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Butternut Squash Soup With Popcorn Recipe (Mesa Verde National Park)

By: Author Bram Reusen

Posted on Last updated:

Butternut squash soup with popcorn recipe inspired by: Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado (alternatively: Petrified Forest National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Zion National Park or Capitol Reef National Park)

Whether you’re looking for a light appetizer, fun hors d’oeuvre or a comfortable cold-evening dinner, this butternut squash soup recipe certainly delivers!

The inspiration for this delicious soup was Colorado’s Mesa Verde National Park. A UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to one of the greatest collections of Native American dwellings in the United States, it preserves the remains of an ancient culture and—yes—their cuisine.

The area that is now Mesa Verde National Park was once the home of the Ancestral Pueblo People who lived on mesa tops and in the Mesa Verde cliff dwellings for over 700 years, between 550 and the late-1200’s.

They made pottery and baskets, grew a variety of crops and built numerous cliffs dwellings below canyon rims.

Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

Among the crops they cultivated were the famous “three sisters”: corn, squash and beans. The former two are used in this recipe for butternut squash soup with popcorn.

The Ancestral Puebloans of Mesa Verde cultivated a variety of squash types, possibly including butternut squash.

They also grew corn, which was a staple in their diet, using it to make cornbread, pancakes or thin tortilla-like flatbreads.

It’s also quite likely they occasionally made popcorn as well since popcorn was a popular snack food among Native Americans throughout the United States.

The oldest known popped corn kernels were found in the “Bat Cave” in New Mexico, which is not all too far from Mesa Verde. Those kernels are estimated to be about 5,600 years old. More evidence of ancient popcorn has also been found in places as diverse as Utah and the Great Lakes.

Butternut squash soup recipe topped with popcorn and cornbread

Mesa Verde Butternut Squash Soup With Popcorn

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 35 minutes
  • Total time: 45 minutes
  • Servings: 4-5 (as dinner) or 8-10 (as an appetizer)
  • Calories per serving: 161 calories (as dinner) or 80 calories (as an appetizer)

This butternut squash soup with popcorn (and cornbread) is an homage to the culture and cuisine of the Ancestral Pueblo People.

Although not all ingredients in this national park-inspired recipe would’ve been used by or even been available to them, they almost certainly made a similar kind of dish with the ingredients they could grow, gather or prepare themselves.

This obviously includes butternut squash and corn, but also herbs like sage and thyme, wild onions, and spices such as paprika and red pepper flakes, all of which are native to North America.

This Mesa Verde National Park-inspired recipe for butternut squash soup with popcorn contains affiliate links. You can read more about our Terms of Use / Disclosure here.

Necessary Kitchen Tools

Butternut squash soup recipe with popcorn and cornbread
Yield: 4-5 servings

Mesa Verde Butternut Squash Soup With Popcorn Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

Featuring creamy butternut squash, crunchy popcorn and fluffy cornbread, this comforting butternut squash soup recipe is an homage to the culture and cuisine of the Ancestral Pueblo People who once lived in what is now Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups butternut squash, cubed
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 5 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tablespoon sage, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon thyme, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 5 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 1 tablespoon avocado oil
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions

  1. Heat the avocado oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
  2. Sauté shallots until softened, stirring regularly, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add garlic, sage and thyme and stir until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
  4. Add butternut squash, vegetable broth, smoked paprika and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
  5. Cover the pot partially, reduce heat and let simmer until squash is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
  6. Carefully pour the soup into a blender. Blend until everything is pureed and pour back into the pot.
  7. Put the butternut squash soup back on the stove until heated through, 2 minutes. Taste and season with additionally salt and pepper if necessary.
  8. Make popcorn and/or cornbread according to package instructions.
  9. Sprinkle popcorn into the soup and, if having this soup for dinner, serve with a couple of pieces of cornbread.
  10. Enjoy!

Notes

Note 1: Instead of a standing blender, you can also use an immersion blender to mix the soup.

Note 2: When serving this butternut squash soup with popcorn as an appetizer, there's no need to make cornbread. For a filling dinner, however, I do recommend serving some freshly made, warm and fluffy cornbread alongside for dipping.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 161Total Fat 3.8gSaturated Fat 0.5gCholesterol 0mgSodium 478mgCarbohydrates 29.9gFiber 3.3gSugar 4.5gProtein 3.2g

A general nutrition calculator was used to determine the nutritional information of this recipe, which is meant solely as an indication of the dish's nutritional values. This specific information is only for the butternut squash soup and doesn’t account for the popcorn and/or cornbread. Depending on specific ingredients, quantities used and/or serving size, the ultimate dish you end up making may have different nutritional aspects. Please consider the information provided here only as guidance and not as an absolute fact.

© Bram
Cuisine: Soups and Stews / Category: Recipes
Butternut squash soup with popcorn in bowls
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