Just like many other soups, butternut squash soup is a wonderful comfort food. It has a satisfying creamy taste that goes well with bread and baguettes.
Butternut squash soup is mostly in demand during the fall season. The soup can either be served warm or cold – depending on what your personal preference is.
Butternut squash soup isn’t just creamy and delicious; it is also a healthy food. The soup is rich in potassium, which may potentially reduce blood pressure levels, fiber, vitamin A, and manganese.
In addition to all that, butternut squash soup has the potential to improve skin health and boost the immune system. The soup can either be bought at the store or prepared from scratch at home. Most recipes for cooking fresh butternut squash soup are easy to follow. The primary ingredients remain the same for all recipes – peeled butternut squash, garlic, salt, onions, cooking oil, and vegetable broth.
Assuming you’ve ordered a lot more of the soup than you can actually finish, what do you do?
Can you freeze butternut squash soup? Yes, you can freeze butternut squash soup. Freezing preserves the soup for up to 3 months. However, because of dairy ingredients in the soup, there may be changes to its consistency after being frozen for some time. It is best to avoid using cream or any other dairy product when preparing a fresh batch of the soup for freezing.
If you’ve tried freezing butternut squash soup before, but didn’t get the desired result, you probably followed the wrong steps. To avoid making any mistakes this time around, follow the instructions provided in later sections of this guide.
Freezing Butternut Squash Soup
Butternut squash soup will alternatively keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This is a good preservation option for anyone that only needs to keep the soup for a few days. Regardless of which preservation method you choose – freezing or refrigeration – you must be careful not to leave your butternut squash soup sitting out at room temperature for too long.
Because it is a perishable food, butternut squash soup can only sit out at room temperature for 2 hours. After 2 hours, the soup will have to be thrown away. The reason for this is that bacteria growth is rapid at room temperature.
How to Freeze Butternut Squash Soup
To get the best results, you’ll need to follow the correct steps when freezing your butternut squash soup. The freezing process is quite simple, and you shouldn’t have any trouble with it. Here’s what to do:
Step 1: Cook Butternut Squash Soup without Dairy
If you want to freeze leftover portions of creamy butternut squash soup, you can’t do anything about the dairy content. However, anyone that’s just about to prepare fresh butternut squash soup can still hold the dairy till later.
Dairy products don’t freeze well. They tend to separate and alter the consistency of the soup after it has been frozen, thawed, and reheated. The milk proteins and soup’s liquids separate and give the soup an unpleasant appearance.
As you cook the soup from scratch, hold the dairy and add every other ingredient. The dairy can always be added back in when you’re reheating the frozen soup on a later date.
Step 2: Allow Hot Soup to Cool Down
When you’ve just made a batch of fresh butternut squash soup, it’ll still be steaming hot. It would be inappropriate to freeze the soup without allowing it to cool first. The presence of hot food in the freezer will cause the freezer’s temperature to rise. Once the freezer’s temperature rises, other frozen foods in it will thaw and refreeze multiple times.
Allow the butternut squash soup to cool down for some minutes – don’t let it sit out for too long. After it has cooled down to room temperature, the next step is to package it for long-term preservation in the freezer.
Step 3: Split into Smaller Portions in Multiple Freezer-Safe Bags
Instead of freezing all the soup in a single container, you can split it into smaller portions that will freeze much better. Grab a couple of plastic freezer-safe bags and transfer the split portions of soup into them. Leave some space in the bags for the soup to expand during freezing.
Also, try to squeeze out as much air as possible from the bags before sealing them. Once the soup has been packed in the individual freezer-safe bags, seal them and label with necessary information. You should write the present date on the bags so that you’ll always know how long the butternut squash soup has been frozen for. You can also write which ingredients were left out during the soup’s preparation.
How to Thaw and Reheat Frozen Butternut Squash Soup
If you’ve frozen butternut squash soup with dairy ingredients, I’d advise you not to rush the thawing and reheating process. So as to reduce the separation of dairy content in the soup, start by thawing overnight in the refrigerator. Thawing in the fridge may take several hours, but it gives the best results.
After the soup has completely thawed, take it out of the fridge and reheat in a saucepan or in the microwave. Pour the thawed soup in a saucepan and place it on the stove top with heat set to low. As the soup heats over the stovetop, stir it back together gently. You can also add a thickening agent to help restore the soup’s consistency – if you didn’t add cream in the soup before, add it now as the soup reheats in the saucepan.
How Long to Microwave Butternut Squash Soup?
If you prefer reheating in the microwave, set the microwave’s temperature to high.
Transfer the soup into a microwave-safe dish and place in the microwave to heat for 20 seconds. After the first 20 seconds are done, stir the soup together and place it back in the microwave to reheat for another 20 seconds. Repeat the process till the soup is properly reheated and returned to the desired consistency.
Avoid refreezing soup that has already been thawed and reheated.