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

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.  

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. 

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.  

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!