February 8, 2016

Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Soup

Jump to Recipe

Creamy, easy to make and super flavorful, this dreamy roasted garlic butternut squash soup is the ultimate comfort food! With thai inspired flavors like ginger and coconut milk, it makes for the BEST dinner. Dairy free, gluten free and vegan.

A white bowl filled with Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Soup with bread in the background.

As if the world needs another butternut squash soup recipe. And yet here I am, bringing you my absolute favorite, go-to, must make (!!) version.

This recipe has been in the works for what feels like forever. 

About a year or two ago, I had this crazy awesome sort of ginger-y, spicy but not too spicy, butternut squash soup at a restaurant.

It was fantastic and of course, in true form, I headed home and immediately attempted to re-create it … using various recipes that I thought were possibly similar to what I was served up. Yeahhh, no dice.

We ate a whole lot of butternut squash soup that was just nowhere near as good as what I had while out.

After many many months of trying, I finally gave up and decided to just start from scratch. 

Which leads us to today. With this super flavorful, and a touch spicy, thai-inspired butternut soup recipe.

And oh is this one something special. We have some ginger, some coconut milk and of course, the roasted garlic.

If you have never roasted garlic before, please oh pretty please, give it a shot.

It’s incredibly easy to do and gets so golden and almost buttery in flavor. And adds another layer of somethin’ special to this dish.

Two heads of roasted garlic on parchment paper.

Tips & Tricks For This Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Soup

  1. To make this a weeknight meal, roast the garlic in advance and use pre-cut butternut squash (either store-bought or do it yourself ahead of time).
  2. If your canned coconut milk is separated, warm it up quickly to get it to come back together (I do this on the stovetop).
  3. When pureeing the soup in your blender, loosely cover the top with a dish towel (this helps to prevent you from accidentally burning yourself!). If you have an immersion blender, you can use that here instead.
  4. If for some crazy reason you forget to roast the garlic, have no fear. Just use a few minced cloves of regular garlic instead. It won’t be exactly the same but works in a pinch.

Oh! And be sure to serve with some bread for dipping. The best.

A white bowl filled with Butternut Squash Soup with Ginger set on a cutting board.

Additional Butternut Squash Recipes You Might Enjoy:

Did you make this recipe? Rate and review it down below! I’d love to hear from you.

A simple, creamy and flavorful recipe for butternut squash soup! With thai-inspired flavors like ginger, coconut milk and roasted garlic!

Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Soup

Yield: 4 to 5 servings
Prep Time: 8 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 33 minutes

Creamy, easy to make and super flavorful, this dreamy roasted garlic butternut squash soup is the ultimate comfort food! With thai inspired flavors like ginger and coconut milk, it makes for the BEST dinner. Dairy free, gluten free and vegan.

Ingredients

For the roasted garlic:

  • 1 medium head garlic
  • olive oil, for drizzling
  • salt and pepper, for sprinkling

For the soup:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 8 cups butternut squash chunks (about ½ inch in size)*
  • 2 ½ to 3 cups low sodium vegetable broth, divided
  • 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
  • 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ cup canned coconut milk (I like full fat here), plus extra for drizzling
  • thinly sliced green onions, for garnish
  • pepita seeds, for garnish

Instructions

For the roasted garlic:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
  2. Cut the top end off the head of garlic, so that the bulb remains intact and the cloves are exposed. Remove any of the really loose outer layers. Place on a piece of aluminum foil, then drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  3. Wrap up in the foil then bake for about 50 minutes, until tender and the cloves are golden brown.
  4. Once cool enough to handle, squeeze the cloves out of the peel, then use a fork to mash into a paste.
  5. Measure out 1 tablespoon of the mashed garlic to use in the soup. Any extra can be stored in a container in the fridge for use in whatever you like (use it in place of regular garlic in other recipes!).

For the soup:

  1. Set a large stockpot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add in the olive oil. When hot, add in the onion and cook until it starts to soften, about 2 to 3 minutes.
  2. Add in the carrots and butternut squash. Cook for about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they start to soften.
  3. Pour in 2 ½ cups of the broth, then bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the squash is tender.
  4. Remove from the heat, then stir in the 1 tablespoon roasted garlic, the ginger, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
  5. Carefully transfer the mixture to a blender and process until smooth (I do this in batches). Returned the pureed soup to the stockpot.
  6. Pour in the coconut milk and mix to combine. Add additional broth to get the soup to your desired consistency (I usually only add a quick splash or none at all since I like the soup on the thicker side - this will also depend on exactly how large your carrots were, etc.). Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Serve the soup garnished with the green onions, pepitas and / or a drizzle of additional coconut milk.

Notes

*About 4 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into ½ inch chunks, will give you the 8 cups.

A note on the recipe prep time - To keep this as easy as possible, I use pre-cut butternut squash chunks (or I cut it myself in advance so it’s ready to go the night of). The prep time will be longer if you choose not to use pre-cut chunks and cut up the squash right when you are making this.

A note on the recipe cook time - The cook time for this recipe includes 50 minutes for the garlic to roast in the oven. I always do this in advance so it’s ready to go for dinner. The actual soup only takes about 35 minutes to make.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 5 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 288Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 946mgCarbohydrates: 45gFiber: 12gSugar: 10gProtein: 4g

Nutrition data shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator and is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered a substitute for a medical professional’s advice.

© Ashley / Cook Nourish Bliss
Cuisine: Asian / Category: Main Dish
Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Grain Free, Main Dish, Meatless, Recipes (ALL), Soups, Soy Free, Vegan, Vegetarian, Weeknight
39 Comments »