This easy chorizo and butternut squash soup is the perfect Autumn soup recipe – simple to prepare and best eaten in a cozy room on a cold day. The rendered chorizo fat creates a super flavorful base for this spicy, hearty soup.
We used chicken chorizo but an authentic pork chorizo would taste delicious as well. Be sure to buy the fresh Mexican variety and not the Spanish variety.
This Easy Chorizo and Butternut Squash Soup is a quintessential fall recipe. It’s filled to the brim with spicy chorizo, black beans, and butternut squash for a warm, comforting bowl of soup that you’ll love enjoying on a crisp autumn evening.
How to Make this Easy Chorizo and Butternut Squash Soup Recipe:
First, you’ll start by rendering the fat from chorizo. Chorizo fat is basically liquid gold, so you’ll want to keep it in the soup pot. That said, if you have particularly fatty chorizo, you can strain off a bit of it from the pot but be sure to leave at least a tablespoon of fat in the pot.
After you’ve rendered the fat and removed the chorizo from the pot, add the onion and sauté until it is golden brown. Add the garlic and light part of the scallions and cook until fragrant, only a minute or two.
In this recipe, I add just a bit of stock first to help loosen up anything stuck to the bottom of the pot. Then, I add the butternut squash and black beans along with the remaining stock. You just want to make sure you really get any of those yummy stuck on bits incorporated into the broth, so adding a ladle of stock helps with that.
Next, add your spices. I opt for really delicious, warm spices in this soup, including:
- Paprika
- Cumin
- Cloves
- Cinnamon
- Cayenne
- Maple Syrup
The combination of warm autumn spices paired with the heat from cayenne and chorizo and sweetness of maple syrup creates a luxurious, sweet, spicy, and warming soup that really cannot be beat!
Looking for more soup recipes? Check my archives!
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Easy Chorizo and Butternut Squash Soup
Equipment
- Soup pot
Ingredients
- 1½ pound butternut squash peeled, deseeded, and diced
- 1 pound fresh Mexican chorizo Loose; if using links be sure to remove the casing first
- 1 Vidalia onion peeled and diced
- 3 scallions divided trimmed and minced (white and light green parts separated from dark parts)
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 14.5 ounce can black beans drained and rinsed
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- Cayenne powder to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup or use brown sugar
- ½ cup heavy cream optional
Instructions
Prepare Ingredients:
- Peel the butternut squash, scoop out the seeds, and then dice the squash into 1” cubes. Peel and dice the Vidalia onion. Trim the scallions and then mince, keeping the dark green parts separate from the white and light green parts. Peel and mince the garlic. Drain and rinse the black beans.
Fry the Chorizo:
- In a 4 quart soup pot, add the chorizo and turn the heat to medium. Cook, stirring often, until well-browned and the fat has rendered and the meat is cooked through, about 8-10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, scoop the chorizo out and transfer to a bowl, leaving the rendered fat in the pot.
Fry the Aromatics:
- Add the diced onion to the pot over medium heat and cook, stirring regularly, for about 8-10 minutes or until the onion is golden brown and softened. Add the garlic and light green and white parts of the scallions and stir for about 1-2 more minutes.
Deglaze the Pot:
- Add about ½ cup of the chicken stock to the pot and scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Pour in the diced butternut squash and then add the remaining chicken stock along with the drained beans. Bring to a boil and then season with salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, a touch of cayenne, cloves, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until the butternut squash has begun to soften.
Finish the Soup:
- Taste the soup and season to your taste. If desired, use an immersion blender to blend about half the soup. Add the cooked chorizo and heavy cream. Cook for an additional 10 minutes, uncovered.
To Serve:
- Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the sliced scallion greens. Enjoy!
