This Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup made with roasted butternut squash, rice & kielbasa sausage is the perfect recipe for soup weather. This flavorful and hearty soup is sure to warm you up on a cold day!
What You'll Need for Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup
We had a bumper crop of butternut squash in our garden this year. I was able to peel and dice a lot of it and freeze it, which will make it so easy to use up during the winter. Even though the days and nights are colder here, I still am picking the last of them from the garden. The squash is roasted with an onion to add extra flavor.
Kielbasa is a traditional Polish meat sausage, known for it's coarser texture and U-shape that works great in this soup. I usually use the beef and pork version, but have also seen turkey kielbasa available which would also work well.
The white rice is cooked right in the chicken broth used for the soup, and the addition of half & half at the end makes this Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup so nice and creamy.
Other seasonings like dried sage, salt & pepper are also added to give this soup a great depth of flavor.
How to Make Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup
Start the soup by getting the butternut squash ready to roast. Slice it in half lengthwise, remove the seeds and place flesh side up on a large baking sheet. Line the baking sheet with foil for easy clean up. Quarter an onion and place it around squash. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & pepper.
Place in the oven and roast for 40-45 minutes until the squash is tender. When finished, scoop out the squash and place in a blender with roasted onion chunks and 1 cup of chicken broth. One good sized squash will yield about 3 cups, which is perfect for this recipe. Blend until smooth and set aside.
In a Dutch oven or soup pot, add 5 cups of chicken broth. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add in uncooked rice, cover and cook for about 15 minutes until rice is tender. Do not drain! Cooking the rice in chicken broth adds great flavor to the soup and cooking it right in the soup pot makes it so easy.
Add squash mixture to the broth and rice along with the diced kielbasa pieces and dried sage. The flavors of sage and butternut squash go together perfectly. I like to cut the kielbasa into ½ inch coins, and then cut the coins in half. It makes the perfect size bite for the soup.
Simmer the soup over medium heat for 10 minutes. To finish the soup, turn heat to low and add in half & half. Stir well and cook another 5 minutes or so to let everything heat up.
Can You Freeze Leftovers?
Due to the addition of half & half, the texture of this Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup may be affected if frozen. If you are making a batch specifically to freeze, omit the half & half and add it in when you are reheating the soup for a nice smooth texture.
As I mentioned before, I often have bags of frozen diced squash that I can use throughout the year. If you have some frozen squash you can roast it and it will work great for this soup! It will also save you some time as the diced squash will cook faster than the halved squash.
Serve this Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup with crusty French bread for dipping, and you have yourself the perfect fall soup. Grab your flannel shirts and soup spoons, cool weather is here to stay (at least for 6 months here in Minnesota)!
Other popular comfort food recipes:
Black Bean & Sweet Potato Chili
Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy
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Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut squash in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Place on large baking sheet flesh side up. Cut onion is quarters and place around squash. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Place in oven and roast 40-45 minutes until squash is tender.
- Using a spoon, scoop out squash and place in blender along with roasted onion and 1 cup chicken broth. Blend until smooth. Set aside.
- In dutch oven or soup pot, add 5 cups chicken broth. Bring to simmer over medium-high heat. Add uncooked rice, cover and cook about 15 minutes until rice is tender. Do not drain.
- Cut kielbasa ring into ½ inch coins, then cut the coins in half. Add blended squash along with kielbasa pieces and sage to broth and rice. Mix well and simmer over medium heat about 10 minutes.
- Turn heat to low and add half & half. Cook for another 5 minutes on low heat.
Notes
- Vegetable broth would be a good substitute to chicken broth.
- Turkey or beef kielbasa sausage is typically available. Either works fine for this recipe.
- Serve with crusty french bread for dipping for a great weeknight meal this fall!
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