Pureed Butternut Squash Soup

834 Ratings
  • 5 204
  • 4 261
  • 3 226
  • 2 109
  • 1 34

The secret ingredient in this easy, healthy butternut squash soup recipe is fresh orange juice, which gives the soup a bright note. Peeled, cubed squash is cooked on the stovetop with onions, ginger, and garlic until tender, and then puréed. Skip the sour cream if you want to keep the soup vegan and dairy-free, but don't miss the roasted squash or pumpkin seeds for garnish—they make a sublime finishing touch to this cozy vegetarian soup.

Everyday Food, October 2004

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Recipe Summary

prep:
25 mins
total:
45 mins
Servings:
4
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Ingredients

Directions

  • Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add ginger, garlic, and squash; cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in 4 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer until squash is tender, 20 minutes.

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  • Puree soup in 2 batches. When blending hot foods, allow the heat to escape to prevent splattering. Remove the cap from the hole of the blender's lid, and cover with a dish towel. Stir in juice and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Serve hot, with sour cream, pepper, and pumpkin seeds, if desired.

Cook's Notes

Butternut squashes have a hard rind and a golden-orange flesh. Similar to other types of winter squash, such as acorn, they are at their best from early fall through winter.

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Reviews (35)

834 Ratings
  • 5 204
  • 4 261
  • 3 226
  • 2 109
  • 1 34
Martha Stewart Member
10/12/2020
I have been making this recipe every fall for years. It has become one of our family’s fall traditions. Even my picky kid loves this recipe and looks forward to it every year! 🍁
Martha Stewart Member
12/31/2015
Love this recipe, Tastes great on the first try! I had looked up a similar recipe on a different site and chose this recipe because of the addition of garlic and onion, I love these. This one will be in my winter soup collection for sure. Thank you!
Martha Stewart Member
12/02/2014
I've made this twice already, and the second time I omitted the orange juice because I thought the juice over powered the soup. Other than that, this is a good soup to make.
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Martha Stewart Member
10/27/2014
Loved this soup so much that we doubled the recipe to have some to freeze, but agreed with the other reviewers! It needed something, so we added 1 tsp curry powder and used half water, half vegetable stock. We also added two carrots, one potato, and two celery stalks, which we think are key ingredients to a great soup. Great and simple recipe though!
Martha Stewart Member
01/25/2014
This recipe was good, but it was missing that je ne sais quoi. I roasted the squash, then added it to the other ingredients (like others have commented). I added 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp curry powder. I also used 3 cups of chicken stock and 1 cup of almond milk. I seasoned it after pureeing with salt and pepper. I like the hint of the garlic, curry and orange. I felt like it needed a tad more heat but overall it was delicious.
Martha Stewart Member
11/10/2013
I prefer cutting the squash after it's cooked, so I baked it first and let it cool a bit to handle. I also found it needed more liquid to properly puree in my blender, so I added some vegetable broth and some store-bought carrot cashew ginger soup I had on hand (maybe 1 cup) and some extra o.j. It was THE best squash soup I have ever eaten, I couldn't get enough of it. The orange juice and ginger make it very lively and bright to the taste.
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Martha Stewart Member
10/28/2013
I have been making this exact recipe each fall for 5 years now. It's a staple in our house. So healthy and delicious.
Martha Stewart Member
10/15/2013
I made this recipe, tweaked it a little bit, and it turned out awesome. First, I baked the squash in the oven until soft, scooped it out of the skin and into the pan with the sauteed butter, onions, garlic and ginger. I then added a quart of chicken broth, 1 teaspoon of each of the following spices: nutmeg, cinnamon, curry, 1 tablespoon of Cajun Style Black Fish Spice, and 3 tablespoons of light brown sugar. Then, salt and pepper to taste. It was savory with just a touch of sweet heat. Try it!
Martha Stewart Member
09/30/2013
Next tim I'll be trying it with the sour cream!
Martha Stewart Member
04/12/2013
I loved this soup. I made it with chicken stock fearing water might make it too bland. I also added some cinnamon and curry (just a dash). I found it creamy and the ginger hit the spot. Made it when I felt a sore throat coming on. Zap! Found the amount of onion and ginger to be perfect.
Martha Stewart Member
03/30/2013
This was delicious! I served it tonight for the starter for our Easter dinner, and everyone loved it. The flavor was really full, rich and just a little bit spicy from the ginger. I did roast the squash (the oven was already on, and it's much less work than peeling a raw squash) and used homemade veggie stock instead of water. Will definitely make again - regularly!
Martha Stewart Member
11/04/2012
Don't waste your time with this recipe. It was exceptionally bland. I had to add a lot of flavour to make it edible. I used chicken broth, chili flakes, curry masala & maple syrup for a bit of sweetness. Sorry Martha, but this recipe sucks!
Martha Stewart Member
09/28/2012
Came out a little too light to make a meal out of it, next time would substitute water with chicken stock, and add some cayenne pepper.
Martha Stewart Member
03/05/2012
This was surprisingly BAD. I made the recipe EXACTLY like it is written, no modifications. If I did it over, I'd use 1 tblsp onion, not one small onion, I'd use 1/2 the liquid volume and would use chiken broth, not water, skip the OJ, and maybe curry would be good as others have suggested. As written this recipe tastes like onion soup with a touch of orange juice. Blah!!!
Martha Stewart Member
11/07/2011
This was excellent! Very easy to make. I used apple juice instead of orange juice and it still turned out great.
Martha Stewart Member
10/24/2011
Fantastic! Additionally, I added 2 parsnips, 1 extra garlic clove, extra ginger, 1 apple, juice from an orange, nutmeg and a blend of cumin/tumeric/coriander/red chili powder. Used low-sodium chicken broth in lieu of water. We made a meal of it, it would be a nice start to a dinner party or Holiday diner. Best part of all, there was little cooking time. Thanks Martha, you never disappoint!
Martha Stewart Member
11/16/2010
delicious!! For me the proportions were perfect, but next time I'll experiment with a little curry powder. Or leave as is... with some fresh dark bread, a little white wine - perfect autumn/early winter meal. (I cooked the squash - a mixture of acorn
Martha Stewart Member
11/06/2010
11/06/2010 It was delicious, I think I would add more ginger(grated) and skip the orange juice. I think curry is a nice addition as a variation. Will definitely make it again.
Martha Stewart Member
10/28/2010
i always make butternut squash soup, but i add abut 1 Tblspoon of curry, 8 oz of apple juice, 1 whole onion along with 1 apple (chopped) saute add water, broth...cook until soft and later puree with hand blender....the best
Martha Stewart Member
10/26/2010
I was extremely excited to make this recipe, unfortunately the taste of ginger spoiled it for me. Quite bland soup as well, like 'monwhats4dinner' added previously. It was definitely a waste of ingredients and money. I had to throw it away the same day. Perhaps w/potatoes and some kind of meat like GusG made it, would be pretty delicious. Will not be making it again.
Martha Stewart Member
10/21/2010
I make butternut squash soup every year. Yes, it has to be dressed up. We add sauteed onions, diced potatoe and this year we added some breakfast sausage, cut into 1 inch pieces and browned first. YUM!! The Fam loved it!
Martha Stewart Member
09/20/2010
never tried butternut squash soup before, so I had nothing to compare it too. I found it bland, not sure if you added something to it ,if it would make a difference. my aunt liked it, so I guess its good!
Martha Stewart Member
10/06/2009
It's not hard to figure out nutritional value yourself - just look at the labels on your ingredients.
Martha Stewart Member
02/27/2009
Here is the nutritional value for 1 serving of this soup. I did not use the Orange Juice nor Sour Cream. Nutrition Facts Amount Per Serving Serving Size 1/4 of recipe 250g (250 g) Servings per container 4 160 Calories from Fat 52 Total Fat 6g 9% Saturated Fat 4g 18% Trans Fat 0 Cholesterol 15mg 5% Sodium 50mg 2% Total Carbohydrate 28g 9% Dietary Fiber 5g 19% Sugars 6g Protein 3g Vitamin A 480% Vitamin C 81% Calcium 11% Iron 9%
Martha Stewart Member
02/26/2009
With nearly everyone counting calories and nutritional values I would love it if we could get that info on these recipes.
Martha Stewart Member
02/26/2009
Instead of sour cream, I made this with half and half, coconut milk, and chicken stock and adjusted the seasonings to take. It was awesome!
Martha Stewart Member
01/16/2009
I've made this soup before but used chicken broth no water, and pureed the whole thing. Adding a potato (cooked) to the soup and puree gives it a much creamier feeling. Or use sour cream
Martha Stewart Member
11/07/2008
This soup is fantastic. I used 1 TBSP of jarred pre-pureed ginger instead of fresh (I like Ginger People brand). I just made this recipe and i used one 2 3/4 pound squash. A regular large squash is about that weight.
Martha Stewart Member
11/02/2008
I'm a huge butternut squash (actually all squashes) fan, but this didn't really do anything for me. This is a rather earthy soup. I cut the amount of onion in half, and chopped it finely in a food processor, and that helped a bit. There needs to be something more creamy about this soup to make it really satisfying as it looks like it should be.
Martha Stewart Member
02/04/2008
easy and very apetising when it's cold outside.
Martha Stewart Member
11/12/2007
Didn't turn out for me...My husband is a butternut squash lover but he didn't like this very much. Maybe I did something wrong :(
Martha Stewart Member
11/11/2007
We served this at a Pumpkin Carving Party and people raved about it! It was wonderful and not too difficult.
Martha Stewart Member
11/11/2007
We served this at a Pumpkin Carving Party and people raved about it! It was wonderful and not too difficult.
Martha Stewart Member
11/07/2007
This sounds delightful for when it is cold outside.
Martha Stewart Member
11/06/2007
Please show a picture of the whole butternut squash. People get them mixed up with the acorn squash.
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