Updated: April 2025
Lovely warming, nutritious and healthy soups should be a staple recipe in every kitchen. It is also a great way to add more vegetables to your diet and use up any spare vegetables lurking in your fridge. It is also budget friendly.
Here is an easy pumpkin soup recipe with a little added luxurious twist with the addition of chestnuts and double cream. Butternut squash makes the soup taste quite sweet and the stock gives it a savoury flavour. It takes minutes to make and with a few additions, this soup recipe will be one you will keep making on repeat.
Cooking with butternut squash
We don’t cook with pumpkins enough in this country. There are so many varieties but the most common and easily available one is butternut squash. If you are not familiar with how to cook this, you just need to peel it with a peeler and cut it open and remove the seeds. Then cut it into chunks and roast it.
Roasting butternut squash with a drizzle of olive oil and a generous sprinle of sea salt will result in caramelised chunks with enhanced sweetness and flavour.
Cooking with butternut squash or any other pumpkin variety is a delightful way to savour autumn’s bounty. This butternut squash or pumpkin can be cooked in so many ways. You can roast them, puree or saute’d for a large range of recipes. I have seen so many clever ways that this vegetable has been used in recipes like butternut squash hummus.
The cooked squash can then be seasoned and used in salads, risottos, stir fries, curries or in a soup recipe. As this vegetable is very versatile without a very distinct flavour, it can take on any type flavour. So you can add your favourite spice blend, like the nutmeg, thyme and cinammon in this recipe, which gives it that added level of flavour.
The vibrant golden hue of the butternut squash is beautiful when served, whether in a soup bowl or on a platter of salad with lots of mixed ingredients. (You can get lots of ideas for this from Ottolenghi, like adding to some mixed leaves, squash and sprinkled with nuts and pomegranate seeds). As we have been told by nutritionist, vibrant coloured foods contain more polyphenols and in this case Vitamin C, so this is agreat vegetable to add to lots of dishes.
How to make chestnut and butternut squash soup
Firstly place the chestnuts, butternut squash and stock in saucepan and bring to the boil. For added nutrition, you can use bone broth instead of regular stock for that extra collagen boost.
Reduce to a simmer. Cover and continue to simmer until the squash is tender, which takes about 15 minutes.
Turn off the heat and puree the soup with a hand blender until very smooth. Then, slowly whisk in the milk. Return soup to the heat and warm through.
Mix in the warming and aromatic spices, add thyme, nutmeg and cinnamon. Before serving, season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve this luscious soup with a swirl of cream, creme fraiche or yoghurt. Feel free to add some croutons or serve it with a slice of sourdough or a your favourite bread.
Chestnut and Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 140 g Peeled chestnuts tinned is fine
- 140 g Diced fresh butternut squash peeled
- 430 ml Vegetable stock
- 140 ml Warm whole milk
- 20 ml Double Cream
Instructions
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Place the chestnuts, squash and stock in saucepan and bring to the boil.
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Reduce to a simmer. Cover and continue to simmer until the squash is tender, about 15 minutes.
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Turn off the heat and puree the soup with a blender until very smooth.
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slowly whisk in the milk.
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Return soup to the heat and warm through.
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Whisk in the thyme, nutmeg and cinnamon. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
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Serve and add a swirl of cream to each serving.
Notes
Instead of double cream, you can use a spoonful of yoghurt too.
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