This version of one of my favorite Creole dishes is healthier, vegetarian, vegan, and Lent-friendly. As ham hocks are used to make this meal more frequently, it naturally contains less salt and fat. It is customary in Louisiana to serve it on Monday. Make it a regular part of your week! Allow everyone at the table to add Cajun seasoning and Louisiana spicy sauce to their own personal preference.
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 55 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 20 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 chopped onion
- 1 cup sliced carrots
- 6 whole garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste, divided
- 1 (3 1/2) pound butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
- 6 cups chicken broth, plus more if needed
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- ½ cup crème fraîche
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 large sage leaves
Instructions
- Gather all ingredients. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
- Start the soup: Drizzle olive oil into large roasting pan. Add onion, carrots, garlic cloves, and a big pinch of salt; toss until vegetables are coated in oil. Place squash halves onto the chopped vegetables with the cut sides facing up. Sprinkle squash with additional salt.
- Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
- Roast in the preheated oven until squash is tender and easily pierced with the tip of a knife, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and allow vegetables to cool a bit.
- Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
- While the vegetables are cooling, make the brown butter: Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When butter foams and starts to turn golden brown, reduce the heat to low. When butter turns from golden to a light, nutty brown, remove from the heat and immediately stir in sage leaves.
- Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
- Finish the soup: Scoop out squash flesh and place into a large stockpot with remaining roasted vegetables. Stir in chicken broth, brown butter mixture, and maple syrup. Place the pot over high heat and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and slowly simmer to blend flavors, 45 to 60 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
- Blend with an immersion blender until very smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Pass mixture through a strainer to remove any remaining fibrous bits.
- Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
- If soup seems too thick, add a few tablespoons of water or chicken broth. Stir in cider vinegar, a pinch of salt if needed, and cayenne pepper. Garnish each serving with a dollop of crème fraîche and chopped chives.
- Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 315 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 42 g |
| Cholesterol | 49 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Sodium | 1838 mg |
| Sugars | 14 g |
| Fat | 17 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Chef johns roasted butternut squash soup was wonderful.watch the size of your onion and carrot when chopping theyll need to be large enough to withstand cooking with the squash. I actually cooked them on a seperate sheet then combined all ingredients. This soup has all the great roasted flavors and was very savory. I had my doubts about my 9 year old liking it but she loved it and ate it quickly. I did omit the apple cider vinegar and our soup was wonderfully thick…we loved it. This will get added to my soup recipes.
This was so delicious. My entire family (ages8-45) enjoyed it! I made it exactly as instructed and it’s a win! I will be making again
Sounds delicious, can’t wait to try it
Made this as written by Chef John and it was delicious. Next time I will make the brown butter and fry the sage in the stock pot to avoid having to clean an extra pan (since it will be transferred there anyway).
delicious. mine was definitely too thick so I added more stock. I also took out the sage leaves as the recipe didn’t specify, but see now that I was supposed to leave them in after letting them soak for awhile. I thought it was okay until I added the apple cider vinegar. The vinegar made it. I did add a cut up apple to the roasting but otherwise followed the recipe. My mom likes a bit of brandy instead of the vinegar
A great tasting soup, we used balsamic vinegar Instead of apple cider
Adding 3 stars to this. Mainly due to the cutting of the veggies small and roasting them. It will cause them to burn. Just mash them into the soup so you can puree it later.
Chef John never steers me wrong! I did read the comments and made roasted the veggies for less time than the squash. Also added an apple and the vinegar to taste. Very delicious, although a little time consuming. Will make again.
I absolutely LOVE this recipe; takes a little time, but well worth it. Lovely flavors, brended beautifully. Thanks for another winner, Chef John!!
Not a lot of work for a whole lot of flavour!
My very favorite go to butternut squash soup recipe!
I made this recipe and omg it turned out amazing. My husband asked me what is that amazing smell, I wasn’t sure he would like it but it was love at first taste. I will be making it again!!!
good, but not what i was expecting
Made this to the letter, but there’s something missing. Maybe cumin or something with a little bite to add some complexity to the flavor, the apple cider vinegar’s not doing it for me. I also think it would have been more cohesive with a vegetable stock instead of chicken broth, chicken flavor is overwhelming the delicacy of the butternut squash.
I find this soup to be nicely balanced. The squash and carrots can be cloyingly sweet. The cayenne and vinegar and aromatics counter the sweetness nicely. My problem is that the vegetables tend to burn being in a 400 degree oven for an hour. Anyone else have this issue? Could be my roasting pan. It’s calphalon, but maybe the dark bottom has a tendency to burn things more?
The BEST soup ever! Family and neighbors raved over the flavor and entire batch was gone before it cooked. Sautéed the vegetables in sauce pan and added to roasted squash later. Roasted squash at 400 degrees for 50 minutes, flipped and added 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp brown sugar to each halve and roasted for another 20 minutes and then scooped out and into stew pot. The extra flavor was enjoyed by all. Wife asked me to make more so she cooked freeze it. Fantastic soup
Definitely one of the best soups I’ve ever made! Chef John has never let me down
BEST Butternut Squash Soup I’ve ever tasted
LOVE this, and have made it multiple times. Agree with several other reviewers that the vinegar is best left out, however. Some sour cream or creme fraiche can be added at the end for a little hit of acid.
I’ve made this at least half a dozen times now and while the original recipe is good, I’ve made a few tweaks to make it perfect! I sautee the onion and garlic while I roast JUST the butternut squash in the oven. When I throw everything in the stock pot, I throw in a sweet potato as well. I double the maple syrup, and do lemon instead of vinegar. Lemon lends acidity without being super apparent like vinegar. Yum!
I’ve made this more than a few times, following the instructions as given, but usually doubling the ingredients to make a double batch. Some for me, some to share. It has always been a conversation starter. Delicious, creamy and colorful. If you are making squash soup for the first time, make this one. it will be worth the effort.