Winter Squash Soup with a Sweet Heat

A delicious winter squash soup with a sweet heat taste. Brown sugar gives the sweetness and poblano and jalapeno peppers give the heat. This soup can be made with butternut, acorn, carnival, or delicata squash; it just needs to be a hard winter squash. This will get warmer from the peppers the longer it sits. If you like your soup a little thinner add water or additional chicken broth.

• Preparation Time: 15 mins
• Cooking Time: 1 hr 55 mins
• Total Time: 2 hr 10 mins
• Calories: 173 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 32 ounces chicken broth
• 1 large poblano pepper, seeded and chopped
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar, or more to taste
• 1 (4 pound) winter squash, halved lengthwise and seeded

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Step 2

Place squash, cut-side down, in a baking pan and add 1-inch of water. Cover pan with aluminum foil.

Step 3

Bake squash in the preheated oven until tender, about 1 hour. Cool until able to handle, about 15 minutes. Scoop flesh into a bowl and discard squash skin.

Step 4

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir onion, celery, poblano pepper, and jalapeno pepper in hot butter until softened but not browned, about 15 minutes.

Step 5

Stir chicken broth, cooked squash, and salt into onion mixture; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until flavors blend, about 30 minutes.

Step 6

Blend soup with an immersion blender or in batches in a blender until smooth. Stir brown sugar into soup; simmer for 10 minutes. Adjust brown sugar to taste.