Butternut Squash Soup with Crispy Kale and Chili-Roasted Seeds is a late autumn soup perfect for Thanksgiving or any weeknight meal.
This week’s Butternut Squash Soup with Crispy Kale and Chili-Roasted Seeds takes all of its ingredients from the late fall farmers markets and is a fitting welcome to the winter months ahead. Butternut squash, sweet white turnips, an onion and an apple are surprisingly almost all that is needed to create a warming, sunny soup. Topping our soup with a few shards of crispy kale with its salty, winter sweetness helps give this soup a modern edge.
I started making Butternut Squash Soup with Crispy Kale and Chili-Roasted Seeds years ago. We had just bought our first house and decided to host our first Thanksgiving. While we wanted to stick with favorite family traditions, we also wanted to insert our own mark on the holiday. Instead of rushing to the buffet, loading up, and racing for a seat, we decided to begin the meal with a little demitasse of soup. Taking a moment before the beginning of a meal was just about right, even a little bit civilized. It took the edge off of the chaos and the remainder of the meal seemed somehow more relaxed.
For this Butternut Squash Soup with Crispy Kale and Chili-Roasted Seeds, I most often use a bunch of Lacinato (or “dinosaur”) kale, but any variety will work well. In our family, we all adore roasted kale, which is baked in a hot oven until crispy so I usually just make a big batch to use for this soup and eat as a snack the next day.
In an attempt to not let anything good go to waste, we saved our butternut squash seeds, tossed with some olive oil (coconut oil would be outstanding), sprinkled with chili powder then roasted until crispy. We scattered a few onto the soup to add more crunch and a little spice. The different textures and flavors kept the soup interesting through to the last spoonful.
Selecting Butternut Squash
You may be tempted to buy already peeled and sliced butternut squash from the grocery store but I hope you reconsider. Butternut squash is in ample supply from most farmers markets these days and it offers a rich sweetness that is so important to this soup. Just make sure to select a squash no more than 1- 1/2 pounds, which I have found is actually quite manageable. Anything larger is a bit of a beast, and hacking it apart requires more strength and tools than I possess.
Pumpkin could be a decent substitute for butternut squash but stick to small edible varieties, not your leftover jack o’lantern. 🎃 Avoid using acorn squash, which can be too watery and lack enough flavor.
Preparing Butternut Squash
The butternut squash for this soup can be prepared in two different ways depending on your mood. Most often, I just plunk the entire squash onto a sheet pan and roast until it is tender enough to allow a knife to easily puncture the flesh. This makes cutting and peeling a breeze, but the squash can cook unevenly. The bulbous end usually cooks much faster and can get mushy before the longer portion is cooked all the way through. Not tragic (and actually perfect for soup), I just slice off the bulbous end, remove to a plate, and cook the remainder until tender. You can also cut and peel butternut squash raw, which requires a little more physical effort, but using a fresh market squash in a manageable size makes this much easier.
Late Fall/Winter Farmers Market Vegetables
The late fall/winter market is is almost always a great place to stock up on pantry items like garlic, onion and potatoes, as well as root vegetables, but winter greens are the highlight. Different varieties of kale, chard, collards, mustard greens and Asian greens like tatsoi and boy choi, are all at their best during the coldest months. Bright green and absolutely bursting with strident flavor and intensified sweetness (or in the case of mustard greens, bracing spiciness), we usually leave the winter market with an armful of greens every week.
Even though the days are turning cooler, don’t forget about the farmers markets. More and more markets are deciding to stay open through winter so ask and you may be in luck. Check this link for a listing of 2020 winter markets in the VA/MD/DC region. The winter markets may surprise you with so much to offer, you will rarely need a visit to the produce section of your grocery and you support your community, as well. It makes us all very thankful, indeed.
- For soup:
- 3 Tablespoons butter or coconut oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 butternut squash, 1½ lbs.
- 1 firm, tart apple (green Granny Smith is a great cooking apple), peeled and chopped
- 2 medium Japanese (white) turnips, scrubbed and chopped into ½-inch cubes
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped into ½-inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 3-4 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme or 4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
- Sea salt and pepper, to taste
- ¾ cup heavy cream or coconut milk (optional)
- For Crispy Kale:
- 1 bunch lacinato kale, washed, dried and cut into 1-2-inch pieces
- 3-4 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1-3 teaspoons sea salt
- For Chili-Roasted Seeds:
- Seeds from the butternut squash, rinsed and dried in a clean towel or paper towel
- 1-2 Tablespoons chili powder
- Olive oil, to coat
- Sea salt, to taste
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Prepare the butternut squash*:
- Using a sharp knife, cut off each stem end. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the peel. Set the squash upright on the cutting board and cut in half. Spoon out seeds and reserve. Then lay each side down flat on the board. Cut each halve into 4 long slices then cut crosswise to create ½-inch cubes.
- Prepare the soup:
- Place butter or oil into a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions. Sauté until onions are translucent and tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the carrot, butternut squash, apple, turnips, thyme and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir to combine, cover and lower heat to medium low or low so that vegetables very gently simmer. Cook for 5-7 minutes until vegetables are beginning to become tender and release juices into the pan.
- Add the broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low, cover and allow to gently simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15-20 minutes.
- Using a blender, puree soup in batches until smooth.** Return soup to pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
. Add cream or coconut, if desired. Heat barely simmering until warm. - Prepare Crispy Kale:
- Spread kale out in a single layer onto a sheet pan, toss with olive oil and salt, to taste.
- Roast in 400-degree oven for about 7 minutes until you see the leaves flatten to the pan but still green, with brown edges. Everyone's oven is slightly different. Keep a close eye the first few times to be sure of timing.
- Prepare Chili-Roasted Seeds:
- Toss seeds with olive oil, then a light coating of chili powder and a sprinkling of salt. Roast in the 400-degree oven until seeds are lightly browned and crispy, about 7-10 minutes.
- To Serve, spoon soup into bowl and stop with shards of crispy kale and sprinkle with roasted seeds.
**Puree the soup in a blender in batches and cover lid with a towel. The heat can make the soup expand, splatter and possibly pop the lid so smaller amounts works best.
***To prepare kale: Once home from the market, prep kale until ready to use. With each leaf, grab the stem from the back and with your other hand, stripping the leaf away from the stem. Rinse leaves well then wrap with a clean dry towel or paper towels and place in a plastic bag until ready to use.
3.5.3226