Recipe This | Slimming World Butternut Squash Soup In Soup Maker (2024)

FAQs

Why does my butternut squash soup taste bitter? ›

Why does my butternut squash soup taste bitter? The growing conditions of the gourd can impact the taste of the flesh. This may cause an elevated production of cucurbitacin in the squash, resulting in a slightly bitter taste. You can balance it with a little bit of salt and sweetener like honey or pure maple syrup.

How do you make butternut squash soup less bland? The key is to season it correctly. I use ground sage and nutmeg which both enhance the flavors of butternut squash and bring out its natural sweetness. Stir in full-fat coconut milk to make this soup extra-creamy, and don't forget the salt and pepper!

TIPS: You can save time by buying butternut squash already cubed from your grocery store's produce section. Make sure the squash is fork tender before blending. If you blend too soon, your soup will be grainy, not smooth.

Add spices—I love adding extra spices to my butternut squash soup, like curry powder, cinnamon and nutmeg, or Aleppo pepper. You could even use a dash of pumpkin spice. Add a touch of richness—Drizzle something creamy over top like coconut cream, yogurt, or heavy cream.

Sweetness can help balance bitterness, so consider adding ingredients like carrots, onions, or a small amount of sugar or honey. Acidic ingredients like tomatoes or a splash of vinegar can also help balance flavors.

Butternut can work as a laxative. In some people butternut can cause diarrhea. Diarrhea can increase the effects of warfarin and increase the risk of bleeding. If you take warfarin do not take excessive amounts of butternut.

Add flour or cornflour

Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the starch granules to burst to thicken, and to cook out any flour flavour.

The easiest thing to do is dilute it. If you can, make another batch with no garlic, then combine 1/2 garlic batch with 1/2 no-garlic batch. You could also delute the garlic batch by adding more tomato sauce and/or beef broth or water, beans and ideally beef.

Do not heat milk in your soup maker or use it to reheat any food. Most of our recipes use a small amount of potato which helps to thicken soup. Pasta and potatoes if used in excessive quantities can cause the soup maker to overheat. Stick to the quantities in our recipes as a guide.

In order to have piping hot soup in a short amount of time, it's essential to be prepared. Your stock or water must be boiling when added to the soup maker - otherwise you are adding on unnecessary time to the process. If you find that the bottom of your soup maker is burning, then you are not adding enough liquid.

Do you put the water in first in a soup maker? ›

To prevent this, add half a cup of water or stock to the Soup Maker before placing in any solid ingredients. Then top up with the remaining liquid specified in your recipe. If you plan to use anything frozen, make sure the ingredients are fully thawed first. There may be damage to the blade if content is still frozen.

If it's underripe, the squash won't have developed its signature taste. If it's overripe, it may be dry, mushy or flavorless. Follow these tips the next time you're at the grocery store or farmers market to find the perfect recipe-ready butternut squash.

Growing butternut squash: problem solving

Young plants will need protection from slugs, snails and aphids after planting out. Later in the season, butternut squash can succumb to powdery mildew and cucumber mosaic virus. Keep plants well-watered and look for varieties that have good disease resistance.

It helps to know that the bitter compound is more concentrated in the stem rather than in the blossom end of the squash. To reduce the bitter flavor, peel the squash, beginning at the blossom end, and discard a couple of inches of it at the stem end.

Signs that your butternut squash soup has gone bad include a sour smell, a change in color, or visible mold. If your soup has been sitting in the fridge for longer than a week, it's probably time to toss it.

How to avoid toxic squash syndrome. Due to the intense and unpleasant bitterness of plants with a high cucurbitacin concentration, you can usually tell when squash is bad. If you take a bite of squash and notice a nasty taste, spit it out and throw it away.

Things that *may* make broth bitter (avoid or use in moderation): onion skins, tough or woody herb stems, bitter greens like dandelion or mustard greens, too many bay leaves (more than 1-2), peppercorns, too many celery leaves, brassica or cabbage family trimmings - though we use broccoli stems all the time!