Butternut Squash soup in the Crockpot

Its Autumn here in Boston. Soon to be winter. With all the cold, windy, wet days, everyone is in the mood for soup. And it’s so nice to come home from a long day at work to dinner being ready.

Hubby threw this together and we had some leftover pumpkin the the fridge from all my pumpkin baking going on. He threw the pumpkin in as well. I think that’s why it’s so dark in color. We really liked this soup. I served it with some crumbled goat cheese on top to add some creaminess. I can’t believe how delicious and healthy this soup is. You should definitely try it.

Butternut Squash soup – from A Year of Crockpotting
1 butternut squash – we used 1 bag frozen butternut squash + 3/4 can pumpkin
2 T olive oil
2 small medium onions, or 2 T onion flakes
4 cups broth, chicken or vegetable
2 small apples, peeled and cubed – ours weren’t peeled
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Use at least a 5 quart crockpot for this soup.

Cut the squash in half long ways. This is terribly hard to do. If you microwave the entire squash for 2 to 5 minutes on high, the skin will soften, but you will still need to use a pretty powerful knife. If you can find already peeled and cubed butternut squash use that.

I couldn’t believe how difficult it was for me to cut the squash. My knife got stuck.

Scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp. Brush olive oil on the inside of the squash and roast it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until you can peel the skin away from the flesh.

We didn’t do any of that since we used frozen squash. We did cook it in the oven for about 10 minutes to get some of the extra water out of the squash from it being frozen.

Plug in your crockpot and turn to high. Add the broth, and the onion and apple. Stir in the spices. Cover to let heat.

When the squash has finished roasting, add it to the pot. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or on high for about 4.

Blend in small batches with a stand blender, or carefully blend with an immersible wand. We didn’t blend it. I mashed it some with my potato masher, but left it mostly chunky.