10 Cozy Sides To Serve With Butternut Squash Soup This Fall

When the weather starts to get cooler and the leaves begin to turn, many of us begin to crave comfort food. We don't know about you, but here at Chowhound, that means soup. Soup is not only a stick-to-your-ribs favorite, it's fairly simple and economical to whip up a big batch that you can nosh on for days.

One of our go-to recipes that screams autumn is a hearty and healthy roasted butternut squash soup. What makes this soup so perfect in the fall is that butternut squash is at its peak ripeness, meaning it tends to be sweeter and has an almost buttery texture, which makes this soup extra velvety when it is puréed together.

Though butternut squash soup can be a meal by itself, it can be nice to accompany it with something else to help round out lunch or dinner. We scoured our recipe archives for some of the best accompaniments to a hot bowl of butternut squash soup. While some of these sides are simple appetizers, others are hearty salads that can add just a dash of freshness to the meal. And, all of these recipes are sure to tickle your taste buds.

What makes this salad such a great complement to butternut squash soup is its complex flavors and diverse textures. Frisée, radicchio, Belgian endive, and fresh fennel bulb have bitter elements punctuated by notes of licorice, which help to balance out the sweetness of the squash.

The breaded and baked goat cheese develops a crunchy exterior and creamy center as it bakes. What's more, it introduces a difference in temperature, which is a delightful juxtaposition to the vibrant greens. If walnuts aren't your cup of tea, you can always swap any other nut, such as almonds, cashews, or macadamias.

Recipe: Breaded And Baked Goat Cheese Salad

The best thing about this recipe is that it introduces many to an underappreciated vegetable: artichokes. Artichokes appear daunting to cook because they require some advanced preparation to make them edible, but they have an almost nutty flavor that is superb when paired with winter squash.

It is advisable to wear latex gloves when cleaning artichokes. This will prevent any bitter juices that are expelled from the vegetable from being absorbed by your hands, which can inadvertently be transferred to other ingredients. If anchovies scare you, you can easily swap them with miso paste or rehydrated dried mushrooms.

Recipe: Sicilian-Style Stuffed Artichokes

These sausage balls are a party in your mouth. They are loaded with zesty flavor thanks to the addition of mustard and horseradish. The heat is tamed with the sweet, yet tangy cranberry mustard sauce.

If the heat of horseradish isn't your cup of tea, try swapping it with freshly minced ginger for an Asian-inspired twist. And feel free to play with different types of mustards, like honey or spicy brown. Additionally, if you prefer to use your air fryer — which produces even crisper meatballs than the oven — try cooking these at 370 F for roughly 16 minutes.

Recipe: Classic Sausage Balls With Cranberry Mustard

Though Caesar salad is traditionally made with romaine lettuce, this version swaps nutrient-dense kale for a unique twist that is ideally suited to pairing with butternut squash. The key to working with kale is helping to minimize the bitterness of the leaves. This can be accomplished in a couple of ways.

First, try soaking the kale leaves in ice water for approximately 20 minutes after chopping them. Next, massage the kale leaves between your fingers until they begin to soften, then proceed with the recipe as written. Again, if anchovy paste isn't your cup of tea, try miso paste or rehydrated dried mushrooms.

Recipe: Easy Kale Caesar Salad

Stuffed peppers make for a more substantial accompaniment to butternut squash soup when you are feeling extra hungry. This recipe can be made with virtually any color of bell pepper except green ones, which tend to be more bitter and take longer to soften when cooked.

While pearl barley is both nutritious and delicious, you can also use quinoa, farro, or even couscous. If you have trouble finding dried currants, dried cranberries or raisins would be perfect substitutes. Finally, consider topping the peppers with panko breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, or crushed corn flakes for textural interest.

Recipe: Barley And Walnut-Stuffed Bell Peppers

If you are searching for a boost of protein, but don't want to eat a heavy meat dish alongside your butternut squash soup, this salad is for you. Chorizo lends a spicy element, the arugula infuses some bitterness, and the feta amplifies the saltiness. These all balance out the sweetness of the squash.

While red onions can be great in a salad, some individuals have difficulty digesting them or just don't enjoy them raw. A great way to combat this is to pickle them. Red onions can be pickled in a flash by adding them to a heated brine for a few minutes.

Recipe: Chorizo Chickpea Salad With Feta

When you think of tuna salad, a sandwich may come to mind. This recipe is something entirely different. A classic Spanish tapas menu item, this dish fuses a number of bold flavors together, including briny olives, creamy white beans, bitter radicchio, and savory tuna, for a combination that is the perfect match with butternut squash soup.

While tuna is the most authentic ingredient for this salad, you can use any kind of fish you prefer in this recipe. Salmon, crab, and even sardines would be ideal, but be sure to use the highest quality seafood available.

Recipe: Spanish-Inspired Tuna Salad With White Beans And Oranges

Though green beans are more of a summer vegetable, they can be found year-round, and this salad is the perfect accompaniment for a steaming hot bowl of squash soup. Unlike a salad featuring croutons, panzanella makes bread less of an afterthought and more of a starring ingredient in this dish.

While this recipe features tangy sourdough, you can use almost any type of bread you would like in this salad, including sweeter options, like raisin or Hawaiian bread. Day-old or slightly stale bread is best, as it has the capacity to really absorb the olive oil and dressing without becoming overly soggy.

Recipe: Green Bean And Tomato Panzanella Salad

If you are thinking of an autumnal picnic menu, this pasta salad recipe is a great dish to pair with butternut squash soup. This recipe is not your ordinary pasta salad. It features a creamy, egg yolk-based dressing that is both tangy and luxurious, thanks to the addition of the fat from the cooked bacon.

For the best results, consider using a bronze die-cut pasta. Not only does it have a delightful al dente mouthfeel, but its porous texture will enable the dressing to be readily absorbed by the pasta, giving this salad a much more well-balanced flavor.

Recipe: Over-The-Top BLT Pasta Salad

This unconventional pasta salad recipe utilizes Greek yogurt to create a high-protein, creamy dressing. It features hot-smoked salmon, which has a distinctive flavor and firmer texture (versus lox) that is well-suited as an accompaniment to the sweet and nutty butternut squash.

When purchasing Greek yogurt for this recipe, it is advisable to steer away from the low or no-fat varieties. These can be thinner in consistency and may water down the dressing too much, yielding a soupy salad rather than a creamy one. As an alternative, you can also use full-fat cottage cheese, which has a tangier flavor that would work well.

Recipe: Salmon Dill Pasta Salad