Thai Coconut Butternut Squash Soup

Today we’re combining our love of Butternut Squash Soup with our love of Thai food and we’re making Thai Coconut Butternut Squash Soup with coconut milk, shrimp and jasmine rice. The rice and shrimp are optional, but we really love including them when we make this soup!  And we grew thai basil in our garden this year and love adding it to the top.  We’re experimenting with freezing the leaves so we can have it all winter long.

Last year this thai coconut butternut squash soup became the staple of our winter Friday nights. It pairs perfectly with strawberry daiquiris. It is also a pretty quick meal (a little bit of chopping in the beginning) and freezes well (when you don’t eat it all in 24 hours). I also would make large quantities of jasmine rice and freeze 2-3 cup servings because it defrosts easily in the microwave or on the stovetop.

I fell in love with Thai Food when I visited my grandparents in Florida (they used to spend winters down there with friends).  They always talked about an amazing little Thai place in Fort Meyers that they frequented while down there.  I had never had Thai food before (hey, back then all the take-out places were Chinese, not like today where Thai is all over).   So, the one year I was fortunate enough to visit, we went.  And that became the start of my panang and red curry obsession.  Anyway, I don’t know what it is about Thai food…I think it’s the spices…we really love curry paste and have started testing out recipes with it.  Check out our vegetable red curry recipe.

We try to have it whenever we can and we always take stock of where the good Thai restaurants are. When we are driving home from visiting Grandma Ann in New York we always love to stop in Lewisburg — Greg and I are both Bucknell University Alums — for lunch and a playground stop. In the center of town, there’s a great playground which the kids love that we recently discovered is only a block from a great Thai restaurant. So we get carryout and watch the kids play on the playground. It’s a win-win and both the grownups and kids are happy.

If you’re a reader of this blog you may have also noticed that we love butternut squash. We love making butternut squash soup a variety of ways and this thai coconut butternut squash soup recipe is our go to recipe when we want that spicy kick. It’s a butternut Thai fusion bringing together two of loves.  We hope you try it out and love it as much as we do!

Thai Butternut Soup

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Ingredients

• 1 T . coconut oil
• 1 medium onion , chopped
• 2 cloves garlic , finely chopped
• 1 T . fresh ginger , finely chopped
• 1 T . brown sugar
• 1/2-1 T . red curry paste
• salt
• 1 medium butternut squash , peeled and cubed
• 2-3 c . broth
• 1 15 oz . can coconut milk
• 1 lb . shrimp , peeled and deveined

Optional toppings:

• Jasmine rice
• thai basil or cilantro

Instructions

• Heat oil in large soup pot.
• Add onions and saute for about 5-6 minutes.
• Add garlic and ginger and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
• Stir in curry paste, sugar, and salt for an additional minute.
• Add squash, broth, and coconut milk and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until squash is tender.
• Use an immersion blender to puree soup if desired (I like to leave some chunks).
• Stir in shrimp and simmer for 2-3 minutes until pink and cooked through.
• Top with thai basil or cilantro and jasmine rice if desired

Notes

Adapted from Whole Foods Butternut Squash Coconut Soup

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