A delicious and hearty roasted butternut squash chowder, that butternut squash with carrots and potatoes for creaminess. Topped with bacon croutons!

butternut soup with bacon croutons

Why I love this hearty butternut squash chowder

This butternut chowder is vegetable-rich, with roasted butternut squash, carrots, celery, onion, and a few potatoes for a creamy texture, without the need for a lot of cream. In fact, cream is completely optional in this soup!

Roasting the butternut squash brings such great flavour to this butternut chowder and is well worth the extra bit of time.

This soup comes together really quickly, needing just enough time to simmer the vegetables to tenderness. Once tender, you can puree this soup a bit to blend the flavours, leaving just a bit of chunky vegetables for some colour.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Butternut Squash – you’ll need 2 lbs. of butternut squash, but that can be from one large squash or two smaller ones.

Cream – The bit of cream at the end of cooking is nice, but it’s certainly not necessary, if you’d like a dairy-free soup.

Bacon – If you’re making the bacon croutons, you’ll need some bacon fat. If you are someone who stores bacon fat, you’re all set. If not, I just cook up some bacon and refrigerate for sandwiches or salad and then just use the fat here. We are always looking for bacon bits in this household though, so they never go to waste. (I didn’t put any actual bacon on or in the soup, but you certainly can if you like).

Potatoes – I used red-skinned potatoes and left the skin on. You can use any potato, skin on or skin off.

Bacon Croutons!

Now about the croutons. Yes, they’re the “1% sinner” part. The bacon croutons are made by sautéeing the bread cubes in bacon fat until they’re crispy. Yes. I feel a little guilty just typing that. True, it’s a bit of an indulgence, but they are unbelievably delicious and a lovely addition to this chowder. Of course, you can simply sauté your bread in some olive or vegetable oil instead or, if you’d like to keep this soup really low-fat, you could simply bake the croutons.

Cook’s Notes

Even though the soup starts with a low-sodium stock, to really bring out the flavours of this soup, salting well is recommended. I just add a bit and taste and add and taste, so I put in only as much as is needed.

butternut soup with bacon croutons

Variation

This soup would be lovely with a little bit of mild curry, as well – either added to the soup or used to flavour the croutons.

butternut squash chowder in bowl with bacon croutons

Get the Recipe: Roasted Butternut Squash Chowder

This roasted butternut squash chowder combines with carrots and potatoes with butternut squash for a hearty, vegetable rich soup. Topped with bacon croutons.
5 stars from 5 ratings
Prep Time: 50 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 lb. butternut squash
  • 1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper

For soup:

  • 1 Tablespoon butter
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup onion, diced
  • 1 1/2 cups potatoes, diced, red-skinned or yukon gold, peeled or unpeeled, as you like
  • 2 ribs celery, diced
  • 1 1/2 cups carrots, diced
  • 4 cups chicken broth, or vegetable broth
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 Tablespoons Heavy whipping cream, optional
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2-3 Tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped

For bacon croutons:

  • 3 strips bacon, diced
  • 3 slices bread, cut into cubes
  • Pinch dried thyme

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 425° F. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Brush the insides of the squash with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the squash onto a baking sheet cut side up (line with foil for easy clean-up, if you like). Roast the squash for about 40 minutes, or until tender. Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet to room temperature while you prepare the rest of the soup.
  • For the bacon croutons: In a skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove the bacon pieces to paper towel, but leave all the bacon fat in the skillet. Add the bread cubes and spinkle with a pinch of thyme. Cook, stirring, until the croutons are crisp and golden. Remove to a plate to cool. (You can use the cooked bacon to garnish the soup, if you like, or refrigerate for another use).
  • In a large, heavy soup pot, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. When the butter begins to brown, add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft translucent, 3-4 minutes. Add the potatoes, celery, carrots, chicken stock and thyme and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot partially and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
  • Scoop out the flesh from the cooked and cooled squash into the soup pot. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes longer.
  • Transfer one third of the soup to a blender and puree until smooth, then stir the puree back into the soup (or blend with an immersion blender until it is partially pureed, leaving some chunks). Taste the soup and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the most parsley (reserve a bit for garnish) and serve with bacon croutons and a sprinkle of reserved parsley.

Notes

Nutritional information does not include the optional cream or the optional bacon croutons.
Be sure to read the notes above the recipe card for more tips and tricks for making this soup!
Cuisine: American, Canadian
Course: Soup
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 177kcal, Carbohydrates: 26g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 5mg, Sodium: 103mg, Potassium: 852mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 21651IU, Vitamin C: 38mg, Calcium: 104mg, Iron: 2mg
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