This Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk welcomes fall like no other! This super easy to make and delicious soup has cinnamon-roasted butternut squash, creamy coconut milk, sweet apples and potatoes with a fall-spiced and maple-syrup spiked broth. A perfectly yummy and warming soup when the days and nights start to get cooler. Yum yum!
Alright it's fall time and soup is on🥣
When the weather gets cooler and leaves start falling into the pool before we get it closed, it's time for fall foods.
Other fall favourite recipes on my site include this Easy Red Lentil Curry with Spinach, this super healthy Kale Quinoa Salad with Apple and Spiced Nuts, my Sugar-Free Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce and Cast Iron Skillet Boneless Pork Chops with Homemade Spice Rub.
All my healthy and gluten-free fall recipes are here.
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- 📝Ingredients for butternut squash soup
- 🥣Instructions
- 🔪Equipment
- 💃Variations
- 🔄Substitution
- 🙋♀️Can I use frozen, cubed butternut squash?
- ✅Do I have to roast the squash first?
- 🥶Can you freeze butternut squash soup?
- 😋How do you make butternut squash soup taste better?
- 🥘What flavours go well with butternut squash?
- 🙋♀️What to serve with butternut squash soup
- Top Tips
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
Nothing says autumn more than a delicious bowl of roasted butternut squash soup with coconut milk.
Butternut squash is awesome because it's packed with beta-carotene, antioxidants and fibre.
Plus, it's easy on the food bill and reeeally easy to make.
The not-so-secret ingredient in this Butternut Squash Soup is a can of coconut milk.
It gives it a creamy texture and an awesome taste. Coconut milk is definitely something to keep in your cupboard.
📝Ingredients for butternut squash soup
- Whole butternut squash
- Potatoes - for a natural way to thicken the soup
- 1 Apple - for a hit of vitamin C, pectin (fibre) and natural sweetness
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Shallots - or cooking onion
- Fresh ginger
- Kosher salt
- Fresh ground pepper
- Cinnamon
- Pumpkin spice blend - if you don't have this, you can use nutmeg, ginger and allspice
- Coconut milk - to go on the lighter side, feel free to use "light" coconut milk. For best results, use the coconut milk in the can, not a "dairy-substitute" milk in a carton
- Vegetable broth - low sodium
- Maple syrup - this is where we're getting a little sweetness
🥣Instructions
There's 2 main things here you have to do and both are pretty hands off.
First, you'll pre-heat your oven because roasting the butternut squash is pretty much key to this recipe😄
Once you've got your squash all prepped and read to roast (see below for tips), you'll drizzle the flesh (the inside of the squash) with olive oil, sprinkle on some Kosher salt and cinnamon.
In a small pot on the stove, bring some water to a boil and put your cut potatoes in once the water is boiling hot; add the apple chunks to soften them up too about 10 minutes into the potatoes boiling.
Once your squash is done, you'll heat some olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven and get the shallot, garlic and ginger cooking.
Then you'll add the scooped out squash flesh, the potatoes and apples.
After a few minutes of stirring that up and cooking it down, you'll add the broth and coconut milk. Add the pumpkin spice. Heat for a few minutes and blend till smooth with a hand blender.
Finally, stir in the maple syrup and serve hot😋
🔪Equipment
For this recipes you'll need a small saucepan to boil the potatoes and apple; a large pot or dutch oven to make the soup and a couple spoons, soup ladle for serving, and measuring spoons.
💃Variations
This butternut squash soup with coconut milk and apple lends itself so well for flavour variety.
Here's a few ideas:
- 🥵Like it hot? Add some chili flakes or some cayenne pepper
- ✅Curry your style? Add curry powder and tumeric instead of the pumpkin spice
- 😋Going for Thai inspired? Skip the ginger and pumpkin spice and stir in some red curry paste or harrisa for a punch of strong, delicious flavour
🔄Substitution
If you don't have the pumpkin pie spice blend, no problem.
You can use small amounts (about ¼ teaspoon each) of the the spice blend, which is nutmeg, cinnamon, all spice and ginger.
And if you DO have the pumpkin spice blend, say hellllooo a whole bunch of fall-forward, pumpkin-ready recipes.
Case in point, these Gluten Free Pumpkin Cookies and this Gluten Free Pumpkin Loaf Recipe.
Both absolutely delicious and require you to go and make them immediately.
Is the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte Gluten-Free?
Your fave fall drink just got tastier😎
🙋♀️Can I use frozen, cubed butternut squash?
You can use frozen, cubed butternut squash BUT if it's not roasted, you'll miss out on that caramelized flavour that comes from that long roast of the squash in the oven (see point below).
✅Do I have to roast the squash first?
If you want the caramelized flavour of squash that really only comes from that slow roasted squash, yes, you gotta roast the squash first.
That being said, I've made this soup with frozen, cubed squash (thawed but not roasted) and it's still good!
If you really want to make it but skip the roasting, just be sure to add the spices (as called for in the recipe or your own - see "Variations") so that you still get a delicious soup in the end.
🥶Can you freeze butternut squash soup?
Yes, you can easily freeze soup with coconut milk in it. Just be sure it's completely cooled down. Put the soup into large mason jars with lids.
You can freeze the soup for up to 3 months.
When you're ready to eat it, take it out of the freezer the night before you want to eat it. Let it thaw overnight in the fridge.
Warm the soup up on the stove and whisk it together as it may separate a little bit. Have extra broth standing by if you want to thin it out at all.
😋How do you make butternut squash soup taste better?
There are sooo many spice and flavour combinations that really put butternut squash soup over the edge.
You can go for a punch of curry with curry powder and tumeric or go classic, warming fall flavours with ginger (fresh or powder), nutmeg and cinnamon.
But whatever spices you add, be sure to add the salt too. Salt not only brings a salty taste, salt actually helps other spices and flavours shine.
Another way to boost the flavour is with toppings on the soup. Go for pumpkin seeds, a little Greek yogurt swirled on top, some chopped and toasted pecans, fresh ground pepper and/cilantro.
🥘What flavours go well with butternut squash?
Butternut squash is one of the BEST squash out there because it's sweet (but not too sweet), nutty and balanced.
Some of the best flavour combinations that go with butternut squash are:
- Bacon, maple syrup and sage
- Bay leaf and nutmeg
- Even ricotta cheese and rosemary go great with butternut squash!
🙋♀️What to serve with butternut squash soup
Fall-forward flavours are totally on point here in this soup.
And what better way to welcome fall with arms wide open then with some other gluten-free fall recipes?
Check these out:
Top Tips
1. Cutting the squash: First, I recommend cutting the stem-stub off from the bottom. Then, carefully place the squash on it's end and cut lengthwise down through the squash. Using a spoon, just scoop out the little bit of pumpkin-like insides (it's like the inside of a pumpkin but there aren't any pumpkin seeds).
Now the squash is ready to roast!
2. To peel or not to peel (the potatoes or apple for that matter.) This butternut squash soup recipe uses potatoes as a thickener. So it's totally up to you if you keep the skins on or not - I've done it both ways (skin and no skin) and it turns out similar. The skin will blend up just fine and you get to keep the nutrition from the skin.
I hope you love this soup recipe.
If you try it, please rate and comment below. I ❣️ hearing from you.
~April
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📖 Recipe
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk
Ingredients
- 1 medium butternut squash
- Cinnamon
- 2 white potatoes
- 1 apple chopped
- 3 tablespoon Olive oil
- 2 shallots or onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoon fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- fresh ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
- 1 can coconut milk 1.5 cups or 400 ml
- 2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoon pure maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut squash in half, lengthwise and scoop out seeds.
- Drizzle flesh with olive oil and cinnamon. Place flesh down on baking sheet on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.
- Roast until squash is soft tender when pricked with a fork, about 40 minutes. Once you can handle the squash, carefully scoop out the inside flesh and scoop into a bowl. Be careful not to burn yourself!
- While the squash roasts, put a medium saucepan with water on the stove to boil the potatoes and apple. Add the potatoes to boiling water. Boil for 20 minutes or until potatoes are nice and soft. Add the apple into the water with the potatoes in the last 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoon of olive oil in large saucepan on medium heat. Add shallots, ginger and garlic. Sprinkle with Kosher salt. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Then to the shallots and garlic, add the boiled potatoes, apple, scooped out squash and pumpkin spice mix. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring things up and smashing the potatoes down with a wooden spoon. Add broth and coconut milk. Stir together.
- Let simmer for about 10 minutes on medium heat.
- Then puree the soup with a hand immersion blender or blender. Do it in batches to help reduce spillage if using a blender. Be careful not to burn yourself!
- Add in the maple syrup at the end with some fresh group pepper and give a final stir before serving.
Sharon says
We have a coconut allergy in my family. Could I use something else?
April says
Hi Sharon,
Absolutely. I've made it without the coconut milk and I've found light cream did it for me, plus a little more salt 🙂 Another option is to add a couple potatoes for added creaminess.
Kind regards,
April