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This warming butternut squash and broccoli soup is a healthy dinner that tastes decadent. Silky, smooth and full of flavour, it's best served with a side of crusty bread and good company.
Butternut squash soup can be a bit polarising. But trust us, this one will blow your expectations out of the water. Slightly spiced, perfectly creamy and super flavourful, it's one of the BEST ways to get your veggies in. Hands down.
In a few words, it's:
- Super warming.
- Full of deep, rich flavours.
- Great with a slice of sourdough.
- Wonderfully healthy.
Why We Created This Recipe
When it comes to easy, healthy cooking, soup ticks all the boxes. Ahh, the joys of soup season!
This soup is full of good-for-you ingredients, but requires minimal effort to make. Simply chop, boil and blend, and you've got dinner on the way. We also love how versatile soup is in terms of meals. You can either have it as a starter or side, or enjoy a bigger serving for a soup-centric dinner.
Not only does this big batch suit meal prepping well, but the flavours continue to develop over a few days, making this an amazing grab-and-go lunch option to heat up and enjoy at work the next day.
Make it a Meal
To turn this healthy butternut squash soup into a full meal, you'll want to bulk it up a bit with some additional sides.
If you have a lot of time, a complementary veggie tart made with puff pastry, veggies, cheddar cheese and fresh herbs would taste amazing with this soup.
If you have less time but are still hankering for some comfort food, a classic grilled cheese sandwich tastes amazing dunked into this creamy soup.
If you'd like some greens to go alongside, you can't go wrong with any of the following:
- Spinach or rocket salad with olive oil and balsamic dressing
- Pan-fried broccolini or broccoli rabe
- Sautéed spinach
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Olive oil: Red Island is our absolute favourite olive oil and works a treat in this dish, but any high-quality olive oil will do. If you don't want to use olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, or a neutral canola/vegetable oil would also work.
- Yellow onion: Yellow onion caramelises beautifully, adding depth to this soup. If you can't find a yellow onion, white or red will also work but yield a slightly different flavour.
- Curry Powder: Curry gives this soup so much flavour with minimal effort. Our curry powder of choice for this recipe is Keen's.
- Ginger: Ginger adds spice and flavour. If you don't like ginger you can leave it out or substitute for an extra 1-2 cloves garlic.
- Garlic: Garlic adds delicious richness.If you don't have fresh garlic, you can also substitute it for ½ teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Butternut squash: We used fresh butternut squash that we peeled and diced, but pre-peeled or frozen butternut squash cubes will also work in this recipe.
- Broccoli: The broccoli adds extra nutrients and is undetectable flavour-wise in this soup. If you're still unsure, though, this can also be substituted for cauliflower.
- Vegetable stock: To keep this soup vegetarian and vegan-friendly, we used vegetable stock. If you do eat meat, you could also use chicken broth/chicken stock instead.
- Coconut milk: Coconut adds flavour and makes this soup creamy. If you don't like the coconut flavour, you can substitute heavy cream instead.
- Lime: Lime adds a final zing to the soup and creates a deliciously complex flavour. If you don't have it, you can also substitute with lemon juice or omit entirely.
- Coriander: A final sprinkle of coriander perfectly balances the rich curry flavours of this soup. If coriander's not your thing, substitute it for parsley, chives or any other herb of choice.
Tools Needed
A big soup pot with a thick bottom is definitely something to invest in. Get a high-quality one to prevent sticking and burning on the bottom of the pot. Generally, the thicker the pot’s bottom is, the less likely this will occur. We highly recommend using a dutch oven for soups like this, as it works just the same as a large pot but is less likely to burn your food than alternative options such as stainless steel.
To make this soup creamy, we also used a NutriBullet immersion blender. If you don't have an immersion blender, using a regular blender or food processor will also work, but you might have to blend in batches. Warning: Be careful of hot steam when you're blending! If you like your soup chunky, you can totally skip this step, but butternut squash soup, we love a nice smooth texture.
Print📖 Recipe
Warming Butternut Squash and Broccoli Soup (Vegan Option)
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6 bowls 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This warming butternut squash and broccoli soup is a healthy dinner that tastes decadent. Silky, smooth and full of flavour, it's best served with a side of crusty bread and good company.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- ½ small butternut squash, peeled and diced (500-600g)
- 1 small head broccoli, stem included, diced (300g)
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 400g coconut milk (1 can)
- 2 tablespoons lime juice (1 lime)
- coriander (for topping - optional)
- Greek yoghurt (for topping - optional)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
- One the oil is warm, add onion and cook over medium low until fully transparent and aromatic. Your onions should be very slightly beginning to caramelise, browning around the edges.
- Add curry powder, garlic and ginger. Stir well until the spices blend and become fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add diced squash, broccoli and broccoli stem. Mix well to incorporate spices.
- Cover the veggies and spice mix with 4 cups of vegetable stock. Increase heat to high and bring the soup to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes until veggies are tender and falling apart. The squash will soften more quickly, but you want the broccoli stems to soften enough that they'll blend easily.
- Once the veggies are soft, remove the pot from heat.
- Carefully blend with an immersion blender, or transfer to a food processor/regular blender in multiple batches and blend until smooth.
- If you didn't use an immersion blender, return blended soup to pot.
- Return pot to low heat and mix in coconut milk. Add lime juice, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- To serve the soup, divide between bowls and sprinkle with a generous amount of coriander leaves. You can also add a dollop of Greek yoghurt if desired for extra tang and creaminess.
- Serve immediately, preferably with a slice of fresh sourdough bread.
Notes
If you're using a regular blender, do NOT put your hand over the opening/lid. This can result in a steam burn which is very painful and dangerous.
If you like more spice, add a tiny pinch of cayenne pepper when seasoning the blended soup.
To store, transfer leftovers to airtight containers. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to three months in a freezer-safe container. To reheat, pour soup into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 1.5 - 3 minutes, stirring incrementally every 30 seconds - 1 minute.
This soup is vegan as-is so so long as you don't top it with Greek yoghurt at the end. If you want, feel free to use coconut yoghurt instead.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Boiling
- Cuisine: Australian
If you try this recipe, leave a comment and rating to help others find it!
Lee says
amazing
Helen says
Great! love it with some sourdough on the side.