Cashew Butternut Squash Soup, is a medley of flavors. Mostly mild tasting ingredients, with the usual mirepoix base of onions, carrots and celery in butter. Chunks of potatoes and butternut squash are added, and followed with cashew milk and chicken stock. Finally, the flavor is amped up with some garam masala. It’s marvelous!
If you’d like to make this soup vegetarian use vegetable stock in place of chicken. In addition, to make it a vegan, replace the butter with oil.
This Cashew Butternut Squash Soup is cute to look at and perfectly wholesome. It will make for a great opening to a holiday or celebratory meal. Once the soup is ready to serve you can garnish with a dusting of cashew pieces, or swirl in the garam masala. Alternatively, you can create a simple gremolata, just as I did, which will add another flavor dimension.
Cashew Butternut Squash Soup is a great soup to make ahead of time. Two-three days if you plan on storing it in the fridge. Four weeks in you have the space to store it in the freezer.
Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away, and as I mentioned, Cashew Butternut Squash Soup would make for a great opening to that meal. If you create it ahead of time, you’ll have more time to concentrate on the main course, or socialize with the family.
Cashew Butternut Squash Soup is a great meal regardless of the occasion. Take a batch to work and have it for lunch on a cold day. Or save it for an evening meal, when you’re curled up on the sofa. It will perk you right up no matter when you decide to enjoy it.
It’s a very windy day in New York today, so I think I’ll leave you now and heat up a batch for myself. If you decide to give this recipe a try let me know what you think.
Cashew Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 celery stalk sliced
- 1 medium carrot peeled and sliced
- 1 medium onion peeled and diced
- 2 medium potatoes peeled and diced
- 1 butternut squash approx. 1 lb (peeled and cubed - approx. 2 inch thick)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 cups cashew milk
- 5 cups unsalted chicken broth
- 1/4 tsp garam masala
- Crushed cashews for garnish if needed
Equipment & Utensils
- Large saucepan with cover
- Blender
Instructions
- Place butter in saucepan on high heat.
- When butter is almost melted add celery, carrots and onion.
- Lower heat to medium and saute for approx. 5 mins.
- Add potatoes and butternut squash and continue to saute for a further 5 mins.
- Add salt and 1 cup of cashew milk, and stir.
- Add 4 cups of unsalted chicken or vegetable stock and stir.
- Raise heat to high until liquid begins to bubble, then lower to low.
- Cover saucepan and allow to cook for 40 mins.
- Once solid ingredients can be easily pierced with a fork, remove from the heat and allow to cool just enough to blend.
- Once cool enough, transfer to blender and blend on high until ingredients form a puree.
- Transfer puree to saucepan and place on a medium heat and add the remainder of cashew milk and stock.
- You can add garam masala to soup now, or you can wait until it's time to serve.
- Stir to combine thoroughly and cover and allow to heat through.
- Taste soup to make sure you have the right flavor balance, then serve when ready.
- Garnish with a pinch of garam masala or crushed cashews.
Notes
To garnish with cashews - divide soup into bowls and sprinkle each serving with a few crushed cashews.
