This spiced fall stew is full of butternut squash, kale, quinoa & tomatoes. It's one of our favorite healthy dinners, and it's great to pack for lunch!
And soup season continues! It might not be snowing here, but the fact that it’s been 80 degrees outside doesn’t stop me from craving big pots of stewy vegetables. Plus I just love having the leftovers around for lunch all week. They get better on the second day, and even better on the third day.
This stew has pretty much all of my favorites: hearty butternut squash, quinoa & kale. It all gets simmered in a stewy tomato broth. It’s a pretty simple recipe that you should spice up as much as you like. I used cumin, coriander & smoked paprika, but (as I type this), I’m thinking about how delicious it would be in a curry-spice direction. I’ll keep you posted when I give that a go…
I’m excited to partner once again with Crate & Barrel. They have so many kitchen staples that I use all the time – this classic French oven, my go-to vegetable peeler, not to mention these bowls, and how cute are those wooden spoons?
If you love soup as much as I do, make this stew, and then try this many-veggie soup & this spiralized veggie minestrone!
Butternut Squash, Kale & Quinoa Stew
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 cups cubed butternut squash
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon red chile flakes
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable broth
- ½ cup dry quinoa
- 2 to 3 cups chopped kale
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and a few pinches of salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 4 minutes.
- Add the butternut squash, another pinch of salt, and stir. Let the butternut squash cook for a few minutes, then stir in the garlic, cumin, coriander, paprika, and red pepper flakes. Add the white wine vinegar and stir to deglaze the bottom of the pan. Add the tomatoes, broth, and quinoa. Cover and simmer until the butternut squash is tender and the quinoa is cooked through, about 40 minutes. Halfway through the cooking time, I like to taste and adjust seasonings. Add additional spices if you like.
- When the soup is nearly done, stir in the kale and cook about 5 minutes more, or until the kale is wilted. Taste and adjust seasonings again.
This post is in partnership with Crate & Barrel.
Products used in this post: Le Creuset Signature 5.5qt Round French Oven, 18th Street Bowls, Suits Napkins, OXO Good Grips Swivel Peeler, Shesham Wood Spoon, Shesham Wood Straining Spoon
p.s. where did you get those beautiful bowls?
Crate & Barrel, here’s the link: http://bit.ly/17IFI5O
This was sooo delicious. I actually used coconut milk instead of vegetable broth and it was divine. Can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow. Thanks so much for the great recipe.
I also can’t get enough of the big pots of stewy vegetables – the flavors in yours are making me so hungry (and it’s nearly 1am!). I also love the modern bowl you served them in too!
This is delicious, I used extra garlic and loved it ! Thank you for sharing 🙂
of course – glad you liked it!!
Made this last night and used spinach since we didn’t have any kale and put a few garbanzo beans in. Absolutely delicious! Thank you for amazing recipes as always!
so glad you liked it!
Made this delicious dish last week & it lasted me 2 lunches after that (which I heated up topped with melted cheese!)
Lovely! x
yay, so glad you liked it!
This looks so perfect for the weather we are having right now!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
This looks so delicious! – I’m a big fan of the bowls too! Very aesthetic 🙂
https://iamchefblog.com
I actually used extra garlic too and chopped instead of minced, and threw in some fresh basil I was growing indoors, it was a nice addition to this already-nice recipe, thanks!
So glad you liked it Matt – I’m jealous you have basil growing :).
We used extra garlic and extra butternut squash so it was thicker, this was great! Thanks for sharing. I’ve been eating the leftovers and looking forward to eating the rest!
So glad you liked it – and thanks for the feedback about the garlic!
Thanks for this recipe! I tried it last night since its extremely cold here in NYC and love it! I didn’t have the diced tomato, only fresh ones.. so I lost out on some of the extra tomato flavoring, but it’s still awesome. Since mine was a bit more on the squashy side, I also added some cloves for a more cohesive flavor. Threw in some carrots and mushrooms for extra texture. I love the idea of maybe pieces of chorizo too. But this was great!
Hi Deezy! Glad you liked it – ooh, I bet it would be good with mushrooms! Happy you were able to adapt using what you had on hand 🙂
This sounds like such a delicious stew! I live in Canada and it feels like the ice age here lately (-20 right now!), so meals like this are so, so perfect. Also – your cookware and dishes are so lovely. It looks like a prop shop in your beautiful photos!
aah, so cold – hope you’re keeping warm! Thanks – I love C&B’s kitchenware too 🙂
I just made this but reduced the veggie stock to make it more of a quinoa dish vs. a soup (my vegetarian husband isn’t big on tomato-y soups). I also changed up the spices a bit as I didn’t have coriander. It turned out delicious! I’m going to serve it with some spiced up greek yogurt. Thanks for the recipe! (PS: Its “feels like” 1 degree in Chicago right now….) ; )
Ooh, sounds delicious with spiced yogurt. Glad you liked it – hope you’re staying warm 🙂
It seems like soup season will never end here on the Northeast. But, I don’t mind. I truly love a 2nd day or 3rd day bowl of stew. Happy Tuesday, Jeanine 🙂
A warm meal for a freeeezing night! Thanks 🙂
Just made this and it is so yummy! I used sweet potato in place of the squash because it is what I had on hand. Thank you for the yummy recipe 🙂
yay, so glad you liked it and that you were able to use what you had on hand!
80 degrees? Oh now you’re just showing off! Man. I can’t wait to feel what that feels like again! This soup is wonderful and looks perfect for a weeknight meal.
Ha, I know , it’s been especially warm for Feb 🙂
I’m making this right now and on instruction 2 it says to add the water. I assume this should be add the veggie broth instead?
Thanks!
yes – oops! (I made it with water instead of broth the first time)
Delicious! I made this for lunch today and it hit the spot. I’m a big fan of vinegar in slow cooked sauces because as you say it brightens the dish, but I’ve also noticed it adds a balanced sweetness the longer it simmers. Thanks for a terrific winter stew!
So glad you liked it! You’re right – I love how the vinegar adds a bit of sweetness…
gosh your photo’s are just amazing! thank you so much for sharing!