Roasted Garlic and Butternut Squash Soup with Honey Yogurt and Goat Cheese

Roasted Garlic and Butternut Squash Soup with Honey Yogurt and Goat Cheese

This recipe is a fabulous twist on the classic butternut squash soup.  Roasted garlic, squash and onion are blended together with honey Greek yogurt for the perfect rich and slightly sweet butternut squash soup.  Top with creamy goat cheese and you have the the perfect cozy fall soup! 

Inspiration and thoughts

This is my version of the classic butternut squash soup, but with a few twists!  I love this soup and make it so often around this time of year. It’s easy to make and great to store for days in the fridge, or to freeze, and it is the perfect tasty and cozy comfort food. 

I love the taste of roasted starchy vegetables – like any squash or type of potato – with a bit of sweetness.  Honey, coconut oil, cinnamon, nutmeg: adding just a bit of any of these go so well with butternut squash.  It’s also delicious when roasted and adds a rich taste and added texture to the soup compared to being boiled or cooked on the stove.   So for this recipe I used roasted garlic, squash and onions and paired it with a bit of honey Greek yogurt.  The honey adds that perfect pairing of sweetness and the Greek yogurt adds a delicious creaminess while also being a bit more healthy than adding whole milk or cream.  

featured image soup on table

How it’s made, notes

Anytime I use butternut squash I like to buy the whole squash and prepare it myself.  I love arranging all of my fall vegetables as a seasonal centerpiece until I use them, and there’s just something so fabulous about the look of squash on the table!  But, definitely buy the pre-cut if you prefer, it is much easier and cuts down prep time (maybe just a bit more expensive).  This is just my personal preference.  

So, to start out preheat your oven to 400 F and prepare one large baking sheet.  Peel and cut the butternut squash in half if you buy it whole, then only use half of it and cut that into small cubes.  If you buy the pre-cut butternut squash this would be about 6 cups chopped.  I also find that pre-cut squash at the store is a bit larger than is best for this recipe, so I suggest cutting the chunks into small cubes if this is the case, about half an inch to an inch but not larger if possible.  The squash pieces will be blended after roasting, but the smaller cube size allows them to cook to the perfect texture in the time for this recipe. 

butternut squash whole on pink top

 

Cut the onion into chunks and peel the garlic.  Add the chopped onions, whole garlic and the squash cubes to the baking pan and sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast for 30 minutes, mixing everything around a bit at the half way point. 

After those are done in the oven it’s time to blend them all together!  Using a food processor or blender, add the squash, onion and garlic and blend until smooth and creamy.  Work in batches if you have a smaller blender.  I used my Ninja blender and with the largest size blender it only took me two batches for everything. 

Now add the squash mixture to a medium sized pot, turn the heat on very low, and add the chicken broth.  Simmer for 1-2 minutes and mix frequently, mixing the broth into the squash mix until everything is well combined.  Then add the honey Greek yogurt and continue to simmer and mix for 2-3 minutes more.  You want everything to be well combined and to heat up the chicken broth and yogurt.  

 

soup with goat cheese on table cloth

 

There are two options for the Greek yogurt:  to use honey + Greek yogurt, or as I usually do, to just add honey Greek yogurt already mixed together and sold that way at the store.  I have made this soup with both options and I prefer the pre-mixed honey Greek yogurt you can buy as is, but both options are fine and taste great!  The pre-mixed honey yogurt at the store tends to mix more easily into the soup, is just easier to add, has a rich flavor of honey and Greek yogurt, and avoids dealing with the crystallization that forms in honey (or mine at least!).  But again, both ways are fine! I also really love honey Greek yogurt for breakfast and always have it on hand and it is always available at the grocery store in different brands in larger sizes or individual servings (I prefer the Greek Gods Greek Yogurt brand).  

Turn off the heat and it is time to serve!  Pour the soup into bowls and top generously with goat cheese crumbles.  The goat cheese especially adds a perfectly creamy texture to top this off and is so good and really does compliment the flavors well. Don’t skip it!  Freshly chopped cilantro is another optional garnish and adds a bite of freshness.  This soup is great for two as a main dish or for four as a side dish.  

Enjoy! 

butternut squash soup side view on pretty cloth

Roasted Garlic and Butternut Squash Soup with Honey Yogurt and Goat Cheese

This recipe is a fabulous twist on the classic butternut squash soup.  Roasted garlic, squash and onion are blended together with honey Greek yogurt for the perfect rich and slightly sweet butternut squash soup.  Top with creamy goat cheese and you have the the perfect cozy fall soup! 
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish

Equipment

  • blender or food processor

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 butternut squash cut into small cubes; about 6 cups chopped
  • 1 brown onion chopped into chunks
  • 3-4 cloves garlic 3 large or 4 smaller cloves
  • 1/2 cup honey Greek yogurt or 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt + 1 teaspoon of honey; see notes!
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • goat cheese crumbles

Optional Garnishes

  • freshly chopped cilantro

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400 F and prepare a large baking sheet.
  • Cut the butternut squash (or buy it precut) and onion. Add these and the garlic onto the pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper and olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes. Mix everything around a bit about half way through.
  • Add the onion, garlic and butternut squash mix to the blender or food processor (if you are using a smaller blender work in batches, see notes) and blend until smooth and creamy. Add this mixture to a medium sized pot.
  • Turn on the heat to very low and add the chicken broth and simmer for 1-2 minutes, mixing frequently. Add the honey Greek yogurt and mix frequently until it is blended completely and is smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes more. Turn off the heat.
  • This serves 2 as a main dish or 4 as a side dish. Garnish generously with goat cheese crumbles and fresh chopped cilantro . Enjoy!

Notes

For the honey Greek yogurt: I love honey mixed with Greek yogurt but I also love to buy the honey Greek yogurt as is at the grocery store.  It is so good and so easy, and that is what I used for this recipe.  If you want to do this, you can buy honey greek yogurt large containers or individual ones at most grocery stores, and if you do just get a small individual one, one is enough.  If you don't want to do this or already have honey and Greek yogurt at home, just mix 1/4 cup yogurt plus 1/2 teaspoon of honey together then add that.  It is still great! 
For the blender or food processor: If you have a large blender or food processor all of the squash, garlic and onions will definitely fit in one go and you will only need to blend once.  I use my Ninja Blender, and with the largest sized contained I blended this in two batches.  
For the butternut squash: I used half of a whole butternut squash that I peeled and seeded, then chopped up into small cubes.  If you don't want to do that - which is fine of course - just buy the pre-cut squash and add it to the pan.  This will also cut the prep time down to probably 5 minutes instead of 15 (it's a bit of work to peel and cut these!)
Keyword butternut squash, easy, fall, fall recipes, healthy, quick, soup


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