Thai Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Back when I worked a 9-5 office job, I was dutiful about packing my lunch. My intentions were good, but it seemed like I brought the same types of things every day: baby carrots, yogurt, sandwiches, leftovers, frozen meals….you get the idea. My lunches may not have had a lot of variety, but I tried to make them well-rounded. Now that I’m at home, I find that I rarely make time for a proper lunch. Mostly I graze throughout the day, which isn’t healthy, and it certainly isn’t fulfilling.
That’s why I love this soup. It makes a huge batch that not only freezes well but also has a decent shelf life in the fridge. Perfect for those chilly fall days when it’s easy to fall prey to the open bag of tortilla chips in the pantry but nearly as quick to heat up a bowl of soup and feel more satisfied. I don’t claim that this is the most nutritionally sound meal in the world, but it definitely puts me in the right mindset to make it a more complete meal than if I look up and discover I’ve eaten half a bag of chips – again. (C’mon – please tell me I’m not the only one with these weaknesses!)
This is also an excellent make-ahead meal for Halloween night. Toss it in the crockpot in the morning, and you’ll be greeted with a heavenly aroma from the squash, curry paste and coconut milk when you walk in the door. If your kids are anything like mine, dinner is an afterthought on Halloween – just get to the trick-or-treating and the candy! At least you’ll know you put something warm in their stomachs before the sugar high hits later.
P.S. I always stir extra curry paste into the bowls for myself and my husband. The kids prefer a milder curry flavor, and we like a bit more spunk.
- 8 cups of peeled, cubed butternut squash
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger root
- 2 tablespoons green curry paste
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 can (13.5 ounces) light coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter
- Chopped cilantro (optional)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Combine squash, onion, garlic, ginger and curry paste in a large slow cooker. Pour in the chicken stock and coconut milk. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
- Puree the soup using an immersion blender or a regular blender.
- Stir in the fish sauce, brown sugar and butter. Let soup sit for 15 minutes before serving to allow all the flavors to meld together. Add salt and pepper to taste and garnish with fresh cilantro.
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OMG! This soup looks amazing and right up my alley. We are soup lovers and honestly have soup and sandwich or soup and quinoa cake night once a week in my house. It’s the easiest and best cold weather comfort food. I also love that there is always leftovers for the kid’s lunches and mine as well. I have never used green curry paste, so that will be something new for me to try. Beautiful job on the photos!
xoxo, Jackie
Thanks for the kind words, Jackie. I agree; I think we definitely have similar styles, and I’m positive you’re going to love experimenting with green curry paste. Enjoy!
I made this warm yumminess again tonight and this time I used my pressure cooker. Same prep time, but only 18 minutes until I had veggies soft enough to purée. Next time I will reduce the liquid by about 2 cups–there’s so much less evaporation with the pressure cooker–I didn’t end up throwing all the liquid in the blender with the veggies. I compensated for any potential lost flavor by stirring in more curry paste. We loved it!
Perfect soup for today’s snowy weather! I’m so intrigued by your pressure cooking. You’ll have to give me a tutorial the next time you’re in town (because you always travel with your pressure cooker, right?!?)
This soup was SO yummy! The slow cooker really simplifies the prep and buying pre-cut squash really helps too. This will go into our regular rotation!
Yay! Another winner. We can never have too many in our back pockets, can we?