Easy Low-Calorie Butternut Squash Soup

This is a very tasty and filling soup! One bowl is just 49 calories!

Serves 4

49 calories per serving

Ready in 30 minutes

Perfect for meal prepping! Lasts in the fridge for 5-7 days!

Low Calorie/High Volume so you stay fuller longer on fewer calories!

Ingredients

1 butternut squash - about 189 calories
3 cups of chicken broth
or 
1 ½ tsp chicken broth granules and 3 cups hot water- 7 calories
1 ½ tsp garlic powder
1 ½ tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Optional garnishes: Green onion slices, red pepper flakes, pumpkin seeds

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Slice the butternut squash in half going from top to bottom. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Working with one half at a time, slice each half into several slices that are each 1” thick and lay them on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 18-20 minutes, or until fork tender.

3. Cut away the skin. Discard the skin and put half of the butternut squash into a blender with half of the other ingredients. Blend until smooth. Mix both batches together.

4. Ladle into bowls and top with any garnishes you like. 

Healthy, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Tree Nut Free, Peanut Free, Whole 30, Noom, Paleo, Vegetarian

If you love butternut squash and are looking for something that is very healthy, low-calorie, and delicious, you will LOVE this soup!

It takes just 30 minutes to make this soup, which is perfect on days when you want to eat something FAST! 

Meal Prep

It's a great meal prep recipe! Keep individual servings of this soup in a microwave safe dish in the fridge for 5-7 days. When you want to eat it, microwave on high for 2-3 minutes, stirring it one time in the middle of heating.

Substitutions

If you don't have or don't like butternut squash, try pumpkin. If you prefer it a little sweeter, add a bit of maple syrup. 

Vegan

This soup is already vegetarian. To make it vegan, use vegetable broth granules instead of chicken broth granules. 

Benefits of Using Herbs and Spices

Everyone knows that herbs and spices are a great way to add flavor to your food without adding additional calories, but did you know that they also have many health benefits? 

Garlic

Garlic is one of the world's most potent natural medicines. The medical database of the National Institute of Health contains more than 3,200 studies on the therapeutic power of garlic. Many of those studies are about preventing, sower, and reversing cardiovascular disease-- the heart attacks and strokes that kill more Americans than any other health problem. 

Onion

Onions are rich in quercetin, a powerful antioxidant that has been shown to slow the growth of cancer cells, stow the growth of cancer  cells, stop cancer cells from migrating to other parts of the body, and force cancer cells to die in a variety of ways, such as cutting off their blood supply or activating cancer-killing genes. Additionally, the "Journal of Medicinal Food" showed that onions lower blood sugar. 

Chili Pepper (Red Pepper Flakes)

All chilies have healing properties, but the hotter the chili, the more therapeutic it is. Two of the many awesome effects of chilies are it's a pain killer, and can help you burn more calories. 

Capsaicin is a proven pain killer. Capsaicin creams, which are approved by the FDA, can have a dramatic and long-lasting anesthetic effect on a variety of painful conditions. Additionally, several studies show that eating chilis increases the rate at which you burn calories. The effect can last for 20 minutes to six hours. As if that wasn't reason enough to eat more chilies, dozens of studies have found that capsaicin causes death to tumor cells in test animals and human cell cultures. 

I wrote a very informative blog post about the health benefits of cooking with spices, go here.

For expert level learning about healing spices, I recommend the book "Healing Spices" by Bharat B. Aggarwal, PhD. Get it on Amazon here. 

Doesn't this look so delicious?