Chicken Butternut Squash Soup
Chicken butternut squash soup is cozy, creamy, and full of delicious fall flavors, like roasted butternut squash, brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and thyme.
Servings: 6
Equipment
- 1 Immersion blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 6 c butternut squash, cubed
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed and cubed
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp cracked black pepper
- ½ tsp dried sage
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 5 c low sodium chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 15 oz can coconut milk, full fat
- 1 cup brown rice, uncooked
- optional garnish: green onions, croutons, pumpkin seeds, coconut cream, crumbled bacon, and/or fresh herbs
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F.
- Prepare the butternut squash by cutting off both ends. Peel the skin. Cut the squash in half horizontally. Then cut in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Cut the quarters into 1-inch slices, then cut into 1-inch cubes.
- Peel and slice the carrots. Dice the onion. Mince the garlic.
- Toss 6 cups of butternut squash and the carrots with ½ tablespoon of olive oil. Season with a pinch of salt, pepper, thyme, and sage. Toss well to coat. Spread the squash and carrots onto a large baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- While the squash and carrots cook, warm ½ tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven. Add the chicken and season with ½ teaspoon of salt, ¼ teaspoon of black pepper, sage, smoked paprika, and cinnamon, and ⅛ teaspoon of nutmeg. Cook the chicken until browned on all sides, about 4 to 5 minutes. You may want to cook the chicken in two batches for better browning. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- In the Dutch oven, warm the remaining ½ tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and onion and saute for 2 to 3 minutes, or until translucent.
- Add the roasted squash and carrots to the dutch oven. Stir in the chicken broth, brown sugar, and remaining thyme, sage, smoked paprika, cinnamon and nutmeg. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth. Alternately, you can transfer the soup to a large food processor and blend until smooth. You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your processor. Return the pureed soup to the Dutch oven.
- Rice in Soup: Add the coconut milk and rice to the soup. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the rice is tender. Rice Separately: Combine 1 cup of rice with 2 cups water in a pressure cooker and pressure cook on high for 22 minutes (or prepare using alternate method like rice cooker or stovetop). Depressurize and fluff with a fork. Add the coconut milk to the soup and simmer for 5 minutes. Divide the rice among bowls.
- Season the soup with additional salt and pepper, if desired. Return the chicken to the soup and warm another 1 to 2 minutes.
- Remove the soup from heat and serve. Garnish with green onions, croutons, pumpkin seeds, coconut cream, crumbled bacon, and/or fresh herbs, if desired.