Recently I was introduced to an entirely new vegetable – the blue hubbard squash. I got it from our family’s crop share, which seems to be the source of many new mysterious veggies lately. I have to admit, the rather large squash sat on my kitchen table for at least two weeks before I did anything about it (at least now I know it has a long pantry life). It was very much at risk of befalling the same untimely demise of many uncut, well-intended squashes, melons and pineapples that have gone before it in our home. At first I told myself that I was letting it sit there because its pretty blue-green color was so nice to look at, but after the second week went by, I was like, “okay, I obviously don’t know what to do with this thing!”
My conundrum led me to Google to figure out what the deal is with this squash monster. There are a few stories circulating about how the hubbard was brought to the United States, but it is thought that it was brought from the West Indies to Marblehead, Massachusetts in the 1700s. Beyond that, there are a few stories surrounding a woman named Elizabeth Hubbard, for whom the squash was possibly named. I must say, I’m a little disappointed by the hubbard’s story… I was hoping that it had something to do with Mother Goose and Old Mother Hubbard and her poor boneless dog. But anyway, the blue hubbard squash is truly a winter vegetable, harvested in late fall and early winter, which stores well through most of the winter. It is a beast of a squash, weighing up to 20 pounds! I bet that before modern refrigeration, this was a great vegetable to have around in the winter. The taste of the blue hubbard squash is closest to pumpkin, but milder and slightly sweeter, with a touch of nuttiness befitting this squash. The texture is also much like that of pumpkin or butternut squash. In fact, if you don’t have any blue hubbard squash, you can substitute it with pumpkin and a little honey or brown sugar to mimic it’s taste.
After searching the internet I found that there really isn’t an abundance of blue hubbard squash recipes. The most popular recipes roast or boil the squash. I saw a couple of good looking soup recipes, blue hubbard risotto, stuffed blue hubbard, and a number of recipes where it was used for “pumpkin” pie. When I set out to use my hubbard, I was in the mood for something hot and spicy, so I tried something completely different than any of the recipes that I found and made Chipotle Chicken Blue Hubbard Squash Soup. I thought I was risking my hubbard, and might have a flop of a recipe, but this soup was soooo good! The best thing is, it’s super nutritious, and my son gobbled it right up!
Chipotle Chicken Blue Hubbard Squash Soup
Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 6 Serving Size: 1 1/2 Cups
Ingredients
- 6 C of blue hubbard squash, cubed (pumpkin will also work)
- 6 C bone broth or boxed chicken broth
- 1 C chopped chicken
- 1 15-oz can chopped tomatoes, drained
- 1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 1 medium Vidalia onion
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 to 1 tsp chipotle chili powder (depending on how much heat you like)
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp garlic
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped/or 2 tsp Dorot frozen cilantro
Directions
1. Peel and cube your blue hubbard squash and then set aside. If you have an especially big blue hubbard squash (they can get quite large) that is difficult to cut into, you can put it in a paper grocery bag and then smash it on the ground. Seriously, who wouldn’t have fun doing that?
2. Dice your peppers and onions and saute them with olive oil in the pot that you’ll be cooking your soup in. You’ll want to saute them for approximately 3 minutes, until they start to become soft, but don’t over-cook, because they will add a nice texture to your soup.
3. Set 1/2 of your peppers and onions aside in a dish and leave the other 1/2 in your soup pot. Next, add the cubed blue hubbard squash, the chicken broth and salt to the pot. Bring it to a simmer on medium-high heat and then turn the heat down to medium-low, continuing to simmer until the blue hubbard squash is soft and starting to fall apart.
4. While your soup base is simmering away, you can use this time to prep your chicken, drain your tomatoes and beans, and measure your spices out into a separate bowl.
4. Using a hand blender, puree the contents of your soup pot until the soup base becomes smooth. If it’s too thick for your taste, you can just add additional broth or water to the mixture. If you don’t have a hand blender, I highly recommend getting one. They are super useful and much easier than trying to use a blender. Here’s the one I use:
5. Finally, add the remainder of the peppers and onions, the chicken, canned tomatoes, black beans, and the spices to the pot. Return to a simmer on medium heat, simmering for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, and then your soup is ready to serve!
This recipe for Chipotle Chicken Blue Hubbard squash soup kicks up the large, intimidating blue hubbard with a healthy blend of savory, sweet and spicy.
Chipotle Chicken Blue Hubbard Squash Soup
Ingredients
Instructions
Will this freeze well?
Hi Shannon! I’ve never tried freezing this particular soup, but have had success with butternut soup in the past, so I think it will work well. Good luck!
OMG . . .this makes an outstanding soup. What a great recipe. Very interesting blending of different flavors.
Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it! You can’t go wrong with the sweetness of the hubbard with spicy chipotle. 🙂
I made this soup tonight and served it in homemade bread bowls. It was a big hit and they all want me to make it again. (There are 7 members of my family so that says a lot!!) When I make a new recipe, we do a grading of 1-10 at the end of the meal and each member gets to give input. All scores were 7 and up. The one thing most of them agreed on was adding a little bacon to the sautéing process for added flavor next time. Thanks for sharing.
My one question for you is where do I get chipotle chili powder?
Shannon
Thanks for letting me know that your family enjoyed this recipe! I’ll have to give the addition of bacon a try!
I know grocery stores vary regionally (I live in the Philadelphia area), so I’m not sure what you have access to. In my area I’ve been able to find chipotle chili powder at Giant and Whole Foods. I’ve also seen it at a couple of locally owned markets. There are also some sellers on Amazon. Here’s the one with the best price point, but I’ve never tried it: https://amzn.to/2J8r64n Amazon also sells McCormick, but it’s over priced: https://amzn.to/2S2xw8U
I made it…basically just add cumin.
This soup was excellent!! Thanks so much for posting, seriously have found my new favorite soup!!
Favorite?! Awesome! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed this recipe!
This was AMAZING! One of my fave soups ever (and I hate butternut squash type soups). This was great to use up part of a MASSIVE (25lb) squash and my turkey leftovers! lol
Left over turkey, what a great idea. It would flavor well with this soup. We loved it
Rachel, I made your Chipotle Chicken Blue Hubbard Squash Soup yesterday and tripled the recipe because I had 4 quarts of blue hubbard squash that I decided not to can. I’d already canned 28 quarts and I was tired. I tripled your recipe and it turned out fabulously!!! I used pheasant instead of chicken because this is what I had and only used one teaspoon of the red chipotle powder instead of three thinking that I could always add more if it was not hot enough. I used four ounces of pheasant per three ladles of soup and it was fantastic! I was able to freeze six bowls, had dinner last night with my husband and then tonight, shared it with a couple of friends and have just a little bit left. So tripling the recipe made about 14 bowls worth. My husband says the flavors melded overnight and it was better tonight and I agree. This is a KEEPER recipe!!! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
I tried this recipe and I loved it, very delicious and definitely be making this again!