A Cleaner Panera "Autumn Squash Soup"

Hello from Chicago this morning! 

Have you ever had the autumn squash soup from Panera? I used to order it EVERY fall, but when I started my health journey and looked at the ingredients in the soup with tons of processed additives, I stopped ordering it as much. Not wanting to give it up, I recreated the soup myself and holy shit, I’m SO proud of it.

This red kuri squash called my name in Natural Grocers the other day because it is SO beautiful. I even used it as decoration outside for a bit. I love eating with the seasons, as it connects us back to nature. This soup so clean with just a few ingredients, and I’m all about EASY these days since I am making so many meals for others until Story opens.

I hope that you enjoy this warm, delicious and nourishing soup. 🥣

Ingredients:

• 1 quartered red kuri squash, seeded (save the seeds to bake them); you can always use butternut squash or acorn squash, whatever is in season at your local grocery.

• 6 garlic cloves (never enough garlic), in the skin

• 1 sliced large zucchini

• Olive oil for drizzling

• ~ 2 cups unsweetened almond milk (feel free to use whole milk)

• 1/4 cup avocado or extra virgin olive oil 

• 1 inch fresh ginger, washed and grated

• 2 tsps garam masala 

• 1 tsp nutmeg

• 1 tsp curry powder

• Pepitas (you can toast these on the skillet on low-medium heat for a few minutes for an extra crunch) and baguette for serving.

Recipes:

• Preheat oven to 400*F.

• Peel the outside of the kuri squash and into 1-inch wide slices. Keep skin on the zucchini. . Bake the squash, garlic (leave in the skin) zucchini for 30-45 minutes until soft.

• Let the vegetables cool for 15-20 minutes. Remove the skin from the garlic, then blend in the blender until smooth. Once smooth, add the rest of the ingredients into the blender and blend creamy. You can add more milk if you need it more soupy.

• Add bread to the toaster oven for 5 minutes to enjoy on the side of the soup. Serve the soup warm topped with pepitas and a side of the toasted baguette - just like Panera :) Happy fall 🍂

Xo,
B ❤️