Here’s a simple and delicious recipe for curry butternut squash soup with rich curry spice and creamy coconut. It’s rich and velvety but remains healthy and nourishing. It will warm you up from the inside out!
I originally shared this recipe on December 9th, 2014. I have updated the text and improved the recipe to share it with you again today.
Table of contents
Why We Love This Recipe for Curry Butternut Squash Soup
I’m just going to say it: I am obsessed with this recipe! This butternut squash soup is so flavorful and creamy, even though it is completely vegan. While the flavors will certainly satisfy your tastebuds, this soup is honest, clean, nourishing food.
I absolutely love cooking with squash, so when I had a chance to develop a healthy butternut squash soup, I jumped on it! Roasted butternut squash and easy garlic herb butternut squash are staple winter side dishes in our house, but I wanted to create a recipe that would allow this delicious squash to shine! Enter: soup.
I wanted this soup to have bold flavors, of course (and it does!), but most importantly, I wanted to feel good eating it. I don’t know about you all, but I can start to feel quite sluggish during the winter (especially after the holidays) and all I want is food that will comfort me without making my body feel worse.
Not only does it not make me feel worse, this healthy soup makes me feel better. It’s vegan, paleo, and naturally gluten-free! I think the only thing that is in this soup is pure sunshine, but you’d have to check the recipe card to be sure…
Key Ingredients For This Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
Butternut Squash
I made this the first time with a four-pound butternut squash. Normally I peel, seed, and then cube squash, but with this soup, you don’t have to. It’s the slacker method. (I mean this in the best way possible, by the way.)
Just cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and set it on a parchment-lined baking sheet. I roasted it until it was soft. It gets pureed anyway, so why bother cubing it? The second time I made it I used a buttercup squash, and it was equally delicious and had great flavor. Just scoop the soft squash out of the skin and you’re ready to go.
Onion and Curry
I sautéed the onion and curry in a soup pot. I have to say, taking the time to caramelize the onions a touch and to bloom the curry in the oil makes all the difference when you’re cooking with clean ingredients.
Lemon
Add just enough lemon to brighten up the flavors! It balances the creamy sweetness.
Coconut Milk
I was going to add cashew cream to make it extra creamy, but I went with the slacker route again and just poured in a can of organic light coconut milk. You can use cashew cream if you’d like, but I love the way the coconut pairs with the curry.
Additional Ingredients
- Avocado or Coconut Oil
- Vegetable broth
- Salt and pepper
- Cilantro for garnish
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Roast Butternut Squash
Preheat your oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay your squash cut-side down on the parchment and bake it until the flesh is very tender when pierced with a knife, which should take about 1 hour. Turn the squash so the cut side is up and let it cool until it’s cool enough to handle, which should be about 1 more hour.
Step 2: Cook Onion and Spices
Heat your oil of choice in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and cook, stirring often until it starts to brown. Reduce the heat as necessary to prevent the onion from scorching, but altogether it should take 6 to 10 minutes.
Step 3: Bloom Curry
Add in the spice and stir to coat, until fragrant but not darkening, for 30 to 90 seconds. Then stir in lemon juice.
Step 4: Add Broth
Add the chicken broth, salt, and pepper, and increase the eat to high to bring the soup to a simmer.
Step 5: Scoop Cooked Squash
Scoop the flesh out from the cooled squash and discard the skin. Break it into large chunks if necessary.
Step 6: Add Squash To Soup
Add the squash to the soup. Return the soup to a simmer, and then adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are tender and the squash is completely falling apart. This should take about 10 minutes.
Step 8: Add Coconut Milk
Add coconut milk to the soup and stir it to combine.
Step 9: Puree
Pureé the soup in the blender in batches, or with an immersion blender. I used my immersion blender to puree the soup. If you use your blender, just do it in batches and be super careful that the top doesn’t shoot off. Once pureéd, gently heat the soup without boiling and serve!
FAQ and Expert Tips
You can reheat this in the microwave in 45-second intervals stirring often, or heat through on the stop top, stirring regularly.
You could roast some vegetables to eat on the side, or enjoy it with homemade Whole Wheat Bread, or even naan!
Yes! Freeze up to three months. Defrost and reheat, stirring often, until simmering. Garnish with cilantro before serving.
Cool and store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator up to 4 days.
This can be kept refrigerated for up to 4 days. Make sure to reheat until simmering hot.
More Clean Eating Recipes You’ll Love This Month
- Dairy Free Roasted Pumpkin Soup with cashew cream!
- Instant Pot Veggie Curry with chickpeas and delicata squash- a new favorite!!
- Keto Mushroom Soup is keto-friendly, Gluten-free, and low carb.
- Chopped Winter Salad is my favorite salad at this time of year!
- Clean Eating Beef Stir-fry is full of veggies and strips of succulent steak in a 5-spice sauce made without any sugars!
More Butternut Squash Recipes
- I would go so far as to say Butternut Squash Lasagna is a real show-stopper of a recipe!
- Cheesy Stovetop Butternut Squash is a delicious stovetop recipe that comes together in only 40 minutes.
- If you love a healthy makeover of a classic, check out this yummy Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese!
- Baby Arugula and Butternut Salad with Maple Vinaigrette is the ultimate autumn salad!
Thanks so much for reading! If you are new here, you may want to sign up for my email newsletter to get a free weekly menu plan and the latest recipes right to your inbox. If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought!
Happy Cooking! ~Katie
Print
Curry Butternut Squash Soup
- Author: Katie Webster
-
Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes -
Yield: 10 cups - Diet: Vegan
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
A simple and delicious recipe for curry butternut squash soup with rich curry and coconut will warm you up from the inside out. It’s the perfect meal when it’s chilly outside!
Ingredients
- 1 4-pound butternut squash, cut in half lengthwise and seeds scooped out
- 3 tablespoons avocado oil or coconut oil
- 2 large onions, diced
- 3 tablespoon curry powder
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 cups vegetable broth or homemade vegetable stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1 14-ounce can light coconut milk
- cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Lay squash cut-side down on the parchment and bake until flesh is very tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 hour. Turn cut side up and cool until cool enough to handle, about 1 hour.
- Heat oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, and cook, stirring often until starting to brown, reducing heat as necessary to prevent scorching, 6 to 10 minutes.
- Add spice, and stir to coat. Cooking stirring until fragrant but not darkening, 30 to 90 seconds. Stir in lemon juice.
- Add broth, salt and pepper and increase heat to high to bring the soup to a simmer.
- Scoop the flesh from the squash and discard the skin. Break into large chunks if necessary.
- Add the squash flesh to the soup. Return to a simmer, reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are tender and the squash is completely falling apart, about 10 minutes.
- Add coconut milk to the soup, and stir to combine.
- Remove from the heat. Puree the soup in the blender in batches or with an immersion blender. (USE CAUTION WHEN BLENDING HOT LIQUIDS). Serve hot garnished with cilantro
Notes
Whole30: To make this complaint, use full fat compliant coconut milk.
-
Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
-
Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
-
Category: Soup
-
Method: Stovetop
-
Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cups
- Calories: 283
- Sugar: 17 g
- Fat: 16 g
- Carbohydrates: 36 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 7 g
Keywords: curry butternut squash soup, butternut squash curry soup,curry squash soup,squash curry soup,curry coconut butternut squash soup