Jun 17
2009

Roasted Kabocha Squash Soup

in Fruits & Vegetables, Recipes by Type, Soup & Stew

I love soup and could eat it every day of the week. It just never gets boring because of the endless combinations, and is comforting and yummy. I especially love soup during summer, go figure! Lately I’ve been craving two of my favorite soups, Butternut Soup and Tom Khai Gai, so I’m sure we’ll be having both of them soon. I now have a new soup to add to the favorites list, and I’m sure I will be making it a lot because it uses only a few ingredients and is super simple, yet it delivers tons of flavor and is good for you too. I call that a win-win situation. This recipe is an additional example of why the foodie community is so much fun. When I submitted my entry for the Marx Foods Game Sausage Edition Blogger Recipe Challenge for Baked Stuffed Kabocha Squash, Justin Marx (the CEO of Marx Foods and one of the writers of the Marx Foods blog) told me that he shared my love of kabocha and liked to make a kabocha soup. (I won second place in the Recipe Challenge, by the way! Wahoo! Thank you to everyone who voted!!)
After hearing that, I of course asked for the recipe and he was kind enough to tell me how he makes it (he didn’t actually have a recipe written down). Based on his explanation, I made the soup for dinner and served it with some Tibetan flatbread (which you’ll be hearing about later). It’s a good thing that the soup is so healthy, because by the end of dinner I think we were all completely stuffed. It was so good that I kept going back for “just a bit more.”

The soup is easy. Just cut your kabocha in half, clean out the insides, prick it with a fork, brush it with some olive oil, and then bake it face down in a baking dish in some water until it’s soft. Justin says you can add a couple of apples in there too, but I forgot to buy some at the store, so I didn’t this time around.
While it’s baking you caramelize some onions in a bit of olive oil.
After the squash comes out of the oven, you just scoop the soft flesh out of the skin,
and throw it into a food processor, along with the onions (and apples if you use some), some coconut milk and stock, and some salt and pepper, and process it until it’s smooth and creamy. (You could also throw everything into a pot and use an immersion blender.)
The soup is a beautiful golden yellowy-orange color. It is thick, smooth, buttery, cream, rich, and a bit sweet and savory all at the same time.

Roasted Kabocha Squash Soup
From Justin Marx as interpreted by LFM
Makes approximately 8 servings

1 medium to large size kabocha squash
1 Tbsp. + 1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil, separated
2 small, or 1 large, yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 14-oz. can coconut milk (I used light coconut milk)
2 cups chicken stock (can use whatever kind of stock you prefer)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cut kabocha in half, scoop out seeds and stringy insides, then prick flesh with a fork. Brush 1 tablespoon of olive oil on flesh and set halves face down in baking sheet in approximately 1/2 inch of water. Bake for about 45 minutes until flesh is soft.

3. While kabocha is baking, caramelize onions in 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil.

4. After kabocha is finished cooking, scoop flesh out of skin.

5. In a food processor, add kabocha, onions, coconut milk, stock, salt, and pepper and process until smooth. Serve.

*I suggest adding half of the coconut milk and half of the stock and then tasting it. Depending on your tastes, you may want to add all of the coconut milk, or you may want to add more stock. Also, if the soup is too thick, add additional stock until it reaches the consistency you desire.

{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }

Kelly June 17, 2009 at 10:24 am

My goodness! That soup sounds wonderful. I love coconut milk based soups. Yum!

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Fuji Mama June 17, 2009 at 10:26 am

Kelly– Me too! That's also why Tom Kha Gai is one of my faves!

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Comfy Tummy June 17, 2009 at 10:39 am

wow. I have a kabocha in my kitchen right now. I love kabocha and I love soup. Will definitely have to give this a try.

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Carroll September 6, 2019 at 11:50 am

Re squash
Buy butternut or any other winter squash.

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grammarinda June 17, 2009 at 10:58 am

I have never seen a kabocha squash in the grocery stores here. Is there a good substitute? That soup sounds wonderful! Thanks! Rinda

PS. I made your doughnut holes for my grandchildren this morning. I used 1/2 tsp of cinnamon in the batter and shook them in a paper bag with cinnamon and sugar after they had cooled a bit. Yum!

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Fuji Mama June 17, 2009 at 11:18 am

grammarinda– Butternut squash is a good substitute! I think that adding cinnamon to the batter and rolling the donuts in cinnamon and sugar is a fabulous idea!

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Bob June 17, 2009 at 5:09 pm

That looks wicked good. I don't think I've ever had kabocha squash, but it sounds good from here. :)

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ttfn300 June 17, 2009 at 5:58 pm

that sure sounds heavenly!

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Sarah June 17, 2009 at 5:59 pm

Mmmm! Kabocha is one of my absolute favourites! I don't have an oven to bake it in, but I may have to try this recipe anyways… and I was thrilled to find your Tom Kha Gai recipe, another huge favourite! I have been really disappointed that I haven't found it on the menu of any of the Thai restaurants I've been to in Tokyo.

Mmmmm!

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Chow and Chatter June 17, 2009 at 9:14 pm

great soup

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Fuji Mama June 18, 2009 at 3:24 pm

Bob– It's a bit like butternut squash: sweet, rich, smooth, and creamy. I highly recommend it!

Sarah– Do you have a toaster oven? You could do it in there! The other thing you could do is steam it and it will still taste FABULOUS! Mmmm, Tom Kha Gai is one of my favorite things in the entire world, and 90% of the time you can't find it, and even if you do, it's not gauranteed to be good. I had been looking for a good recipe for ages and finally found that one and it is definitely a winner!

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maybelle's mom June 18, 2009 at 4:14 pm

Oh, I love Kabocha. We are months from squash season but I am excited to try this sometime.

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Fuji Mama June 18, 2009 at 4:20 pm

maybelle's mom– Yay for another fellow kabocha lover! It's interesting how the availability of kabocha varies so much depending on region. In Japan it is available basically year round. I also see it quite frequently in California.

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krismakes June 18, 2009 at 5:35 pm

I've seen lots of different squashes (is that a word?) but not heard of kabocha. When you say butternut squash is it the same as butternut pumpkin? People don't say squash that much here, more pumpkin! I love pumpkin soup, my mum has made it ever since I can remember and now I make it too. Was just thinking last night while I made another soup (it's winter here)that a pumpkin, curry, chickpea, coconut milk type combo would be great for soup. I will definetely try your kabocha soup. And i might have a bash at my combo too one day soon.
Thanks for the links for the dressing mix subs, will check them out and let you know how they go.
Cheers
Kris

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Fuji Mama June 18, 2009 at 5:45 pm

krismakes– I had never heard of butternut pumpkin, so I looked it up, and yes! Same thing! I love pumpkin stuff. I did a whole week of pumpkin recipes last year and am thinking about doing it again this year. (https://www.lafujimama.com/search/label/Pumpkin%20Palooza)

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Angie Butcher January 8, 2010 at 5:33 pm

I made this soup and omitted the coconut milk altogether. I used 2 T. heavy cream instead and put the roasted squash and onions in the blender. Yum!! Thanks for the great idea.

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Fuji Mama (Rachael) January 10, 2010 at 1:26 pm

Angie– More of a French twist on the recipe, love it! Glad you liked it!

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Sueso March 27, 2010 at 7:59 pm

We have just discovered this squash and I used to HATE squash. (Childhood trauma…ha) Well, I’m on a very restrictive diet…just veggies and meat for one meal…(suppliments) for the others…so I needed VARIETY! This is so good tasting..I couldn’t believe it! Especially with a little butter…oh and my hubby cooks it in the Microwave! Hope to get him to try this soup too…probably have to drop the milk tho…not sure how that will work…maybe some skim milk?

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George May 4, 2010 at 1:48 pm

Great soup ,, I tossed some yogurt in mine

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Ron Beacom September 11, 2010 at 4:36 pm

I added some tumeric and cumin. The soup does taste good

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landwench September 20, 2010 at 5:07 pm

first time with kabocha.. I added curry flavors, a tiny bit of balsamic vineagar and topped it with turkey sausage. it’s really delicious, thanks for the recipe!

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Merri April 2, 2011 at 3:30 pm

I started out doing the same thing with a Kabocha….roasting, and then caramelizing the onions….—–but then, I put some golden beets and carrots and a little knob of ginger and a sliver of garlic in a pot first to cook in some chicken broth. Wow! what a great combination; turned out very delicious. With a dollop of sour cream or yogurt on top and then some grated orange zest—very upscale. Just goes to show you what you can do with one of those squashes. Happy Cooking, Merri

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Michael October 29, 2011 at 8:31 am

Thank you! The soup is cooking and the kitchen smells great!

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Dana November 5, 2011 at 1:22 pm

yummo!

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sara November 6, 2011 at 5:15 pm

cooking tip – don’t bother cooking the squash in the oven. it is much faster and simpler in the microwave. poke multiple holes in squash with a knife, stick in microwave whole, and cook for about 10 min, then rotate, 10 min more, and you might need to rotate it again and cook for another 10 min. squash should be soft to touch when it is done.

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Manny December 13, 2011 at 5:21 pm

I just made this soup and it is the best. I have made one very similar with butternut squash but it was a tedious recipe. This was simple and resulted in the same creamy, sweet/savoury combination in half the time. I added a little bit of jalapeno pepper which gives a nice depth to the flavor.
A new favorite!

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Jill January 10, 2012 at 4:11 pm

I have a recipe for butternut soup that advises to “peel the squash, carve out seeds and boil”. I didn’t realize that I’d bought a kabocha squash and man was it hard to peel – but very tasty! This sounds much easier and good variation! Thanks so much :)

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Joelle November 15, 2014 at 7:25 pm

Wow, this is so easy and delicious! The carmelized onions are the secret ingredient. THANKS!!

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Joelle December 16, 2014 at 9:59 pm

Love this soup!! I’ve made it twice and was most pleased when I used an over-ripe kabocha. Flavor was much more sweet, rich and intense. Thanks again!

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snowdayteacher@home February 16, 2015 at 11:23 am

-new to this squash–wasn’t expecting sweetness
used red peppers, caramelized onions w/garlic, sprinkled some curry powder and cayenne pepper on top with a few roasted pumpkin seeds—yummmy
–glad I chased whatever link I was chasing!

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