to 1 inch in size.
Place all the ingredients into the baking sheet, two if it becomes crowded, and drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake in the oven at the same 425°F, but only for 20-25 minutes. Check the squash with a knife and cook until it’s easily pierced and gaining some color. Place all the ingredients into a pot and then add a little water to the baking sheet so you can scrape up any fond left behind. Add that to the pot as well, and then cook as directed, starting where you add the garlic and seasoning.
All in One Pot – You can also skip the oven altogether and try to get some color in the pot instead. You’ll need a good-sized pot to do this in as stirring can become difficult. Use the same method as above for cutting all the vegetables and apple. Get the pot on medium to medium-high heat with a few tablespoons of oil. Start with the squash and let it cook for a few minutes without moving it around. When you can start seeing the squash on the bottom browning, start stirring it every few minutes. Keep stirring the squash so that a good amount can gain color before adding the other vegetables. Once you’re happy with the color on all the vegetables, continue the recipe from where you add the garlic and seasoning.
Blending – When blending soups into a smooth puree, you’ll want to use a quality blender. You absolutely don’t need a high end Vitamix, but you do need one that can puree all the ingredients smoothly, and honestly, most blenders under $100 just don’t do a great job at this. If you don’t have a blender, you think can manage it, a less expensive alternative is a decent immersion blender which some people prefer when making soups.
Also, be very careful when blending a hot soup and don’t fill the blender too much beyond halfway. Loosen or remove the plastic feeder cap from the lid and cover with a kitchen towel. Start slowly on a mix or chop setting, then increase to a puree, blending until the mixture looks like it has all been combined and is smooth, about 1-2 minutes.
Vegetarian – This soup is very easy to make vegetarian, as all you need to do is swap out chicken stock with vegetable broth or water and avoid toppings like bacon.
Vegan – If you want to make the soup vegan-friendly, swap out the chicken stock for vegetable broth or water. In addition, use only oil instead of any butter for cooking, and instead of heavy cream, crème fraiche, or sour cream, use unsweetened coconut milk or another non-dairy alternative.
Storing Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Once the soup has cooled completely, place it in a large enough container and store it in your refrigerator for 4-5 days.
This soup also freezes perfectly. Again, allow the soup to cool completely and transfer it to an airtight, freezer safe container. The soup should last for 3 months frozen. Thaw overnight in your refrigerator or run the container under hot water until it’s loosened and drop into a pot to simmer until you’re ready to eat.
📋 Recipe
Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Ingredients
- 1 3-pound butternut squash, cut in half and seeds removed/reserved
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1 large yellow onion, roughly diced
- 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
- 2 ribs celery, roughly chopped
- 1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled and roughly chopped
- 4-5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon ginger, grated, optional
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 5-6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2-3 sprigs fresh sage
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper, optional
- 3 cups chicken stock
- ½ cup heavy cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F/220°C.
- Prepare the butternut squash by slicing off the top and a little of the bottom. Stand it up and cut straight down the middle, splitting the squash into 2 equal halves. In the wider section at the bottom, you’ll see a lot of seeds and fibers. Use a serving spoon, regular spoon, or even ice cream scoop to remove all of that. Set that aside if you wish to reserve the seeds as a topping, or toss.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set the two halves of squash on the sheet. Drizzle with some olive oil on both sides and season with salt and pepper. Place the two halves cut side down and place into oven. Roast the squash for 30-40 minutes. Begin checking around 30 minutes by gently probing with a sharp knife. If the knife easily slides through the skin, it’s ready. Remove from the oven and allow to cool enough to handle.
- While the butternut squash is cooking, prepare the vegetables. Because the soup will be blended later, you only need to make a rough, large dice on the onion, carrots, and celery. Peel, cut, and chop the apple into a large dice as well, and roughly chop the garlic and set everything aside. Using some kitchen twine, tie together the herbs and set aside as well.
- Once the squash has been removed from the oven, begin cooking the vegetables. Heat a large, heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and add your oil. Once heated, add the onion, and cook until it starts to become translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Now add the carrots, celery, and apple, season with salt and pepper, and continue cooking and stirring about 5-6 minutes longer.
- While everything else is cooking, scoop the flesh out of the butternut squash and set aside. If the squash is still hot to the touch, use a paper towel to hold it while scooping. Add the squash, garlic, and ginger and red pepper (if using) to the pot and mix to combine. Cook about another minute and then add your chicken or vegetable broth, stir to combine, and place your fresh herbs into the mixture. Bring everything to a boil, then cover and lower temperature to a simmer and let it cook for 30 minutes. The time you cook it is up to you. If you’re in a hurry you could give it 5-10 minutes, or an entire hour or two if you’re not. The longer it cooks, the deeper the flavor.
- After it has cooked in the pot, remove the lid, and turn off the heat. Remove the bundle of herbs and trash them. If some of their leaves fall off, that’s fine, just adds more flavor to the final soup. Allow it to cool about 5 minutes and begin transferring the mixture to a blender in batches. Be very careful when blending a hot soup and don’t fill the blender too much beyond halfway. Loosen or remove the plastic feeder cap from the lid and cover with a kitchen towel. Start slowly on a mix or chop setting, then increase to a puree, blending until the mixture looks like it has all been combined and is smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Alternatively, use an immersion blender and blend everything directly in the pot until smooth.
- After the soup is fully blended, place back into the pot over low heat and add your cream, stirring until fully combined. Use a ladle or large spoon to check the consistency. If the soup is thicker than you like, add some more broth or water until it’s at your preferred consistency. The soup should be thick, but still pourable from a ladle or spoon without looking thin and watery. Now taste and adjust for salt and pepper and sweetness. Depending on the broth or stock that you use, you made need to add more salt or none at all. If you want a little more sweetness, add some honey or maple syrup.
- Serve in soup bowls and top with your choice of toppings or none.
Equipment Used
Notes
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Nutrition
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