Roasted Butternut Squash Soup Made Creamy With White Beans

Roasted butternut squash soup is what I make the first weekend it’s cold enough to want the oven on. You roast the squash with an apple, an onion and a few garlic cloves until the edges go dark and sweet, then blend it all with broth. This version skips the heavy cream. A can of white beans goes into the blender instead, so the soup comes out thick and velvety with some extra protein and fiber.

The quick version: roast 2 pounds of cubed butternut squash with apple, onion and garlic at 425°F for 35 to 40 minutes. Simmer it with a can of white beans and 3 cups of broth for 10 minutes, blend until smooth, and finish with a splash of vinegar. You get 4 bowls, each about 343 calories with 13 g protein and 10 g fiber, toppings included.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

Serves: 4 bowls · Prep: 15 minutes · Cook: 50 minutes · Total: 1 hour 5 minutes · Per bowl with toppings: about 343 calories, 13 g protein, 10 g fiber

Ingredients

• 1 large butternut squash (about 3 lb), peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 900 g cubed)
• 1 medium apple (180 g), cored and cut into chunks
• 1 medium yellow onion (110 g), cut into wedges
• 4 garlic cloves (12 g), left unpeeled
• 2 tablespoons (27 g) olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 can (15 oz) white beans or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (about 1 1/2 cups / 250 g)
• 3 cups (720 ml) low-sodium vegetable broth, plus more to thin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• For topping: 1/2 cup (120 g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt and 1/4 cup (32 g) pepitas

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and line a large sheet pan with parchment.
2. Toss the squash, apple, onion and garlic cloves with the olive oil, salt, pepper and smoked paprika right on the pan. Spread everything in a single layer, using two pans if it’s crowded.
3. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, flipping once halfway, until the squash is fork-tender and browned at the edges.
4. Squeeze the soft garlic out of its skins into a large pot. Add the roasted vegetables, white beans, broth and nutmeg, bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Blend with an immersion blender until completely smooth, or blend in batches in a countertop blender with the lid vented. Add more broth if the soup is thicker than you like.
6. Stir in the vinegar, taste and adjust the salt. Ladle into 4 bowls and top each with 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt and 1 tablespoon pepitas.

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Why Roast the Squash First?

You can boil cubed squash in broth and blend it, and you’ll get soup. It tastes like warm squash water. Roasting at high heat drives off moisture and browns the sugars on the cut sides, so the flavor gets deeper, nuttier and sweeter. That browning is what makes people ask what’s in it.

The apple roasts alongside for a reason too. It adds a little tartness that keeps the soup from tasting flat, and you don’t need maple syrup or brown sugar. The garlic stays in its skins so it steams into a soft paste instead of burning on the hot pan.

Two things matter more than anything else here. Use a hot oven (425°F, not 350°F), and don’t crowd the pan. Squash piled on top of itself steams instead of browning. If your squash is on the large side, split it across two sheet pans and swap their positions halfway through. It’s the same trick behind most of our healthy sheet pan dinners.

Healthy Butternut Squash Soup Without Cream

Plenty of restaurant-style squash soups get their silky texture from heavy cream or a big knob of butter. White beans do the same job here. Once blended, they disappear completely. Nobody I’ve served this to has guessed they were in there. They make the soup thicker and give it a creamy body without the saturated fat.

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They also fix the main weakness of squash soup, which is that it’s light and you’re hungry an hour later. Canned white beans have 7.3 g protein and 4.8 g fiber per 100 g in USDA data. The 250 g in this pot adds about 18 g protein and 12 g fiber to the batch. The Greek yogurt and pepitas on top add the rest.

Nutrition per bowl

Per bowl (1/4 of the pot)	Soup only	With yogurt + pepitas
Calories	280	343
Protein	8 g	13 g
Carbohydrate	51 g	53 g
Fiber	9 g	10 g
Fat	7 g	11 g

Sodium is the number that swings the most, and it depends almost entirely on your broth and beans. Regular vegetable broth has 296 mg sodium per 100 g in USDA data, so a low-sodium carton and rinsed beans make a real difference. Add salt at the end, once you’ve tasted it.

Want this to be a full dinner rather than a starter? Serve it with a grilled cheese on whole-grain bread, a big salad with chickpeas, or a side of roast chicken. For more filling bowls, see our high fiber meals.

How to Cut a Butternut Squash Without a Fight

• Microwave it first. Pierce the whole squash a few times with a knife and microwave it for 2 to 3 minutes. The skin softens enough to peel easily.
• Make it flat. Trim off both ends, then cut the squash where the neck meets the round bottom. Two flat-bottomed pieces won’t roll around on the board.
• Use a Y-peeler. Peel downward along the length until you reach bright orange flesh with no pale green streaks.
• Scoop and cube. Halve the round bottom, scoop out the seeds with a spoon and cut everything into roughly 1-inch cubes so it roasts evenly.
• Or skip it. Pre-cubed squash from the produce section works fine. Grab about 2 pounds.

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4 Ways to Change It Up

Butternut Squash Soup With Coconut Milk

Swap 1 cup of the broth for light coconut milk and add 1 teaspoon curry powder and 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger before blending. Finish with lime juice instead of vinegar and top with cilantro. It’s richer and slightly sweet, and it’s dairy-free if you skip the yogurt or use a plant-based one.

Smoky Chipotle

Blend in 1 chipotle pepper from a can of chipotles in adobo, plus a teaspoon of the sauce. Top with the yogurt, pepitas and a squeeze of lime. Start with one pepper; they’re hotter than they look.

Sage and Brown Butter

For a holiday starter, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small pan with a few fresh sage leaves until the butter smells nutty and the leaves crisp. Spoon a little over each bowl. It fits nicely on a lighter Thanksgiving table next to our healthy Thanksgiving sides.

Slow Cooker or Instant Pot

You’ll lose the roasted flavor, but it works on a busy day. Put the raw squash, apple, onion, peeled garlic, beans, broth and spices in the pot. Cook on low for 6 to 7 hours in a slow cooker, or at high pressure for 10 minutes with a 10-minute natural release in an Instant Pot. Blend and add the vinegar at the end. A teaspoon of extra smoked paprika helps make up for the missing browning.

Storing and Freezing Butternut Squash Soup

Cool the soup, then refrigerate it in covered containers. FoodSafety.gov gives soups and stews with vegetables 3 to 4 days in the fridge and 2 to 3 months in the freezer for best quality. Keep the yogurt and pepitas separate and add them when you serve, so the seeds stay crunchy.

This soup freezes better than most because there’s no cream to split. Freeze it in single portions with a little headspace, thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat on the stove with a splash of broth. It’s a good one to add to a freezer meal prep day.

FAQ

Do you have to peel butternut squash for soup?

For a silky soup, yes. The skin softens when roasted, but it can leave flecks and a slightly grainy texture even after blending. If you’d rather not peel, halve the squash, roast it cut side down and scoop out the flesh.

Why is my butternut squash soup bland?

Usually it’s short on salt or acid, or the squash was boiled instead of roasted. Season at the end, add the vinegar, and taste again. A pinch more smoked paprika or a few drops of hot sauce also helps.

Can I use frozen butternut squash?

Yes. Roast it straight from frozen, spread out well, and add 10 to 15 minutes to the roasting time. It browns less than fresh squash, so the soup will be a little milder.

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Looking for more bowls to make this season? Try our lemony red lentil soup or browse all of our healthy soup recipes.

Sources

• FoodSafety.gov, Cold Food Storage Chart
• USDA FoodData Central via getfoodfacts.com: butternut squash, raw (FDC 169295), apples, raw, with skin (FDC 171688), onions, raw (FDC 170000), garlic, raw (FDC 169230), olive oil (FDC 171413)
• USDA FoodData Central via getfoodfacts.com: white beans, canned (FDC 175204), vegetable broth, ready to serve (FDC 171583), Greek yogurt, plain, nonfat (FDC 170894), pumpkin seed kernels (FDC 170556)