Wow you guys! I can’t believe Thanksgiving is already here. My birthday is next week, and it feels like November is just flying by. But it does feel very fall, and my kitchen is living proof. I’ve been making allll the fall foods since we loaded up on apples and squash on our day trip upstate. One thing I’ve been making on repeat is this insanely flavorful dairy-free one pot loaded butternut squash soup. Unlike traditional butternut squash soups, you don’t have to roast anything beforehand, and it doesn’t have heavy cream in it. But skipping those two steps doesn’t leave you wanting more. It’s super velvety. Plus there’s so much flavor from other veggies and there’s lots of crunch from the toppings (hence “loaded”).

This is an excellent Thanksgiving appetizer option because it’s really easy to make and doesn’t dirty up too many dishes. Basically all you have to do is chop up everything, throw it into a covered pot to cook together until soft, and then blend it up. I’ve been particularly obsessed with leeks lately, so I’ve put two of them in the soup, and it makes it taste AH-mazing. For toppings, I go for bacon (yasss), chopped roasted almonds, chives, and crumbled croutons. I chose to use store-bought croutons this time around, but you can totally make your own. I can see my recipe for Leftover Stuffing Croutons being so good in it.

I hope you’re all getting amped for Thanksgiving! Rich and I are going to be going to a Friendsgiving, and we’re (obviously) bringing way too much food. We’re going to try our hand at a maple cream pie this year!

Scroll down past the images for the recipe & as always, don’t forget to follow along on Instagram for daily updates and inspo.

Dairy-Free One Pot Butternut Squash Soup

Serves: 6-8

Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Soup:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed into 1 inch squares
• 2 leeks, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 quart low sodium chicken stock (you can sub with vegetable stock)

Toppings (optional, but not really LOL):

• 1 cup chopped almonds
• 1 cup crumbled croutons
• 6-8 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/4 cup chopped chives

Instructions:

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot or dutch oven. Add onions, and cook until translucent (about 5-7 minutes), stirring often. Stir in the butternut squash, leeks, carrots, garlic, salt, and black pepper and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add enough stock to cover all of the vegetables (add water if not enough stock), and cook for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the vegetables are soft.

Remove from heat and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender, allow the soup to slightly cool, and transfer to a blender to blend until smooth. Pour into bowls and top with almonds, bacon, croutons and chives.