This one-pot Vegan Butternut Squash Apple Soup with herby sourdough croutons is about to become your new favorite dinner! It's so creamy, full of flavor, and the perfect cozy vegan soup recipe to make during the Fall and Winter seasons.
I love creating vegan soup recipes, especially when they can be made in one pot and taste great as leftovers!
What makes this soup even better is topping it with homemade sourdough croutons. Seriously, you are about to become obsessed with making homemade croutons after you see just how easy it is!
Ingredients:
The image on the left has the ingredients needed for the sourdough croutons and the image on the right has the ingredients needed from the butternut squash apple soup.
Ingredient notes:
- Butternut Squash: While I peeled and diced my own butternut squash, a great way to save prep time is by buying pre cut butternut squash. It should save you about 10 minutes of prep time!
- Coconut milk: It's really important to use full-fat coconut milk for a truly creamy soup. If you can't find any or want something lower in fat, a milk alternative like oat or almond could work, but the soup will be thinner.
- Herbs: Feel free to add whatever you want for this! I really like fresh thyme & dried parsley. However, if oregano, sage, or any other herb sounds better to you- swap it into this butternut squash apple bisque!
How to make sourdough croutons
Believe it or not, making homemade sourdough croutons is actually incredibly easy!
The first step involves slicing the sourdough bread and cutting it into cubes. It's actually best to use day-old bread for croutons as it's easier to cut and will crisp up better.
Once the bread is cubed, add it to a baking tray and top with olive oil & seasoning.
For this vegan crouton recipe, I used nutritional yeast to give it a cheesy flavor while still being vegan. I also added tons of herbs like fresh thyme and dried parsley. You definitely want to add salt & pepper for flavor too!
After that, mix everything together and spread the bread out on the tray so it is evenly dispersed. The bread cubes should not be piled on top of each other for the best results.
Then, just bake the vegan croutons at 400F for 15-20 minutes until nice and crispy!
How to make butternut squash apple soup
Prep & chop the veggies & apple
This is the step that takes the most work for this recipe, only because peeling & chopping a butternut squash does take a bit of time.
If you're looking to save time, my best advice is to actually buy pre-cut butternut squash. I don't usually recommend buying pre-cut vegetables, but for hard-to-cut squash, it can be worth it.
You'll also want to thinly slice the shallots, mince the garlic, and dice up the apple to prep.
I decided to use a green apple because I like this soup tart, but using a red apple also works. If you do use a red apple, just keep in mind your soup will be sweeter!
Add shallots, apple, garlic, and oil to a pot
Once all the veggies are prepped, add olive oil to a large dutch oven or pot and turn on the heat.
Once the oil is hot, add in the shallots, apples, and garlic and saute for 3-5 minutes until the shallots are starting to become translucent and the apples are beginning to caramelize.
P.S- for this recipe, I used the All-Clad non-stick dutch oven!
Add butternut squash & spices
Next, add in the cubed butternut squash and all the spices. I decided to use a mix of dried & fresh thyme & dried parsley for this butternut squash soup. However, if you prefer other spices like oregano or sage feel free to swap those in.
Then, saute everything together for another 2-3 minutes.
Add coconut milk & vegetable broth
I used full-fat coconut milk which makes this vegan butternut squash apple soup super creamy. The vegetable broth also helps to give some flavor to this soup.
Bring to boil & simmer for 15 minutes
Stir all the ingredients together and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn down the heat and reduce to a simmer.
Cook the apple squash soup for about 15 minutes or until the butternut squash is soft and easily piercable with a fork. It's super important it's fully cooked so this soup can be blended!
Blend together & serve
Once the soup is fully cooked, remove the pot from the heat and use an immersion blender to blend the soup until it is creamy.
I used my Mueller immersion blender and truly love it! If you only have a standing blender, that also works for blending this soup. Just be careful when transferring the hot soup to the blender.
Once the apple squash soup is blended, serve it with your favorite toppings- including the freshly baked sourdough croutons & more fresh thyme!
FAQ & Tips:
Yes! The soup is actually already completely gluten-free. The only thing you'll need to adjust is the croutons where you will just swap out a gluten-free bread in place of sourdough bread.
Nope! I decided not to peel the apples because the skin is full of fiber & vitamins that I wanted in this soup. However, if you want an even smoother soup, you can peel the apple before chopping it and cooking it.
If you want to try adding different flavors to this soup, there are a few things you can do.
The first is to swap out the parsley and thyme for other spices like sage or oregano. The other is to add in a little curry powder & tomato paste to give it a flavor similar to my Carrot Cauliflower Soup.
You can also change the flavor of this soup by adding different toppings. While I love the croutons, other toppings that go well are crispy kale chips, my Crispy Sriracha Chickpeas, pepitas, or even fresh pomegranate seeds.
This soup can be stored in a closed container in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
If stored in the freezer, I highly recommend storing it in individual servings so it's easy to defrost.
I truly hope you love this creamy Vegan Butternut Squash Apple Soup with sourdough croutons! It's a must-make for cold Winter days and also would be a great side dish to serve at a Thanksgiving dinner. Enjoy!
-TSG
More vegan soup recipes you will love:
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Vegan Butternut Squash Apple Soup with Croutons
Ingredients
Sourdough Croutons
- 14 ounces sourdough bread
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme can substitute for ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Butternut Squash Apple soup
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large green apple or 2 small apple, cored and diced
- 2 shallots thinly sliced (can substitute for ½ onion)
- 6 cups peeled & cubed butternut squash about 1 ½ butternut squash, seeds removed
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon salt use more or less as preferred
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme can substitute for ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 15 ounce can full-fat coconut milk
- 2 cups vegetable broth can use up to 3 cups for a thinner soup
Instructions
Make the Sourdough Croutons
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and slice and cube the sourdough loaf.
- Add the cubed sourdough to a sheet pan and top with the olive oil, nutritional yeast, dried parsley, thyme, garlic powder, salt, & pepper. Toss together until the bread is completely coated in the oil and seasoning.
- Add the tray to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until the croutons are crispy. Then, remove from the oven and let cool.
Make the soup
- While the croutons are toasting, prep the veggies. Peel the butternut squash and cut into cubes. Also, cut the apple into cubes, thinly slice the shallots, and mince the garlic.
- Add olive oil to a dutch oven or pot and turn on the heat. Once hot and bubbling, add in the apple, shallots, and garlic. Saute for 3-5 minutes until the apples are starting to caramelize and the shallots are translucent.
- Next, add the butternut squash and spices including the dried thyme, dried parsley, salt, and pepper to the pot. Saute together 2-3 minutes to coat the veggies in oil.
- Pour in the can of coconut milk and vegetable broth. If desired, set aside 1 Tablespoon of the coconut cream to swirl onto the soup as a garnish later. Then, stir everything together and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the soup with a lid, and let simmer for 15 minutes or until the butternut squash is fully cooked and soft.
- Remove the soup from the heat and use an immersion blender to blend the soup ingredients together until smooth. If desired, season with additional salt & pepper at this time.
- Serve the soup and top with a swirl of coconut cream and a heaping scoop of the homemade sourdough croutons. Enjoy!
Notes
- I decided not to peel the apples because the skin is full of fiber & vitamins that I wanted in this soup. However, if you want an even smoother soup- you can peel the apple before chopping it and cooking it.
- Feel free to swap the thyme & dried parsley for any other herbs such as sage or oregano depending on your preference.
- To make this recipe gluten-free, just swap the sourdough bread for gluten-free bread. The soup is already gluten-free.
- I used the Mueller immersion blender for this soup and recommend it!
- Breadcrumbs will keep in a closed container at room temperature for one week. They will harden over time but soften when mixed into the soup.
- Soup can be stored in a closed container in the fridge for 3-5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month. If stored in the freezer, it is best to store as individual servings for easy defrosting.
Diane says
I made this last night and it is so comforting, so delicious. Simple to bring together-Creamy and perfect for these frigid temps.
Megan says
Thanks for sharing and so happy you loved this soup!
Alexandra says
Deliciously creamy ... The perfect fall hug in soup form. Pretty simple to make which I appreciate, too. Yum!
I hope to make the croutons to add next time.
Megan says
Yay so happy you liked it!!