Squash & Wild Rice Soup Recipe
This butternut squash & wild rice soup from Heidi Swanson’s new cookbook, Near & Far, is as delicious as it is beautiful. It’s also healthy and gluten-free.
- Author: Heidi Swanson, [Near & Far]
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Lemon Ginger Rosemary Butter Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces | 115 grams) unsalted butter
- Chopped leaves from a 4-inch (10 cm) sprig of rosemary
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- Scant 1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
Ginger Juice Ingredients:
- A large knob of fresh ginger
Squash Wild Rice Soup Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces | 55 grams) unsalted butter
- 2 medium onions, cut into eighths
- 2 large shallots, halved
- 1 whole serrano chile, stemmed
- 1 tablespoon fine-grain sea salt
- 2 1/2 pounds (1.1 kilograms) pumpkin or squash, seeded, peeled, and cut into 3/4-inch (2 cm) chunks
- 9 cups (2 liters) water
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger juice
- 2 to 4 cups (10 to 20 ounces | 300 to 600 grams) warm cooked wild rice, to serve
- Plain yogurt (leave out if vegan) and toasted pepitas, to serve
Special Equipment:
Make the Lemon Ginger Rosemary Butter:
- To make the lemon ginger rosemary butter, heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat for about 3 minutes – long enough for it to start to brown a bit.
- Remove from the heat and immediately stir in the rosemary, lemon zest, grated ginger, and salt
- stir well and let sit for 5 minutes or so. Strain the butter and reserve the pulp to serve separately.
Make the Ginger Juice:
- Grate the ginger (a fine Microplane grater works well) and scoop the grated ginger pulp into a fine-mesh strainer.
- Use your fingers to press the juice into a bowl.
- You might find it helpful to make a loose fist and run your knuckles around the sides and bottom of the strainer. (You can, of course, speed the process by using a juicer.)
Make the Squash & Wild Rice Soup:
- To make the soup, melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.
- Add the onions, shallots, serrano, and salt.
- Cook until softened, about 5 minutes, then add the pumpkin and the water (less if you like a thicker soup, though this soup is nice on the thinner side).
- Bring just to a simmer and cook until the squash is completely tender throughout about 15 minutes.
- Note that the time it takes will differ among different squash varietals.
- Remove from the heat, puree with a hand blender until smooth, and stir in the ginger juice.
- If you like an even thinner soup, add a bit more water at this point, then stir in more salt to taste.
- Serve over a big scoop of wild rice with a dollop of yogurt, some pepitas, the lemon ginger rosemary butter, and a bit of pulp.
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