I’m over the cold. Ready for spring and summer. But seeing as how the entire country and many parts of the world are not cooperating with my 80 degree weather requests, I’m upping the ante on soups with this game changing Butternut Squash Carrot Soup!
I’ve spent the last few days in Seattle which is basically like being in the freezer. I can’t even text my fingers are so numb. Clearly this California girl doesn’t handle anything below 60 degrees well. But what to do when there’s a major chill in the air and you’re hungry? Obviously Butternut Squash Carrot Soup with a big fat piece of garlic bread is the answer!
But this soup isn’t just any soup, it’s a combination of some of my favorite fall veggies like butternut squash, carrots, red bell peppers, garlic and shallots that all get roasted for almost an hour! Then it’s into the soup they go with milk or heavy cream or coconut milk if you’re going for the vegan style! (and while I couldn’t ever be fully vegan, because we all know I love cheese, this soup with coconut milk is out of this world)
Serve it up alongside a warm and toasty piece of my famous herby garlic bread and it’s pure perfection. I mean, give me a spoon and this could be lunch or dinner on any given night!
Butternut Squash, Carrot and Pepper Soup
Ingredients
For the Soup:
- 2 medium butternut squash sliced in half and seeds scooped out
- 2 large carrots chopped into large pieces
- 1 red bell pepper halved and seeds removed
- 1 head garlic
- 1 shallot halved and skin removed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup milk or coconut milk
- 2-4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 teaspoons red pepper flakes
For the Garlic Bread:
- 1 16- ounce loaf of Italian bread or French bread
- 1 stick unsalted butter softened
- 2 large cloves of garlic smashed and chopped
- 1 heaping tablespoon of freshly chopped basil
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
For the soup:
- Preheat oven to 425
- Place the halves of squash on a large baking sheet with the carrot, bell pepper, garlic and shallot and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, roast for for 50-60 minutes until the squash is fork tender.
- Once cooked, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Scoop out the insides of the butternut squash and discard the skins. Transfer all the vegetables to a high powered blender and add the liquids and red pepper flakes. Start with 2 cups of stock and puree for 2-3 minutes until completely smooth. If you want a thinner soup, add more stock until it reaches the desired consistency. Transfer the liquids back into a pot and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper and serve as needed with a side of garlic bread.
For the garlic bread:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Cut the bread in half, horizontally. Mix the butter, garlic, and basil together in a small bowl. Spread butter mixture over the the two bread halves. Place on a sturdy baking pan and heat in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over bread if you want. Return to oven on the highest rack. Broil on high heat for 2-3 minutes until the edges of the bread begin to toast and the cheese bubbles. Watch very carefully while broiling.
- Remove from oven, let cool a minute, slice and serve.
Photo by Matt Armendariz / Food Styling by Adam Pearson / Recipe by What’s Gaby Cooking
I want to curl up by the fire with a giant bowl of this soup. It looks incredible!
This looks absolutely delicious. I think this 60 degree weather is cool enough for some soup. Can’t wait to try!
What is Sambal in this context, please?
,
I love this, what a cozy soup for fall!
This looks to be the perfect combination of spice and yum!!
What a lovely soup!! These flavors are so perfect!
Delicious soup! My husband and I threw it together in no time after work last night. I tossed all the veggies with oil before roasting and especially drizzled oil into the head of garlic. I used the coconut milk instead of cream. Definitely needed salt too. The garlic bread is a must. What a satisfying tasty meal!
Looove this soup! All those veggies, and the cream…And it’s not complete without good bread for dunking!
Loved it! I just made it and it’s great! I would just suggest adding salt and pepper. I would also put less garlic next time.
Hey, Your recipe sounds great, but maybe the wording is confusing me a little. Are you saying to roast all vegetables at the same time? Thanks. I am having a ladies luncheon next month, and this would be great served in small bowls, topped with the garlic bread.
This was the first butternut squash recipe I tried. I assumed the olive oil was for drizzling over the vegs. prior to roasting. I also added a good pinch of kosher salt. I used about 3 lbs of squash. The flavor is wonderful. I wanted to make this for a ladies luncheon next month, so wanted to test drive it first. It is comfort food all dressed up. I used low sodium chicken broth and whole milk, but plan to drizzle it with a little swirl of heavy cream just to dress it up when I serve it. I am planning to have the garlic bread to serve with the soup, I used my immersion blender, and that worked quite well. This is the first recipe on the site I have tried, and loved it. Thanks Gaby
( plan to try the garlic bread Sunday for Valentines Day for my husband, with shrimp cocktails,steaks and beer)
I have similar recipes for this type of soup, but can’t bring myself to make any recipe but this one. This soup fills me with joy, from the look of the vegetables on the roasting pan, to the smell as they cook, and of course the final product. I absolutely love this recipe. It is so incredibly delicious and comforting. I found 3 lbs of butternut squash is perfect for the balance of flavors. If you are having a thanksgiving dinner you can’t go wrong with this soup as your starter. Topped it with cheesy homemade croutons. I always say I am going to freeze some, without the cream of course, but I never have any left.
Love this recipe! Soup is a staple for the holiday, winter season! I’ll try this recipe out and let you know how it goes!
Does this soup freeze well? Thanks!
VERY well!
Made this for a Friendsgiving last night (we’re all in veterinary school) and OMG it’s fantastic and the flavor profile is amazing! Made another batch to keep some in the freezer for busy surgery weeks and cold weather. Love love love
Hey Gaby! Do you think this soup would freeze well? I’m pregnant and am planning a list of recipes I can make and freeze for once the baby gets here. I love this soup and would be curious if this one could be one of my go-to’s.
And please let me know if you have any other freezer friendly favorites! I made your Bolognese Pesto Lasagna from your cookbook last week (amazing!!!) and I actually made another batch of just the bolognese to freeze and either make into lasagna or just for on top of pasta. Hoping to get a nice list put together! Thanks!
this freezes GREAT!!!! I’ll think of some others for you!
What if you don’t have the roast option on your oven? Can you just bake the veggies?
If you bake at 425+ that’s considered roasting so yes!
Hi there! When roasting the head of garlic, do you remove the skin at al.l/chop the whole head in half prior to roasting? Thanks!
Also wondering this – should I cut the bulb in half and roast – assuming i take all the cloves out before putting in the blender?
yes! cut in half and roast and then pop the cloves out before blending
Soup and a good bread are the perfect dinner for me! I love this veggie combination. It certainly makes the winter cold more bearable.
How many cups of butternut squash do you use?
it’ll roughly even out to 3-4 cups of cubed squash
I hope this isn’t a stupid question, but could I just use an immersion blender instead of putting everything into the blender?
absolutely!!
What a great recipe!!! So easy to make. I love that everything simply goes on a single sheet pan before blending.
SO delicious!
So easy and delicious! Plus the house smells great from the roasted vegetables. Had one bowl today with a grilled gouda cheese sandwich and then another bowl for afternoon snack with a dollop of Creme Fraiche ( very highly recommend this). Husband loved it as well. Used chicken stock and coconut milk as the liquids- great texture and creamy taste.
If I freeze this, should I leave out the coconut milk and add it when I reheat the soup?
Most Favorite soup ever! I used to use an immersion blender and now I have upgraded to my vitamix and it is so smooth now! Love love love
I’m going to make this today! Question: I can never find medium sized squash.. approximately how many cups would this equate to? Thanks for all of your beautiful recipes.
Oops. Never mind! Just read another comment and you answered the question.
Can I use a food processor instead of a blender or an emulsifier?
absolutely
So excited to make this tomorrow! Did I miss how many servings this recipe is for?
4-6!
Any suggestions for replacing the bell pepper and red pepper flakes? I can’t have them with my AIP protocol
you can omit them both
As recommended by my daughter, I made this soup tonight and it was delicious! I will definitely be making this again. Bonus was the recipe is gluten and dairy free!
What would the roasting dIrections be if I used precut butternut cubes from Costco? Thanks & I love your site, cookbooks.
same directions! just roast until caramelized
this sounds delicious- two questions: 1. do you remove the skin of the squash before roasting? and 2. do you face the squash on the rounded side or the cut-in half side? Thanks!
1: no you do not, the skins are removed in step 3
2: either way works, I prefer it cut side up so it caramelizes a bit more
We had this soup last week from squash from our garden. It was fantastic, the whole family loved it and asked when I would be making it again….. we had lots of butternut in the garden 🙂
First off I should note that I forget that Gaby likes a lot of kick/heat to her dishes. My husband and I are mild/medium heat lovers. I can handle a little more zip than my husband. I did reduce the teaspoon of red pepper flakes to a scant less, but obviously I should have gone with 1/4 – 1/2 tsp. Don’t get me wrong, it’s delicious, smooth and has a nice warmth on the back side that I can tolerate but not sure my husband can or will. Maybe the bread will help for him Haven’t tried that yet as I’m just having it for my lunch with a spinach salad since it just finished cooking. Overall this recipe is soooooo much better than my old butternut squash soup recipe that if I ever find it I’m throwing it out. Everything I make from Gaby’s webpage or her latest book is always a winner.
I made this all the way in Tanzania, and it was delicious. I craved a little more spice, might add a little more of the chilli flakes.
I cannot wait to try this. When you roast the squash, is the cut side up or down? Thanks.
either or!
I am a new follower and I made this soup last night and it was delicious!!! Even tasted great before I
added the milk!!! Will definitely be making again!!
How do you prep the garlic?