Description
There’s nothing like the feeling of grabbing a cozy blanket and cuddling up with a delicious bowl of hot soul-soothing soup. Rich, luscious, and bursting with flavor, this Creamy Smoky Butternut Squash Soup is clean comfort eating at its best. Vibrant butternut squash, hearty cauliflower, rich cashews, garlic, onions, and spices all blended together and topped with velvety almond cream, crispy seasoned butternut squash “croutons,” buttery pumpkin seeds, and hemp hearts for deliciousness in every bite. A perfect snuggle up “cold weather is coming” soup. Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.
Ingredients
Base Ingredients:
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 5 ½ to 6 cups cauliflower, chopped (small cauliflower)
- ½ small butternut squash, chopped into small chunks (peeled)
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 1 cup vegetable broth *
- 3 cups water (or broth)
- 2 Tablespoons ume plum vinegar *
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 Tablespoon white miso *
Spice/Herb Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 Tablespoons dried minced onions
- 1 Tablespoon +1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
Optional Topping Ingredients:
- ½ small butternut squash, cut into tiny pieces, then roasted (see recipes notes)*
- Vegan Cream Cheese thinned with unsweetened plain plant milk (we used Kite Hill)
- Microgreens
- Sprinkle of hemp seeds
Instructions
- Over medium-high heat, add all the soup Base Ingredients and Spice/Herb Ingredients into a large ceramic/enamel lined Dutch oven/pot or similarly large stock pot. Bring to a boil, then immediately lower to a simmer. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on.
- Remove from the heat and allow to stand for 5 minutes, then and transfer the soup mixture into a high-speed blender and pulse until completely smooth, about one minute.
- Transfer all the pureed soup back into the pot and place the pot back on the stove over medium-low heat, simmer for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, taste the soup for seasonings and adjust accordingly to suit personal preferences.
- Serve, or if you wish to ramp things up top with roasted butternut squash pieces (see recipe notes), vegan cream cheese (thinned with unsweetened plant milk), microgreens, and/or hemp seeds.
Notes
*Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.
*Ume Plum Vinegar: Ume Plum Vinegar is perfect for this recipe as it has that deliciously tangy flavor which complements the sweetness of the butternut squash. There really isn’t a great substitute for it. We’ve tried other vinegars with this recipe, and we have found that ume plum vinegar is a key ingredient. It is relatively inexpensive. We use it quite frequently and it worth requesting it from your local grocery, or ordering off of Amazon in our humble opinion.
*Miso: We used Miso Master Organic Mellow White Premium Lite Miso, Certified Gluten Free. Miso really lends itself to balancing flavors when you don’t use oil. You can also substitute with chickpea miso for a soy free version.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Roasted Butternut Squash Topping: We loved cutting the other half of the butternut squash into tiny squares, then placing in a bowl and sprinkling with some sea salt, pepper, sweet paprika, then dump onto a lined parchment paper covered baking sheet, spread them out so they have room to breathe, then roast for 15 minutes in a 400 F oven until tender. If you want them to have some color, then place them under the broiler for a few minutes after they are done roasting.
*Serving: Makes 7 cups (approx. 3 to 4 servings)
*Storage: Refrigerate and use within 5 days.