August 5, 2022 Dell Cove Spices & More

Butternut Squash Soup with Popcorn Croutons

Name: Butternut Squash Soup with Popcorn Croutons
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 2 tbsp Olive oil; 1 Onion, peeled and diced; 3 tbsp All-purpose flour; 4 cups Low sodium vegetable stock; 3 cups Cubed butternut squash; 1 tsp Salt, or to taste; ¼ tsp Ground black pepper, or to taste; 1 tsp Ground cumin or smoked paprika (optional); 2 cups Popped Dell Cove® Movie Night Popcorn; 1 tbsp Dell Cove® White Cheddar popcorn seasoning; ½ cup Crumbled goat or feta cheese (optional); Chopped scallions or chives (optional)

We’re big soup lovers around here. Homemade, thick, creamy and well seasoned. A big bowl definitely needs some croutons or crackers but we find that popcorn works great. Our butternut squash soup with popcorn croutons is a year-round favorite.

You can substitute almost any squash in our recipe but we’re butternut fans. It’s technically a winter squash but we can usually find it year-round in our supermarket. So, does this mean we eat hot soup in summer? Um…yes. There is no wrong time for soup.

Butternut has a sweet, nutty taste and orange flesh, like pumpkin. Full of fiber, vitamins and potassium, we sometimes roast the seeds for snacking too. When we’ve got a little extra time, we’ll roast the squash in the oven first to give it a deeper flavor before adding it to the soup pot. Not a requirement but definitely a flavor boost.

It’s easy enough to find pre-made cartons of butternut squash soup in the grocery store but nothing beats homemade. Plus there’s usually a lot of sugar in the ready made versions whereas we like to rely on the natural sweetness of the squash and pair it with savory seasonings. And once you’ve got the knack of soup making, it’s quite easy. Put up a big pot on Sunday and you have food for the week.

But, admittedly, just soup is kind of boring. We like “fixings” on our soup. Some herbs brighten up the flavor and cheese goes with everything. But we also need crunch. Bread croutons are great but our love of popcorn knows no bounds. We serve the soup with a big bowl of popcorn on the side and add as needed. And since we’ve already agreed that cheese goes well with this, we sprinkle on our own white cheddar popcorn seasoning.