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Curried Butternut Squash Soup is a delicious way to enjoy winter squash season! This soup is lightly sweet, spicy, and creamy, with a velvety texture you’ll love.
Why You’ll Love It
It’s easy to make. There’s no need to roast the butternut squash ahead of time, so everything cooks in one pot!
It’s flavorful. Curried butternut squash soup is made with coconut milk, curry powder, and a splash of maple syrup to help balance out the spice. It’s inspired by Thai-style cuisine, but uses simple ingredients that you probably already keep in your pantry.
It’s versatile. This soup makes an excellent starter or side dish for a Fall or Winter meal, but you can also use the leftovers as a curry sauce the next day! Serve it over rice and veggies, for a fast weeknight meal.
It’s dairy-free. Instead of using heavy cream, this recipe is made with canned, full-fat coconut milk. If you prefer to use almond milk or oat milk, that should work, too. (Just make sure they don’t have vanilla flavoring, which might affect the final flavor.)
Ingredients You’ll Need
What’s in butternut squash soup?
- Butternut squash
- Yellow onion
- Garlic
- Curry powder
- Salt & pepper
- Maple syrup
- Coconut milk
Looking to use different ingredients? Try my Classic Butternut Squash Soup instead, which is made with cinnamon and apple.
How to Make Curried Butternut Squash Soup
1. Saute the onion.
Drizzle the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, and saute the onion until it softens, about 8 minutes.
Add in the garlic and curry powder, and stir for 1 more minute, just until it smells fragrant.
2. Add in the squash.
Peel and cut the squash into small pieces, then add it to the pot, along with the water, salt, and pepper. Bring the liquid to a boil, then cover the pot and lower the heat to a simmer.
Cook until the squash is fork tender, about 20 minutes.
3. Blend.
Transfer the soup to a high-speed blender, and carefully blend until the soup is smooth. For safety, be sure to remove the vent from your blender’s lid and cover it with a thin dish towel to let steam escape. This will prevent the lid from blowing off your blender from the steam pressure.
Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender to blend the soup directly in the pot. Once the soup is smooth, stir in the coconut milk and maple syrup. Taste and adjust as needed, adding more salt, or a squeeze of lime juice to help brighten the flavor.
4. Enjoy!
Serve the soup warm, with a topping of roasted squash seeds, sour cream, or fresh cilantro, if you like. You can use any garnish you like!
Leftover soup can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. Or you can store this soup in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Common Questions & Substitutions
Can I use vegetable broth instead of water? Yes! I use water for this soup because it doesn’t require the standard 4 cups found in a store-bought box (and water is more affordable). However, if you prefer to use veggie or chicken broth, just be sure to cut-back on the salt that this recipe calls for, since the broth may already be seasoned.
Can I use another type of squash? Sure! I imagine acorn squash would also work in this recipe, or you could even use peeled and cubed sweet potato instead.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion , chopped
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 4 teaspoons curry powder
- 3 cups water
- 2 pounds butternut squash , peeled and cubed (6 cups)
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt , plus more to taste
- ¾ cup coconut milk (or milk of choice)
- 1 to 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 to 3 teaspoons fresh lime juice
Instructions
- Pour the olive oil to a large pot over medium high heat, and saute the onion until it softens, about 8 minutes. Add in the garlic and curry powder and stir for one more minute.
- Add in the water, squash, and salt, and bring the liquid to a boil over high heat. As soon as it is boiling, cover the pot with a lid and lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook until the squash is fork tender, about 20 minutes.
- When the squash is tender, transfer the soup to a blender and carefully blend until smooth. For safety, remove the vent in the blender's lid and cover it with a thin dish towel. This will let steam escape without splatter, so the lid won't blow off from the steam pressure. Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender to blend the soup directly in the pot.
- Return the soup to the pot over medium heat, and stir in the coconut milk, maple syrup, and lime juice. You can adjust the maple syrup and lime juice to your taste, starting with the smallest amount, and adding more of each, as needed. (They tend to go together; if you add more lime juice you will probably also want more maple syrup to balance out the tangy flavor.) You can add up to 1 tablespoon of lime juice and 3 tablespoons of maple syrup, in total. Taste the soup and add extra salt, if needed. I tend to add an extra ½ teaspoon of salt at the end.
- Serve warm with fresh cilantro or black pepper on top. See notes below if you'd like to roast the butternut squash seeds as a topping, too. Leftover soup can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also freeze soup for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Nutrition information is for 1 of 6 servings, about 1 1/3 cups. This information is automatically calculated, and is just an estimate, not a guarantee.
- If you need to avoid coconut milk, you can use heavy cream or any other unsweetened non-dairy milk you prefer. In that case, you may want to use only a 1/2 cup of milk or cream.
- I typically buy my curry powder from Whole Foods or Trader Joes, so brands like Frontier, Simply Organic, or one of the store brands should work well.
- This recipe was updated in October 2022. The original recipe called for almond milk instead of coconut milk, and no maple syrup or lime juice. I hope you’ll enjoy this updated version even more!
Nutrition
If you try this Curried Butternut Squash Soup recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like it.
Can I use lemon instead of lime juice? Don’t have any limes
I made this soup a few weeks ago and loved it!! My mom told me she doesn’t like curry flavor or butternut squash… but I had her try this soup and she loved it so much! She had it two days in a row!!
This is delicious
I used Greek yogurt instead of coconut milk and it worked well too! Super great recipe for fall!
My super picky, not-healthy, meat-and-potatoes friend was nervous to try this soup when I invited her over for dinner but she actually LOVED IT! She was surprised! I knew I would love it, but was over the moon to be able to introduce my friends to healthy AND delicious food with this soup!
This was fabulous! I added 3 tablespoons of cooked quinoa and a dollop of plain unsweetened Greek yogurt. So delicious! Thanks!
@Nicole and all,
Cooking any squash in the slow cooker is as easy as it gets!
Add whole squash poked with a knife (like you do when cooking a potato)
Directly to the slow cooker with cups of water, low for 8 hours. Done!
Comes out super soft and easy to cut. Cut in half , scoop out seeds and discard. Scoop out squash and go from from there!
Hope that helps.
I made this today exactly the way recipe reads! Love it!!