Butternut Squash and Shiitake Mushroom Soup
45 minutes·Serves 4
Shiitake mushrooms are rich in umami, which is Japanese for savory, one of the five basic tastes (sweet, sour, salty, and bitter are the others). Teaming them up with a classic butternut squash soup makes it heartier, with more texture and taste. The easiest way to make this golden soup is to buy already-peeled and chopped squash, which you can generally find frozen and in the produce aisle. Eat this soup chunky, with the mushrooms floating in the soup, or smooth.
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- ¼ cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 6 medium-large shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
- ½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- 4 garlic garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups cubed butternut squash
- 3 cups vegetable broth, plus more if needed
Serving suggestion
Olive oil
Toasted pumpkin seeds
Instructions
- 1Sauté the onion and olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat until soft and fragrant, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and continue to sauté until the mushrooms soften, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
- 2Add the butternut squash and sauté for 4 more minutes. Pour in the broth and bring the mixture to boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat and simmer, with the lid partially on, until the squash is very soft and naturally breaking down, 25 to 30 minutes.
- 3Blend the soup using a hand-held immersion blender until you get the consistency you want. Add more broth if you’d like it soupier. Season with salt and black pepper.
- 4Serve drizzled with a little olive oil and topped with pumpkin seeds.
Easy Ingredient Swaps
↔Any small mushrooms for the shiitake mushrooms
↔Roasted slivered almonds for the pumpkin seeds
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