Creamy, heartwarming butternut squash soup! The squash is roasted with onions for ultimate flavor, the soup has chicken broth, coconut milk, cream cheese, fresh thyme, and curry and if that’s not enough, it’s topped with maple bacon and green onions! It is off the charts delish! A must make!
Ingredients:
Serves 6
• 1 large butternut squash
• 2 onions, quartered
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• salt and pepper to sprinkle on squash and onions
• 6 slices of bacon
• maple syrup to drizzle on the bacon (or a little brown sugar)
• 3 cups of chicken broth
• tsp of fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup of coconut milk
• 3 oz of cream cheese
• 1/2 tsp of curry powder
• 1/2 tsp of kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp of black pepper
• 6 slices of bacon
• 3 – 4 green onions, chopped – for garnish (can substitute chives)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°
Start by cutting your squash: First cut a small piece off the bottom and the top. Use a vegetable peeler and peel off the skin. Cut in half, scoop out the seeds, cut each half in half and then cut into chunks. Place them on foil-lined baking sheets with the onion quarters, drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake for 35 minutes or until fork tender. Cook the bacon along with the squash, just put it on another baking sheet, sprinkle with a little maple syrup and bake until crisp, 15 – 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring the chicken broth to a boil in a large soup pot, lower the heat and add half of the squash and onions and all of the thyme. With an immersion blender, blend until smooth.
Then, add in the second half of the squash and onions, along with the coconut milk, cream cheese, curry powder, and salt & pepper and blend until very smooth. Give it a taste and add more curry powder or salt if needed.
Chop the bacon, ladle the soup into bowls and top with the bacon and chopped green onion or chives. Delish!
Note to cooks:
If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender or a food processor and follow the same directions for blending, then pour back in the soup pot and heat before serving.
You can substitute the coconut milk for cream, more chicken broth or half and half and if you’d like a little tang, substitute the cream cheese for goat cheese.
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