Vegan Creamy Thai Butternut Squash Soup

Creamy vegan Thai inspired soup with butternut squash, coconut milk and silken tofu for extra protein (you’d never know!). Topped with lime and fresh herb, this healthy soup has made our forever recipe list.

This soup is the stuff of dreams. Sure, it’s healthy since the creamy factor comes from coconut milk, silken tofu and butternut squash, but more importantly it tastes amazing. You would never, ever know it’s in that health category which, if I’m being honest, is kind of how I think it should be. We’re a flavor first household and this made the cut.

One of our most popular recipes is this whole roasted cauliflower turmeric soup, so we decided it was time for another strikingly orange bowl of something. This recipe is 99% vegan with the only exception being 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, which you can replace with a vegan alternative or leave out (but if you’re okay with it…don’t leave it out). Garlic and ginger are sautéed then cooked with lemon grass, vegetable stock, coconut milk and curry paste all while a butternut squash cooks in the oven. After a few more additions and a quick puree, you’re ready to add toppings.

I want to point out one topping in particular: “the red stuff”. After seeing this spicy chili crisp in several places, we picked it up in the ‘Asian cuisine’ aisle and we will continue to buy it forever. The brand is Laoganma and you can find it by looking for the picture of the ‘I take no shi*’ Chinese woman on the front. It’s a chili, sugar, MSG blend with crispy, fermented soy beans mixed in. To us, the chili crisp is the perfect level of spicy and umami with texture. We’ve eaten it with a bagel and cream cheese, in this soup, in a quinoa salad…and then we stopped for day one because we realized we had consumed 1/3 of the jar.

Vegan Creamy THai Butternut Squash SOup

INGREDIENTS

1 butternut squash, peeled deseeded, rough cut into wedges (about 550 grams)

2 small carrots, cut in half length wise 

1/2 teaspoon olive oil

2 teaspoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons neutral oil like canola or vegetable oil (coconut oil would work too)

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 cups vegetable broth

1, 13.5 oz can unsweetened coconut milk (note: if you have a 15 oz can, dump it in- it will be fine)

1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce (the one not vegan item- omit or change to vegan alt)

2 teaspoons red curry paste

1 stick lemongrass (use only bottom 4 inches, discard woody exterior if there)

3/4 cup silken tofu

Garnishes

1 lime, cut into wedges

fresh cilantro

fresh basil

sliced jalapeño

sliced green onion

spicy chili crisp condiment from Laoganma

DIRECTIONS

1. Place on baking sheet with parchment or silat in an even layer. Drizzle with olive oil and brown sugar. Bake at 375 F convection for 30 minutes or an extra 10 minutes if no convection oven. Done when can easily pierce with a fork (time will depend on how thick you do it)

2. In a large stock pot over medium heat, sauté oil of choice with garlic and ginger while squash and carrots are in the oven. Stir frequently for 3-4 minutes until fragrant (do not burn garlic).

3. Add broth, coconut milk, fish sauce (exclude for true vegan dish or replace with vegan alt), curry paste and lemon grass. Stir and cook over medium for 10 minutes.

4. Add silken tofu and baked squash and carrots. Stir and continue cooking for an additional 10 minutes.

5. Remove lemongrass and discard.

6. Pulse soup in a blender or in the pot with an immersion blender.

7. Taste and salt as desired.

8. Garnish and serve with a squeeze of lime. ***Don’t skip the lime! It makes it something special.***

9. To reheat: add a touch of vegetable broth and stir.