Creamy Curried Acorn Squash Soup

Creamy Curried Acorn Squash Soup is a delicious, healthy, vegetarian option for lunch or a light dinner. Or, serve it in shot glasses for a fun party appetizer. 

The origin of Curried Acorn Squash Soup

I feel as though the summer absolutely flew by.

As a result, I've been dragging my feet a little bit about the appearance of pumpkin-spiced-everything and Christmas decorations—did we skip Halloween?!

On the brighter side, one of my favorite things about autumn and cooler weather is making and consuming large quantities of SOUP—especially soups involving squash.

Their very color makes me think of autumn leaves and bonfires.

I don't think that Phil had ever tried any sort of squash soup before he met me.

But I knew that I must have been doing something right when, at the grocery store the other day, I looked up to see Phil trotting back to the shopping cart carrying an enormous acorn squash.

I won't lie: this was a proud moment.

The previous version of squash soup I'd made was Ginger-Turmeric Butternut Squash Soup. This time, Phil wanted me to make something spicy with acorn squash.

Curried Acorn Squash Soup was born.

Making Curried Acorn Squash Soup

Spice

Since Phil's definition of spicy might be more accurately described as nuclear by most people's standards, I decided to also add 2 Thai bird chilis to the mix. 

Only do this if you are a chili head.

Also with that spicy factor in mind, I'd recommend starting out with only a small amount of curry paste if you're concerned.

I used a store-bought Massaman curry paste, although red curry paste will also work well.

I used 1 ½ tablespoons of paste, which, in combination with the chilis, produced a soup that was quite hot but still delicious.

Tread carefully with the curry paste. You can always add more later.

The squash

Since this is Flipped-Out Food, I'm all about simplicity when it comes to preparing the squash.

Sure, you could slowly roast the halved squash in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil for an hour or so. Or, you could nuke it in the microwave for 8 minutes. (I think you know which route I chose.)

When nuking squash, it's important to

(1) stab the squash with a paring knife in several places to vent the steam and

(2) always listen carefully for an ominous squealing or hissing sound.

This noise indicates that your squash is about to explode. 

Don't worry! The worst that will happen is a loud BOOM and a mess. (And believe me: I've done it more times than I'm comfortable telling you.)

If you hear hissing/squealing sounds emanating from your microwave, simply turn it off—but don't open the door until the squash settles down.

You want the squash to be very, very soft.

Give the squash 30 seconds or so to decide that it's not going to explode before you open the door, and then carefully poke it with a paring knife or your finger (careful, it's HOT!).

If it's not quite there, nuke the squash for another couple of minutes (again, listen for the pre-explosion noises!).

Building the soup

While the squash is in the microwave, I start sautéeing my aromatics, letting them soften with a bit of olive oil in my Dutch oven. 

Next, when the squash has softened, I remove it to a cutting board and carefully cut it in half (you might want to put an oven mitt on the hand that isn't holding the knife).

Then, I simply use a serving spoon to scoop out and discard the seeds and scoop the flesh of the squash away from the skin.

No need to chop it: I just add the squash directly to the pot.

I break up the squash with a wooden spoon while letting it sweat a bit with the other vegetables.

Next, I move the veggies to the sides of the pot and add some coconut cream and curry paste to the middle, letting the mixture sauté until fragrant.

Finally, I add the rest of the coconut milk and simmer the mixture for 20 minutes.

Finishing the soup

Immersion blenders are great because you can purée the soup right inside the container you use to store the leftovers. I use the containers shown in my Amazon affiliate link below the recipe.

You can also use a food processor or a blender—carefully.

I love to serve the soup with a dollop of fat-free Greek yogurt, which I stir in slowly as I eat.

The yogurt not only imparts additional creaminess to the soup, but also adds a wonderful, bright touch of tartness to the flavor.

This soup would make a great holiday dinner appetizer: I love to serve blended soups in shot glasses.

Speaking of holiday dinners: if you're planning to host one, check out my Work-Ahead Holiday Dinner Meal Plan!

I hope your family loves this healthy, autumn-infused soup! And with that, I'll sign off and join the queue for a pumpkin-spiced latte.

—xoxo Michelle

P.S. I consider this dish to be one of the "pantry raid" variety, since I store the squash in the pantry with my potatoes and onions. For more pantry raid inspiration, have a look at Easy Pantry Meals – Living Out of Your Pantry (and refrigerator and freezer).

Or, if you're looking for more soup inspiration, check out my Ginger-Turmeric Butternut Squash Soup, Fresh Tomato Soup, Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup with Turmeric, or my Fall soup collection, Easy Soups for Fall!

Linkies

I am linking up my Curried Acorn Squash Soup recipe with my favorite food blogger recipe-sharing link parties, #CookBlogShare and #CookOnceEatTwice (coming soon!), and #BrillBlogPosts (coming soon!), a link party with fabulous posts covering an array of topics from lifestyle bloggers.

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