2013 – Gluten Free Living

This is a fabulous-tasting soup that’s creamy due to the yogurt, has the wonderfully sweet flavors of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and apples, and the savory flavors of thyme, onions, garlic, leeks, and sage to offset each other. Add the pungency of apple cider and the heat of cayenne pepper and you have a delicious and amazing soup on your hands.

I love soups made with butternut squash, pumpkin, or sweet potatoes. They add such a rich flavor and texture to soups. This one, made with butternut squash, has a nice rich flavor and a wonderful pureed texture. The seasonings work together marvelously.

I was looking online a couple of days ago trying to find a new recipe for butternut squash soup and I found two recipes that I borrowed from and combined to make this one. I knew basically what I wanted and what I didn’t want in the soup.  I didn’t want a curried soup. Most soups are either sweet or savory but not both. I wanted both.

If you’re looking for a delicious butternut squash soup recipe that’s healthy, low calorie, and gluten free, consider adding this to your repertoire. Sweet and Savory Butternut Squash Soup is a great soup for cold winter nights and a fabulous comfort food for whatever ails ya! If you want to make this vegan simply exchange the yogurt and substitute coconut milk instead.

I served this delicious soup with a dollop of Chobani vanilla Greek yogurt, a sprinkle of cinnamon and some fresh thyme. 

This soup was simply amazing. I loved the texture and the taste. 

I love fresh thyme in recipes. It adds such a distinctive taste. The cayenne pepper was not overwhelming but enough to give it a delicate kick. Adding the yogurt cooled the palate.

This is a simply wonderful soup your whole family will love. I loved the taste of sage. My fresh sage was moldy so I had to use dried sage. But I think fresh sage would be spectacular in this recipe. I probably could have increased the measurement to a full teaspoon of dried sage to add a little more zest.

The addition of cinnamon and fresh thyme on top really increased the flavor of this wonderful soup.

Here’s what I did.

I roasted two large butternut squash in the oven at 350 for about an hour or an hour and 30 minutes.

Here I’ve peeled the butternut squash and removed all the seeds. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to make the soup.

Here’s a picture of the butternut squash peels and seeds.

Place about 5 tbsp. olive in saute pan.

Add diced red onion.

Add diced apples. I don’t peel them because I like the extra fiber, but feel free to peel them if you like.

Add sliced carrots and saute in olive oil.

Add cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

Add seasonings to skillet.

Add cayenne pepper. I started out with about 3 dashes. After tasting later, I added about 3 more dashes. It was less than 1/8 of a teaspoon.

Saute fruit and veggies for about 10 minutes.

Add minced garlic from a jar.

Here I’ve added the garlic. Saute about 5 minutes.

Add about a tablespoon of fresh thyme.

Here I’ve added the thyme.

Add Kosher salt.

Add sage. I wish I’d had fresh sage. I would have added about 1/4 cup of chopped fresh sage. This is about 3/4 tsp. I think it could have used a full teaspoon or more.

Wish I’d had fresh, but this is what I had to use.

I added sage and stirred it into mixture.

I added about 1/3 cup of apple cider.

Add 2 quarts of vegetable broth.

Add 3 bay leaves.

Mash sweet potatoes and add to broth and vegetable mixture.

Here’s what all the ingredients look like stirred together. I simmered the soup over a low heat for 30-40 minutes.

Remove bay leaves.

Place mixture in blender in batches and puree until smooth.

Here’s a look at the soup before pureeing.

Here I’ve put the mixture in the blender. Blend about 10 seconds.

Place your hand on top of the blender to protect the mixture from coming out the top.

Here’s what the soup looks like after pureeing.

Add vanilla Greek yogurt.

Add yogurt and stir into soup until smooth.

Here’s what the soup looks like after stirring in the yogurt. If you want to make this vegan simply stir in coconut milk instead.

Here’s a look at the butternut squash soup now.

Here the soup is ready to serve. It has spectacular flavors.

Here’s a close up view. I loved the addition of yogurt, thyme and cinnamon. It just added to the sweet and savory essence of this soup.

Snipped chives, sliced green onions or even a little sprinkling of cayenne pepper would be an excellent garnish along with the Greek yogurt.

Time to serve up this beautiful and delicious soup.

The cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg add great flavors to this Sweet and Savory Butternut Squash Soup.

Here’s the recipe.

SWEET AND SAVORY BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

(Inspired by Epicurious Farmhouse Butternut Squash Soup and Chobani Roasted Butternut Squash Soup)

2 very large butternut squash – about 5-7 lbs.

3 Gala apples, UNPEELED, cored, diced (peel if desired, but I like the apples unpeeled to add extra fiber)

3 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 cup red onions, diced

1 leek, green top removed, sliced (I had to omit this because I didn’t have any)

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

2 32-oz. containers vegetable broth

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. ginger

½ tsp. nutmeg

¼ cup fresh sage leaves, chopped or ¾ tsp. dry sage (I would probably increase this to a full teaspoon next time)

3 bay leaves

2 heaping tsp. minced garlic from a jar

2 cups Chobani vanilla Greek yogurt

1 tsp. Kosher salt

about 6-8 dashes cayenne pepper (less than 1/8 tsp.)

5 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. fresh thyme

Chobani vanilla Greek yogurt for garnish

snipped chives, green onions or thyme for garnish

cinnamon for garnish

Bake butternut squash in 350 oven until done – about 1 ½ hours. Cool. Peel, remove seeds, mash with potato masher and set aside. In large stock pot add about 5 tbsp. olive oil. Add apples, carrots, leeks (if using) and onions and begin sautéing. Add cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and garlic. Stir to combine and continue sautéing. Add salt, cayenne pepper, thyme and sage. Sauté about 10 minutes. Add apple cider vinegar, vegetable broth, and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Add butternut squash and stir carefully so you don’t break up the bay leaves. Simmer for about 30 minutes until flavors are well blended. Remove from heat. Remove bay leaves. Blend in multiple batches in blender or use immersion blender (be careful not to burn yourself with hot soup mixture. Add yogurt and stir well to combine. Serve in bowls with dollops of yogurt and sprinkles of cinnamon and chives, green onions, and/or thyme for garnish. Makes about 12-14 large servings.

This is so yummy. You’re family will love this fantastic soup.

Here’s a close up view of this delicious bisque-type soup.

This is a great soup for entertaining. Pick out your bowl!

Doesn’t this look wonderful?

I’ve saved this serving for you!

Time to eat! Come and get it.

You may also like these soup recipes:

Spicy Vegan Butternut Squash Soup

Vegan Apple and Sweet Potato Soup

Vegan Pumpkin Soup with Leeks, Pears, and Apples

Sweet Potato Soup with Ginger, Leeks and Apple

Butternut Squash-Bartlett Pear Soup

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