Roasted Butternut Squash and Lentil Soup is the perfect fall soup. It’s hearty, flavorful, and healthy.
There’s something cozy about having a pot of soup simmering on the stove. Am I right!? And especially when it fills your kitchen with the aroma of spices, like the ones in this soup.
Roasted Butternut Squash and Lentil Soup starts with roasted butternut squash. Roasting the squash adds a layer of complex flavor, versus starting with raw chopped butternut (as some recipes call for). Of course the requisite onion and garlic are used, and I also add fresh ginger and curry spices to really kick up the flavor.
Then some red lentils are added to add protein, give the soup it’s thickness, and lend that extra hearty flavor.
Recipe steps…
You’ll need the following ingredients for the recipe:
- a medium-sized butternut squash
- avocado or olive oil
- onion
- garlic
- ginger
- red lentils
- curry spices
- vegetable broth
Now that you have your mise en place, let’s talk recipe steps!
First, heat your oven 450° and line a sheet pan with parchment baking paper. Scrub your butternut clean, lop ends of squash off, and then halve lengthwise and remove the seeds. Place squash cut side up on sheet pan and drizzle with a little avocado or olive oil (about one teaspoon), then season with sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper.
Roast squash until fork tender, about 25 – 30 minutes. Let cool, then scoop flesh out and set aside, discard squash skins. You’ll want about 1.5 cups of the roasted squash. If you have extra you can certainly add it to the soup, you just might want to add a little extra broth to thin the soup.
Roasted butternut adds flavor to the soup
Next, start the base of the soup. Heat a soup pot or large sauce pan over medium heat, then add remaining one tablespoon of avocado or olive oil. Cook the onion, garlic and ginger with a generous pinch of salt until softened (being careful not to brown). This step takes about 5 minutes, and turn the heat down if you see them starting to brown.
Next, add the lentils and spices. I made my own “curry” style blend, but you can certainly buy a prefab curry blend to add. Notes are in the recipe below!
Next step, add the broth and bring the soup to a simmer, cover and cook over medium-low heat until lentils are softened, about 30 minutes. You will want to stir very often, because lentils can be pesky and stick to the bottom. Adjust heat lower if need be.
I used about 4 cups of organic low-sodium vegetable broth, but you can use less for a thicker consistency, or more for a thinner one.
Once soup is done, season to taste with sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper.
This soup is great reheated, it’s also freezer-friendly
Last step, which is optional: using an immersion blender, partially puree soup by giving it a few whirls. I like using an immersion blender because it’s so much easier than transferring soups, sauces, etc. to a blender. Less mess, too!
If you do not have an immersion blender you can puree all or just a portion of the soup in a standard blender once it is cooled, then return to pot.
To serve, ladle warm soup into bowls and top with fresh cilantro and/or micro greens and toasted pumpkin seeds. I like Wilderness Poets pumpkin seeds, they have the most delicious fruity flavor, unlike any other pumpkin seeds you find.
Top the soup with something green and something crunchy
This soup makes about 4 cups, so it can serve four as 1-cup servings. You can double the recipe to serve more, and/or to make extra to freeze. This soup freezes very well!
If you make Roasted Butternut Squash and Lentil Soup I’d love to know how it turns out. Feel free to drop a comment below or tag me on Instagram. And be sure to follow me there for more recipes and cooking tips!
Like this recipe? Check these out…
Spiced Lentil Soup (vegan, GF)
Mujadara Lentils + Rice (vegan, GF)
| Servings |
servings
|
- 1 each medium butternut squash ends removed, halved and seeded
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 3-4 each cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 1/2 cup red lentils rinsed in a fine mesh strainer
- 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp ground coriander
- 1 generous pinch ground cloves
- 1 generous pinch ground cardamom
- 1 generous pinch ceylon cinnamon
- 4 cups organic low-sodium vegetable broth *or as needed (for a thinner or thicker consistency)
- to taste sea salt & black pepper
- to top soup cilantro or micro greens, pumpkin seeds
Ingredients
|
|
- heat oven to 450°, line a large sheet pan with parchment baking paper for easy cleanup
- place butternut squash on pan cut side up and drizzle with 1 teaspoon of the avocado oil, then season with sea salt + cracked black pepper and roast until tender, about 25-30 minutes; when cool enough to handle scoop squash out and discard skins
- heat a large pot over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon avocado oil when hot; cook onion, garlic and ginger with a generous pinch of salt until softened (being careful not to brown), about 5 minutes
- add spices and lentils to pot and stir, then add squash and broth; if you prefer to use a store-bought curry blend sub about one teaspoon of this in place of the various spices listed above
- cover and simmer soup, stirring often, until lentils are tender - about 30 minutes; season to taste with sea salt + cracked black pepper
- optional step: using an immersion blender, partially puree soup; if you do not have an immersion blender you can puree all or a portion of the soup in a standard blender once it is cooled, then return to pot
- garnish soup with cilantro, microgreens and/or pumpkin seeds
Recipe serves 4, about 1 cup per serving
Original recipe created by Jerran Boyer
www.healthnutchefs.com