Curried Butternut Squash and Apple Soup is filled with warm spices and tart flavors from the apples. Pretty much the perfect creamy soup.

When the weather starts getting colder and the days shorter, there’s nothing like a warm bowl of soup. Some of our go to soup recipes are a hearty vegetable barley soup or a comforting tomato and cannellini bean soup.

But if you really want one with the essence of fall, this one is perfect.  It has apples plus all those fall spices we love: cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg. This apple butternut squash soup recipe is great with dinner or on its own as a light cozy lunch.

My family’s favorite way to enjoy it is for dinner alongside a nice warm veggie quesadilla or grilled cheese sandwich. I think it’s the perfect comfort soup after a long day.

What I love about soups with squash is that they form an ultra smooth creamy texture without actually adding any heavy cream or coconut milk. Potatoes have the thicker soup effect too, but have a little more starch and give soups a slightly grainier texture than butternut squash. I often substitute butternut squash for potatoes in many blended vegetable soup recipes for this reason.

Ingredients for Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

Butternut squash: Cut into even sized cubes. (I usually buy fresh butternut squash that has been precut) You will be roasting the butternut squash first. Keep reading for why roasting is best for this soup.

Apples: You can use either tart green apples or any variety of sweet apples. It doesn’t matter what kind of apples you use, as long as they are flavorful. I tasted my apples when I cut them to make sure they had a strong flavor. Of course, it still was not enough for me in the end, which is why I added some apple juice to the soup. That’s totally up to you though!

Red onion and garlic: These are secondary fresh ingredients to enhance the soup's flavor. You can also substitute red onions with yellow onions.

Olive oil, butter, white table wine: for roasting the butternut squash and cooking the other main ingredients.

Spices: You will need curry powder, cumin, cayenne powder, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon. Make sure your spices are not too old. This is where all the flavor comes from!

Vegetable broth: Use your favorite store bought brand or your own homemade stock.

How to Make Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

For this soup, I really wanted to maximize the flavor of all my ingredients. We all know butternut squash does not have a strong flavor, but if you roast any vegetable you will get more flavor out of it. Roasted butternut squash is no exception. Here's why:

Ready for some geeky science facts? Caramelization refers to the chemical reactions that occur when sugars start to break apart. It leaves behind all sorts of new compounds with stronger aromas and more intense flavors that can be sweet, sour, or bitter.

For this to happen you need temperatures to be above at least 220°F. So, if you are thinking about boiling instead of roasting your squash, you totally can, but know your soup will taste different.

To prepare the squash. drizzle the oil over the cut pieces, season with salt and  black pepper and spread it onto a large baking sheet. (Line it with parchment for easy clean up!) Let it roast in the oven while occasionally tossing the pieces for even roasting and to prevent sticking.

While your butternut squash is roasting, melt the butter in a pan over medium heat and sautee your apples, onions, garlic along with curry powder, cumin and cayenne. Cook them over medium to low heat until the onions are soft and the apples are fork tender. Deglaze the pan with some white wine. 

Combine the cooked mixture, the roasted butternut squash, 2 cups of the vegetable stock, and remaining spices in a blender, blend until smooth and transfer to a large pot.  

You can also combine everything straight to a large pot and puree with an immersion blender. Add the remaining vegetable stock, salt to taste and re- heat over medium-high heat before serving. Enhance the apple flavor with apple juice if needed and desired. 

Serving Suggestions:

Garnish your butternut squash and apple soup with pumpkin seeds, fresh herbs, a splash of heavy cream or a dollop of sour cream. 

Serve it along side an Arugula and Apple Salad, or for heartier meal try my Winter Quinoa Salad.

Storage:

Let the hot soup cool and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Re-heat gently in a pot on the stovetop. You an also freeze the soup in freezer safe containers for up to 1 month. Let the soup thaw completely and then gently reheat on the stove. 

I first shared this curried butternut squash apple soup recipe on Food Fanatic, so be sure to visit it there along with my other vegetarian recipes.