This Autumn Harvest Soup is the epitome of cozy! Loaded with seasonal squash and other veggies, it’s lusciously creamy and is the perfect dish to pair with grilled cheese croutons!
This post is sponsored by Sprouts. Thank you for continuing to support the brands that I love and believe in!
Soup season is officially BACK, my friends and I’m so excited for it.
Because truly, is there anything better than cozying up on the couch with a warm hug in a bowl full of your favorite soup?! I think not.
And now that it’s *finally* starting to cool down in North Carolina, I am so ready to start making all of the soups! Especially this delicious Autumn Harvest Soup!
Ingredients You Need For This Soup:
You might wonder what in the world even is in Autumn Harvest Soup? Seasonal Autumn vegetables, of course! I picked all of mine up from my local Sprouts and you guys, if you want to be inspired to get cooking or baking, I highly recommend you go as well!
They have the most delicious seasonal produce section – especially one of my favorites – seasonal squash! They had so many different kinds, it was hard to choose which one to use for this soup!
I ended up going with classic butternut squash as well as pumpkin. I also added in some other Fall goodness in there that you will see below! Here are the full list of ingredients you will need:
- Butternut squash
- Pumpkin Puree
- Gala apple
- Carrots
- Yellow Onion
- Garlic
- Chicken Stock
- Salted Butter
- Smoked Paprika
- Cinnamon
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Herbs
- Grilled Cheese Supplies (for the garnish!)
Why You’ll Love This Dish:
First off, it’s just SO delicious. The incredible blend of flavors in each bite, how they truly all combine together to meld perfectly – it’s just the best bowl of soup!
I love the blend of savory and sweet in this soup – you have the savory, the onion, garlic, spices, chicken stock….but then you have the naturally sweet: the squash, pumpkin, apple + carrots.
You might think that it all would be too many components but each one of them and how they balance out the overall texture and flavor of the soup is SO YUMMY.
Sweet, smoky, savory, creamy but not *overly creamy*…oh and did I mention one of the best parts of the soup?
I ended up topping the soup with GRILLED CHEESE CROUTONS.
I guess that’s just a fancy way of saying sliced cubes of grilled cheese but y’all, TOPPED WITH GRILLED CHEESE.
The buttery toasted pieces of bread filled with melty cheese goes perfectly with the creamy soup.
Top it with some fresh herbs as well and wow – you’re set for a delicious + warming bowl of everything autumnal. Yup!
Tips to Make the BEST Soup:
I think one of the best tips I can give you for this soup is to PREP everything beforehand. Take about 10-15 minutes and just slice, dice and chop all of the veggies for this soup so you can simply add them into the pot when the time comes.
Once you have everything diced, add butter to a large soup/stock pot. The butter is going to add amazing flavor to the soup.
Next, let’s add in the veggies that need to break down the most – the onions, carrots and apple. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally and then add in the garlic and cook until fragrant – about 1 minute or so.
Add in the delightful butternut squash and the chicken broth. Stir and let it come to a boil. Reduce it to a simmer and let it go for about 30 minutes or so.
The butternut squash and all of the other vegetables are going to become SO tender!
Once the 30 minutes is up, add in the pureed pumpkin and grab a blender. I just recently got an immersion blender and it’s been life changing! If you don’t have one, carefully transfer the liquid to a HEAT SAFE blender and blend it in batches.
If you do have an immersion blender, just immerse the blender in it and begin blending it until your desired consistency is reached.
Add in the seasonings – smoked paprika, cinnamon, salt and pepper and stir in. Taste – adjust if needed.
And of course, if you want to serve with the grilled cheese croutons, keep the soup warm on low heat while you make them fresh! If not, see below for a list of options to serve the soup with!
What to Serve Soup With:
Well of course, you must make the grilled cheese croutons! But you can also just not slice the grilled cheese into cubes and dip it as a whole sandwich as you go.
If you’re not too big into cheese, a crusty sourdough bread would go great with this soup!
I love adding a big salad on the side as well.
However you eat this soup, I hope it makes you feel as warm and happy on the inside as it did me. Bon appetit!
Did you enjoy this recipe? Here are a few others you might like:
Golden Delicata Squash Soup with Crispy Garlic Chickpeas
Thank you so much for following along here, friends! Want to see more? Be sure to follow ourbalancedbowl on Instagram and tag me with your photo if you end up making a recipe! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the Our Balanced Bowl Facebook page! Like a recipe that you saw? Follow me on Pinterest here! I always love to see your re-creations! If you do make a recipe, it would make my whole day if you were to rate and comment so I can get your feedback! Lots of love! – Haylie
Autumn Harvest Soup
This Autumn Harvest Soup is the epitome of cozy! Loaded with seasonal squash and other veggies, it’s lusciously creamy and is the perfect dish to pair with grilled cheese croutons!
Ingredients
- 1 medium gala apple, diced into bite size pieces
- 3 medium carrots, diced into bite size pieces
- 1 large butternut squash - about 6-8 cups worth, diced and peeled into bite size pieces
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 2 tbsp salted butter
- 1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Fresh Herbs (sage, rosemary or parsley works!) + extra pepper to garnish
Grilled Cheese Croutons (makes one grilled cheese, diced into small cubes)
- 2 pieces Italian bread
- 2 tbsp salted butter
- 1/2 cup freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
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Begin by preparing all of your ingredients. Peel the butternut squash and then dice it into bite size pieces - you should have about 6-8 cups worth of butternut squash.
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Dice the 1 yellow onion, the gala apple and the 3 medium carrots in bite size pieces about the same size. Mince the 3 cloves of garlic as well.
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Add the 2 tbsp salted butter to a large pot. Let it melt and then add in the 1 yellow onion followed by the 3 carrots and 1 gala apple. Let that cook for 3-4 minutes. Then, add in the 3 cloves minced garlic and let it cook for 1 minute or so.
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Add in the 6-8 cups of butternut squash and 4 cups chicken broth. Let it come to a boil and then reduce to simmer - let simmer for about 30 minutes or so. Add in ½ cup of pumpkin puree and use an immersion blender or heat safe blender to blend it up.
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Add the ¼ tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp smoked paprika, a hefty pinch of salt and crack of pepper and mix in. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Keep warm on the stove on low as you make the grilled cheese.
Grilled Cheese Croutons
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To make the grilled cheese croutons, warm up a non-stick pan on medium heat. Butter the outsides of the 2 slices of Italian bread with the 2 tbsp of salted butter.
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Add 1 slice of the buttered bread, buttered side down in the pan.
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Add the ½ cup freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese onto the open side of the bread and then place the 2nd slice of bread, butter side UP on top of the cheese.
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Let cook on one side for 2-3 minutes, until the cheese begins to melt or the bottom is golden brown. Flip and let cook for another 2 minutes or so.
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Remove once done and then slice into 1 inch cubes.
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Garnish the soup with the croutons, fresh herbs and an extra black pepper. Enjoy!
Made this 3 times for my wife and it’s a perfect warm fuzzy for the end of a cold day. Thank you for the recipe it is a winner in our house. It taste fantastic. Oh and congratulations on your new addition to your family. Debs and I are grandparents of 5. God is good. God bless you and merry Christmas
Robert, this review just totally made my day! Thank you so much for your kind words and I’m so happy that you and Debs enjoyed! And thank you for your warm wishes about Jack – he’s the best! 🙂 Merry Christmas to you and your family! -Haylie