The best creamy vegan squash soup perfect for the cold winter days. Filled with veggies and bursting with unique flavors, this is healthy comfort food extraordinaire!
I love fall! Well, at least the attempt at fall that southern California is giving me. But, I’ll take anything because I’m ready for pumpkins, squash, apples….I’ve been doing this blogging thing for almost a year and as I’ve mentioned before, my goal is to utilize local organic ingredients when possible. So I apologize in advance if you’re already over it all!
I’m trying to be creative and think outside the box, so I used a variety of winter squashes in this soup. It would really work with any winter squash or combination of them, but I really liked the variety I used here. I wanted to add a little different twist, I’ve seen a lot of sage and thyme lately, and although I love both, I thought I’d mix it up by paring these spices with cilantro. It was a risk, but it totally panned out. If you don’t like cilantro, then feel free to leave it out, but if you do, this is the soup for you! We loved it! The variety of flavors really made it a tasty meal. It’s so savory and a perfect winter comfort food. We ate it for a few days and it was just as good as leftovers as it was fresh. I even made a fall sandwich to eat it with the next day, check out my Apple, Arugula and Smoky Tempeh Sandwich!
My favorite thing about making this soup was that I got to test out the “soup” function on my new Vitamix. And wow, was it amazing!! Apparently the speed by which the function purees the ingredients creates a heat that actually makes this soup hot when its done. So you can literally pour it straight from the blender into your bowl. I was shocked at the steam coming from it! And we are talking hot, not just warm, but hot enough that you had to blow on each spoonful before you ate it. This machine continues to amaze me…you can definitely use a regular blender for this, you just need to to heat the soup after its pureed. But if you’ve been on the fence about buying a Vitamix, I’d definitely do it and if you can, get one with the preset functions! So useful! I use mine multiple times a day and can honestly say that the functions have made my life as a mom easier.
- 5 ½ cups winter squash squash , chopped into uniform pieces (I used a combo of delicata, Tahitian and butternut)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 zucchini , chopped (pieces should be uniform to squash)
- 1 cup sweet onion , sliced
- 6 sage sprigs
- 6 thyme sprigs
- drizzle coconut oil or olive oil , optional for brushing squash for roasting
- sea salt , to taste
- ½ cup cilantro , loosely packed
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- ½ cup walnuts , soaked overnight if not using a high speed blender
- ½ cup raw cashews , soaked overnight if not using a high speed blender
- 4 cups veggie broth , low sodium if needed
- pumpkin seeds for garnish , optional
Preheat oven to 400 F/ 205 C
Place squash and garlic on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Hints for preparing squash: I scooped out seeds, peeled and cut into uniform pieces before roasting, but you can also roast whole and prep after. If you are using delicata squash, the skin can be eaten. The Tahitian and butternut needs to be peeled. Using a vegetable peeler works great.
If using oil, drizzle over squash. Place thyme and sage sprigs over squash making sure to spread out evenly. Lightly sprinkle with salt.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Once 20 minutes is done, place zucchini and onion on the cookie sheet with the squash and garlic.
Bake another 25 minutes. If your pieces aren’t uniform then take out any pieces that are soft when tested with a fork and continue to bake until all pieces are soft.
Once done, allow to cool a bit.
Place everything, except sage and thyme, in a blender (high speed works best) along with the rest of the ingredients, minus the pumpkin seeds.
Then remove the thyme and sage leaves from the stems and add them to the blender.
Blend until smooth.
Soup should be nice and hot from blending, if not you can also warm it on the stove in a pot.
- Garnish with pumpkin seeds if desired. Pairs well with my Smoky Tempeh, Apple and Arugula Sandwich!
- Recipe makes about 9 cups
- You can use any combination of winter squashes you like, however I enjoyed the varying sweetness of the three I used, but any would work as long as you use the same total amount.
- The coconut oil is optional but adds a great hint of coconut flavor without a real big coconut taste.
- If you happen to have my Cashew Walnut Cream Sauce already made, which I often do, you can also put in a cup of that instead of the walnuts and cashews. It’s essentially the same thing.
JD says
I don’t always love butternut squash but the flavors in this were great!
Nicole says
I made this tonight for the first time and the house smelled so heavenly while the squash was roasting. It was so easy to make and amazingly delicious. My husband and I couldn’t get over the creamy taste without the use of butter and cream. Hubby said that it tasted better than any squash soup he has had in a restaurant. Needless to say, we are huge fans. We are having it again tomorrow night with the tempeh sandwiches.
veggiesdontbite says
Thank you so much for letting me know Nicole! I’m so thrilled you guys loved it. I need to bring it back this fall!
jasmincookbook says
Although it’s still warm and sunny in my part of the world, when I saw photo of this soup, I immediately wished it to magically appear on my table… Good work 🙂
Jasmin says
Although it’s still warm and sunny in my part of the world, when I saw the photo of this winter soup I honestly wanted to magically appear in front of me… 🙂
veggiesdontbite says
Lol! It’s been pretty warm here too but we’ve had a few coolish moments, meaning not 80 degrees, so I took full advantage! It’s a great soup any time! Thanks so much for following.
MJ and Tim (@mjandhungryman) says
Very interesting that you added cilantro! I’d never have thought to do so. Sage + squash is always an awesome pairing but looks like you took it to another level 😉 sage+thyme+cilantro+squash..must try. I, too, LOVE using my vitamix to make soups. So easy! Pinning!
veggiesdontbite says
Yes! I wanted to add a little something different, my goal for this next blogging year is to change things up and step out of my comfort zone. Hence, trying out your spicy Korean recipe with something different to make it vegan! The cilantro went really well with the other flavors in this soup, unless of course you hate cilantro in general but that another issue, lol…the Vitamix is amazing for soups! This recipe will be a breeze for you using it. Hope you like the flavors!
Maureen says
I love the photos of this soup!
veggiesdontbite says
Thanks Maureen!! I worked hard on these because it’s going to be published in a magazine. Thanks for always being so supportive!
The Vegan 8 says
Looks delicious and such a beautiful color!! Perfect fall soup! I’ve never heard of those first 2 squashes, just butternut. It looks gorgeous! Love the pumpkin seeds too.
veggiesdontbite says
Thanks Brandi! It’s so tasty, warm and comforting. Tahitian squash is much like butternut, a little more fibrous but a sweeter squash. Delicata is awesome because you can eat it with the skin on, super easy! So yummy! A little milder of a squash but very good too. I’m putting it on pizza tonight!