Thai Inspired Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup – A Fall Classic
We love this Thai inspired butternut squash and carrot soup. It’s a perfect way to enjoy fresh, local winter squash from your garden, a farmer’s market or grocery store.
Butternut Squash Recipes to Try: Chicken & Butternut Sheet Pan Dinner, Butternut Squash Chili, Whole Grain Salad with Kale & Butternut Squash, Kale, Butternut & Farro Salad.
I’ve been making a variation of this soup since I started growing squash in the 1990’s! I’ve been experimenting with it ever since. Every fall, I’ve tweaked the recipe and tried something different. The recipe posted is my latest, simplest version yet. Key ingredients you’ll need beyond the butternut squash and carrots are coconut milk and Thai red curry paste.
Make it Vegan/Vegetarian
Make this butternut soup vegetarian or even vegan by sticking to vegetable soup stock and coconut milk. And, be sure to check your Thai red curry paste.
Use other Squash!
Did you know that you can easily swap butternut squash with other squash? Read more about different types of squash here.
For this soup, you could easily swap the butternut squash for large pumpkins, sugar or pie pumpkins, kabocha, hubbard, red kuri or buttercup squash. A great way to discover the differences in flavour and texture of these squash.
How Long Can You Keep Squash Soup?
This soup will last in the fridge about 4-5 days. If you don’t think you can finish it before then, freeze it right away.
Can You Freeze This Soup?
Yes! Pureed butternut squash and carrot soup freezes very well. It’s best used within 6 months but will be safe long after that time.
Let it cool completely and pour into convenient portion sized containers. Leave only enough airspace in hard sided containers to allow for expansion (about 3/4 inch space).
Thaw overnight in fridge or use microwave on thaw setting.
Thai Inspired Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup
Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp canola oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 4 cups butternut squash (21/2-3lb squash) peeled, halved, seeded and coarsely chopped
- 1 cup carrots (2 medium) coarsely chopped
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 5 cups vegetable or chicken stock
- 1-2 Tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 Tbsp cilantro or parsley
- 4 Tbsp toasted pepitas or cashews
Instructions
- In large saucepan, heat oil and sauté onion until soft. Do not brown.
- Add squash, carrots and sugar and sauté for 10 minutes.
- Add ginger and cilantro stems (if available) and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes until veggies are soft. Puree soup using an immersion blender or food processor. Return soup to pot.
- Add 1 Tbsp Thai red curry paste, coconut milk and lime juice.
- Taste and adjust seasoning – add more curry paste, salt and pepper or more lime juice as needed.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro or parsley and toasted pepitas or cashews.
Notes
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
Here are a few extra tips and tricks I find helpful when making butternut squash and carrot soup.
How to Chop and Peel Butternut Squash
Peeling and chopping the butternut squash is definitely the hardest part of making this soup. Here are a couple of tricks to make it easier:
- Cut the neck of the butternut squash off. This gives you nice flat edges that you can use to safely balance your squash.
- A vegetable peeler will work, but I prefer standing up the squash and using a large knife to remove the peel.
- If your squash is really tough, use a paring knife to poke a few holes in it all the way around, then pop it in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. This will soften the rind a little and make it easier to cut through.
Get more squash cutting, storing and cooking tips here:
How to Safely Puree Soup
You know you’re veggies are ready to puree when they’re soft and you can easily squish them with the back of a spoon against the side of the pot.
I love using a hand held immersion blender to puree soups. It’s quick and easy, requires very little clean up and is much less tricky than using a blender. However, a blender or food processor will work too, it just requires a little extra caution.
Hot Soup in A Blender
Hot soup in a blender can be dangerous as it spurts and splatters hot soup about. This happens when the hot soup expands and hot steam tries to escape – it can lead to serious scalding. To be safe…
- fill the blender less than half way
- cover it with the lid but remove the small cover from the little opening to allow steam to escape
- cover the little hole with a folded tea towel
- start pureeing on low
- repeatedly let the steam vent by removing the towel then continue to puree at higher speeds
- empty blender and repeat with remaining soup
Given my recent haul of butternut squash from our garden, I suspect I might be making a few more batches of this soup in the coming months!
If you make this soup, let me know what you think and how everyone around the table doctored it up. Leave a comment or take a photo and tag #getgettys so I can see it and like it!
Sign up to get articles by Getty delivered to your inbox. You’ll get recipes, practical tips and great food information like this. Getty is a Professional Home Economist, speaker and writer putting good food on tables and agendas. She is the author of Manitoba’s best-selling Prairie Fruit Cookbook, Founder of Fruit Share, a mom and veggie gardener.
Hi there! Loved the tomatoe recipes! I have acorn squash this year. Will it work with your soup recipe?
Hi Katharine,
Glad you enjoyed the tomato recipes! Thanks for the feedback.
Yes, you can use acorn squash. You’ll find it’s almost impossible to peel and you won’t get the same amount of flesh from the acorn squash. I would roast two acorn squash and then puree it. When making the soup, sautee the onions, soften the carrots and add the seasonings as described, then add the pureed acorn squash with the stock. I find acorn squash a little drier and less sweet than butternut squash, so you may need to adjust the seasonings and amount of liquid a little.
Good luck and let me know how it goes.
Getty