Butternut Squash Soup

This easy butternut squash soup recipe yields impressive, deeply flavorful results with very little fuss. Start by roasting butternut squash to enhance its natural sweetness and heighten the soup’s depth of flavor. You will have to cut the squash in half first—if this is your first time dealing with unwieldy large butternuts, follow our guide to butchering butternut squash (or just buy precut squash cubes at the grocery store, we won’t tell). Once they’re roasted, you’ll purée the squash with sautéed diced onions and a few spices for a creamy, warming bowl of comfort.

But, armed with such a simple recipe, there are many ways to make butternut squash soup your own. Play around with the seasonings: Instead of a cinnamon stick, stir in ¼ tsp. each of cumin and cayenne plus a 1 Tbsp. curry powder for curried butternut squash soup. Or top the soup with crispy chopped bacon and apple slivers for a sweet-and-salty take. You could substitute a different winter squash or combine squash with assorted root veggies. Garnish individual bowls with a swirl of coconut milk or a dollop of sour cream, a drizzle of chili crisp, or a sprinkling of crunchy toasted pumpkin seeds.