Peanut Butter and Squash Soup

A soup with African roots that is quick and easy to make. This golden Peanut Butter and Squash Soup has a slightly sweet, warm and nutty flavor.

Combining peanut butter and squash in a soup may not be your first choice, but this PB & S is worth trying. It’s nothing like a eating peanut butter on a sandwich, obviously, you will taste peanuts, but not in a overwhelming way.

What else is in this soup, besides peanut butter and squash?

• Onion
• Garlic paste
• Peanut Oil
• Cumin
• Coriander
• Chili powder
• Cayenne pepper (optional)
• Salt & Pepper
• Chicken stock or vegetable stock
• Tomato paste
• Bean sprouts, cilantro or parsley

How to go about making this soup?

• Heat the peanut oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat and add the squash, onion, garlic paste, salt, cumin, coriander, and chili powder or even cayenne pepper for a little heat and saute for approx. 5 minutes or until the onion is tender and translucent.
• Add vegetable stock (if you want to keep it vegan) or otherwise chicken stock, peanut butter, and tomato paste and stir to combine.
  • The type of peanut butter you use does not make a huge difference. By using the creamy peanut butter, you obviously end up with a smoother soup, but you may prefer a crunch and then the coarsely ground peanut butter is a better choice.
  • You can also opt for a low fat peanut butter, but again not a huge difference. This recipe for 2 uses only 1/3 cup of peanut butter and thus not much fat is involved.
• Once the squash is tender, and that takes about 10 minutes or less, you have 3 ways to finish the soup
  1. Leave the squash as it, divide over plates or bowls and garnish with bean sprout, cilantro or parsley
  2. Make the soup smooth by using an immersion blender and again use the same garnish
  3. Scoop some of the squash cubes out of the soup before you blend it until smooth, then add the chunks back in and garnish.

Other soups recipes with squash are: Roasted Squash Carrot Soup with Chicken and Squash Soup with White Beans.