Thai Red Curry Butternut Squash Soup with Chili Crisp
This creamy butternut squash soup gets a bold twist from Thai red curry paste, lemongrass, ginger, and coconut milk, then gets finished with a spoonful of crunchy chili crisp. The squash simmers until it’s meltingly soft, then blends into a silky, velvety soup with a warm curry flavor that’s balanced by a little brown sugar, a splash of fish sauce, and a squeeze of fresh lime.
The best part is the topping. Instead of tossing the squash seeds, you toast them and turn them into a chili crisp with Aleppo pepper and crispy fried shallot, garlic, and ginger. It adds crunch, savory depth, and a gentle heat that plays perfectly against the smooth, creamy soup, and it means you use the whole squash. A final drizzle of coconut milk makes every bowl look as good as it tastes.
Thai Red Curry Butternut Squash Soup with Chili Crisp
This butternut squash soup with chili crisp gets its flavor from Thai red curry, coconut milk, and lemongrass, plus crunch from the squash seeds.
Ingredients
Soup
- 3.5-4 lb butternut squash whole weight, as purchased, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes (save the seeds for the chili crisp)
- 32 oz chicken broth
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger minced
- 2 lemongrass stalks ends trimmed, tough outer leaves peeled away, and chopped
- 1 can 13.5 oz coconut milk, divided (reserve ¼ can for drizzling)
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 1-2 tsp kosher salt
- black pepper to taste
Chili Crisp
- ½ cup neutral oil
- Seeds from 1-2 butternut squash cleaned, thoroughly dried, and toasted (300F 20-30min) (¼ cup seeds. Any large seed can work if not using fresh)
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 small shallot thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves sliced
- 1- inch knob ginger cut into thin slivers
- 2 tbsp Aleppo pepper
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- ½ tsp brown sugar
- ½ tsp kosher salt plus more to taste
Instructions
Chili Crisp
- Put the Aleppo, red pepper flakes, toasted sesame seeds, and a pinch of the salt in a heatproof bowl. In a small cup, stir the soy sauce, fish sauce, and brown sugar together until the sugar dissolves.
- Roughly chop about half of the toasted squash seeds and leave the rest whole.
- Put the shallot in a small saucepan with the cold oil. Set it over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until the shallot is just starting to turn golden, about 5 minutes.
- Add the ginger and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook until it’s pale golden and the shallot is deep golden, about 2 more minutes. Pull them a shade lighter than you want, since they keep darkening off the heat.
- Right away, strain everything through a metal sieve into a heatproof measuring cup/bowl. Spread the shallot, garlic, and ginger on a paper towel to crisp.
- Let the oil cool to about 250°F (120°C), then pour it over the chili mixture. It should sizzle gently, not foam hard. Stir.
- Once the oil is warm rather than hot, stir in the soy mixture. Fold in the fried aromatics and the squash seeds.
- Taste and adjust with more salt or soy.
Soup
- Prep the lemongrass: trim off the root end and the dry, grassy top. Peel away the tough outer leaves until you reach the pale, tender core, then chop.
- Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat.
- Add the onion and lemongrass and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5–7 minutes.
- Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in the curry paste and cook for 2–3 minutes, stirring constantly so it doesn’t stick.
- Add the squash, chicken broth, brown sugar, fish sauce, and ¾ of the can of coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the squash is very soft and falls apart when pressed with a spoon, about 30 minutes.
- Blend until silky smooth with an immersion blender, or in batches in a regular blender. If you use a regular blender, fill it no more than halfway and remove the center cap from the lid, covering the hole with a folded towel so steam can escape. If the soup is too thick add some water to loosen.
- Stir in the lime juice, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls and top with chili crisp and a drizzle of the reserved coconut milk.
