This butternut squash soup is something I look forward to all year long. It's healthy, creamy and delicious. It is naturally vegan and gluten free as well! The soup is great on it's own but I like to eat it with a grilled cheese sandwich. I usually use leftovers to make mac and cheese which you can find a video for on my TikTok account or the GF pasta story highlights on Instagram.
The hardest part of the recipe is cutting the squash. Usually I enlist my husband for this part. To be fair, I really need to sharpen my knives! Sometimes I just get a bag of pre-cut butternut squash. Any apple can work but I love using granny apples because it is a bit sweet. I've never made it without a granny apple but I might use a tsp of raw agave if I used a different kind of apple. Honestly, you could add a little honey anyway if you want some sweetness to your soup. If you don't have an immersion blender I definitely recommend one. It's much easier than dumping things in the blender. It is fun to use, too! Amazon is out of the older version I have but I put the newer version in my amazon shop here. The mini food processor is also very useful from guacamole to homemade paste or chopping veggies. I also use it for my vegan pinwheels, which would be delicious on the side!
This recipe yielding 8 cups of soup. If you are sensitive to heat I would either use paprika or a dash of Cheyenne. This soup had a bit of a bite! Once you have used your immersion blender to blend up the soup, start with 1/2 cup for the coconut milk and get some of that top fat in there! You can add more coconut milk to get the consistency you like. I usually use about 3/4 of the can. When you serve the soup I like to top it with more cinnamon and goat cheese crumbles, which you obviously wouldn't do if you wanted to keep in vegan.
I must confess that I used thyme instead of sage. My amazon fresh delivery brought the wrong thing and I didn't even notice until I was looking at the picture I took. OOPS! Such is life, am I right?
PS: Be careful using the immersion blender on a crockpot with a nonstick bottom, it will scratch.
Peel, roughly chop and remove seeds from your butternut squash and dump it in the crockpot.
Peel and roughly chop your carrot and onion. Remove core of apple, chop and throw everything in the crockpot.
Add the seasoning and broth to the crockpot. Add the fresh sage on top.
Cook on low for 6 hours.
When done cooking, remove the sage and use your immersion blender to blend until smooth. Add about 1/2 cup of coconut milk and stir.
Serve on its own, with a grilled cheese or the vegan pinwheels posted above. Garnish with choice of: goat cheese, honey, more coconut milk, cinnamon and paprika