Happy New Year Peeps! I’m back with a new recipe! Vegan butternut squash soup! We’re day two into this new year and I have to tell you that I’m feeling excited, grateful and hopeful! I’m also feeling like I can do anything I set my intention and heart to! I turned 50 this past summer and realized there are a lot of things that I want to do in these next 50 plus years. I want to PLAY more, SHARE more, SPREAD more JOY and POSITIVITY! Doing all of those things elevate me, so I’m going to start the new year by posting more and sharing more! This is me at 50, playing, smiling and being real! My biological age may be 50, but I have the spirit and sense of adventure of a 12 year old.
I’ve also missed this blog and I’ve missed you all! I have some pretty dedicated readers and I’m grateful for all of you that have stuck around and checked my site every so often to see if I’ve posted anything new. I’m grateful to those of you that continue to log on here and make my recipes over and over. Basically I’ve got a lot of gratitude inside me!
I’ve been cooking and creating a lot during quarantine, and tweaking and updating old recipes to accommodate my dairy allergy. This vegan butternut squash soup is one of those recipes that I tweaked. It’s an adaption from the Rustic Bakery version I posted way back in January 2012 (wow, can’t believe that was almost 10 years ago). I’ve tweaked this soup to be vegan because I know there are a lot of people like me who can’t tollerate dairy anymore, and I have a few friends that are vegan, so I wanted to share a soup that can be made both ways. I hope you all enjoy this cozy winter soup!
Vegan Butternut Squash Soup
make 6 portions
- 3 tablespoons virgin coconut oil, plus more to rub on squash halves –I love this brand Dr. Bronner’s Organic Virgin Coconut Oil
- 1 large butternut squash (about 3 pounds), halved and seeded
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt, plus more to rub on squash halves
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more to rub on squash halves
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled
- 6 thyme sprigs
- 1 large yellow onion, medium diced
- 1/4 cup diced shallots (approx. 1 medium sized shallot bulb, diced)
- 4 cups vegetable stock- you can also use chicken stock if you don’t need the soup to be vegan
- 1/4 cup full fat or light unsweetened coconut milk – this is the canned coconut milk that you have to shake
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Generously rub both sides of squash halves with coconut oil (just scoop out some coconut oil and rub it directly on the squash, you don’t need to melt it first) season each cut side with salt and pepper. Place 3 sprigs of thyme and 3 garlic cloves in each in each cavity. 
Carefully place squash halves cut side down on the baking sheet.
Roast squash for 50 to 60 minutes, until soft and caramelized.
Remove squash from oven and let cool a bit.
Reserve garlic cloves and discard the thyme.
Once squash has cooled a bit, scoop out the butternut squash flesh from the skin, and set aside in a bowl.
Note: Break up the squash with your spoon and stir it frequently, so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.
Puree the soup either using a hand held immersion blender, or a regular blender. I always use my vitamix blender because I love a really smooth and creamy soup.
NOTE: I always wipe down the soup pot while the soup is pureeing, so there are no chunks leftover in the pot.
Return the pureed soup to the pot.
- 3 tablespoons virgin coconut oil, plus more to rub on squash halves - l love this brand Dr. Bronner’s Organic Virgin Coconut Oil
- 1 large butternut squash (about 3 pounds), halved and seeded
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt, plus more to rub on squash halves
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more to rub on squash halves
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled
- 6 thyme sprigs
- 1 large yellow onion, medium diced
- ¼ cup diced shallots (approx. 1 medium sized shallot bulb, diced)
- 4 cups vegetable stock- you can also use chicken stock if you don't need the soup to be vegan
- ¼ cup full fat or light unsweetened coconut milk - This is the canned coconut milk that you have to shake
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using a sharp knife slice squash in half.
- Scoop out seeds and strings from cavity. I use a melon baller to do this, as it's quick and easy. You can either compost the seeds, or roast them in the oven. I always roast them in a 275 degree oven until they brown and pop with a bit of coconut oil and some pink Himalayan sea salt.
- Generously rub both sides of squash halves with coconut oil (just scoop out some coconut oil and rub it directly on the squash, you don't need to melt it first) and season each cut side with salt and pepper. Place 3 sprigs of thyme and 3 garlic cloves in each in each cavity.
- Carefully place squash halves cut side down on the baking sheet.
- Roast squash for 50 to 60 minutes, until soft and caramelized.
- Remove squash from oven and let cool a bit.
- Reserve garlic cloves and discard the thyme.
- Once squash has cooled a bit, scoop out the butternut squash flesh from the skin, and set aside in a bowl.
- Melt 3 tablespoons coconut oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat if using a gas range. I have a induction cooktop that I haven't entirely figured out, so I turn the heat to medium, as medium high is a bit intense.
- Add in diced onion and shallots and a pinch of sea salt, and sauté the onion and shallots for 7 to 10 minutes, until they begin to brown.
- Add in reserved butternut squash, reserved garlic cloves, ½ teaspoon salt and a few twists of pepper and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, until the squash begins to caramelize and stick to the bottom of the pan. Note: Break up the squash with your spoon and stir it frequently, so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.
- Pour in vegetable stock, bring to a boil, then decrease the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
- Puree the soup either using a hand held immersion blender or a regular blender.I always use my vitamix blender because I love a really smooth and creamy soup. NOTE: I always wipe down the soup pot while the soup is pureeing, so there are no chunks leftover in the pot.
- Return the pureed soup to the pot.
- Warm up the soup and add in ¼ cup coconut milk and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg.
- Taste the soup and add a splash more coconut milk or salt to taste. I personally always add a bit more salt and coconut milk. Salt is a natural flavor enhancer, so if your soup tastes a bit bland, add a bit more salt to taste.
- Add more stock or water if needed to thin out the soup. Give it another taste and adjust any of the seasonings.
- Keep warm until ready to serve.
- Leftovers: Let soup cool, then store in a sealed container in the fridge. NOTE: The soup will thicken up, so feel free to add water to thin it out when reheating. I always add a splash of coconut milk as well as salt to taste!
I was sending your site to a friend as one of my “go-to’s” and almost fell off my chair when a new recipe came up! So many of your recipes are on heavy rotation in our home and your videos, tips and pictures have taught me so much about cooking.
Oven brown rice? I would never cook rice any other way
Welcome back!
Welcome back! So happy to see you around this space again :)) Happy New Year! And definitely will be trying the soup the next time I see a butternut squash in the wild. I fear we might be done for squash season over here in Central Europe!
Hi Cynthia, Thanks so much for reaching out and saying “hi” and Happy New Year to you too! xoxo, Jackie
This sounds amazing and I love using my immersion blender! Happy New Year!
Yay! Thanks for reaching out Cindi! I hope you love the soup :). xoxo, Jackie
So happy to hear you’re back! Look forward to tagging along. Happy New Year!
Hi Sandy, Thanks so much for saying “hi” and for sticking by me as I took a brief hiatus from the blog. xoxo, Jackie
Nice to see you back again!
Thanks Sherry, Great to be back 🙂 Thanks for sayin “hi”
xoxo, Jackie
Having followed you since the beginning and going through the trials and tribulations of your life! Did you re-marry? What are your kids up to? You seem very happy! Xxx
Hi Sharleen, Wow, so wonderful to hear from a long time reader! Yes, I have been through a journey and it’s awesome to hear that you have continued to stay with me. Thanks so much!
Life is pretty good for the most part. Right now I have all 4 kiddos home, as Zoe is on winter break. Zoe and Eli have grown so much and I will post a pic soon if they let me :). Steve and I are engaged, and plan to get married in early 2021. We had planned to get married last year, but we had to put off the wedding plans. 😉 We’re all so ready for the world to open back up, as I’m sure everyone is. I promise to share more of life and what’s happening as I did in the past once I get back into the blogging groove again. I had been meaning to do a blog post for the past 6 months and kept putting it off, so the fact that I posted this past weekend was a huge accomplishment on my end. I aim to keep it going as I miss this creative outlet and the connections I have to awesome readers like you! Thanks again for saying hi Sharleen 🙂 xoxo, Jackie
It’s nice to see your smiling face!
Awww… Thanks for saying “hi” Marilyn :). xoxo, Jackie
Yay!! So so happy to hear this news! I love so many of your recipes. I’ve missed your posts!
Hi Marti! Yay! So happy that you’re happy that I’m back! I promise to keep posting girl 🙂 Thanks so much for saying “hi”. xoxo, Jackie