“This tastes exactly like Panera” – My husband after his first bite.
I’ve always loved the Autumn Squash soup from Panera and used to get it more than once a week before I was vegan. It got so expensive I tried just getting the packaged ones from the store. Aside from the obvious animal bi-products in their version, it also has so much sodium that it leaves you feeling so bloated. Instead of all these issues, try making the soup from home for a fraction of the cost and totally vegan!
This recipe is definitely more time-consuming (1 1/2 hours or more), but the wait is worth it!
Ingredients Description (full list below)
- Butternut Squash – As always, fresh is best. I roasted mine for 45 minutes and it was perfectly soft and ready to puree.
- Carrots – I used a half a cup of chopped baby carrots.
- Garlic – Obviously lots of fresh garlic. I used 5 (it’s my magic garlic number).
- Apple – A peeled gala apple adds a little extra sweetness and nutrition.
- Yellow Onion – This balances out the sweetness and adds some savoriness and texture.
- Seasonings – I used salt, basil, rosemary, thyme, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and pepper.
- Milk – I used a mixture of coconut milk and oatmilk. The combinations makes it really creamy without an overwhelming coconut flavor.
- Vegetable Broth – Any brand works. This adds a lot of savoriness to the recipe.
- Optional – Sour dough bread goes amazingly with this soup!
Preparation Details
- Bake squash and carrots. Chop the carrots roughly and cut slices into the squash. After 10 minutes you should take out the squash and cut it in half to allow it to bake through faster. I like to bake it for the first 10 minutes to get it softer so I don’t have to wrestle with a fresh squash!
- Chop onion and apple. Peel and slice the apple and roughly chop the onion.
- Process fresh ingredients in a food processor. Once the veggies are done baking, scoop out the squash and puree all fresh ingredients in a food processor. The texture at this point will still be kinda rough until you’ve cooked down the processed ingredients with more moisture.
- Add wet ingredients and seasonings and boil. In a pot, add the processed ingredients and then combine with the milk, broth, and seasonings. Let them cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes.
- Blend in food processor or blender until smooth. I added all the ingredients into a blender (my food processor is a bit small) and blended for about 5 minutes.
- Add optional toppings and serve!
Recipe
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 70 minutes
Total time: 80 minutes – 1 1/2 hours.
Servings: 5
Ingredients List
- 1 medium butternut squash
- 1/2 cup carrots
- 1 apple
- 5 cloves garlic (or more!)
- 1 yellow onion
- 13.5oz canned coconut milk
- 1/2 cup oatmilk
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/4 tsp basil
- 1/4 tsp thyme
- 1/4 tsp rosemary
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp cloves
Instructions
- Set oven to 350°
- Roughly chop carrots and cut slices into the skin of the squash.
- Bake squash and carrots for 45 minutes (cut squash in half after 10 minutes).
- Chop onion and peel/slice the apple.
- Once baking is complete, process ingredients in a blender and pour into medium/large pot.
- Add milks, broth, and seasonings and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes.
- Pour contents of pot into a blender and blend for 5 minutes or until smooth.
- Add optional toppings and serve!
