Winter Squash Soup {paleo, Whole 30, AIP, vegan}

Looking for a healthy winter squash soup that is delicious and easy to make?

Try this recipe which uses both butternut and buttercup squash!

Don’t have both types of squash?

No worries!

You can sub out either squash for the other (aka make it with all butternut squash or make it with all buttercup squash).

Is Winter Squash Soup Healthy for You?

Yes it is!!

This soup is full of winter squash, alliums (more on that in a minute), and other beneficial ingredients!

Winter Squash

Winter squash, such as butternut and buttercup squash, is rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants!

When you look at butternut squash nutrition as well as buttercup squash nutrition (also known as kabocha squash) both are known for their high fiber content, as well as being good sources of vitamin A, C, and B vitamins.

Alliums

If you have never heard of alliums, they are bulbous herbs of the lily family.

Vegetable alliums that you have probably heard of include onions and garlic, both of which are in this recipe!

Alliums have amazing health benefits such as helping prevent cancer, being heart healthy, reducing inflammation in the body, and displaying antimicrobial properties in the body.

They are also full of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.

These little nutritional powerhouses are an excellent addition to any diet!

Other Healthy Winter Squash Soup Ingredients

And the other ingredients in this recipe include apples, seasoning, healthy fat, and nourishing broth.

All of these ingredients will aid you in your health journey and will not increase inflammation in the body.

Apples

Apples, if they are organic and eaten in small quantities, can be a sweet addition to your diet.

A few of the many health benefits of apples are that they are very nutritional (full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants), can help prevent cancer, and can help protect your brain!

Salt

While salt has gotten a reputation for being bad for our health, salt is actually a VERY important electrolyte for your body!

If you think that salt is bad for your health, I highly suggest that you read more into the topic.

Start with this article from Mark Sisson which is a quick read and nicely summarizes some of the misconceptions about salt!

Healthy Fats (either from butter or coconut oil)

Fat is another ingredient that has gotten itself a bad reputation.

While some fats certainly are damaging to the body and will increase inflammation, there are other fats that are not only healthy, but are a necessary part of a healthy diet!

You can read more about why we avoid certain oils (and why we make sure to include certain oils in our diet) in my recipe for Healthy Chicken Stir-fry.

Bone Broth (or Coconut Milk)

Bone broth is another healthy ingredient this recipe includes!

You can read more about the amazing health benefits of bone broth in my recipe for Superfood Chili!

And for a creamier soup, you can use a can of coconut milk which is also a healthy ingredient!

You can read more about the amazing health benefits of coconut milk in my Easy Healthy Pancakes recipe, which only takes 3 ingredients to make!

How to Make Winter Squash Soup from Scratch

Roast the Winter Squash

The first step is to roast the winter squash in the oven.

You can make this recipe faster by using an Instant Pot to quickly cook your squash, but in my opinion, the richness of the squash flavor is different.

Oven roasted squash is also much sweeter and less watery than Instant Pot cooked squash.

However, I understand being in a rush, so if you have to, feel free to Instant Pot your squash!

But if you have the time, turn your oven on to 350ºF.

Wash the outside of the butternut and buttercup squash.

Place them whole on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for an hour.

That’s right – just throw the whole squash into the oven.

No pre-cutting required!

After an hour, pierce the skin with a fork to see if the fork slides into the flesh easily.

If it does, then the squash is done and ready to come out!

If the flesh still seems tough, re-check it every 15 minutes until the squash is soft.

Let the squash sit on the counter to cool while you start to sauté the other ingredients and prepare them for the soup.

Sauté the Other Ingredients

Melt the butter or coconut oil in a large pan.

Chop the onion, apples, and garlic.

Keep in mind that this will all get blended, so don’t worry about cutting your ingredients perfectly or super small.

Roughly chopped is fine!

Sauté the onion, apple, and garlic in the pan along with the salt and Italian seasoning for about 5 minutes or until the apples have softened.

Add the broth or coconut milk and allow the mixture to heat on low while you prepare the squash.

Cut Up the Squash

Hopefully the squash has cooled enough that you can handle it at this point.

I have a different strategy for how I cut up each squash so I will explain them separately.

Cutting Buttercup Squash

A serrated knife should easily cut through the skin and flesh of the buttercup squash so that you can cut it in half.

Scrape the seeds out of the middle.

Use a spoon to scoop the squash out of the skin.

Add the squash to the pan with the onion and apples.

Cutting Butternut Squash

For a butternut squash, I start at the stem end and cut off the stem.

Then I cut 1″ rings off the butternut squash.

You can kind of see in the background of the photos how I cut up a roasted butternut squash into “rings.”

I lay the rings flat on a cutting surface and cut the skin off the flesh.

Then I dice the rings into large cubed pieces and add them to the pot.

When you get to the end with the seeds, just cut the seeds out of the middle!

Blend Everything Together

Now that everything is in the pot, give everything a quick stir together.

Then use an immersion blender to purée the soup.

Don’t have an immersion blender?

Keep reading – I will address this in the next section!

This recipe should make a VERY thick soup.

Feel free to add more broth, coconut milk, or water to thin the soup down to the consistency you would like.

And if it’s too thick for your immersion blender, then you will definitely want to add more liquid as well.

Serve hot!

Can I Make Winter Squash Soup Without an Immersion Blender?

Just as I explained with my creamy vegetable soup, you can still enjoy a puréed soup without having an immersion blender!

The easiest way to purée this without an immersion blender is to use a regular blender.

If you have a large blender pitcher, you could blend this in one or two batches.

If you just have small blender cups, it would take several iterations of blending to blend up the whole soup, but it’s still an option!

Another option would be to just not purée the soup.

Sometimes I like a soup with a little more texture and I actually DON’T blend up the soup.

Then it has soft pieces of onion and apple in it which can be nice!

If you know you aren’t going to blend the soup up, you can chop the onion and apple pieces a little smaller so that you aren’t getting a mouthful of onion.

What Toppings Can I Use With Winter Squash Soup?

If you are looking for a way to “dress up” this soup, there are some really tasty toppings that you can add!

As you can probably guess from the photos, you can make your bowls fancier by adding some chopped apple and onion toppings.

Or sprinkle on some Italian seasoning to add a little texture to the top.

Other toppings that are perfect for a squash soup would be bacon bits, roasted seeds, and strong cheese (like parmesan or blue cheese).

For a healthy chip like topping, try crushed pork rinds, Siete chips, or apple chips (our family likes the organic Bare apple chips).

For a creamier squash soup, use the coconut milk instead of the vegetable broth and stir in sour cream or cream cheese when you go to eat the soup!

What to Serve with Winter Squash Soup

Winter squash soup is the perfect winter meal on its own (especially if you include some of the toppings suggested above).

Feel free to serve it with sides such as veggie sticks, olives, or biscuits.

But winter squash soup doesn’t have to be the main dish – it also makes a great side dish!

Serve as a soup and salad combo with your favorite salad.

I would recommend a salad with chopped apples, a strong cheese, roasted seeds, and nuts.

Winter squash soup also pairs well with a main meat dish such as steak or pork chops!

Another option would be to serve this soup with eggplant parmesan (without the optional sauce).

Can you Freeze Winter Squash Soup?

Winter squash soup is an excellent soup to freeze!

Since the soup is puréed, there aren’t any vegetables that will go limp in the freezer!

Simply cool the soup completely and store in airtight containers, mason jars, or freezer bags.

I prefer to use wide-mouth, pint-sized mason jars since they make the perfect lunch portion!

When you are ready to eat the soup, simply grab the soup out of the freezer a day or two before you want to eat it and allow it to thaw completely in the fridge.

Or if you need it in a pinch, thaw the soup container in cool water until it has thawed enough that it comes out.

Then reheat the block of soup in a pan on the stove until the winter squash soup is hot!

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