Apple Butternut Squash Soup

Apple, Butternut Squash Soup 🙂

Autumn is here!!! And nothing says fall better than a good soup!! A few years back, I started adding granny smith apples into my Butternut Squash Soup. Oh my… I’ll never make it again without the apples!! There’s already such a sweetness in the squash, onions and carrots… but when you add the tartness and sweetness of the apples, it just brings it to a whole nother level. A level of pure joy in my opinion. I just love this soup so much. I always do my happy dance as I’m taste testing while cooking… and I have to lick clean every spatula, spoon and bowl… it’s THAT good. It’s ridiculously easy to make and it also freezes well. I typically make a huge batch and freeze a bunch of single servings to eat for lunch while the kiddos are at school. And don’t even get me started on how darn healthy this soup is!!! It’s nothing but vegetable (and an apple) goodness 😉 It seriously is a no guilt meal… and yet so sinfully good that it almost blows my mind how healthy it is. This is a dish that I can eat a lot of…. and for those of you that know me well… you know that because of health concerns, I can’t say that about many recipes. So DIG in and enjoy this wonderful fall soup. I hope you like it as much as I do!!

***Be sure to use homemade chicken broth or “better than bouillon” to get the wonderful flavor in your soup. Carton and canned broth doesn’t nearly have the flavor of homemade or “better than bouillon”…. and it sure as heck doesn’t have any of the nutritional benefits of homemade! 🙂

I know a lot of recipes call for half and half or cream to finish out the soup… but look how creamy that is?? I don’t add any cream to the soup itself… but I do like to add a few drops as a garnish. It’s much healthier this way… and I swear you won’t miss it!! I use a little dropper to add the cream… and I probably only use 1/4 – 1/2 tsp. per bowl 🙂

Apple Butternut Squash Soup

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

60 mins

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

Author: Vixen's Kitchen

Serves: 6

Ingredients

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium to large sweet onion, such as walla-walla or vidalia, chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
3-4 celery ribs, washed and chopped
4 cups homemade chicken broth (If you don't have homemade, please use "better than bouillon" instead of the canned stuff!)
1 cup water
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
⅛ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg (or store bought ground nutmeg if you don't have fresh)
Salt to taste
Cream to garnish (optional)

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots and celery. Stirring occasionally cook for about 10-15 minutes or until the onions are translucent and lightly golden in color.
Add the homemade chicken broth, water, squash and apples. Turn the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Cover and turn heat down to low. Cook covered and at a simmer for 30-40 minutes or until the squash and carrots are very tender.
Ladle the soup by batches into a blender or Vitamix, or use a hand blender. Blend until very smooth. Pour back into a clean pot over medium heat. Season with the nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Serve hot with a drizzle of cream.

Notes

You can easily make this a vegetarian meal by using vegetable stock instead of chicken.

Apple Butternut Squash Soup | www.vixenskitchen.com

Tools I used:

A must is the nutmeg grinder!! Nothing beats freshly grated nutmeg. Period. You can buy whole nutmegs super cheap from Penzey’s Spices… a 1 oz. bag will last forever and at only $3.99 you just can’t beat it! They have fabulous prices on all spices so be sure to check them out.

Vitamix: I completely understand the sticker shock of these bad boys… but they are well worth the money spent. I promise! So start filling that old cookie jar with extra change and you’ll have one in no time 🙂 I was lucky enough to receive mine as a gift… hint hint to all you hubby’s reading this… Christmas is right around the corner, and this is probably one of the only kitchen appliances your spouse won’t be mad at you for buying as a gift!! 🙂 I’m adding the link to the one that I own. There are many different models, but there’s one main reason why I love this model over the others… Because it fits on my counter, underneath my upper cabinets. Most of the other models are taller and don’t fit!