I grow butternut squash in my garden because I love the fact that they last all through fall into winter. I used home-grown squash in this easy butternut squash soup with coconut milk, and I could not get enough!
Usually, I use yogurt or cream to make a classic butternut squash soup to amp up the creaminess, but I didn’t have any on hand. Coconut milk is a common ingredient in butternut squash soup, but it is usually paired with curry spcies and the like, which is not what I was looking for.
The small amount of coconut milk that I used added just the right amount of fat to make this soup super satisfying, creamy, and filling. The velvety texture of the butternut is truely complimented by a small amount of ultra rich coconut milk!
The other thing I love about coconut milk is that it stores as cans in the pantry, not fresh in the fridge. This means that I can have it on hand all the time to make simple meals like this one!
Tips and Tricks for the Easy Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk recipe:
- Don’t want to chop a squash? Search for cubed squash, fresh or frozen, instead.
- Have a whole squash, but don’t have time to chop it? Chop your own squash in advance and refridgerate or freeze the cubes so that they are ready come dinner time!
- Have a small squash? Try making a half batch, or use two to make the whole recipe.
- Freeze leftovers! Pour any leftovers into freezer safe 2 cup containers to freeze individual servings. This makes it easy to pull out exactly what you need for a speedy lunch or dinner!
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 stalks celery, diced
- 2 TBS olive oil or butter
- 3 lb butternut squash, peeled and diced (8 cups or 48 oz)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp thyme
- ¼ tsp each: black pepper and nutmeg
- ½ cup full fat coconut milk, plus more for garnish (if desired)
- Optional garnishes: smoked paprika, pepita seeds, minced parsley, coconut milk
- In a large pot or dutch oven, combine onion, celery, and oil or butter. Let this saute over medium low heat for 10-30 minutes. The longer it sautes, the sweeter the onions become. I let mine saute the full 30 minutes while I chopped the squash. If you use prechopped squash and want to speed things up, 10 minutes will do just fine.
- Add the diced squash and garlic to the pot. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Mix in broth, salt, thyme, black pepper, and nutmeg. Simmer for 30 minutes, or until the squash is tender.
- Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender, removing the center from the blender lid and covering it with a cloth to let steam escape. Mix coconut milk into pureed soup.
- Serve with garnishes, if desired.
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