Creamy Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Lentils

This easy, nutritious vegan creamy butternut squash soup is full of spice, warmth and flavour.  Deliciously comforting, it goes down a treat on a cold day. 

Today I am sharing a super easy to make recipe for creamy butternut squash soup with lentils.  Butternut squash is a delicious autumnal ingredient that adds colour, goodness and lots of deliciousness to any dish and this soup is a great example.  It's rich and creamy, wholesome, filling, full of fibre and bursting with flavour and colour!

How to roast butternut squash

There are various ways of roasting butternut squash.  You could first peel and chop it up, then bake the pieces with a little drizzle of oil.  I used this method in my turkey dumplings recipe as well as pasta with butternut squash.  Another method is to roast it whole until tender.  This will, however, take longer than roasting squash pieces (roasting time will depend on the size of your squash).  You could also roast halved squash as I have done in festive stuffed butternut squash with quinoa and mushrooms.

For this soup recipe I cut the butternut squash widthways into thick slices, which I then baked until they were tender and lightly browned.  It was really easy to peel the slices once they were cooked. This is the fastest method of preparing roasted butternut squash I've ever come across.

How to make creamy roasted butternut squash soup: step-by-step

This is a pretty straightforward recipe.

1.Cut the squash widthways into thick slices (7-8). Remove the seeds and place on top of a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Season, drizzle over a little oil and roast in a preheated oven (220 C) for 30-40 minutes or until golden and fully cooked.  Remove from the oven and peel off the skin. Whilst your butternut squash is roasting away you can get on with preparing the soup.

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2. In a large pot heat up the oil, add the bay leaf, chopped garlic, ginger, onion and celery and cook gently for 3-4 minutes until softened, stirring often.

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3. Add the lentils, seasoning and spices and continue cooking for 2 more minutes stirring often.

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4. Pour in about half of the water, stir, cover and bring to the boil.  Simmer for 15 minutes.

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5. Remove from the heat, discard the bay leaf, add the roasted squash and more water (still not all of it).

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6. Puree until smooth.  Add more water if needed, adjust seasoning and serve!

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Top tips

• You can roast the squash in advance and once cooled, peel and refrigerate, covered for up to 2 days.
• Spices and herbs: In addition to the spices I've used (or instead of) you could add smoked or sweet paprika, cumin and chili into this soup.  Scatter freshly chopped cilantro or parsley before serving if you like.
• Add the water gradually adjusting the recommended amount to suit your preference.
• It is important to remove the soup from the heat before adding in the butternut squash.  The squash will have fully cooked in the oven so by cooking it further in the soup some of its rich flavour may be lost.
• Serve with toasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds with a drizzle of coconut milk or cream.  Delicious also with grilled ciabatta bread or croutons.
• Freeze individual portions in airtight containers.

Fan of butternut squash? Check out butternut squash coconut curry with chicken and apple.

More easy creamy soup recipes

• Creamy Broccoli Spinach Soup (Vegan)
• Creamy Mushroom Potato Soup (Dairy Free)

and

• Creamy Spiced Pumpkin Carrot Soup

You might also like this collection of 12 creamy vegan soups!

KEEP IN TOUCH!

How has your easy roasted butternut squash soup turned out for you? Let me know in the comments below, thanks!

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Creamy Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Lentils

This simple, vegan, creamy roasted butternut squash soup is full of spice, warmth and flavour.  Deliciously comforting and nutritious, it goes down a treat on a cold day. 

4.88 from 8 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Lunch, Soup

Cuisine: International

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Servings: 6 people

Calories: 201kcal

Author: Monika Dabrowski

Ingredients

• 1 kg butternut squash cut widthways into thick slices, seeds removed
• 1 onion roughly chopped
• 1/2 celery stalk roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves roughly chopped
• 1.5 tsp fresh ginger finely chopped
• 1/2 cup red lentils rinsed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1.5 tsp coarse sea salt plus plenty of pepper
• 3 tbsp olive oil plus a little more to drizzle over the squash
• 4.5 cups hot water add a little less for thicker consistency

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425 F/ 220 C/ gas mark 7. Arrange the squash slices in a single layer on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Season and drizzle with a little oil. Pop in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the squash is lightly browned and fully cooked. Remove from the oven and peel off the skin. Set aside.
• Whilst the squash is in the oven prepare the soup. In a large pot heat up the oil, add the bay leaf, garlic, ginger, onion and cook for 3-4 minutes over a medium heat stirring often. Add the lentils, spices and seasoning and cook for 2 more minutes.
• Pour in 2 cups of the hot water, cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, discard the bay leaf, add in the roasted squash, more water (still not all) and puree until smooth. Add more water if needed, adjust seasoning as necessary and serve.

Notes

• You can roast the squash in advance and once cooled, peel and refrigerate, covered for up to 2 days.
• Spices and herbs: In addition to the spices I've used (or instead of) you could add smoked or sweet paprika, cumin and chili into this soup.  Scatter freshly chopped cilantro or parsley before serving if you like.
• Add the water gradually adjusting the recommended amount to suit your preference.
• It is important to remove the soup from the heat before adding in the butternut squash.  The squash will have fully cooked in the oven so by cooking it further in the soup some of its rich flavour may be lost.
• Serve with toasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds with a drizzle of coconut milk or cream.  Delicious also with grilled ciabatta bread or healthy homemade croutons.
• Freeze individual portions in airtight containers.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 201kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 590mg | Potassium: 757mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 17717IU | Vitamin C: 37mg | Calcium: 97mg | Iron: 2mg

*Nutritional information is automatically generated and should be considered as an estimate.

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RECIPE LINK PARTIES

I am bringing this creamy vegan roasted butternut squash soup to What’s For Dinner? Sunday Linkp. Also sharing with Fiesta Friday, which I have the pleasure of co-hosting this week with Mollie @ Frugal Hausfrau.