This is the basic formula for my best butternut soup recipe and I have played around with variations. Last week when I made it again, I used celery instead of leeks and roasted the butternut & sweet potato. I used small butternut as it was all I had so I added 3 carrots to the tray. It all turned out perfectly. I don’t think you need to worry too much about precision here.

Around mid-2017 I decided to make my best butternut & sweet potato soup recipe and add the flavourings I like with it. I luckily recorded this in my notes on my phone but never got around to blogging about it. I wanted my soup to be bright with a touch of heat and acidity because so many butternut soups are just flat and bland.

The ginger and citrus give this soup a delicious wake-up call. I like there to be a hint of spice in the mix so I opted for cumin, turmeric and masala. I don’t need any heat as in chilli, but occasionally add a pinch of dried chilli flakes. If heat is important to you I would suggest adding it to your preference.

You might also like these soup recipes:

7 delicious winter soups

Creamy broccoli and Cheddar soup

A very delicious French onion soup recipe

Split pea and ham hock soup

Tips & tricks to make this butternut soup perfect:

If you want to roast the sweet potato and butternut before, and this does add depth, toss the vegetables lightly in olive oil, spread out onto a baking tray and season with salt & pepper. Roast in a preheated oven that has been preheated to 180C / F for 35 – 40 minutes until they just start taking on some colour and are just cooked through. Alternatively, skip this step.

This soup is best with the orange variety of sweet potato and if you don’t have one, just use one large butternut or 2 medium instead. Pumpkin would work equally as well to replace the butternut.

To make this recipe vegan, use olive oil only and finish it off with coconut cream/milk instead of the cream.

Use 1 litre to I litre and a cup (250ml) of stock depending on how thick I like it and how big my vegetables are.

Serve with my easy cheese and sweetcorn bread or easy whole-wheat bread.

This soup would also be delicious with my perfect cheese scones.

Oven-baked butter & cheddar croutons:

Ingredients:

Half a loaf ciabatta, cut or torn into small cubes

80gms Kerrygold salted butter, melted

80gms Kerrygold Vintage Cheddar finely grated

While the soup is bubbling away, make your cheesy croutons.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.

Add the cut or torn pieces of bread to an oven tray and drizzle over the melted butter. Using your hands toss the bread until evenly coated. Roast in the oven until the bread is just starting to brown. About 10 minutes.

Sprinkle the finely grated cheddar over the croutons and put the tray back in the oven to toast until golden brown. You can shake the pan during this final baking.

Remove, allow to cool and set aside to serve with the soup.

My best roasted butternut & sweet potato soup recipe with cheesy oven croutons

The recipe makes one large pot of soup.

Top with cheesy croutons, toasted pumpkin seeds and crispy sage leaves fried in butter.

Prep Time:20

Cook Time:1

Ingredients

1 medium butternut peeled, deseeded and cut
1 large orange sweet potato peeled and cut into similar sizes to the butternut
1 – 2 carrots chopped
1 large leek or 2 celery stalks, or both, chopped
1 large onion chopped
Olive oil and a knob of butter
A few sprigs parsley
2 – 3 bay leaves
1 large piece of ginger grated about 6 cm
2 small pieces turmeric grated or 1 tsp turmeric powder
2 cloves garlic
Small pinch chilli flakes optional
Salt pepper
1 tsp masala/curry powder of your choice
½ tsp cumin
Approx 1 litre – 1 litre plus 250ml of vegetable stock I used 3 good stock cubes or 4 stock sachets to 1 litre/ 1.25 litres of water
Juice of 1 orange or 2 clementines
Cream to finish
Dukkha to sprinkle or other toasted seeds and nuts

Instructions

Toss the butternut, sweet potatoes and carrots lightly in olive oil, spread out onto a baking tray and season with salt & pepper. Roast in an oven that has been preheated to 180C/350F for 35 – 40 minutes until they just start taking on some colour and are just cooked through. Alternatively, skip this step.
In a large heavy-based pot add the olive oil and butter and sweat the onions/leeks/celery until soft. Put the lid on to generate some steam which helps the sweating.
Once soft, add the bay leaves, parsley, garlic and spices and cook for a minute or two until fragrant and just starting to stick to the bottom of the pot
If you are adding the roasted or uncooked vegetables do so now and immediately add the stock and orange juice. Cover and allow to simmer over a gentle heat for about 45 minutes. If the vegetables are uncooked, cook for about an hour. Take this off the heat, allow to cool slightly, or if you have a metal stick blender you can process this soup while it is still hot.
Remove the bay leaves and then process the soup with a handheld stick blender or in a liquidiser/food processor until smooth.
Serve with fresh cream/coconut cream and dukkha if you have. Chopped roasted nuts and seeds also work really nicely. A nice crusty loaf of bread is mandatory in my opinion too.

Notes

Butternut soup freezes really well. Just thaw and reheat in a small pot as needed.

Author: Sam Linsell

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21 Comments

This sounds wonderful! I love the spices, the clementine, and the toppings. And as always, your photos are stunning.

Thnak you mimi x

I made this last night and it was DELICIOUS!!! I never had some of the ingredients but it still turned out amazing. I also roasted my vegetables and this definitely adds depth. I would recommend that option. Thank you x

Hi, which stock cubes do you use? And do you roast the carrots too? Thanks 🙂

I’m so glad you enjoyed the flavours in the soup. Stay safe! Sam x

Hi Dominique – I either use Italian vegetable stock cubes which I buy from the local Italian importer shops or I like the Woolies and Ina Paarman vegetable stock sachets. Nomu fond is also great.

Hi Sam. I made your soup tonight. I don’t know why, but I forgot the bayleaves. 🙁 It’s the first time I’ve eaten butternut soup, and oh boy! Have I been missing out!
Guess I’ll have to make it again soon and add the bay leaves.

Thank you for a wonderful recipe.

This is definitely a winner!

So glad you enjoyed it Julie

I am new at the soup game and I loved making this and feeding the cast of a play we are writing. Each rehearsal I try a new soup. This has been the best so far. A good soup gets all our creative juices flowing. Thank YOU It was a pleasure reading and doing.

Thank yo so much for the kind feedback Sandy, this made my day. I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup as much as I do.

Buttrrnet soup is one of my favourites but over the years it has become a bit boring. I’m glad that I found this recipe which I made tonight. This is the tastiest butternut soup I’ve made! I forgot the carrots but I did roast the butternut and sweet potatoes with a few cloves of garlic. Delicious! Thank you Sam!

Im so glad you enjoyed this recipe Lenore.

Just made after someone recommended it! I can’t believe how amazing it turned out! A real winner!

I’m so glad you enjoyed this Hlombe 🙂

this sounds delicious!!! Can i ask can i serve it with prawns instead??

Hi Sihle, You can eat whatever you want but personally I have never eaten prawns with butternut soup:)

I loved reading this recipe, i want to make a delicious butternut soup, one that’ll make it’s mark?and I think I found it? Thanks for sharing it, the pictures are gorgeous ?