Miso Squash Soup
- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:8 servings
- 4pounds Kabocha or butternut squash (1 large or 2 medium)
- 2tablespoons grapeseed or other vegetable oil
- 1medium yellow onion, sliced thin
- 3garlic cloves, sliced
- ½teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛teaspoon ground cayenne, or to taste
- 2tablespoons lemon juice
- 4tablespoons red miso (see Tip)
- 5cups vegetable stock
- Salt
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
157 calories; 4 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 30 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 913 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Using a heavy, sharp knife, cut the squash in half top to bottom. Scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp. (If desired, save the seeds for roasting.) Brush cut sides of squash with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Place squash cut side up on the baking sheet and roast until tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 hour.
- Step 2
When the squash is nearly done roasting, heat remaining tablespoon oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion has softened but not taken on any color, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and continue to cook, stirring more frequently, until the onion is uniformly golden brown, another 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in cumin, cinnamon and cayenne. Stir in lemon juice, scraping up any stuck bits from the pan, and remove from heat.
- Step 3
When the squash is tender, scoop the flesh out of the shell and into the saucepan, breaking it up. Stir in 2 cups stock and 3 tablespoons miso. Transfer to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. You may have to do this in shifts depending on the capacity of your machine. Return to the pot, add remaining 3 cups stock and bring to a simmer over medium, stirring often. Taste and add salt and more cayenne if desired.
- Step 4
Transfer 2 tablespoons soup to a small saucepan and whisk in remaining tablespoon miso over low heat.
- Step 5
Divide the soup among bowls or cups and drizzle a small amount of the miso-soup mixture on each serving, tracing it on the surface with a knife. To make ahead, cover and refrigerate soup until ready to serve, up to 3 days. (It can be frozen for up to 1 month.) Reheat soup before serving.
Tip
- Red miso adds a distinctive earthy taste and beautiful color to this soup, but white, yellow or other miso can be substituted.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Carol
The CSA we belong to, Red Wagon Farm near Boulder, CO, suggests cutting the squash in half, scooping out the insides, and adding the onion, garlic, some oil, and other ingredients to the cavity. Roast the squash until you can scoop out the soft insides, add to the pot of broth and miso and whatever else, and heat. Adjust the seasonings and use an immersion blender. Way easier.
Joe in Ann Arbor
I've made a lot of squash soup in my day and have had it at numerous restaurants. This is a refreshing take on the theme. A vegan friend who came to dinner said, after the first spoonful, "Wow, this is the best squash soup I've ever had. Most of them are too sweet for me." As someone else noted, a little chopped parsley or chives would add to the presentation. I confess I also threw a dollop of greek yogurt into my bowl (not the vegan friend's bowl, of course!). I used kabocha squash.
Anonymous
This soup is very good. I prepared mostly as instructed, except I used brown rice miso. I also mixed in the miso and broth after blending, as my blender is very small. Next time I'll roast the squash seeds before serving. The soup could use some texture, and I think some roasted seeds being placed on top of a serving of soup would work nicely. Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).
Brian
To my taste the cinnamon was overpowering. I'd consider cutting back to 1/8 tsp at most (or just omit).
Mollie
Lime zest really opened this delicious soup up even further!
Karen
Good earthy soup. Followed the directions. I used brown rice miso. Next time I'll use red. But I used white mellow miso for the topping. May sprinkle some chives or parsley on top when I serve it. Makes a lot of soup! Will be good with crusty bread.
Samantha V
I went ahead and followed Carol’s tip about roasting garlic and onion in the squash cavity but I used 1 shallot among the pieces and also a yellow onion as the recipe instructed (good tip!) but I’m not sure it would have yielded the same flavor even if it reduced steps. I added Kelp powder to the Squash before roasting to give a little more umami salt flavor and add to the gut friendly ingredients. The soup was fantastic. It is hearty, filling and wonderful on its own for a cold Fall evening.
Elena
I subbed in a bit of lager for some of the water- about 4 oz. It added depth, I thought.
RudisHuman
Much easier: simply poke a few holes into squash, put whole into the oven. Once soft, cut it open, scooping out the seeds to be roasted (with oil, salt, spices?) separately. No need to rinse; strings, squash are tasty with seeds. Roasted seeds make a lovely protein-rich garnish to the soup or to snack on. Put empty peel in freezer bag awaiting broth making. Best of all, no waste, essentially free broth, snax! No cuts or physical effort trying to cut it open and de-seed when raw. Win-win!
Cheri
I'm not a fan of cumin, so I cut it in half and added about 2 tsp of coriander instead. Delicous! Be careful of the miso though ... my miso was very salty, and drizzling on the miso/soup mixture at the end was just too much.
Mel
Added a bit of ginger too. Very nice soup, something different than the usual butternut or pumpkin soup.
Bethany
We didn’t love this recipe as is. I used a dark aged miso and it totally overwhelmed the beautiful flavor of the roasted kabocha. I ended up adding coconut milk and some roasted yellow peppers, carrots and beets along with some jasmine rice. The flavors rounded out and it finally became a more interesting, complex soup. The original tasted of miso and cumin - kinda boring.
JM Cooks
Went with one butternut and one kabocha squash. The kabocha took about 15 minutes longer to cook. Also doubled all of the spices, and used aleppo pepper instead of cayenne (based on what I had available) which went super well! Served with some jammy, ramen-style, soft-boiled eggs and roasted sweet potatoes.
Raja Chipolte
We enjoyed this soup. I only had white miso so I used that. I couldn’t tell what type of squash we had (maybe green pumpkin) but it worked great. We also added pumpkin seeds.
CJ
I used a buttercup and an acorn squash in this soup. No veggie stock on hand, but I did have shrimp bouillon cubes. Watered down the stock by about 2 cups (2 cubes to 6 cups water); otherwise, would have tasted too strong. As it was, it called out for something to counter the shrimp so I added half a can of coconut milk. Good fix!
Maggie Sennish
I was needing to get to work- so time saved by steam microwaving my garden grown squash (cut in halves open side down in a bit of water) until soft- scooped the flesh and added it in that way. Was delish.
Maggie Sennish
*I used a giant Kabocha from the garden- de lish.
Tracy S.
Though I had high hopes, I didn't like this soup. I thought it tasted flat and needed a boost of ... something. I won't make this again.
Bill
I added a half honey crisp apple, used white miso, added 3/4 cup light coconut milk, 1/2 C orange juice. I just put the miso in the soup, didn't do the fancy topping. The result was fabulous.
Mary
Great, hearty and good.
Julie P
This is a simple and quite delicious soup. I've served to guests as a pre main course dish and would not hesitate to do so again
Brian
To my taste the cinnamon was overpowering. I'd consider cutting back to 1/8 tsp at most (or just omit).
Elena
I subbed in a bit of lager for some of the water- about 4 oz. It added depth, I thought.
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