Good news! You are a mere nine ingredients + one hour away from the most incredible easy butternut squash soup.
It is smooth, creamy, and absolutely packed with flavor. Sweet, with a little kick of spice, and some tang from a swirl of creme fraiche or sour cream.
The intense flavor of this soup comes from roasting the butternut squash to bring out its natural sweetness, with honey and ras el hanout (a Moroccan spice blend which turns everything it touches into gold). You can absolutely scale down the spices if you would prefer something more subtle, but I love it on the bolder side.
I was happy to find that my 6 year old loved this soup! I will not declare it universally kid friendly (such a thing does not exist, to be fair) but it is worth a try if you have a kid that likes strong flavors.
I enjoy this with fresh bread, but if you’d like to add a salad, something like my Sweet Pepper, Chickpea & Mozzarella Salad or my Falafel Chopped Salad would be great – and both would add a little protein to the table.
What you need to know for the perfect butternut soup
- The ras el hanout is everything. A really good blend will make this soup amazing and is a worthwhile thing to seek out. Try to find a blend that incorporates some whole spices as they will be more flavorful. If you’re in the UK, I wholeheartedly recommend the M&S brand. It is my go-to. If you don’t want to buy a blend, but have a reasonably well stocked spice collection, Salima will show you how to put together your own ras el hanout.
- You can use fresh or frozen butternut squash. If you use frozen, the squash does not roast quite the same way. It will be much softer and might fall apart a little when you add in the spices, but this really doesn’t matter since it’s being blended into a soup.
- The creme fraiche could just as easily be replaced with sour cream or normal cream, so don’t stress if creme fraiche isn’t something you have to hand.
- If you want to make the soup vegan, leave out the creme fraiche and use maple syrup instead of honey. Easy!
An Alternative Method to Minimize Chopping
This recipe asks you to roast cubed butternut squash and that’s all well and good if you are using frozen or even a bag of fresh pre-chopped squash. If, however, you’re staring at a large squash that you really don’t want to chop into cubes… I get it. Here is a compromise: just roast the squash in two larger pieces and then scoop the flesh out from the skin. Add the spices and honey in the soup pan. This avoids all the peeling and chopping; it won’t give you quite as much caramelization and depth of flavor but will still be fabulous.
The alternative instructions are detailed in full at the bottom of the recipe card in the Notes section.
Use up your jar of Ras el Hanout
I find that strong spice blends like Ras el Hanout can do a lot of heavy lifting in a meal, so it’s easy to make simple quick dinners if you have some to hand. If you find yourself with ras el hanout to use up, I have a couple more ideas for you!
- This Moroccan Spiced Chickpea Skillet is a 5 ingredient meal paired with some bread or baked sweet potatoes.
- This One Pan Spiced Cauliflower, Butternut Squash & Halloumi is a flexible tray bake that will give you an incredible meal with the veggies you need to use up!
Spiced Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- olive oil, for roasting
- 800 g (1.5-2 lbs) cubed butternut squash, see notes
- 1.5 tbsp honey
- 1.5 tbsp ras el hanout
- 1 large onion, diced or sliced
- 5 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 litre (4 cups) vegetable stock
- 6 tbsp crème fraiche, sour cream or greek yogurt, optional garnish
- 1 lemon, for juicing
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F / 200C / 180C Fan.
- Scatter the butternut cubes on a baking tray or in a roasting tin, drizzle with oil and toss with a spatula to ensure they are all well coated. Add a little salt and place in the oven for around 20 minutes (fresh) or 30 minutes (frozen). (If you are using a whole squash that you don't want to cut into cubes, note the alternative instructions below in the notes section).800 g cubed butternut squash, olive oil
- Meanwhile, heat a little olive oil in your soup pot and saute the onions until soft and just starting to brown. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, then remove from the heat and set aside.1 large onion, 5 cloves garlic
- Once your butternut squash cook time is up, check on it. Cook times can vary a lot depending on the size of your cubes, and the type of bakeware you use, but you will want them to be browned around the edges and soft in the middle. At this point, remove from the oven and drizzle with with honey, sprinkle the ras el hanout over the top, and mix to combine. Return to the oven for another 5 minutes, until the spices are fragrant.1.5 tbsp honey, 1.5 tbsp ras el hanout
- Add the roasted butternut squash into the soup pot and give it all a good mix.
- If you're using an immersion blender: Pour the vegetable stock over the top and then puree the soup directly in the pan with the immersion blender. If you added the stock cold, you will need to bring it back up to heat, then allow to simmer until you're ready to serve. If you're using a jug blender: Add the squash and onions to the blender, plus the vegetable stock. If the stock is cold or room temperature, it will be fine to puree immediately. If the stock is hot, you will need to wait for it all to cool down a little. In either case, leave the center cap off the lid of the blender and cover it with a bit of paper towel / kitchen roll. Once pureed, you can then pour it back into the pan and simmer until it is warmed through.1 litre vegetable stock
- Once you're ready to serve, remove the pan from the heat and squeeze in the juice of your lemon. Stir.1 lemon
- Serve into bowls and add a spoonful of creme fraiche swirled over the top. You can also garnish with cilantro (coriander), fresh parsley or chives.6 tbsp crème fraiche, sour cream or greek yogurt
