This brothy carrot butter bean soup is possibly the best soup I’ve made yet. The base is creamy butter beans, caramelized carrots, and sweet onion, with a honeynut squash garlic broth, plus a touch of Aleppo pepper for zesty heat. It’s the perfect soup to capitalize on fall produce.

And the best thing about this soup is that the longer it sits, the better it gets. So feel free to double the recipe and keep it on hand for easy lunches/dinners throughout the week.

Brothy Carrot Butter Bean Soup Ingredients

  • Honeynut squash: Use whatever squash you have on hand – honeynut, honeypatch, koginut, kabocha, or red kuri squash are all varieties that will work perfectly. Fun fact: when I was developing this recipe, I randomly blended some leftover squash into the broth, solely to use it up, and magically changed the soup for the better!
  • Butter beans: I love the Strianese brand butter beans. Feel free to use any other white beans you have on hand like cannellini or great northern beans.
  • Carrots
  • Sweet onion: I used Cipolline onions – they’re essentially a sweet Italian pearl onion. That said, if you can get your hands on Cipolline onions, use them. Otherwise, a regular sweet onion or pearl onions will both work well.
  • Garlic
  • Fresh dill
  • Italian herb blend: Make sure the herb blend you use contains oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, basil, and sage.
  • Aleppo pepper
  • Extra virgin olive oil: My go-to olive brands are California Olive Ranch (my personal favorite), Terra Delyssa, and Brightland.
  • Kosher salt: I always use Diamond Crystal kosher salt.

Method Behind This Butter Bean Soup

I think one of the main reasons this soup is so addictingly good is that it doesn’t skip on fat and it layers flavors throughout the cooking process, creating a complex final flavor.

Start off prepping the aromatics and veggies. Since I used a small onion, I thinly sliced it across. If you’re using a larger variety of sweet onion, slice it across and then in half so the onion blends into the soup better. Additionally, when cutting the carrots into half-moons, keep them uniform in thickness so they cook evenly.

Once prepped, dump the onion and garlic onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, toss with olive oil and kosher salt, and place the halved honeynut squash face-down on the pan. Roast the aromatics and squash together at 450°F, pulling the garlic and onion out when the onion begins to char and are translucent, around 20-25 minutes. Let the squash continue to roast until fork-tender.

In parallel, saute the carrots in the olive oil over medium-high heat. I like to let them sit for 5 minutes undisturbed in the pan so they can develop some color. Let the carrots saute for about 10-12 minutes or until soft and starting to brown. Sprinkle in the herbs, Aleppo pepper, and salt, and stir to bloom – about 30 seconds. Dump in the beans, water, and roasted onion. Reduce the heat to low, and let the soup simmer while waiting for the squash to finish roasting.

Once the squash is done, add 150g of the roasted squash to a blender, along with the roasted garlic, and about 2 cups of the broth (only use the broth; don’t get the beans, carrots, or onion). Blend on high until smooth and creamy, then dump back into the soup along with the dill. Stir the soup and adjust for salt. Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes before serving. The longer this soup sits, the better it gets!

A Small Note

I like roasting the onion with the squash – it makes my life easier to roast the onion as opposed to standing over the stove, stirring the onions for 20 minutes. Because let’s be honest, nothing happens to onions in 5 minutes, it takes about 15-20 minutes to get them properly cooked (and a solid 30 minutes to caramelize onions). That said, feel free to fry the onions first, and then add in the carrots if you prefer. 

So excited for you to make this soup! Please leave a starred rating and review if you make it – love hearing from you.

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Brothy Carrot Butter Bean Soup

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 15 reviews
  • Author: Yasmeen Ali
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 35 minutes
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 5 servings 1x
  • Category: Dinner
  • Cuisine: American
Print Recipe

Description

This brothy carrot butter bean soup is the perfect soup to capitalize on fall produce. The base is creamy butter beans, caramelized carrots, and sweet onion, with a honeynut garlic broth, plus a touch of Aleppo pepper for zesty heat.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 honeynut squash (or 150g roasted squash)
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 3 Cipolline onions (170g sliced)*
  • Olive oil and kosher salt for roasting 
  • 4 large carrots, sliced in half lengthwise, then chopped into half-moons (320g chopped)
  • 1/4 cup (52g) olive oil
  • 1 tbsp dried Italian herbs
  • 1 tbsp Aleppo pepper
  • 2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, plus more as needed
  • 2 (14 oz) cans butter beans, drained and rinsed
  • 5 cups water**
  • 1/2 cup loosely packed dill, roughly chopped

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a medium sheet pan with parchment paper.
  2. Prep. Start off by prepping the aromatics and veggies. Since I used a small onion, I thinly sliced it across. If you’re using a larger variety of sweet onion, slice it across and then in half so the onion blends into the soup better. Additionally, when cutting the carrots into half-moons, keep them uniform in thickness so they cook evenly.
  3. Roast the aromatics and squash. Once prepped, dump the onion and garlic onto the prepared sheet pan, toss with olive oil and kosher salt, and place the halved honeynut squash face-down on the pan. Roast the aromatics and squash together, pulling the garlic and onion out when the onion begins to char and is translucent, around 20-25 minutes. Let the squash continue to roast until fork-tender.
  4. Saute the carrots and soup base. In parallel, saute the carrots in the olive oil over medium-high heat (I used my dutch oven for this, but any deep pot will work). I like to let the carrots sit for 5 minutes undisturbed in the pan so they can develop some color. Let the carrots saute for about 10-12 minutes or until soft and starting to brown. Sprinkle in the herbs,  Aleppo pepper, and salt, and stir to bloom – about 30 seconds. Dump in the beans, water, and roasted onion. Reduce the heat to low, and let the soup simmer while waiting for the squash to finish roasting.
  5. Blend the broth and simmer the soup. Once the squash is done, add 150g of the roasted squash to a blender, along with the roasted garlic, and about 2 cups of the broth (only use the broth; don’t get the beans, carrots, or onion). Blend on high until smooth and creamy, then dump back into the soup along with the dill. Stir the soup and adjust for salt. Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes before serving. The longer this soup sits, the better it gets!

Notes

*Cipolline onions are essentially a sweet Italian pearl onion. If you can get your hands on Cipolline onions, use them. Otherwise, 150g sliced regular sweet onion or 150g sliced pearl onions will both work well. 

**Feel free to use stock if you have it on hand.

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