Butternut squash (pumpkin) chipotle soup
After standing on a frosty oval watching soccer, early on a weekend morning, there is something about coming home (and warming up) to a bowl of chipotle spiked butternut squash soup. It’s simple to make, hearty, and ridiculously inexpensive. Some people warm the soul with whisky, for me, it’s soup. It’s also probably a bit too early for me for a glass of whisky at lunchtime! Not a week goes by in the cooler months, that there isn’t a pot of some sort of soup made in our house.
Now, granted, you could make this soup ten different ways. Personally, I love roasting soups in my cast iron pots, in the oven for an hour or two. This one, I usually cook in my Le Creuset 24cm french oven. Yep, it’s definitely a lot slower than a boiled soup on the stove or pressure cooker, But by slow roasting everything in the oven, the pumpkin and onion caramelize, giving the soup a good bit of depth and flavour.

What you need
- Butternut Pumpkin – In my little corner of the world butternut pumpkins are readily available throughout the year. It’s rare that I don’t have one in the fridge. If you can’t get your hands on one, try another pumpkin variety. I’ve used a couple of different types of pumpkin with this recipe over the years. I always seem to come back to my love for butternuts though. If you’re lucky enough to find these miniature pumpkins (pictured) around, they make a great soup bowl. There’s a cracking description on how to make them here
- Chipotle powder – for me is a pantry staple. It’s a really good, quick way to add a little depth and heat to things like roasted pumpkin, or say a chilli con carne. I love this stuff and can’t get enough.
- Vegetables – Potato, brown onions
- Pantry Staples – salt, pepper, butter
The details
- Preheat oven to 140°c.
- In a cast iron casserole on a low heat, melt the butter. Add the sliced onions and gently stir. Cook them until soft and translucent (about 10 minutes), stirring occasionally.
- Add the garlic. Stir in, and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the pumpkin, potato and water. Increase the heat to medium and bring to a simmer.
- Once simmering, remove the soup from the stovetop and pop into the oven for 90 minutes.
- After 90 minutes the pumpkin and onions should be nice and caramelized, and the liquid partly reduced. Blitz the soup with a stick blender and add the ground chipotle. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper.
Equipment
A cast iron French oven – I use my 24cm Le Creuset for this soup. You’ll also need a chopping board and a knife big enough to be able to cut through the pumpkin. I find a 20cm cook’s knife is the perfect size for me.
A good stick blender (Bamix, immersion blender) is essential for blending soups in the pot. Alternatively you could use a regular blender. It’s just a bit messier and more time consuming.
Try…
Serving Butternut squash chipotle soup with a dollop of sour cream. I love to make a loaf of Irish brown bread to go with soups, but a good chunk of sourdough to go alongside works just as well.
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More Autumnal recipes…


Butternut Squash (Pumpkin) Chipotle Soup
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 people 1x
- Category: Lunch, Soup
- Method: Slow-Cook
- Cuisine: Australian
Description
It’s simple to make, hearty, and ridiculously inexpensive. The perfect cold weather soup!
Ingredients
- 20 g butter (unsalted)
- 1 onion (sliced)
- 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 1/2 butternut pumpkin (peeled, seeds removed. Cut into rough 5cm chunks.)
- 1 potato (peeled, cut in half)
- 750 ml water
- 1/2 tsp chipotle chilli (ground)
- sea salt
- cracked pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 140°c.
- In a cast iron casserole on a low heat, melt the butter. Add the sliced onions and gently stir. Cook them until soft and translucent (about 10 minutes), stirring occasionally.
- Add the garlic. Stir in, and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the pumpkin, potato and water. Increase the heat to medium and bring to a simmer.
- Once simmering, remove the soup from the stovetop and pop into the oven for 90 minutes.
- After 90 minutes the pumpkin and onions should be nice and caramelized, and the liquid partly reduced. Blitz the soup with a stick blender and add the ground chipotle. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper.
Notes
Half a butternut pumpkin before seeded and peeled is roughly about 1kg in weight.
I use a 24cm cast iron french oven for this recipe.
Keywords: Chilli, Chipotle, Pumpkin, Squash, Soup