Description
Creamy butternut squash soup with caramelized onions delivers rich, comforting flavors perfect for autumn dinners. Home cooks will savor this simple yet elegant soup that combines sweet squash and deeply caramelized onions for a memorable meal.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2–2.5 lb butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1.5-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups (960 ml) unsalted bone broth (chicken or beef)
- 3 tbsps (45 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- ¼–½ tsp black pepper
- 2.5 tsps Himalayan pink salt
Instructions
- Caramelize Foundation: Activate Instant Pot’s sauté function and warm olive oil, gently transforming onions into golden, sweet clusters over 45-60 minutes while stirring intermittently to prevent burning.
- Aromatic Layer Development: Introduce minced garlic, carrots, and celery into caramelized onions, sautéing briefly to unlock deep, complex flavor profiles and create a robust vegetable base.
- Liquid Integration: Add cubed butternut squash and bone broth, ensuring thorough ingredient distribution throughout the cooking vessel.
- Pressure Transformation: Seal Instant Pot lid with steam valve positioned to sealing, then execute high-pressure cooking for 10 minutes to tenderize and meld ingredients into a harmonious mixture.
- Textural Refinement: Perform manual pressure release, then utilize immersion blender or standard blender to transform soup into luxuriously smooth consistency, ensuring no textural irregularities remain.
- Flavor Concentration: Return pureed soup to Instant Pot, simmering on low heat for 10-15 minutes to intensify and marry subtle flavor nuances.
- Final Seasoning: Enhance with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, calibrating taste to personal preference and balancing overall flavor profile.
- Presentation: Carefully ladle soup into warmed serving bowls, optionally adorning with preferred garnishes to elevate visual and gustatory experience.
Notes
- Patience with Caramelization: Low and slow caramelization of onions takes 45-60 minutes, delivering deep, rich flavor complexity that transforms the entire soup’s taste profile.
- Pressure Cooking Precision: Ensure steam valve is correctly sealed to achieve perfect 10-minute high-pressure cooking, which tenderizes vegetables and locks in nutrients.
- Blending Technique: Use an immersion blender directly in the pot for smoother texture and fewer dishes, avoiding potential hot liquid splashes when transferring to a standard blender.
- Flavor Layering: Sautéing vegetables before pressure cooking develops deeper aromatics, creating a more nuanced and sophisticated soup foundation.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Dinner, Appetizer, Snacks
- Method: Sautéing
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 7
- Calories: 100
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 300 mg
- Fat: 4 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 15 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg