Upgraded Canned Butternut Squash Soup with Apple-Bacon Topping

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I’d take soup over a sandwich any day, especially if it is this soup on a cold wintry day! The recipe is simple but delicious and totally customizable to your preference.

When I was younger in elementary/middle school I often brought lunch from home but hated sandwiches. So, every morning, my dad would heat up a can of Campbell’s soup on the stove then transfer it to a small thermos for me to take.

Homemade soup is amazing (I have a favorite Mexican Quinoa Soup I love to make) but it take a lot of time and prep work! So, I usually use canned or boxed soups but look for ways to upgrade them.

This butternut squash soup is great on its own, but adding this apple-onion-bacon-kale-walnut topping makes it heartier and prettier! Each ingredient adds something to the flavor profile: crunch, freshness, sweetness, saltiness, depth, etc. The topping also tastes great on its own…

I love that this recipe is so simple: basically, saute everything, then heat up the soup and serve!

I came up with this recipe by just sautéing bacon and apple and adding that to the soup. I’ve tinkered with it for a while and it eventually became this recipe with the additional ingredients.

You can easily swap or leave ingredients out. I’d say the base ingredients are the apple and onion, but even doing something like an apple-bacon saute or onion-bacon saute would still be good.

You can omit the bacon (but I would include it if you have it on hand), use precooked bacon bits, or use raw bacon that you sauté at the start.

The kale or spinach leaves add a really nice freshness since the other ingredients are heavy, and the bright green adds a pop of color. The walnuts add a nice crunch but can definitely be swapped or omitted.

Use the recipe as your jumping-off point: pretty much every aspect of this is subjective to your preferences!

• Use any butternut squash or pumpkin soup you have (boxed, canned, or homemade).
• Feel free to omit an ingredient or swap it out: I’ve made nearly every variation of it (with or without onion, bacon, walnut, spinach, etc.) It’ll obviously taste slightly different depending on what you use but it’ll be good no matter what.
• Adjust amounts of ingredients: add an extra onion if you love onion, only throw in one apple if that’s all you have, add in an extra cup of kale, etc.
• Add whatever seasonings! I prefer just salt+pepper to allow each ingredient to shine, but adding spices like cinnamon or ginger to the soup can be really good if you want to amp up the spiced fall flavor.

The process is simple: dice apple and onion, cook until soft, then add bacon, kale, etc.

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The meal can be one-pot: sauté everything in a deep skillet or Dutch oven, transfer sautéed topping mixture to separate bowl, then use the same pan to heat the soup.