Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Green Apples

This butternut squash soup is velvety and rich with incredible depth of flavor. The combo of buttery squash with sweet caramelized onions, tart apples and warm fragrant curry powder yields an outstanding soup that can be the centerpiece for any occasion, from weeknight dinner to Thanksgiving. Plus, it’s a surprisingly simple recipe.

 “You think of a curry meal and your mouth lights up in anticipation”
Madhur Jaffrey, Indian Chef/Food Writer

Curried butternut squash soup is my favorite way to start Thanksgiving dinner. I’m excited to finally share this recipe with you because it’s my longtime favorite. It’s adapted from The Silver Palate Cookbook and it is the best!

It’s got a perfect balance of sweet, tart, and spicy. I usually make a double or triple batch a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, and freeze it. On the day of, I reheat it, adjust the seasonings, and top each bowl with some freshly grated sour apple or a dollop of sour cream.

This is an easy soup to make. The hardest part is peeling and cutting the squash. But you can skip that step if you find pre-peeled or even pre-cubed squash at the market.

How to Make Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Cook the onions (lots of onions) in butter, covered, for about 18 minutes, until they’re soft and translucent. (the house will smell amazing!)

Add the curry powder and cook for a minute, stirring, to toast the curry powder. (The house will smell even better!).  

Add the broth, squash and apples. Bring to a boil. 

Cover and cook for 25 minutes.

Puree with an immersion blender or in batches in your food processor or blender.

Stir in apple cider and season with salt and pepper.

That’s it!

If you love butternut squash, don’t miss these delicious Panning The Globe recipes:

• Curried Butternut Squash, Chicken and Lentil Stew 
• Garlicky Roasted Butternut Squash
• Jamaican Curried Chicken Stew with Rum and Mango
• Roasted Squash Stuffed with Roasted Vegetables  
• Blue Cheese and Sage Roasted Butternut Squash Appetizer

Serve butternut squash soup piping hot with a garnish of tangy, freshly grated green apple. Or see below for other topping suggestions.

This elegant seasonal soup is perfect for Thanksgiving! 

Toppings for Butternut Squash Soup:

There are lots of possibilities!

• Grated green apple with the skin on. Grate just before serving. Toss immediately with two teaspoons of lemon or lime juice to prevent browning.
• Coconut Milk. Put it in squeeze bottle so you can make a nice swirl in each bowl.
• Sour Cream. A dollop in the center of each bowl would be delicious.
• Toasted cumin seeds. A pinch of cumin seeds to top each bowl.
• Toasted Sunflower Seeds
• Do you have a favorite topping? If so, I’d love to hear about it!

Here’s the recipe for Curried Butternut Squash Soup.  If you make this, I hope you’ll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I’d love to know what you think. 

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

A velvety, richly flavored soup of sweet butternut squash, tart apples, onions and curry powder. Perfect for a festive occasion or a soup and salad meal.

• Author: by Lisa
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins
• Total Time: 1 hour 10 mins
• Yield: 5-6 1x
• Category: Soup
• Method: stove top
• Cuisine: American

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 large yellow onions, peeled and chopped (about 4 cups)
• 5 teaspoons curry powder (I recommend Madras Curry Powder)
• 1 large butternut squash (about 3 pounds) peeled, seeds removed, cut into 1-inch dice (8 cups of diced squash)
• 2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped.
• 3–4 cups good quality low salt chicken broth* (I recommend Swanson’s)
• 1 cup apple cider or apple juice
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt plus more, to taste
• Fresh ground pepper, to taste
• Optional Toppings – Choose one:
• 1 Granny Smith apple with skin, shredded and immediately tossed with 1-2 teaspoons of lemon or lime juice to prevent discoloration**
• 1/2 cup coconut Milk. Put it in squeeze bottle so you can make a nice swirl in each bowl.
• 1/2 cup sour cream. A dollop in the center of each bowl would be delicious.
• 2 tablespoons toasted cumin seeds. A pinch of cumin seeds to top each bowl.

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a large soup pot or dutch oven oven over medium heat. Add onions and toss to coat with butter. Cover onions and turn heat down to a simmer. Cook for 18 minutes or until onions are softened and translucent.
2. Add curry powder and turn the heat up to medium. Cook, stirring constantly, for a minute, to toast the curry powder.
3. Add squash, apples and 3 cups of broth to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for 25 minutes, until apples and squash are very tender.
4. Turn off heat. Puree soup with an immersion blender right in the pot. Or puree in batches in a blender or food processor and return to the pot. Add cider. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Thin with additional broth to your desired consistency.
5. To Serve: Serve hot. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with shredded apple or the topping of your choice.

Notes

*TO MAKE THIS VEGETARIAN OR VEGAN: use a good quality vegetable stock in place of chicken broth and a vegan butter substitute for vegan.

**IF GARNISHING WITH SHREDDED APPLES: wait until right before serving to shred the apples. To prevent discoloration, prepare a bowl with a teaspoon or two of lemon or lime juice. Shred the apple into the bowl and toss to coat. Then add to soup bowls.

Keywords: curried squash soup, butternut squash soup, squash soup