I don’t want to oversell it, but this soup is exactly what you need on cold winter nights, and we just got hit with a huge snowstorm here in Toronto. I haven’t seen anything like it since I was in high school and that was a very long time ago!
I was saving the squash for an afternoon soup, and I also had a pepper, carrots and of course spinach! If I had more sweet potato on hand, I would have used that too! Truly, you can add whatever other veggies you like. I think it’s fun to keep it mostly in the same colour family like this because the final result is so vibrant!
My favourite way to make this is in my Ninja Foodi. It’s a pressure cookier and air fryer combo and I literally use it twice a day, every day, at least. I like making soup in it because you can start the rue right in the pot on the sear setting, and then add all the veggies to it, and cook it pretty quickly on the pressure setting.
You can just as easily cook it in a large pot on the stovetop or even in a slow cooker on high. If you like it chunky, you can leave it as it is, but I like to blend it a little smoother. You can use an immersion blender or a food processor. However you do it, your home will smell like a winter night in!
Cozy Winter Soup
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 5 cloves garlic finely chopped
- ¼ cup dairy free butter
- ¼ cup flour
- 4 cups water
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 butternut squash small to medium
- 1 orange or yellow bell pepper
- 2 carrots medium
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp basil
- ¼ tsp chili powder
Instructions
- If using a Ninja or similar combination pressure cooker / air fryer, melt the butter on the sear setting. Otherwise, do this in a large pot on the stovetop.
- Add garlic to butter and cook until soft. Whisk the tomato paste into the water.
- Whisk in the flour to create a paste, then whisk in the tomato paste water until well combined.
- Add the chopped squash, bell pepper, carrots and spinach. Stir to combine.
- Add turmeric, basil and chili powder. Mix.
- If using a Ninja or something similar, switch to pressure cook, attach pressure lid, and cook on high for 1 hour and release pressure (allowing it to release on it's on is fine too). If cooking on the stove top, cook on medium heat for two hours.
- Transfer soup to a large bowl and using an immersion blender, blend the soup to your preferred thickness. *Using an immersion blender directly in your pot or pressure cooker liner can scratch and damage it.