Perfect Butternut Squash Soup

WELL Y’ALL, I AM NOT A FOOD BLOGGER, NOR DO I PLAY ONE ON TV, BUT THIS IS A TASTY SOUP!

IT HAS GOTTEN PRETTY CHILLY HERE, AND WE EVEN HAD A FEW SNOWFLAKES THE OTHER DAY, SO THAT MEANS IT IS TIME TO MAKE SOUP. LAST WINTER, I CAME UP WITH THIS RECIPE AFTER ALL THE BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP RECIPES I FOUND INCLUDED APPLES OR SOMETHING SWEET, AND I JUST WASN’T FEELING IT. FEEL FREE TO SKIP TO THE END IF YOU JUST WANT THE RECIPE – BECAUSE SOMETIMES LIFE MOVES TOO FAST TO READ ALL THE THINGS.

Do you have an InstantPot? If you don’t and you make soup, stews, or chili – get one, that’s all I am saying. The amount of time you can save is mind-blowing. I made this last year the traditional way, and it took about 2 hours from start to finish. Now that is with all the simmering time, but sometimes that kind of time is not possible. In the Instantpot, this soup took less than half that time. If I had prepped the veggies ahead of time, start to finish would have been 30 min – tops.

In my humble opinion, bacon makes any savory soup just that much better, so that’s where I started. I keep a package of bacon in the freezer because it makes it easier to chop what I need for a recipe. Have you ever tried to chop up soft bacon before frying? It’s an easy way to lose a finger! A complete package of bacon is way too much bacon for this recipe, but it’s easy to chop up the whole frozen slab of bacony goodness to make bacon bits, so that’s what I did. Make sure you use sugar-free bacon if you are doing a Whole 30. Now I have plenty of bacon bits for the whole pot of soup, and I can freeze the rest for another day. After taking out all but a few tablespoons of bacon fat, I added in the onions and sauteed them until they became translucent, and then added the butternut squash and cauliflower. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Everyone is adding cauliflower to everything. But it totally works for this soup since it is dairy-free. The cauliflower gives it the creaminess you can’t get from the squash alone, and you can’t taste it at all. Add in the broth, close the lid, and set the timer for 5 minutes – you read that right, only 5 MINUTES! It takes a few minutes to come up to pressure, but that is still fast for homemade soup. I used my immersion blender to puree everything in the pot, but you could always carefully transfer the soup to a blender and puree it that way. I am just a clutz and feel that it is an easy way to scald my arm, so I bought an immersion blender. I added my seasoning at the end to taste. This recipe is very forgiving when it comes to quantities of veggies; you just don’t want to fill too close to the MAX line of the Instantpot. So depending on the ratios of your veggies, my measurements for spices might not be to your liking. I will say that Dr. Cowan’s Pepper Salt is not the same batch to batch. I am on my second jar, and this one is astronomically spicier than my last jar. I used 2 tsp last batch and 1/2 a tsp this batch – so be careful if you use it, but it is worth using because the flavor is fantastic! I linked to the Breakfast Blend (Amazon) and Dr. Cowan’s page for the Pepper salt in the recipe if you would like to try it. You can use the code DRCOWANSGARDEN for 15% off. I hope y’all enjoy it, and I would love to hear what you think over on Instagram!

Recipe

Servings: 8-10

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 1 1/2 hours traditional, 20 minutes InstantPot

Ingredients:

• 8+ slices of bacon, chopped for bacon bits
• 2 Tablespoons of reserved bacon fat
• 4 – 5 cups of cubed butternut squash (medium largish)
• 1 medium head of cauliflower, stems removed and chopped into florets
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 5 cups of chicken bone broth or stock (Kettle and Fire is a great pantry staple)
• 2 teaspoons Primal Palate Breakfast Blend
• 1/2 – 2 teaspoons Dr. Cowan’s Pepper Salt
• 1 – 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric

Toppings:

• Bacon bits
• Goat Cheese Crumbles (not Whole30)
• Pepitas

Traditional Directions:

1. In a large soup pot, fry the chopped bacon until crispy. Remove to drain and remove all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the pot.
2. Add the sliced onions and saute until translucent. Then add the squash and cauliflower. Stir to combine.
3. Add the bone broth, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen any browned bits. Bring to a boil and then cover the pot, reduce the heat to a simmer and let cook for 1 1/2 hours until all the veggies are soft.
4. Either use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the pot or VERY CAREFULLY transfer the hot soup to a high-speed blender in batches until all of it has been pureed.
5. Add the seasonings making sure to taste as you go until you get to your liking.
6. Serve hot with toppings of your choice sprinkled on top.

Instantpot Directions:

1. Press SAUTE on the InstantPot and add the chopped bacon. Once it is done, remove to drain and remove all but 2 tablespoons of bacon fat.
2. Add the onions and saute until translucent. Then add the squash and cauliflower and stir to combine.
3. Add the bone broth and push CANCEL. Secure the lid making sure the pressure release valve is in the “sealing” position.
4. Press MANUAL and then 5 minutes. Once pressure has been achieved, the countdown will begin.
5. Once the timer has gone off, quick release the valve. Open the lid when able and use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the pot or VERY CAREFULLY transfer the hot soup in batches to a blender and puree the soup there.
6. Add the seasonings making sure to taste as you go until you get to your liking.
7. Serve hot with toppings of your choice.

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