Roasted Garlic & Butternut Squash Soup

 

If you are looking for the most satisfying, heart warming, belly filling soup that requires a cozy nap after licking the bowl clean.....look no further! This soup is everything and more. 

Butternut squash is so versatile with the perfect nutty flavor. Besides having a hearty amount of vitamin A as well as vitamin C, magnesium, potassium and calcium, this winter squash has a good amount of fiber and water, aiding in hydration and immune support. There is nothing like a good healthy soup in the colder months when our immune systems are fighting extra hard! 

First things first. Lets make sure you have what you need! Here is a handy dandy grocery list.

This dish is great for low carb and keto diets. It's also vegetarian! It makes an excellent main course and pairs well as a side dish or appetizer. Like I said, THIS SOUP IS EVERYTHING AND MORE! 

This can be made on the stove, in the crock-pot or in the instant pot. The leftovers are always amazing, if there is any left for later that is. On the recipe below, you'll see directions for cooking this on the stove, crock-pot and instant pot. Me personal favorite was to cook it is in the crock-pot! All the flavors are more enhanced when cooked nice and slow. I will say that cooking this on the stove or in the instant pot still makes an absolutely delicious soup! 

This is after cooking in the instant pot, before its blended with the creamy ingredients.

The key to this dish is a solid roast to the butternut squash and garlic. Below is the holy grail for this soup!

• Cut the pieces as close to the same size as possible. This helps with the final consistency of the soup!
• Take 4 large cloves of garlic, peel and cut in half. 
• Don't just drizzle a little olive oil, fully coat each piece of squash and chunk of garlic. I recommend using a gallon zip lock drizzle in some olive oil and rubbing/shaking the bag to evenly coat everything.
• Lay everything out flat on a line baking sheet and sprinkle some freshly ground salt and pepper, not too much, just a light layer.
• Half way through the roast take the baking sheet out and rotate each piece of squash and garlic so an opposite side is facing up. This may take a minute, but its worth it in the end. This really seals in flavor.
• For a deeper richer flavor use chicken bone broth instead of regular broth or water. This ups the nutrients too! 

SUBSTITUTIONS:

• The fresh butternut squash can be substituted with frozen cubed butternut squash. This can be found with the steam able vegetables in the frozen section at the grocery store. the brand doesn't matter. I usually get generic when possible to save those pennies.
• An alternative for fresh onion is powdered onion or dried minced onion. If you are using one of those options, use 1 tbsp of powdered onion or 2 tbsp of dried minced onion. If you want to use onion salt use 1.5 tbsp. I tend to avoid onion salt with soups, but it can be used if you're in a pinch.
• Heavy cream can be substituted with half and half or milk. If you are using milk, whole milk is best but if you have to use skim, 1% or 2% you can. To help compensate for the heavy cream, you will need to use extra cream cheese. If you are using skim milk use 4-5 oz of cream cheese, if you are using 1%, 2%, or whole milk use 3-4 oz of cream cheese. For half and half add 2 oz of cream cheese.
• Butter shouldn't be substituted for margarine. It really messes with the structure of the soup. 
• Fresh garlic can be substituted with 1 tsp of garlic powder or 2 tsp of dried minced garlic. I avoid garlic salt with soups, but if you want to use that as a substitute use 1.5 tsp.
• Chicken broth can be swapped for a vegetable broth. It will adjust the flavor a titch but its still very good! Don't use beef broth. It makes a wonky flavor!
• Olive oil can be substituted with vegetable, canola or avocado oil. The measurements will stay the same. 
• Crushed Red Pepper is totally optional. 1/4 of a tsp in such a large batch of soup just adds a little something but there's no heat. If you don't have it, I wouldn't recommend swapping it with anything else. Just leave it out.

Another fun way to make this soup, depending on how much time you have available is to smoke the butternut squash, onions and garlic in a smoker instead of roasting the butternut squash. You would set the smoker to 275 degrees, cut off the stem, leave the seeds and guts, slice in half length wise, brush with some oil and sprinkle some salt. Put it in a disposable casserole tin and add the onions and garlic to the pan with a little oil. Smoke for 30-40 min and cook in oven for another 30 minutes or until the squash is tender. If you like a strong smoky flavor, you can cook the butternut squash completely on the smoker, just remove the garlic and onion after 20 or so minutes. When its cooked, remove the seeds and scoop out the cooked squash, from here you would skip the roasting part of the recipe and follow the remaining instructions.

This soup pairs well with different sides like:

• Grilled chicken
• Breaded chicken
• Meatloaf
• Steamed vegetables
• We like to rotate through different bread options each time we have this soup. Adding homemade croutons, rolls, breadsticks or bread bowls gives a fun twist.