{Recipe} Slow Cooker Skinny Butternut Squash Soup (Vegetarian!)

The first time I ever had Butternut Squash soup I have to admit, was only 2 years ago at my dear friend Jen's wedding.  I had absolutely no idea it was so delicious!  Clearly, I've been missing out. With it being a bit chilly here (I'm sorry but 50 degrees is chilly) I've been trying to venture into more soups.  The week before I made One Pot Lasagna Soup & that was a huge hit.  This time I wanted to try something in the slow cooker & butternut squash seemed like the perfect vegetable to slow cook. This soup was SO delicious!  It was filling & creamy, yet really healthy! It did require a few steps before tossing everything in the slow cooker, but worth the 20ish mins of work.  Now, I did cheat & used pre-cubed squash & that saved me lots of time.  Personally, I love using the pre-cubed veggie because cutting a squash is a giant pain. Also, an immersion blender will come in REALLY handy for this, BUT a regular blender will do.  This vat of soup lasted us 3 nights, but it probably could have lasted 4 if we weren't such gluttons so hungry! I researched many different varieties & ended up going with a recipe from Betty Crocker (probably because she included cream cheese in her version & well, yes.) 

Serves: 6-8
Cook time: 6 hours 45 mins
How difficult was this? Pretty easy!

2 tbsp margarine or butter

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1 butternut squash (2lbs), peeled & cubed

2 cups water

1/2 tsp dried marjoram leaves

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

4 chicken bouillon cubes (first time using these!)

8oz reduced fat cream cheese, cubed

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Add onion & cook until tender

 

In a 3-4 quart slow cooker, mix onion & remaining ingredients except the cream cheese.



Cover & cook on low for 6-8 hours. I could only wait for 6 hours.

Using the immersion blender, blend on high until smooth. Otherwise, in a blender or food processor, place 1/3rd of the mixture at a time in the blender & blend until smooth. See why the immersion blender is a lot easier!

Stir in cream cheese. Cover & continue to cook on low for an additional 30 mins or longer until the cheese is melted & smooth.

Looks REAL delish doesn't it?? But really, I promise it is!



Enjoy!