Slow Cooker Vegan Butternut Squash Soup

By Megan Keller The Woman Today

Now that the weather is cooler, I start craving some warm comfort food. Fall means crock pot season has begun! As I harvested my garden this fall, one thing that seemed to grow in much abundance was my squash. For many people, when this happens, they try to give away as much as they can. I’ll be honest, when I got married this summer, I thought about giving my guests cucumbers and squash plants as parting gifts!

With so many squash harvested, if you don’t preserve them for the winter, it’s easy to get burnt out on eating them — and finding creative recipes can be a challenge.

I came across this recipe for Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup on Pinterest and was curious, since I’d never made squash soup. I will say, this is lick-your-bowl-to-thelast-drop delicious! I paired this soup with a simple garlic toast, then cozied up in a warm blanket and enjoyed every moment of how amazing this turned out. This soup is simple to make — and it’ll make your home smell awesome while it’s cooking.

Please be careful when cutting up your squash as they can have a very hard shell. I recommend going on YouTube to get suggestions on how to cut them up.

This recipe does make a good sized batch and will easily feed a family of four. Your senses will be pleased when you make this delicious creamy, comfort soup.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Slow Cooker Vegan Butternut Squash Soup

Recipe courtesy of Sarah Bond at “Live Eat Learn,” a vegetarian food blog: www.liveeatlearn.com.

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash, about 4 to 5 cups diced

2 cups vegetable broth

4 cloves garlic, peeled

1 medium white onion, about 1 cup diced

1 granny smith apple, diced

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

1 bunch fresh thyme

1 cup canned coconut milk

Directions

1. Prep: Peel, deseed, and roughly chop butternut. Add butternut to slow cooker along with everything except the coconut milk.

2. Cook: Stir to combine then cook for 6 to 8 hours on low, or 2 to 4 hours on high. Soup is ready when butternut is easily mashed with a fork.

3. Blend: Pick out the sprigs of thyme. Use a handheld immersion blender to puree the soup (alternatively, carefully transfer to a countertop blender and puree).

4. Serve: Stir in coconut milk and serve, optionally drizzling more coconut milk over soup after ladling into bowls. D