Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Who is ready for spring? (raises both hands) Although this winter is taking forever to wrap up, I will say I am not quite sick of the delicious seasonal veggies we have at the moment. This soup highlights one of the best out there; butternut squash. Butternut are super versatile, being great for roasting, making into noodles, sauteing, and of course blending up into extra rich and creamy soups to warm you through this freezing season. They are an amazing source of vitamin A which is essential not only for good vision, but also important for immune function and is a great antioxidant. All of those things are pretty important for general health, and definitely for athletes who are constantly pushing their bodies to perform.

The curry flavor in this soup is such a warm and welcoming spice that perfectly complements the equally warming feel of butternut squash. (If you don’t like curry, just omit the curry powder and this soup is still pretty wonderfully delicious!) What I really love though is the simplicity of this soup. It only has 6 ingredients, most of which you probably already have in your kitchen, but tastes impressively rich and complex. Hope you give this easy, filling, and nourishing recipe a try while winter is still going strong and you need a little something warm in your life. Enjoy!

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Makes about 6 cups

1 medium butternut squash (about 2 lb. or 1 kg. squash)

1 cup (150g) small diced onion (about 1 medium onion)

2 tbs. garlic, minced

1 tbs. vegetable or olive oil

4 cups (960ml) chicken or vegetable stock/broth

2 tsp. curry powder

Peel squash, remove seeds, and cube flesh into 1” (2.5cm) pieces.

Heat a large pot on medium heat. When nice and hot add the oil, onion, and garlic. Saute until onion is translucent. Add the squash and then the broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes or until the squash is extremely tender throughout.

Remove from the heat and (careful, its hot!) either blend until smooth with an immersion/stick blender, or blend in batches in a blender. If using a blender you may want to only blend ~2 cups at a time and take off the removable middle piece on the lid if it has one, then hold a clean rag over it while you blend. This will allow steam to escape and prevent hot soup explosions (no fun).

Once the soup is pureed very well, stir in the curry powder until evenly mixed into the soup. Enjoy right away or let cool to room temperature, then cover and store in the fridge for up to a week.

Great garnishes for this soup include fresh spices like cilantro and basil or tiny cut veggies like onion, scallion, or peppers.

Notes: I used regular/full sodium broth for this soup so therefore did not need to add any extra salt. Make sure you taste the soup after it is blended to see if you need to add any salt, especially if you have used reduced sodium broth to make it.