Roasted Butternut Squash Soup – With Tahini & Zaatar

This creamy roasted butternut squash soup recipe is my go-to warm-me-upper. It always reminds me of autumn, when the days get colder and I crave warm hearty soups. With its smooth flavour and the infusion of middle eastern spices this soup is a welcome indulgence for our taste buds.

I had butternut squash soup before but typically flavoured with sage or thyme. This Lebanese butternut squash recipe gave me a whole new palette of flavours to experience.

For this recipe, the butternut squash can easily be substituted with Pumpkin. Pumpkin and tahini and zaatar is a great combination.

Not only do the flavours speak for this recipe, but also the health benefits. This roasted butternut squash soup is vegan and low carb. Low in calories (86 kcal per 200gr) and high in Vitamin B6 and carotene. A delicious and guilt free indulgence.

How to roast the butternut squash for soup?

I have always found pealing and chopping uncooked butternut squash hard, so I prefer roasting butternut squash for soup. Not only for its sweeter flavours but also out of convenience. It is easy to scoop out the flesh with a spoon once roasted.

There are two ways I roast a butternut squash. Firstly, you can just roast it whole. Stab it with a long knife a few times, rub some olive oil into it and place it into the hot oven (about 200 degrees Celsius/ 392 degrees Fahrenheit) for about 20 minutes. Once it cooled down, the flesh is very soft and you can peel the skin off with your hands!

Secondly you can cut it in half, if you like, remove the seeds and roast it with the cut side up. Just drizzle some olive oil on top and roast at about 200 degrees Celsius/ 392 degrees Fahrenheit for twenty minutes.

How to blend the butternut squash

The easiest way is to use an immersion hand blender. If you don’t have one, you can use a kitchen processor – or a soup maker. Another way of blending the butternut squash without a blender is to mash it up with a potato masher.

Seasoning the Butternut Squash Soup.

The flavours in this soup are very subtle but effective. The cardamom pods have a smoky flavour that are contrasted with the sweet nutmeg and cinnamon. The all-spice rounds the flavour off with a bit of a peppery taste.

The taste becomes complete if one drizzles the tahini and sprinkles the zaatar over it. Don’t miss out this step, as this allows the individual to adjust to their taste.

How to serve this soup

We just serve the butternut squash soup with bowls of tahini and zaatar and parsley on the side. Everyone can help themselves. The parsley is also a great garnish.

This soup goes well with some fresh or toasted white bread. Pita and some hummus is also a great alternative.

Can you make this butternut squash soup recipe ahead of time?

Butternut squash soup is one of those recipes that taste better the next day. So of course, you can make it in advance. I would not add the tahini or zaatar until it is thoroughly heated up though, just before serving.

Another alternative is to just roast the butternut squash one or two days ahead and then make the rest of the recipe later– for a quick mid-week meal.

How to store roasted butternut squash soup

The soup will keep in the fridge up to 4-5 days. It also freezes very well, so you can make it in bulk ahead for cold winter months.

I am pleased to let you know that mydinner.co.uk is now part of the Feedspot list under German Food blogs. 

Source: this recipe was adapted from Comptoir Libanais, Pumpkin Soup

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Tahini and Zaartar

Marita

A delicious butternut squash soup with middle eastern flavours.

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Course Appetizer, Dinner, Main Course, Mezze Dish, Soup

Cuisine Lebanese, Middle Eastern

Servings 6 people

Equipment

• blender

Ingredients

  

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion (1 large or 2 small) finely chopped
• 2 carrots finely chopped
• 2 clove garlic crushed
• 1 butternut squash (about 900 g/ 2lb)
• 3 seeds from cardamon pods crushed
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1.2 liter vegetable or chicken stock (about 5 cups)

To serve

• drizzle tahini
• spinkle of zaartar
• 1 handfull flatleaf pasley
• toasted bread or pita

Instructions

 

• First roast the butternut squash. Either roast it whole, by stabbing it a few times with a knife and drizzling it with olive oil. Placing it in preheated the oven at around 20 minutes.

  Or you can chop the butternut squash in half and drizzle with olive oil. Place in the preheated oven for around 20 minutes
• Preheat the oven to around 200 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit)
• Once the butternut quash is roasted, leave to cool. Once cooled skin the butternut squash (it should be very easy to pull it off by hand) and remove the seeds. Alternatively if you have cut halved the butternut squash, remove the seeds with a spoon. Then scoop out the flesh.
• Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garic and carrot. Season with salt and peper and saute for around 10-15 minutes.
• Stire in the pumpkin, and cardamon, cinnamon and nutmeg and cook for a couple of minutes to toast the spices.
• Pour in the stock, cover with a lit and bring to boil. Leave it to simmer, with the lid on, for about 15 minutes. Leave to cool a little and then blend it until smooth.
• If the soup is too thick for your liking, you can always add a little more stock.
• To serve, place in bowls and drizzle with tahini, zaartar and parsley. We leave these on the tables so everyone can adjust the quanities to their taste.

Keyword Butternut Squash, Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, Tahini, Zaartar