Butternut Squash & Veggie Soup
My husband Derek is Native American so we’ve been trying to learn more about Native American foods, particularly from the northwest. We recently found this cookbook and have been enjoying trying out some of the recipes, like the butternut squash soup. I liked that it had other veggies in it too, which made the soup a little more savory than most butternut squash soups I’ve had. While it was tasty, I felt like there were too many steps involved. I found a way to make it all in one pot and also eliminate the dairy by using sunflower oil in place of butter. We also enjoy this cookbook, The Sioux Chef, which is where I learned about sunflower oil. After some testing I think I’ve come up with a recipe we enjoy!
Let’s get to it!
You’ll start by heating the sunflower oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or stockpot and add the onion. This oil adds a nice nutty flavor to the soup. You should be able to find it next to the olive and vegetable oils in your local grocery store.
Sauté the onion until they start to soften. Now add the zucchini and sauté another five minutes.
Next, you’ll scoop the onion and zucchini out of the pan and set it aside in a bowl.
Add six cups of your stock to the pan and turn the heat up to high. The extra two cups will be used later to thin the soup out, if needed. Once the stock is boiling, add your squash. You’ll cook this about fifteen minutes or until the squash is fork tender.
Once the squash is cooked, add the cauliflower and stir it in to make sure it’s mostly covered with the stock.
Cook that another five minutes or until the cauliflower is tender. Now you’ll add the cooked onion and zucchini back to the pan.
At this point you’re going to blend the soup until it’s smooth. As you know, I like doing this with an immersion blender but you can also do it in a regular blender or food processor.
Once it’s blended and smooth, check the thickness. I liked the soup nice and thick so I didn’t add any stock, but if you’d prefer a thinner soup add stock to your liking. Add one teaspoon of salt and taste. Depending on how salty the stock is that you used, you may need additional salt.
Enjoy hot!
Topping this soup with bacon pieces or freshly popped popcorn, adds some nice texture.
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sunflower oil
- 1 small or 1/2 large sweet onion, diced
- 2 zucchini, diced
- 6-8 cups vegetable or chicken stock
- 2 butternut squash peeled and cut into 1" chunks
- 1 head cauliflower broken into florets
- 1-2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Heat sunflower oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or stockpot. Sauté onions until soft.
- Add the zucchini and sauté another 5 minutes.
- Scoop onion and zucchini out of the pan and set it aside
- Add 6 cups of stock to pan and turn heat up to high. Once the stock is boiling, add your squash. Cook about 15 minutes or until the squash is fork tender.
- Add cauliflower and stir. Cook another 5 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender.
- Add onion and zucchini back to the pan. Blend until smooth.
- Add stock if necessary and salt to taste.
- Enjoy hot!
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