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STOP! Before you hit ‘Jump to Recipe’ check ‘Skip to the Good Bit‘ below. I may answer a query you have about this recipe.
Finally, an updated version of my naturally gluten free Smoky Butternut Squash Soup Recipe. The photos have been updated, not the recipe! What is it about squashes? Seeing one always makes me smile. They seem to be the lovable character of the vegetable world.
Skip to the good bit
- What gives this soup its smoky flavour?
- How do you prepare a butternut squash for soup?
- Fun fact about squashes!
- Batch cook this soup to save money
- Save even more money and microwave
- What can I do with any leftover butternut squash?
- How to store your fresh soup when batch cooking
- Other soup recipe ideas
- Smoky Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
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What gives this soup its smoky flavour?
How smoky do you want your butternut squash soup? I have smoked salt in my cupboard too so add a pinch of this to the soup for extra flavour. On the other hand, just using smoked paprika on its own is sufficient to get the warm smoky flavour. When I say smoked paprika I mean just that by the way. Not normal paprika which has a far more delicate flavour.
How do you prepare a butternut squash for soup?
STEP ONE: Carefully divide your butternut squash in half, no need to deseed at this stage and liberally drizzle with oil. Place on a baking tray flat-side-down and roast for 40 mins at 200°C
STEP TWO: Once roasted remove the butternut from the oven and leave to cool for 5-10mins so it’s cool enough to handle. Then scoop out the flesh (discarding the seeds) and add to a bowl – you need to weigh the correct amount to add to the soup.
Fun fact about squashes!
Did you know there were two different types of squash? Summer squashes and winter squashes!
Squashes come in a huge range of shapes and sizes, from massive pumpkins to tiny patty pans. There are winter squashes, such as pumpkins and butternuts, which can be stored, and summer squashes, which are harvested when immature and don’t store well. They are all relatively easy to grow from seed.
RHS – Grow your own squash
If, like me, you are slightly batty about butternuts and other squashes then you’ll love this article by Gardeners World too. It tells you about different types of squash and there’s even one called a Hooligan – how awesome is that!
Batch cook this soup to save money
We can all agree that buying in bulk and cooking in batches is much more cost effective right? This is because bigger bags of fresh vegetables are cheaper. Also, firing up the oven just once to cook the vegetables is cheaper than remaking the whole recipe on another day from scratch.
The act of reheating soup is way more cost effective and using a microwave if you have one is considerably less in energy bills.
Did you say ‘Poppycock’! Don’t take my word for it, this really handy energy calculator is mildly addictive and comes in really handy when I’m invoicing people for recipe development. You do need to know a few things about your personal energy use first but once you know those factors you can work out how much it costs you to heat up a tin of beans to roasting a Sunday dinner to warming up your cold tea!
How much does it cost?
To make this Smokey Butternut Squash Soup I’ve worked out the cost using basic (non-organic) ingredients. If you buy in bulk, this price will go down. The energy costs are based on the current energy rates in the last quarter of 2022 with a capped rate of 0.52per kWh
500g Butternut Squash– 0.62p
1 Knorr Stock Pot – 0.30p (based on a pack of 8 pots)
Smoked Paprika – 0.13p
Garlic Clove – 0.02p
£1.07 for two large servings (54p per serving)
To roast vegetables in the oven it costs between 0.42-0.62p (max. 85p per serving)
To steam the vegetables in a microwave it costs between 0.18-0.28p (max. 68p per serving)
Save even more money and microwave
Times are tough for many and I find myself looking for cheaper, quicker, more efficient ways to cook these days. However I don’t want to compromise on taste and nutrients.
Microwaving foods does leave you with a different flavour to roasting. So be prepared for a different end result if you chose to microwave rather than roast the veggies for this soup recipe. Basically, the flavours are less intense and slightly less sweet, but you may think that’s a good thing?
How to microwave vegetables
One way to microwave vegetables is to invest in a microwave steamer they’re easy to clean, have an integrated steam basket and the one linked holds vegetables for two people. They come with full instructions on how to use and what you can cook in them.
If you don’t like the idea of a plastic microwave steamer then you can make your own with a microwave-proof dish (I’ve used my glass Pyrex Casserole Dishes with lids in the past) then cover with microwavable plastic wrap or (and this is better for the environment) use a lid or upturned plate.
To arrange the veggies, simply prepare them as you would if using a conventional steamer, then arrange them in the microwave dish making sure there are plenty of gaps for the steam to travel around them.
Next add 1-2 tablespoons of water, that’s it – the vegetables will already be wet after you’ve rinsed them.
Heat on full power for 2-4 minutes depending on how hard your vegetables are*.
TOP TIP: heat for 30 seconds at a time and keep checking. Eventually you will know exactly how long different type of vegetables take to cook and become a microwave steaming pro!
* absolutely no point in me giving you exact times as everyone’s microwaves are different powers, mine is 900w for example, yours may be 700 or 800w.
What can I do with any leftover butternut squash?
This is a good question because if you’ve bought a large squash, you’re bound to have a little left over. There are two things I like to do with my leftovers. The first is to pop it into a Tupperware dish and freeze. Did you know that a large percentage of tinned pumpkin is actually butternut squash! So if you do have some leftover you could add it to some pumpkin at a later date to make one of my recipes such as this Dairy Free Pumpkin Spice Fool or a traditional Simple Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie.
Another thing you can do with the leftovers is add them to your mashed potato to get a golden creamy mash to go with your sausages and gravy. If the kids don’t eat veggies, tell them it’s Halloween mash!
The clickable image below is for a gluten, dairy and egg free pumpkin pie, if you can’t tolerate those ingredients too. I have made this in the past JUST with butternut squash, and nobody could tell the difference.
How to store your fresh soup when batch cooking
When batch cooking, you not only save energy by only cooking the recipe once, but you also give yourself quick and easy lunches and dinner for the rest of the week or the following week for that matter.
I explain how to sterilise portion sized jar below but you can also ladle the soup into Tupperware containers to keep in the fridge. Note that if using Tupperware the shelf life of the soup will only be 4-5 days as you will not have gone through the sterilisation process first.
How to sterilise jars for your individual soup portions
Wash your jars* and the lids in hot soapy water, but do not dry them. Instead, leave them to stand upside down on a roasting tray while they’re still wet.
Pop the tray of clean, wet jars and lids in to a preheated oven at 160-180ºC for about 15 mins.
Using a funnel pour your soup into the jars. Be very careful not to touch or get any of the mixture onto the rim of the jars as this could introduce bacteria.
Ideally you want to fill the jars not quite to the top, leave about 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) gap at the top between the soup and the lid.
While everything is still hot, secure the lids tightly.
Once in sterilised jars like this your soups should keep for about 1 month in the fridge probably longer.
*you could easily use 500g jam or cooking sauce jars
Other soup recipe ideas
For a full soup recipe collection and top tips on how to; make free from soups from scratch, thicken soup, source gluten free stock cubes and more head over to my Delicious Free From Homemade Soup Recipe Collection
Smoky Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
If you make it and like the recipe I would be eternally grateful if you popped back and commented leaving a star rating as this will tell search engines that this recipe is worth checking out and others will get to find it in searches.
Smoky Butternut Squash Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 500 g butternut squash [see method on how to prepare]
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 800 ml water
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 clove garlic (powder, puree or clove)
- Pinch of Smoked salt not compulsory
- salt & pepper to taste
- 100 ml soya cream or usual dairy free alternative optional if you want a cream of butternut soup
Instructions
- Carefully divide your butternut squash in half, no need to deseed at this stage and liberally drizzle with oil. Place on a baking tray flat-side-down and roast for 40 mins at 200°C
- Make your vegetable stock in a large saucepan by adding 800ml boiled water and stir until dissolved.
- Add the paprika, crushed garlic (or garlic powder) and seasoning to the saucepan. Stir to combine.
- Once roasted remove the butternut from the oven and leave to cool for 5-10mins so it's cool enough to handle. Then scoop out the flesh (discarding the seeds) and add to a bowl – you need to weigh the correct amount to add to the soup.
- Add 8 peppercorns to the saucepan with the stock in it and add the weighed butternut squash.
- TOP TIP: if using a hand blender heat the ingredients in the saucepan and then blend once hot. If planning on blending in a liquidiser, do this first while the ingredients are cold and then return to the saucepan and heat (this is the safest way to prep using a liquidiser rather than trying to liquidise piping hot liquids.
- If saving for later, pour into two 500ml jars or a 1ltr jar and seal immediately. Allow to cool before popping in the fridge.
- Otherwise serve with your favourite gluten free bread roll
Notes
Nutrition
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I adore butternut squash… and soup! So this recipe has my name all over it. I also ADORE smoked paprika. I’d put it in everything if I could. And yes… that would probably include cake 😂
Thanks for sharing xx
The smokiness just adds so much extra warmth – much needed this winter I think!
What a great idea for a twist on butternut squash soup. Love this – thanks for posting.
It’s a little extra boost of warmth I think we’re all going to need this winter!
that hint of smokey salt really made such a difference to this otherwise common soup. It is super tasty and the whole family loves it
I does take the flavour to another level Nancy x
Absolutley love squash soup. Roasting the squash first must make it even more delicious. I really must give it a go. One of the nice things about this time of year is soup.
I know we’re all about saving on the energy bills bills now but you simply cannot beat the roast flavour it adds to soups.