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Hey, guys, guess what? I found my curry paste! Well, that’s not completely true–I’m pretty sure I still have some lurking somewhere, but I have new-found curry paste. From the grocery store. Totally random side note: I discovered that the Walmart down the street from my house does not carry curry paste (or, really, any Asian-ish ingredients beyond soy sauce and chow mein noodles), but they do carry escargots. Good to know for, you know, all my forthcoming escargots-themed posts.
Aaaaaanyway. This soup is another one of my recent favorites from Cooking Light (I swear to you all, we’re not in cahoots with them, I just love that magazine–it’s seriously life-changing to have a recipe source that understands that healthy food doesn’t have to be gross). The butternut squash makes the soup creamy and the fact that it’s been roasted gives it depth and dimension. The coconut, lime, cilantro, and Sriracha make it kind of reminiscent of one of my favorite Our Best Bites recipes ever (yeah, I get that the Thai Peanut Noodles don’t have coconut in them, but still…) and it’s super light, healthy, and packed with things that are good for you. I had a hard time getting away with this for dinner with my carnivorous family (read: husband), but it’s perfect for a light supper with a salad or sandwich or you could freeze individual portions for a quick and easy lunch.
For starters, you’re going to need 32 ounces of cubed butternut squash (I’m giving you final measurements because I find that’s a lot easier than to sit in the middle of the produce department, staring at the butternut squash(es?), trying to figure out exactly how much one of those suckers is going to weigh when you peel and seed it.), olive oil, kosher salt, chopped onion, chicken or vegetable stock, red curry paste, fresh lime juice, and lite coconut milk.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the cubed butternut squash onto the lined baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil
and sprinkle with kosher salt.
Ignore the fact that I have nasty winter hands AND that I spent the hour preceding this cleaning black paint off the feet of 23 kindergarten students, thus staining my nails, nail beds, and all the dry little cracks in my hands with black paint.
Toss the squash to combine and roast for 35 minutes or until tender and starting to brown.
While the squash is roasting heat the remaining teaspoon of oil in a large pot over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until tender (about 5 minutes). Add the stock, roasted squash, and curry paste and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Remove from heat. Add the coconut milk and lime juice.
Blend until smooth, either by using an immersible stick blender
or in batches in a countertop blender. Ladle into bowls and season with a sprinkling of kosher salt, chopped cilantro, shredded coconut, additional lime wedges, and a squirt of Sriracha sauce (if desired).
Serve immediately.
Makes 8 servings.
Calories: 121
Fat: 6
Carbs: 16
Protein: 2
Weight Watchers Points Plus: 2 or 4 (depending on how you calculate the points; if you count the squash as 0 points, the recipe has 2 points)
Coconut Curry Butternut Squash Soup
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light
Ingredients:
36 ounces peeled, seeded butternut squash, cubed
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
1 cup chopped onion
3 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock for a vegan soup)
3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon red curry paste
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 13.5-ounce can lite coconut milk
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
1/4 cup shredded coconut
Sriracha sauce to taste
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the cubed butternut squash onto the lined baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and toss to combine. Roast for 35 minutes or until tender and starting to brown.
While the squash is roasting heat the remaining teaspoon of oil in a large pot over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until tender (about 5 minutes). Add the stock, roasted squash, and curry paste and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Remove from heat. Add the coconut milk and lime juice. Blend until smooth, either by using an immersible stick blender or in batches in a countertop blender. Ladle into bowls and season with a sprinkling of salt, chopped cilantro, shredded coconut, additional lime wedges, and a squirt of Sriracha sauce (if desired). Serve immediately.
Calories: 121
Fat: 6
Carbs: 16
Protein: 2
Weight Watchers Points Plus: 2 or 4 (depending on how you calculate the points; if you count the squash as 0 points, the recipe has 2 points)
I LOVE butternut squash soup with curry! I can’t wait to try this one out – love that Thai flavor!
Ate an hour ago, just finished reading this post and I HAVE to go to the store to get the squash. I MUST have this soup!!!
Oh thank you thank you for posting all these recipes to use up the winter squash in my garage! Why grow them if you don’t eat them, right? About how many cups is 32 oz of squash? And, is curry powder anything like red curry paste?
I like the flavor of red curry paste better than yellow curry powder (like McCormick); it’s milder. I’m not sure how I’d feel about 3+ tablespoons of yellow curry powder in one dish! 🙂
Yellow curry powder is not the same thing as red curry paste at all. They are two completely different ingredients!!
I almost didn’t read this post because curry isn’t really my thing, but I’m soooo glad I did because I got such a kick out of the picture of your dirty black fingernails!! SO funny. For a split second I was like EW! But then I knew there had to be a perfectly good explanation, so I was relieved to see it under the pic. Just don’t be surprised if this gets taken out of context and posted somewhere on the Internets. 🙂
I have never seen Butternut squash in bags like that…..is that a Walmart item? Sams Club? Looks delicious and easy! Especially if you don’t have to cut up your squash 🙂
I got these bags at Walmart, but I’ve seen packages where the cubes are bigger at Sam’s Club.
Thanks for the info!!!
This looks amazingly good and I can’t wait to try it. About how many cups would 36 oz be? My mom has a gazillion butternut squashes in her basement cold storage, so that’s where I’ll get my squash instead of the grocery store, and knowing how many cups would be helpful. Thanks!
I’m GUESSING each of those bags is about 2 cups, so around 6-ish cups. Super scientific, right? 🙂
I too have a carnivorous husband so I think this soup would be AWESOME to serve with some chicken satay and peanut butter dipping sauce… and yes, I realize that would blow the calorie count for the meal right up there but it sure would be tasty. = )
I’m assuming you used LITE coconut milk and that the nutritional information corresponds to that. Just thought you should clarify in the printable as it makes a HUGE difference in the nutritional information, I’m sure. Trying to avoid 200 comments on the topic 🙂
YES. Thank you, haha! 🙂
Thai Peanut Noodles are a family favorite here. In fact that’s what we are having tonight with some stir-fry veggies and pork mixed in.
This soup sounds great, but I just made another butternut squash soup from your blog a few days ago. And I think my family is getting tired of all the soup we’ve been having lately. So for now this soup is going on my list to try some day.
Girls, I love you especially this month! Thank you for all the healthy, yummy food! BTW, I also loved you when I made 5 different of your Christmas cookie recipes. So you see the fullness of my affection? And, I love butternut squash…and at least one of my sons does too. Thanks for real food as well as fun, special foods.
I really wish I liked curry because this soup looks amazing! Were you making penguins? 🙂
We WERE making penguins, hahaha! And I’m willing to bet you could leave out the curry paste and add a little fresh ginger and garlic to the onion and it would be equally delicious… 🙂