Squash Soup

As the big white fluffy flakes of snow fall from the sky outside and temperatures dip down into the teens, we’re warm and toasty inside with our wood stove and eating bowls of delicious homemade squash soup. Every year we grow a variety of winter squash in our garden. Our friend who runs her own organic farm often gives us a big box of seconds from her winter squash harvest too. We enjoy eating homegrown and locally grown organic squash all winter long. It is a great storage crop and is so easy to prepare. This recipe for squash soup is one of my favorite recipes to use our winter squash. 

This winter squash soup also has onions, carrots and apples in it which adds more nutrition and flavors to the soup. I love the light sweetness to the soup thanks to the apples. The beauty of this recipes is that you can use all homegrown or locally grown produce to make it! We make our own homemade bone broth  every month when we roast a chicken and use that as the liquid in the soup which gives it so much more flavor and nutrition. 

Since Thanksgiving was just a couple weeks ago, we made a huge batch of homemade turkey broth. It turned out so rich and flavorful. I used our freshly made turkey broth for our latest batch of squash soup and the flavor was amazing. I’m always surprised at how much flavor homemade bone broth adds to our meals, not to mention the health benefits!

I’ll also confess right here that I’ve been known to put this squash soup in a cup with a straw and drink it like a smoothie. Actually if you really want to know, I’m sipping on some right now! It really is so much easier  to eat this soup in a cup when having some for a snack or lunch on the go. 

I’ve made this recipe with a wide variety of winter squash and they were all delicious. The only type of squash I would not recommend using is spaghetti squash since it has a stringy spaghetti noodle-like flesh (hence the name!)

How to Cook Down a Squash

To make squash soup, you will need to remove the squash from the rind. I’ve tried several methods to do this over the years but my favorite way to prepare a squash is to steam it. Some people put it in the oven but I find that it takes a long time and uses more energy to heat the electric oven for that long. Steaming only takes 15-20 minutes and this year I actually have been steaming my squash on top of the wood stove so I never have to use the electric stove at all! 

To prepare the squash, wash the outside of the squash to remove any dirt or debris. Then cut the squash in half. Scoop out the seeds and set them aside to roast later (and if you have an heirloom squash don’t forget to save some of the seeds ).

Then slice the squash into 2″-3″ wide chunks. Place the squash chunks, rind facing up, in a steamer pan with a few inches of water in the bottom of the lower pot. Place a lid on top and steam until the squash is soft but not mushy. When done, remove from the heat and let it cool. With a knife, cut the rind off just like you were slicing the rind off a piece of watermelon (although the squash rind will be much thinner). Cut the squash into cubes and it is ready to use in this recipe! 

Squash Soup Recipe

This recipe makes 4-6 servings and takes about 30 minutes to prepare. We serve the soup with a side of fresh baked homemade bread. Sometimes I double the recipe so we have extra to freeze. I freeze it in 32 ounce containers that can easily be thawed out and heated up to serve for another quick, delicious homemade meal. 

Ingredients: 

-1 medium onion, chopped

-2 TBS  butter

-2 apples cored, peeled and chopped

-1 cup carrots diced

-2 cups cubed winter squash

-2 TBS fresh ginger diced OR 1/2 tsp dry powdered ginger

-salt to taste

-4 cups broth (here’s how to make homemade chicken or turkey broth)

Directions: 

1. In a large soup pot, melt the butter. Saute the chopped onion and diced carrots until the onions are translucent. 

2. Add the apples, squash, broth, ginger and salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the apples, carrots, and squash are soft. This is usually about 15 -20 minutes. 

3. Puree the soup with an immersion blender. If you don’t have an immersion blender you can carefully pour the soup into a regular blender to puree it. 

4. Pour into soup bowls and enjoy!