Creamy Mushroom-Squash Soup with Quinoa Recipe (Vegan)

Last summer, Jake went on a surf trip and met the husband of Kendra Aronson, author of SLO Farmer's Market Cookbook. As a surprise gift, he bought it for me and I'm in love with the cookbook. Kendra did a wonderful job organizing all of the recipes by season so it's easy to find fresh and delicious produce year-round for recipes. 

The first recipe I tried from the book is her Vegan Cream of Mushroom and Squash with Quinoa recipe and oh my, it's amazing. It's completely vegan and is packed with so much flavor. I've since made it several times and it's now a regular in our freezer stash. The only changes I've made to the original recipe was add an additional cup of vegetable stock since I wanted to dilute the soup a bit and add the bay leaf in earlier in the process. Other than that, it's amazing and everyone should try it!

Full recipe and directions below.

How To Make Creamy Mushroom-Squash Soup with Quinoa

Step 1: Prep all your veggies

This will make it much easier and faster to put this recipe together

Step 2: Sauté mushrooms, then set aside in a separate bowl

Step 3: Sauté carrots, onions, and celery in olive oil. 

Step 4: Add vegetable broth, then bring to a simmer

The original recipe calls for 6 cups of veggie broth but I found that it was a bit too thick for my preference. The second time I made this soup I ended up using 7 cups of veggie broth and I found that I liked the consistency even more.

Step 5: Add butternut squash, bay leaf, and half of mushrooms. Cover with lid and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

The original recipe calls for adding the bay leaf later in the process but I found it easiest to add it when I was adding the butternut squash and half of the mushrooms.

Step 6: Remove bay leaf, blend together

Make sure the butternut squash is soft before blending together.

I used an immersion blender so I didn't have to get any other dishes dirty. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a blender or food processor. Make sure you don't fill it all the way to the top at once and do it instead in smaller batches.

Step 7: Add quinoa and remaining mushrooms. Stir. Cover with lid and let simmer on low-heat for 15 minutes. Continue to stir every 5 minutes.

Step 8: Enjoy!

We served ours with a kale salad and slice of toasted sour dough bread. It was a delicious meal.

Step 9: Freeze leftovers in Souper Cubes® trays to enjoy for later

Vegan Cream of Mushroom and Squash with Quinoa Recipe

Original Recipe from Kendra Aronson

Ingredients

• 1lb. mushrooms (we used both white mushrooms and baby bella mushrooms)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 3 stalks of celery, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 oz. white wine (we used dry vermouth)
• 2 lbs of hard winter squash (we used Butternut), peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 7 cups of vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup of quinoa
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Clean and slice your mushrooms. In a large stock pot, heat up half of olive oil. Once hot, add mushrooms, salt, garlic, and thyme. Stir until they are golden, then remove from pot and place in a separate bowl. Add remaining olive oil, then add celery, carrots and onions. Sauté over medium-heat until the onions are translucent. 
2. Deglaze pot with white wine. Add the winter squash, stock, half the mushroom, and bay leaf into the pot. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 15-20 minutes. Cover with lid. Cook until the squash has softened. Remove bay leaf and blend soup until smooth (we used an immersion blender). 
3. Add the quinoa and remaining mushrooms to the pot, bring back to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the quinoa pops. Soup will thicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Freeze leftovers in Souper Cubes® trays.

Be sure to check out our recipe page for other freezer meal prep friendly dishes

Freeze food in perfect portions