This is one of my all-time favorite soups, especially in the fall. The acorn squash, pear, and Chinese 5-spice make for such a FUN flavor combo!! Top with nutrition-packed adzuki beans and some smoky sesame shiitake mushrooms for an easy and impressive garnish that ties it all together.
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Servings
Ingredients
Soup
- 2 acorn squashes
- 2 ripe pears
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 tsp fresh ginger, minced or grated
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
- 2 cups vegetable broth, more to thin
- 1 tbsp olive oil, for the soup
- 1/2 lime, juiced, more to taste
- 1/4 tsp salt
Garnishes
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil, for the mushrooms
- 1/2 lb shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 1 can adzuki beans
- splash of soy sauce, or tamari for gf
Useful Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° F. Cut the acorn squash in half, scoop out the seeds with a spoon, and roast face down on a piece of parchment paper, lightly sprayed with oil, salt, and pepper if desired. Roast for 30-40 minutes, until soft.
- Sauté the onions in a splash of olive oil for about 5 minutes, or until translucent. Add the ginger and garlic and sauté for 1 more minute over medium heat.
- Scoop the soft squash out of the peel with a spoon and add it to the pot, along with the salt, five-spice, vegetable stock, and pear. Cover and simmer for 10-15 more minutes, or until the pears are tender.
- While the soup is cooking, brown the sliced shiitakes in a skillet over medium heat, in a generous splash of sesame oil. Sauté for 7-10 minutes, until well browned. Add a splash of soy sauce in the last minute or so of cooking.
- Remove from the heat and add the lime juice.
- Purée fully or partially, carefully in small batches or using an immersion blender, adding broth or water as needed to thin to your desired consistency.
- Garnish with the adzuki beans and mushrooms.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 561kcal (28%)Carbohydrates: 89g (30%)Protein: 20g (40%)Fat: 15g (23%)Saturated Fat: 2g (13%)Sodium: 858mg (37%)Potassium: 1548mg (44%)Fiber: 20g (83%)Sugar: 16g (18%)Vitamin A: 1518IU (30%)Vitamin C: 49mg (59%)Calcium: 161mg (16%)Iron: 6mg (33%)
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PERFECT timing!! I have some adzuki beans in my pantry and have had no idea what to do with them. This looks delicious! Thanks Katie – love all the how to pictures.
Hi Katie! What is Chinese 5 spice?
Sent from Mrs T
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If you look in any spice section of any grocery store you should be able to find it. It’s a particular spice blend.
So this makes 3 servings total, right? How much does 1 serving approximately weigh?
1 serving approximately weighs 1 lb, 2 oz. Sorry, I forgot to add that into the recipe. I’ll edit that right now. Thanks!
Wonderful recipe. Thanks so much for posting this !
Delicious recipe.Thanks for sharing!!
YUMMMM! Such intriguing flavors. The pear with the five spice with the sesame/soy shiitake. SOOO good Katie! This takes a while to make, but it felt very nurturing to do all the prep on this dreary Friday! I did about 1/2 puree using the immersion blender in the pot – just like your pictures.
Sounds like beautiful self care Jenny! 😘
This is my favorite recipe so far! Took me a while to make but so worth it! Buying veggies presliced will make a big difference. Used navy beans because I could not find adzuki anywhere. Are they hard to find or partial to health food stores? Other than the mushrooms is there any reason not to do this on a slow cooker?
I know, it’s hard to find adzuiki beans for some reason. I think we finally found them at whole foods. Sometimes they are in natural food sections. I don’t think there’s any reason not to do this one in a slow cooker, let me know how it goes!
Made this today – delicioussss combo of flavors, especially the hint of pear against everything else. I blended half and like that because it made it a think soup with just a bit of chunkines. I used black beans, garbanzo, and pinto, and it still turned out well.
I thought this was delicious!!! I like texture so I did not blend 1/2.
OH WOW! Does this look good! Thank you, Katie! You’re always so precise with your recipes and I appreciate it! I’m getting back on the BLE train and I’m planning out my meals for this next week. Can’t wait to try this one out!
Do you think I could use other spices than Chinese 5 spice?
The Chinese 5 spice is what makes this soup so freaking yummy, in my opinion. You could swap it with something else, but it would be a pretty different soup. Maybe garam masala or curry powder?
I had never used Chinese 5 Spice. I agree with you, Katie, this spice makes this dish! So unique and deeeeelish!!
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