EASY Butternut Squash Soup with Pears, seasoned with curry and ginger
Tis the season for squash and pear! These two pals of fall work beautifully together in this creamy, lightly spicy, gingery soup.
When I first posted this recipe years ago, I suggested roasting a halved butternut squash first, to get make purée as the base for the soup. That works, but you are left with an excess of squash purée, and sometimes it’s just easier to start with pre-cut butternut squash.
So, in this revised version, I’m browning pre-cut cubed squash in olive oil and butter, then cooking onions with spices, and then adding chopped pears, before adding back the squash and stock to make the soup.
Pears and ginger love each other, so I’m adding a little ground ginger for some zing, as well as a splash of nutmeg.
The soup is similar to a spicy pumpkin soup also here on Simply Recipes, but with a distinctive pear flavor. You can add a thin slice of Bartlett pear to each serving, or cut up a pear in small pieces and mix them into the soup for added sweetness.
Craving more squash soup recipes?
Curried Squash and Pear Soup Recipe
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Cook time: 45 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
- 6 cups cubed butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 2 cups peeled, chopped Bartlett pear (about 1 pound, 3 pears)
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup pear nectar
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock (use veg stock for vegetarian option)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 small Bartlett pear, cored and thinly sliced
Method
1 Sauté the butternut squash: Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil and 1 teaspoon butter in a large, thick-bottomed pot on high heat. Add half of the cubed butternut squash. Toss to coat with the oil. Let cook until lightly browned on several sides.
Remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Repeat with the remaining butternut squash. Remove to a bowl.
2 Cook the onions and spices: Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pot. Add the chopped onion. Lower the heat to medium and cook for a few minutes to soften.
Then add the curry powder, ground ginger, and nutmeg. Cook for a few minutes more.
3 Add the chopped pear, and toss to coat. Cook for a minute more.
4 Add water, stock, pear nectar, salt, pepper, then simmer: Add the browned butternut squash to the onion pear mixture. Add the water, stock, pear nectar, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil on high heat; partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.
5 Purée: Purée using a stick blender or if using a standing blender, purée a third of the soup at a time.
If the soup is too thick for you, add a little water to thin it. If it is too thin for you, bring it to a boil and let it boil down a bit.
6 Add cream: Turn off heat. Stir in 1/4 cup of cream.
Ladle soup into bowls, and garnish with pear slices.
