Spaghetti squash is sometimes marketed as a healthier alternative to regular spaghetti, and lately, I’ve decided to give it a try.After roasting it, along with some butternut squash, I tried a bit of it with tomato sauce, and with basil pesto, and can’t say I was too impressed with it as an alternative to pasta.
As I still had a nice amount of it, along with the butternut squash, I decided to put both to use in the form of a soup. To give the soup more body and flavor, I used sautéed white onion, and sweet potato. I then flavored the mixture with fresh ginger, curry powder, cinnamon, orange zest and juice, and finished with a bit of soy sauce and honey. The soup turned out very tasty and aromatic, with a wonderful bright orange color.
While the soup can be served as is, I also served it once with a drizzle of olive oil, some black salt and raw pumpkin seeds, and, on another occasion, and with some light sesame oil and coconut milk. Both added wonderful flavors and aroma to the soup. Try it, in any way you choose to serve it, with some crusty fresh bread on the side, and enjoy
Makes: 8
Prep time: 30 minutes
Roasted time for the squash: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
1 medium spaghetti squash
1 medium butternut squash
1 large white onion, roughly cut
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 medium sweet potato, peeled, roughly cut
Zest of ½ orange
Fresh juice of 1 large orange
4 cups vegetable stock
1 piece of fresh ginger, about 2” (5 cm)
1 tsp curry powder
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp soy sauce
1 Tbs honey, preferably orange blossom
For serving (optional):
Raw pumpkin seeds, black salt, olive oil
Or light sesame oil and coconut milk
1. Preheat the oven to 425F (220C). Line a large flat pan with aluminum foil and baking paper. Cut the spaghetti squash and the butternut squash in half, and scrape out the seeds. Sprinkle with salt and place the spaghetti squash on the pan, cut side down. Cut the butternut squash into thick sections, place on the pan and sprinkle with salt. Roast for about 40 minutes, turning halfway, until the butternut squash is golden and the spaghetti squash is soft. Let cool a bit, and remove the butternut squash skin. With a spoon, scrape out the flesh. Measure 2 cups of each.
2. Place the onion, salt and oil in a large pot and sauté, mixing occasionally, over medium-high heat, until the onion starts to soften. Add the sweet potato and orange zest, mix and cook for 2 minutes. Add the roasted squashes, and the rest of the ingredients. Mix and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium low, and cook for about 25 minutes, until the sweet potato is soft. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
3. Blend the soup with a hand blender to a smooth consistency. Serve as is, or with the suggested garnishes.
WELL this surprised me! I have never even thought of using spaghetti squash in a soup! I guess because I like the strands, and use them a lot as a base. But why not?!!! I really love the seasoning in this soup. the orange zest and juice is so smart. I tend to add apples or cider, but not oranges. I must change this!!!
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Thank you Mimi, I’m glad you liked the soup. As I discovered I wasn’t a fan of the threads, so it was an easy decision to blend it! I love apples/cider in soups, but also use oranges often. I think it’s worth trying. 🙂
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I totally agree with you on the “spaghetti” squash not being great as a sub for the real deal. Please, it doesn’t even come close.
Your soup is a much better idea, especially with the orange. I love the sound of it.
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Thank you Myra, I’m glad to know I’m not alone in this “spaghetti” squash charade!
I find oranges a great addition to soups. Hope you’ll enjoy it too. 🙂
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I use spaghetti squash often as a substitute for Thai noodles, rather than spaghetti, but never in a soup – what a novel idea! I have to try it.
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Thank you Dolly, I’m glad you liked the recipe. I hope you’ll enjoy it. I like the idea of using the squash in Thai dishes, so I’ll give it a try too! 🙂
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I should probably post one, when I get around to it…
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What a great combination! I bet the taste is wonderful! 😋
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Thank you Ribana, I’m glad you liked the recipe. The soup was very tasty. 🙂
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I like to play with several ingredients preparing a squash/pumpkin soup, such as ginger or cinnamon, also with coconut milk. Definitely, I will give your version with orange a try!
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Thank you Felix, I’m glad you liked the soup. It is fun to experiment with all these wonderful ingredients. It will be interesting to see your version. 🙂
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As with others, spaghetti squash as a pasta substitute does not work for me. But in a soup or on its own I like it. I love the orange addition.
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Thank you Ron, I’m glad you liked the recipe. Spaghetti squash indeed is no substitute for real pasta, but it worked well here. Oranges add such wonderful flavor and aroma to soups. Highly recommended. 🙂
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Whoa! Sounds like this is packed with flavor! 🍃🍊
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Thank you Gail, I’m glad you liked the recipe. The soup turned out so tasty. 🙂
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Never tried this yet, but I am really loving the color
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Thank you, I’m glad you liked the soup. The color is really so lovely. 🙂
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I make a butternut squash soup with apples but you have certainly added some additional great flavor with the sweet potato and orange. Sounds delicious and such a pretty soup!
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Thank you Judi, I’m glad you liked the soup. It was a good save of the spaghetti squash. I also love apples in soups, and can definitely see an added apple to this soup in my next version. 🙂
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This tastes appertaining on my palate and will be tried exactly as you have written it down as soon as I have the ingredients> Spaghetti squash is not always available at my supermarkets – I do usually use it as an interesting side – but not instead of pasta, being far too fond of the various wholemeal varieties, mostly from Asia . . .
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Thank you Eha, I’m glad you liked the soup.I hope you’ll like it.
Spaghetti squash can indeed work better as a side dish, rather than a pasta substitute. 🙂
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. . . 🙂 ! The gremlins played with what should have been ;appetising’ . . Sorry !
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This recipe is AMAZING! I made this yesterday and it turned out absolutely delicious! The only change I made was to add a large pinch of red pepper flakes (I love a touch of heat). I know this will be going into my rotation.
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Thank you Michael, I’m glad you liked the soup. I like the idea of adding a bit spiciness to it. 🙂
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While trying to repurpose the spaghetti squash, you created what sounds like a very appetizing new dish…the soup sounds delicious.
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Thank you Karen, I’m glad you liked the soup. It was a tasty save! 🙂
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I agree with you about spaghetti squash. It looks like pasta, but that’s where the resemblance ends. I’m excited about the orange in this soup.
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Thank you Jeff, I’m glad you like the soup. the orange added so much flavor and aroma. Highly recommended. 🙂
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I like these combinations…reminiscent of Indian cuisine. Nice recipe!
I made a white cheddar cheese soup in spaghetti squash bowls for the first course of our Thanksgiving dinner. Scraping the interior of the bowl released some of the “spaghetti”, which made it interesting but I felt like the experience was lacking something.
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Thank you Bob, I’m glad you liked the soup. It was very tasty.
I’ve never tried serving soup in spaghetti squash bowl, but your white cheddar soup sounds so good! 🙂
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Absolutely right on the squash spaghetti not being a good substitute for real pasta. However, it’s pretty good if you mix it with other cooked vegetables (peas, mushrooms, onions) add grated cheese to that and then stick the whole bit in the oven for half an hour or so. Never heard of it being used in a soup, though!👏
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Thank you Joëlle, for taking the time to comment. I’ve tried the spaghetti squash with all kinds of additions, but it still didn’t work for me. It actually worked really well in the soup. Highly recommended! 🙂
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