Butternut Squash Soup with Bacon, Goat Cheese, and Pistachios

I’m so excited to share this post with you today! This recipe. You guys. I really thought I knocked it out of the park last week with the most ridiculously delicious pumpkin cheesecake. I gotta be honest though, I’m more of a savory/salty kinda gal than a sweets one. So this butternut squash soup with bacon AND goat cheese AND pistachios is really just the perfect thing.

I’d never worked with butternut squash until my mother-in-law bestowed one upon us after one of our holiday gatherings in Maryland a couple years ago. She ran out to the car as all the kids were packing things into our respective cars, and I caught a glimpse of her placing some sort of squash in our trunk. A couple days later, I got a perplexed text from my sister-in-law in Chicago, “Did you have a butternut squash in your trunk too?”

I’m not sure what she ended up making with hers, but I promptly scoured Pinterest for a recipe for butternut squash soup. Our first attempt a few years back was not nearly as glorious as the recipe before you now. But I do apologize for the unhealthiness accept your gratitude for the deliciousness of this recipe.

The initial inspiration for this recipe came from this one over on Half Baked Harvest – her food photos are simply amazing. I saw one photo of her soup on Pinterest and knew I wanted to try something similar. The flavors I aimed for were quite different, but I always love pointing back to my source of inspiration when I can!

Butternut Squash Soup with Bacon, Goat Cheese, and Pistachios

Asharae Kroll

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 40 mins

Total Time 55 mins

Servings 4 -6 servings

Ingredients

  

• 1 medium butternut squash peeled, seeds scooped out, and diced
• 2 large carrots peeled and diced
• 1 onion diced
• 1 apple peeled, cored, and cubed
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 tsp fresh thyme
• 1/4 tsp dried sage
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 32 oz vegetable broth
• 1 c heavy cream
• 1 package of bacon
• 4 oz package of goat cheese
• Shelled pistachios

Instructions

 

• Place bacon in a cold pan, heat to medium and cook till crispy. Set on paper towels to cool. Reserve bacon grease. Once bacon is cool, crumble into small pieces.
• Add 3 Tbs bacon grease to a large stockpot and heat over medium. Add carrots, onion, and diced butternut squash and sauté for 5-7 minutes, or until veggies start to soften.
• Add apple, thyme, sage, salt, and pepper, and sauté 3-4 more minutes. (Add another Tbs of bacon grease if necessary.)
• Add garlic and sauté one more minute, then add vegetable broth, scraping the delicious bits off the bottom of the pan. Add bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 6-8 minutes, or until the veggies and apples are soft. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
• Remove bay leaf and use an immersion blender to blend the soup to a smooth consistency. Alternately, you can carefully blend the soup in batches in a blender. (Side note - if you don't have an immersion blender, it's a worthwhile investment - perfect for soups, smoothies, salsas, and other things - we use ours all the time!) Once the soup is smooth, stir in the heavy cream.
• Serve topped with bacon, goat cheese, and pistachios. Drizzle with a little extra heavy cream to make it pretty. Enjoy!

Notes

To more easily peel your butternut squash, use a fork to poke holes all over. Heat for 1-2 minutes in the microwave. Let cool, cut each end off with a knife, then use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin. To dice, cut your butternut squash in half, separating the taller skinny half from the wide fat end. Place each half of the squash on your cutting board, cut side down, and cut each one in half. Scoop the seeds out and then lay each quarter on your cutting board, flat side down and slice into 1/4 in - 1/2 in slices. Dice up each slice into smaller pieces and you're ready to use it in your soup recipe!

We use this Cuisinart Immersion Hand Blender and absolutely love it!

(Full disclosure – That’s an affiliate link above, so I’ll receive a small percentage of your purchase if you click through the link. I appreciate your help in keeping This Wild Season up and running!)