5-ingredient Butternut Squash & Apple Soup (sous vide recipe) - Simple Bites (2024)

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Long ago, in the kitchen of one of Montreal’s finest restaurants, I was taught that a truly fantastic soup can be made from a mere handful of humble ingredients.

What made the soup exceedingly good was the quality and freshness of the ingredients, and the method used for cooking. Over the long, frigid Montreal winters, we cooked batch after batch of sous vide butternut squash, and pureed them with a splash of cream for a velvety soup with vivid color. Night after night, I filled bowls with the rich potage, and topped it with delicacies such as seared foie gras, sauteed wild black trumpet mushrooms, and a pomegranate juice reduction. Sublime.

Today’s recipe is inspired by those upscale bowls of soup: a simple combination of apple, squash and onion, seasoned with salt, and thinned with a little cream. Garnished with diced apples, it’s fall in a bowl; and yes, it was cooked sous vide.

Now, I’m a fan of simple soup from scratch, and will be the first to admit that a sharp knife and a sturdy pot are the only requirements for a good soup, be it rustic, roasted or rich. Alternately, I also have enough of a background in professional cooking to know that ingredients slowly cooked in a water oven (or sous vide) will yield a superior soup.

Ten years ago, when I was manning the stove in various restaurants, the culinary term ‘sous vide’ was virtually unknown to anyone outside of processionals. Now, thanks to crazy-popular TV shows such as Top Chef, Master Chef, and Iron Chef, sous vide is fast gaining on culinary terms such as ‘braising’ or ‘searing’. There are even cookbooks devoted to the subject such as Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide5-ingredient Butternut Squash & Apple Soup (sous vide recipe) - Simple Bites (3) and Sous Vide: Help for the Busy Cook5-ingredient Butternut Squash & Apple Soup (sous vide recipe) - Simple Bites (4).

When the kind folks behind Sous Vide Supreme contacted me to try one of their counter top water ovens, I agreed, as I was eager to see this beautiful new home version for myself. It has been really fun to recreate some of the recipes for my family I had tucked away from my restaurant days.

Danny, armed with his copy of Cooking for Geeks5-ingredient Butternut Squash & Apple Soup (sous vide recipe) - Simple Bites (5), is pretty excited to get into sous vide cooking. Being our resident numbers guy, he of course loves the science behind the sous vide method and I’m more than happy to let him share the kitchen.

I can see the sous vide supreme working out very well for our family thanks to my background and Danny’s obsession with temperature. We’ll keep you posted.

What is ‘sous vide’? It means to cook food in vacuum-sealed pouches, submerged in a water bath held at a precisely controlled temperature. Sous vide means “under vacuum” in French, as you can see from the images above. The first photo is before cooking, the second is after. (There’s a helpful video on the Sous Vide Supreme website that explains the cooking method with a great visual.)

What makes a sous vide soup superior? When cooked slowly, in a water bath, vegetables and fruits retain their full color and flavor as well as undergo a remarkable transformation in texture. Once pureed, the flavors seem intensified, and the resulting texture is soft and velvety. With just one bite of this soup, Danny was smitten.

We’re going to be enjoying it all winter long.

5-ingredient Butternut Squash & Apple Soup (sous vide recipe) - Simple Bites (8)

5-ingredient Butternut Squash & Apple Soup (sous vide)

Fresh fall ingredients, cooked together sous vide, make for a surprisingly sophisticated soup.

5 from 2 votes

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Course: Soups & Stews

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours hours

Total Time: 2 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 people

Calories: 123kcal

Author: Aimee

Ingredients

  • 1 medium butternut squash peeled and sliced
  • 1 large tart apple such as Granny Smith, cored and sliced
  • 1/2 onion sliced, or 6 green onions, ends trimmed
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 3/4 cup light cream

Instructions

  • Fill 2/3 full with water and preheat the sous vide unit to between 182 and 185 degrees F.

  • Place the sliced squash, apple and onion into a large, one-gallon food-grade pouch. Vacuum seal the bag to remove as much air as possible.

  • Submerge the pouch in the sous vide unit and cook for 2 hours until the squash and apples are quite soft. Check the pouches after 20 minutes to make sure they’re fully submerged. If they are floating, weigh them down with a mug or other heavy object.

  • When the squash is cooked, remove the pouch from the Supreme, and pour the contents into a blender. Puree until smooth.

  • Add sea salt and cream and puree again. Taste and add more salt if you like. Serve hot, garnished with diced apple if desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 123kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 398mg | Potassium: 507mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 13460IU | Vitamin C: 28.6mg | Calcium: 75mg | Iron: 0.9mg

Are you familiar with cooking sous vide? Is it a technique you would like to learn more about?

5-ingredient Butternut Squash & Apple Soup (sous vide recipe) - Simple Bites (2024)

FAQs

How do you thicken butternut squash soup? ›

Add flour or cornflour

Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the starch granules to burst to thicken, and to cook out any flour flavour.

What are 3 ways you can eat butternut squash? ›

7 ways to cook with butternut squash
  • Butternut squash soup. ...
  • Spicy squash and spinach soup. ...
  • Roasted butternut squash. ...
  • Butternut squash laksa. ...
  • Moroccan-spiced tomato sauce with roast vegetables and chickpeas. ...
  • Beef and butternut squash moussaka. ...
  • Chilled toffee apple creams.

Is it better to steam or boil butternut squash? ›

The squash also retains most of its nutrients when it is steamed and has a wonderfully sweet butternuttiness to it. Steamed butternut can also be used in a variety of ways – added to salads, mashed, puréed or enjoyed as is with a simple seasoning of your choice.

What can you add to butternut squash soup to make it taste better? ›

Yellow onion and garlic – These veggies add delicious depth of flavor. Fresh sage and rosemary – I don't reach for rosemary as often as some other fresh herbs, but I absolutely love it here. Along with the sage, it makes this soup cozy and complex.

Does heavy cream thicken soup? ›

Heavy cream

Use heavy cream as a keto-friendly thickening option for your soups and broths. Heavy cream has more fat than regular whole milk, so you can add it to your soup recipes without worrying about it curdling.

How does Gordon Ramsay cook butternut squash? ›

In a large bowl mix the cubed squash, garlic cloves and ginger with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the spice mix. Season with salt and pepper and scatter in a single layer in a roasting tray. Place in the preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes until tender all the way through.

What does butternut squash do for the gut? ›

Digestive Health

Fiber doesn't just help you feel full—it's also a nutrient that promotes gut health. Butternut squash provides a combination of soluble and insoluble fiber. Both work together to promote regular bowel movements and keep them soft so they are easier to pass.

What does butternut squash do for the body? ›

Butternut squash contains considerable amounts of fiber, which can help you keep a healthy weight and regulate bowel movements. It's known to help prevent colorectal cancer while the beta-carotene in butternut squash can also improve eye health.

What to pair with butternut squash soup? ›

Try some of these sandwiches to pair with your creamy butternut squash soup.
  1. Brie and Apple Grilled Cheese. ...
  2. Turkey Pesto Sandwich. ...
  3. Bacon Turkey Bravo Sandwich. ...
  4. Fall Harvest Turkey Wrap. ...
  5. The Best Turkey Reuben. ...
  6. Roast Beef Sandwiches. ...
  7. Apple & Brie Grilled Cheese with Baby Greens. ...
  8. Grilled Turkey Cranberry Cream Cheese Sandwich.
Oct 14, 2022

Why does my butternut squash soup taste sour? ›

What happened? It's no coincidence that the butternut squash soup had fermented, alcoholic notes. Indeed, fermented rice turns out to be the culprit here. Rice is high in starch, which is relatively easy to ferment.

Why does my butternut squash soup taste bitter? ›

Why does my butternut squash soup taste bitter? The growing conditions of the gourd can impact the taste of the flesh. This may cause an elevated production of cucurbitacin in the squash, resulting in a slightly bitter taste. You can balance it with a little bit of salt and sweetener like honey or pure maple syrup.

Can dogs eat butternut squash? ›

Generally, butternut squash is safe to feed to most pooches, unless your vet has advised otherwise. As a guide, we would recommend feeding small dogs no more than 1 or 2 teaspoons of butternut squash, whilst bigger dogs can eat up to 3 or 4 tablespoons of butternut squash.

Which is better for you butternut squash or sweet potato? ›

To begin with, the butternut squash beats the sweet potato with fewer calories, carbs and sugar per serving. Moreover, it is rich in calcium, magnesium, potassium, and vitamins B6 and E. On the other hand, the sweet potato, however, provides more fiber and protein.

How do you fix watery butternut squash soup? ›

The easiest way to thicken the soup is to add in a bit of flour or cornstarch. It's up to you which you want to add but just make certain that you're adding in a small amount at a time. If you do happen to add too much, you can always pour in more chicken stock or chicken broth to help thin it out a bit.

How do you fix watery butternut squash? ›

The first, and arguably most crucial thing you can do to improve the texture of butternut squash mash, is to roast it instead of boil it. When you boil squash you're essentially adding more moisture into it. By roasting it you squeeze out that moisture.

How do you make butternut squash less watery? ›

How Do You Cook Butternut Squash So It's Not Watery? The key to avoiding watery butternut squash is to roast it rather than steam it. Steaming butternut squash causes the vegetable to absorb more water and doesn't impart much flavor.

What to do if soup is too watery? ›

You can thicken soup by adding flour, cornstarch, or another starchy substitute. For the best results, never add flour or cornstarch directly to your soup. If you do, it will clump up on top. Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool.

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