Butternut Squash Lentil Soup

This hearty and creamy butternut squash soup is perfect for the cold weather months, it’s a little spicy to warm you up and very filling from all those lentils and chickpeas.  It’s full of veggies and flavored with curry powder and smoked paprika. 

Tips for Making the Soup

When the soup is done cooking, add some lime juice to brighten up the dish, and greens to make it even healthier.  Use spinach, kale, or whichever greens are your favorite.  If you’re not using baby kale, make sure you remove the stem and tear the leaves into small pieces.  The soup will be hot, so after you add your greens it will take around 5 minutes for them to wilt in the soup.  Just stir them into the pot towards the end of the cooking with some lime juice, place the lid back on and wait.  

I use my homemade vegetable broth for this recipe, which has no salt.  You might want to start with 1 teaspoon of salt if you’re using store-bought vegetable broth, then taste for seasoning.  You can always add more.

How to Make the Soup Creamy

Rich and velvety butternut squash soup without adding cream.  When butternut squash cooks it softens up, and when it's mashed it makes the soup creamy without adding milk or cream.  When the soup is done cooking in the pot, mash some the cubes of the squash against the side of the pot, it will make the soup creamy!  

Tips for Busy Nights

This makes a lot of soup, but it can be easily be cut in half or frozen for later use.  To make the meal in less time, prep the squash, onions, and carrots ahead of time.  Then store them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use them, they’ll keep for a few days. Prepping ahead of time is great for those busy mornings (for the slow cooker method of cooking) or busy evenings (for the stovetop method) everything gets thrown into a pot to cook, no cutting required!  Not having to cut the squash right before you cook it saves time on busy nights.  To save even more prep time, try pre-cut frozen butternut squash for soups. 

I hope you enjoy this hearty creamy butternut squash lentil soup!

For more slow cooker recipes try slow cooker quinoa chili or slow cooker marinara sauce.

For more hearty meals try red lentil dal or potato curry.

Butternut Squash Lentil Soup

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• Author: Allie
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 35 minutes
• Total Time: 55 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings 1x
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

Hearty and creamy butternut squash soup is perfect for the cold weather months, it’s a little spicy to warm you up and loaded with lentils and chickpeas.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 yellow onion (diced)
• 4 carrots (diced)
• 3 garlic cloves (minced)
• 3-3.5 lbs butternut squash (peeled, deseeded, and cubed)
• 1 ½ tablespoons curry powder
• 1 ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 cans (15 ounces) chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 1 cup dried red lentils
• 5 cups vegetable broth
• 2-3 handfuls of fresh kale or spinach
• 1 lime (juiced)

Toppings

• Plant-based yogurt
• Crushed red pepper
• Fresh cilantro

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Instructions

Slow Cooker Method

1. Add everything to a slow cooker except the kale and lime juice and stir together.
2. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
3. When the soup is done stir in the kale or spinach and lime juice, it will only take a couple of minutes for the greens to wilt.
4. To make the soup creamy mash the cooked squash with a spoon up against the side of the pot.

Stove Top Method

1. Sauté the onion and carrots for a couple of minutes, until the onions are translucent, adding a splash of water (if needed) to cook oil-free.
2. Then add the garlic, curry powder, paprika, cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper, sauté for a couple of minutes.
3. Then add the squash, tomato paste, lentils, chickpeas, and vegetable broth, then cook until the lentils and squash are done, about 30-35 minutes.
4. To make the soup creamy mash the cooked squash with a spoon up against the side of the pot.
5. Stir in the lime juice and kale (or spinach), serve when the greens are cooked (only a couple of minutes).

Notes

I use homemade vegetable broth with no salt, if your vegetable broth contains salt you may want to adjust the salt in the recipe.  

The smaller you cut your squash, the faster it cooks.

• Category: Main Course
• Method: slow cooker
• Cuisine: american

Keywords: lentil soup in the slow cooker, red lentil soup