Slow Cooker Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Apple
This creamy butternut squash soup is a warm and comforting main dish, side dish or appetizer.
For this recipe, my inspiration comes from the butternut squash soup at a bakery-café type restaurant that I occasionally go to for lunch.
One of my favorite things to order is their vegetarian autumn squash soup which is actually made with a combination of pumpkin and butternut squash.
So I just had to come up with a recipe that to my taste buds, tastes just as good.
About this Recipe
This butternut squash soup is slow cooked in a crockpot and is made with just butternut squash (no pumpkin).
And this recipe has chicken broth in it so it’s not vegetarian.
Also included in this recipe is a tart Granny Smith apple, carrot, onion and garlic.
This soup has a savory flavor with a familiar comfort food taste.
About Blending the Soup
After the ingredients slow cook in the crockpot (on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours), they’re blended with an immersion blender in the slow cooker pot.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, a blender that’s made for hot ingredients can also be used.
See below for tips when using a blender with hot ingredients.
Once the soup is blended to a smooth consistency, half and half, and lite coconut milk are stirred in.
For Serving
Each serving of this soup is topped with dried cranberries, walnuts and a dollop of sour cream.
This flavorful soup is light, creamy and has just the right amount of thickness and heartiness to it.
Let’s check out the ingredients.
Soup – Butternut squash, onion (white or yellow), garlic, carrot, Granny Smith apple, chicken broth, cinnamon, curry powder, dried red pepper flakes, salt, ground black pepper, half and half, and lite coconut milk
Equipment – A 5-quart slow cooker (crockpot) or larger, immersion blender (or a regular blender with a pitcher that’s made to be used for hot ingredients)
Toppings – Dried cranberries, walnuts and sour cream
HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE
A printable recipe with the measurements and instructions is located at the bottom of this post.
For the Soup
Onions and Garlic:
Chop the onions…
…and garlic.
In a large skillet add olive oil.
Heat the skillet on low to medium heat and…
…add the chopped onions and stir.
Add the chopped garlic…
…and stir.
Continue stirring until the onions start to turn translucent (about 6 minutes).
If the garlic is cooking too fast (starting to turn a golden color), turn the heat down a little.
Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
Butternut Squash:
Peel the skin off of the butternut squash.
Carefully cut the squash in half lengthwise.
Then cut each halved piece in half again widthwise so that the squash is cut into quarters.
TIP – Cut the squash so that the seeds are left only in the “bulb” section of the squash. This should make it easier to remove the pulp and seeds all at once.
Next, with a dinner-size spoon…
…scrape out the pulp and discard.
Cut the squash into medium-size chunks.
Chop Apple and Carrot:
Core and coarsely chop the apple (keep the skin on the apple), and peel and coarsely chop the carrot.
Add Ingredients to Crockpot
To the slow cooker pot, add the squash, apple, carrot, onion and garlic.
Seasonings:
To the pot…
…add curry powder…
…ground cinnamon…
…dried red pepper flakes…
…ground…
…black pepper…
…and salt.
Broth:
To the pot, add chicken broth.
Stir Ingredients
Stir the ingredients together until combined.
Cook
Cover with a lid.
Cook in the slow cooker on the low setting for 8 hours (or set on high and cook for 4 hours).
Blend
After the soup is cooked…
…and while it’s warm…
…use an…
…immersion blender…
…to blend the soup…
…until…
…it’s smooth.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, a regular blender with a pitcher that’s made for hot ingredients can be used.
When using a blender for hot liquids use caution; with hot ingredients steam can build up and blow the lid off of the blender.
TIPS – Using a Blender to Blend Hot Soup:
- use a large ladle to transfer the hot soup into the blender pitcher
- add the soup to a blender jar in batches (not larger than 1/3 full)
- remove the center piece from the blender lid
- place the lid (minus the center piece) on the blender jar
- cover the lid with a clean towel that’s folded to a size slightly larger than the lid
- hold the towel over the lid while blending using the lowest speed
Blend the soup until creamy and transfer it from the blender pitcher back into the slow cooker pot.
Add Half & Half and Coconut Milk
To the warm soup in the crockpot…
…add half and half…
…and coconut milk.
Stir together until combined.
Do a quick taste test and add more salt if needed.
Serve
Serve warm.
Toppings:
Top each serving with a dollop of sour cream…
…dried cranberries and…
…coarsely chopped walnuts.
Thank you so much for stopping by CCC!
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Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
Soup:
- 1 medium size (about 3 to 4 pounds) Butternut Squash peeled, cut in half lengthwise; then cut in half widthwise, seeds scraped out and discarded, and squash cut into medium size chunks
- 1 medium size onion (white or yellow) peeled and chopped
- 3 medium size cloves of garlic peeled and minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large carrot peeled and coarsely chopped
- 1 medium size Granny Smith apple cored and coarsely chopped (keep the skin on the apple)
- 2 pinches ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1 carton (32 ounces) chicken broth
- 3 dashes salt or salt to taste
- 2 dashes ground black pepper
- 2 pinches dried red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup half and half
- 1/2 cup lite coconut milk (unsweetened)
Toppings:
- 1 tablespoon (per serving) sour cream
- 1 tablespoon (per serving) dried cranberries
- 1 tablespoon (per serving) coarsely chopped walnuts
Equipment
- 5-quart (or larger) slow cooker (crockpot)
- Immersion Blender or a Blender with a Heat-Proof Pitcher and Lid
Instructions
Preparation:
- Onions and Garlic – In a large skillet add olive oil. Heat the skillet on low to medium heat and add the chopped onions and stir. Add the chopped garlic and stir.
- Continue stirring until the onions start to turn translucent (about 6 minutes). If the garlic is cooking too fast (starting to turn a golden color), turn the heat down a little.
- Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
For the Soup:
- Add Vegetables, Fruit and Seasonings to Pot – To the slow cooker pot, add the squash, apple, carrot, onion, garlic, cinnamon, curry powder, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and broth.
- Stir all ingredients together until combined.
- Cook the Soup – Cover with a lid and cook on the low setting for 8 hours (or the high setting for 4 hours).
- Blend the Soup – After the soup is cooked and while it's warm, use an immersion blender to blend the soup (while still in the crockpot) until smooth.
- If an immersion blender isn't available a regular blender with a pitcher that's made for hot ingredients can be used.
- When using a blender for hot liquids use caution because steam can build up and blow the lid off of the blender.Tips when using a blender for hot liquids:– use a ladle to carefully transfer the hot soup into the blender pitcher – add the soup to the blender jar in batches that are no larger than 1/3 full– remove the center piece from the blender lid– place the lid (minus the center piece) on the blender jar– cover the lid with a clean towel folded to a size slightly larger than the lid– hold the towel over the lid while blending on the lowest speedAfter blending the soup until creamy, transfer it from the blender pitcher back into the slow cooker pot.
- Add Half & Half and Coconut Milk – To the warm soup in the crockpot, add half and half, and coconut milk. Stir together until combined. Do a quick taste test and add more salt if needed.
Serve:
- Serve warm.
Toppings:
- Top each serving with a dollop of sour cream, dried cranberries and coarsely chopped walnuts.
Notes
TIPS:
- Cut the squash so that the seeds are left only in the “bulb” section of the squash. This should make it easier to remove the pulp and seeds all at once.
- If using a blender to blend the hot soup use caution because steam can build up and blow the lid off of the blender. More tips on blending hot ingredients in a blender are in the recipe instructions.
Serving Suggestions
Side dishes to serve with this soup; “Easy Homemade Garlic Bread“, “Cream Cheese Garlic Bread” and “Homemade Whole Wheat Biscuits“.
Soup Recipes
More soup recipes you may like; “Slow Cooker Split Pea and Ham Soup“, “Slow Cooker Cheesy Potato and Smoked Sausage Soup” and “Eggplant Supper Soup with Ground Beef and Pasta“.
Slow Cooker Recipes
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