{"id":6558,"date":"2020-11-16T18:16:01","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T23:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slimmingeats.com\/blog\/?p=6558"},"modified":"2023-12-22T11:17:59","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T16:17:59","slug":"butternut-squash-soup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slimmingeats.com\/blog\/butternut-squash-soup","title":{"rendered":"Butternut Squash Soup with Garlic Herb Croutons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Butternut Squash Soup - the perfect winter soup with the delicious subtle sweetness of butternut squash and amazing flavours of fresh sage, finished off with crunchy golden garlic and herb wholemeal croutons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Butternut Squash with Crispy Garlic and Herb Croutons<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Don't settle for just a bowl of soup, take it that one step further by finishing off your soup with some crispy garlic and herb croutons. The really take a bowl of soup to a whole other level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So simple to make too, just by using a serving of wholemeal bread, some garlic powder, salt and dried parsley and baked in the oven with cooking oil spray until golden and crunchy - yum!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do I have to make the croutons? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nope not at all, but trust me when I say they are worth it. I love textures in my soup, just a smooth soup on it's own is too much like baby food for me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Save some time by tripling up the recipe for the croutons and keeping them in a air tight container, they will keep a few days and are on hand for sprinkling on soups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Onion and Sage Mix<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You may be wondering if you can just add the fresh sage and additional onion when starting the whole soup and you certainly can do that if you want, but you won't get those beautiful flecks of caramelized onion and sage in the soup if you do that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This just makes the soup so much more pretty and delicious and stop is looking like just a plain ole orangey yellow soup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using frozen butternut squash?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you do not have fresh butternut squash on hand and wondering if you can use frozen? Personally I find frozen squash lacks in flavour compared to fresh squash, it just doesn't taste as nice for me. But if frozen is all you have and you really want to make the soup, then by all means give it a try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Can this soup be cooked in a Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot)? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yep it sure can, when I am rushed for time I've occasionally made this in the instant pot. I cook for 7 minutes  on high pressure, then quick release the pressure once it beeps and the soup is ready to be blended once cooled down a little. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can do the onion\/sage mix on the stove top while it cooks in the pressure cooker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to slice butternut squash?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the reasons some prefer to use frozen squash is because they hate the task of peeling and chopping butternut squash, it's quite a firm and hard vegetables. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The easiest method for me is to place a chopping board on a kitchen towel to prevent it moving about and using a good quality sharp peeler, remove all the peel. Then using a sharp santoku knife, I chop off the long nose part, this is then easier to dice or chop, with the large bulb part, I slice into 4 pieces, scoop out the seeds and then you can easily dice those parts too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Can this soup be frozen?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This soup is a great one for freezing, either in handy portion sized containers or one large container. Either defrost fully in the fridge and warm up in a pan on the stove or you can microwave until heated through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other topping ideas for Butternut Squash Soup<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you are skipping the croutons, maybe because you don't fancy them or are gluten free, you may be wondering what else you can add to the soup to make it more filling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of my favourites are to add some protein:<\/p>\n\n\n\n