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The coziest bowl of Creamy Butternut Squash Sage Pesto Soup. With golden brown butter, sage, and crispy bacon too! YUM! Roasted butternut squash, sweet yellow onions, garlic, fresh sage, and thyme are roasted with butter until soft and caramelized. Puree this into a creamy soup with a touch of cream, pesto, spices, and sharp cheddar cheese. SO delicious! A little bit of bacon on top makes this even yummier!
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I know I say this repetitively, but this is really the most special time of year. The weather, the lighting, the yummy food, warm drinks, sweet desserts, the engaging TV shows (Gilmore Girls on repeat), and the excitement for the looming holiday season—there is so much to love.
I really am happiest this time of year. I find I have the most inspiration and excitement during the autumn months. Even with all the back-to-back travel and busy schedules, I feel so happy and excited to share everything with you all, from the new cookbook to new product launches and recipes!
Today, I have the most special soup. I made it mostly because my mom loves a bowl of soup, and she’s been feeling a little off since returning from Europe. Soup is so comforting and often a great healer.
Mom usually loves broccoli cheddar or creamy chicken noodle soup. Or, actually, when I was a kid, she would make a creamy rice soup and put popcorn on top. She loves that. She’s such a pro, and when it comes to fall foods, she knows what’s best.
I suggested a butternut squash soup to her weeks ago, but last week finally felt like the time to make it. Our weather has been the most perfect: sunny days with mild temperatures and then cold at night. And the colors are magical right now—similar to this soup, actually!
I made this soup, and we all fell in love. It’s a great soup to make all season long. I may even add it to my Thanksgiving menu!
Here are the Details
Ingredients
- salted butter or olive oil (but I like butter best)
- butternut squash
- onions
- fresh sage and thyme
- whole garlic cloves
- bacon (omit if vegetarian)
- broth (I use bone broth)
- chipotle chile powder, smoked paprika, and nutmeg
- maple syrup
- heavy cream
- basil pesto
- flour or cornstarch
Equipment
- food processor, blender, or immersion blender
- soup pot
- sharp knife and cutting board too, of course!
Step 1: roast the squash
Take a butternut squash and cube it. Or cut into wedges as I did. I want to note that I only did this for photos and find it easier to roast the squash as cubes.
Toss the butternut squash with butter or olive oil. Add onion wedges, whole sage leaves, fresh thyme leaves, salt, and pepper. Then add whole garlic cloves. Roast until the squash is tender and the garlic is golden and caramelized.
Step 2: cook the bacon
While you have the squash in the oven, get the bacon crispy on the stove. Do this in the pot you plan to simmer the soup in. No need to create extra dishes!
Set the bacon aside for topping.
Step 3: puree the squash
When ready, puree everything on the sheet pan in a food processor or blender. Scrape any butter left on the pan into the food processor—this will add even more flavor!
Puree until creamy, then pour the squash puree into the soup pot.
Step 4: finish the soup
Add broth, chipotle, paprika, cayenne, and maple to the butternut puree. Once it’s steamy, mix in the cream and pesto.
Now, toss shredded cheddar cheese with cornstarch and add it to the soup. The cornstarch will prevent the cheese from clumping.
Step 5: serve
You can start serving once the cheese is melted and the soup is steamy! Ladle the creamy soup into bowls. You can swirl with cream or add cheddar to the top of the soup. We love a handful of sharp cheddar. It melts over the soup and is perfect with the crispy bacon!
Then Mom says she recommends beer bread. We believe every soup and chili recipe should be served with beer bread in the fall. It is a Gerard staple. It is our favorite.
I’m looking forward to having this soup stashed in the freezer and possibly even adding it to my Thanksgiving menu this year!! I was so happy with how YUMMY it turned out. If you’re serving this for dinner, definitely add my harvest salad to your menu!
Looking for other butternut squash recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Creamy Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Pasta
Rosemary Roasted Butternut Squash Pizza
Roasted Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna
Butternut Squash Pasta Carbonara with Rosemary Bacon
Fall Harvest Roasted Butternut Squash and Pomegranate Salad
Hasselback Butternut Squash with Sage Butter and Prosciutto Breadcrumbs
Lastly, if you make this Creamy Butternut Squash Sage Pesto Soup, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Creamy Butternut Squash Sage Pesto Soup
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons salted butter or olive oil
- 3 cups cubed butternut squash
- 1 yellow onion cut into wedges
- 8 fresh sage leaves
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- salt and black pepper
- 8-12 cloves garlic
- 6-8 slices bacon, chopped , (omit if vegetarian)
- 4 cups broth
- 1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 cup heavy creamy
- 1/3 cup basil pesto
- 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 2 teaspoons flour or cornstarch
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 425° F.2. On the baking sheet, toss together the butter, butternut squash, onion, sage, thyme, salt, and pepper. Add the garlic cloves. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the squash is tender and the garlic is golden. 3. Meanwhile, in a soup pot, cook the bacon until crispy, then remove and set aside for topping. 4. When ready, add the roasted butternut squash, onions, garlic, herbs, and any butter left on the sheet pan to a food processor/blender. Puree until smooth. Pour the puree into the pot used for the bacon. 5. Set the pot over medium heat. Add the broth, chipotle, paprika, nutmeg and maple. Bring to a simmer, then add cream and pesto. Toss the cheese with cornstarch, then add to the soup. Simmer until melty. 6. Ladle the soup into bowls. Add a swirl of cream or shreds of cheddar. Then top with bacon and sage. And done! Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Another banger! Followed it to a t and it came out perfectly and wasn’t watery at all. Great flavor!
Yay!! So glad to hear this, Laura! Thanks so much for making this recipe and your comment! xx
This soup was so delicious! My who husband absolutely despises squash actually enjoyed this soup. The spices, fresh herbs, and pesto gave it so much depth. Only problem was how thin it turned out. I made enough puree to freeze so will try again with a little less broth and more cornstarch to thicken. Overall phenomenal and will be added to my make again list this winter!
Hey London,
Happy Sunday!🍂🍁 Thanks a lot for trying this recipe and your comment, love to hear it turned out well! x
So tasty!
Thanks so much, Rachel!
The pesto really takes this to a new level.
Yay!! Thanks so much, Megan! So glad this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for trying it out! XxT
I have not tried to make this yet, but wondering if it is freezable?
Hey Kelly,
Totally, this will freeze nicely for you! Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
I experienced the same as Sarah and ended up with a watery soup but still delicious. I followed the recipe and used pre-cut squash. Next time, I’ll try it with less broth.
Hey Myriam,
Wonderful! Thank you so much for making this recipe, I am so glad to hear it turned out nicely for you! Happy Halloween! 🎃
It was way too spicy for my family. If I ever make it again will leave out the chipotle powder.
Hi Melanie,
Thanks so much for trying this soup and sharing your feedback, so sorry it was so spicy! Have a great Halloween! xx
The flavor of the soup is delicious but mine came out very watery. I followed the directions and ingredients to the T. Did I miss that there is something to thicken the soup.
Hey Sarah,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe and your feedback! So glad you enjoyed the flavors. Sorry to hear it was watery, I wonder if you squash just had more water content to it? xx
I simmered mine for about 20-30 min so it thickened up quite a bit
Adding a good review for this unique butternut squash soup. While some simplistic recipes can render just a plain sweet soup, this one is more complex with the spice blend…chipotle, nutmeg, paprika and the store bought pesto! It could be made without bacon, but my family really liked the bacon on top! I was glad when I followed the recipe, it turned out well compared to the pumpkin beer chicken dish I made earlier this week from HBH. Served it with cheesy sourdough toast.
Hey Ashley,
Thanks so much:) So glad to hear your family enjoyed this recipe, I appreciate you giving it a try! xT
Always love your recipes! Wasn’t sure whether to take the peel off after roasting, so soup wasn’t as smooth as I would like. Will be sure to remove peel next time.
Thanks so much, Ashton! Yes, definitely remove the skin next time:) So glad you enjoyed this recipe! xT
LOVE IT! As an annual butternut squash soup maker (I grow a ton and go into every winter with many meals worth in my freezer) I found this a slightly elevated and a tad more luxurious version of the old standard.
I really liked roasting the onions with the squash, simple but worked so well! And the amount of sage was perfect. I’m a fan of anything with pesto, so I knew I was going to love that.
It was simple to make, but didn’t taste like it. I’d be a tad worried about freezing it due to the heavy cream, but I could see adding that in as you warmed it from the freezer.
What a winner – this will be made again, I’ve got a ton of squash to use up still!
Hey Kristen,
Fantastic! So glad to hear this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it! Happy Sunday! xT
Soup is very good, but I found it a bit rich. Adding a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar on top when serving helped balance the dish and add another layer of flavor.
Hey Brian,
I appreciate you trying this soup and sharing your feedback! Glad to hear it was enjoyed:) Have a nice week! xT
I give this one a solid B… but honestly, I expect that the non-A outcome is my fault. Usually I love Tieghan’s recipes. Anyway, it was an adventure.
I had a big butternut squash and wanted to use all of it, so I did. That came out to be maybe 4 cups chopped. Kind of guessed with the thyme and sage, but was generous with those. The roast came out really nice. My processor won’t get smooth results like you see in the pictures, but I got it as smooth as I could anyway and it still looked and tasted great.
Everything was going really nice and I was pretty excited until I put in the pesto… I used some kale-basil pesto I made myself last week (truth be told, the flavor of that batch of pesto was a bit “meh” anyway). As soon as I added the pesto, the color turned from that nice yellow you see in the pictures to a sort of brown. And that’s when I started getting less excited about the flavors too. Honestly, when it was just the squash, herbs, garlic and onion, each of those flavors really sang and it was all very autumn and nice. Added the pesto, I was less excited from that point. The flavor wasn’t as rich. But again, I’m expecting this one is on me somehow.
I also used coconut milk in place of heavy cream because it’s what I had on hand. The cheddar cheese I got for this recipe did not melt… which was interesting. Oh, also I left out the bacon this time, mostly because I didn’t feel like smelling residual bacon odor in my kitchen for the next couple of days!
So that’s my experience, in case it helps anyone. Tieghan, if you know where I can improve this recipe in the future, I’d love to know. In any case, thanks for another recipe!
Hey Anna,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe and your feedback! So glad to hear you enjoyed it for the most part. For next time, I would try using a store bought pesto that you enjoy and then just add that to each bowl before serving rather than adding in step 5. I hope this helps! Have a great week! xT
yummy! perfectly spiced!!
Thanks so much, Breah! I appreciate you trying this recipe, so glad it turned out well! Happy weekend! xT
Good grief!!! This was excellent Tieghan! Super savory, and the perfect combination of flavors! Served it with your beer bread! Will make again, and again! Thanks!
Hey Kris,
Wonderful! So glad to hear this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it! Have a great fall weekend! xT
Omg I just made this and it was sooo yummy! Perfect blend of flavors. Next time I’m buying the butternut squash already cut up, that part took forever lol!
Yay!! Thanks so much, Alexandra! So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Have the best Sunday! xx