I made this light soup one night when my husband was out of town and I wanted something simple to serve with the bean burritos my daughter and I were having for dinner. Its delicate taste is hard to describe and may not be for everyone–E. declared it “yucky,” but she’s 8–but I actually liked it better each time I tried it–and I wound up eating the leftovers for lunch two days in a row.
Creamy Mexican Chayote Soup
(adapted from this recipe)
2 large chayotes, peeled and sliced
2 onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 potato, peeled and shredded (I used a red butter potato)
3 cups fat-free vegetable stock
salt and white pepper to taste
Garnish: slices of green onion and fresh squeezes of lime.
Simmer chayote slices in 2 cups salted water in a medium saucepan until tender, about 20 minutes.
Sauté onion and garlic in a large, non-stick saucepan until the onion is soft. Add the shredded potato and stir for a minute. Pour in vegetable stock, bring to a boil, and cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes, until thickened.
Add the chayote and its cooking water to the stock, and using a hand (immersion) blender, puree the soup right in the pan. Stir and season to taste. Let simmer, uncovered, for about 5 more minutes. When ready to serve, ladle into bowls, sprinkle a few green onion slices on each and squeeze in some fresh lime.
Soup is an excellent way to start a meal, especially if you’re trying to cut calories. This soup is very light, getting most of its calories from the one potato. It makes about 5 servings with 44 calories and 1 gram of fat per serving. If you’d like to make it richer, try substituting unsweetened soymilk for one of the cups of vegetable broth. And if you’d prefer a less delicately flavored soup, try sprinkling a little cumin on top.
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Phil Sooveere
Hi Susan,
This site is a resource I’ve been looking for for a while. As a Naturopathic Doctor, having a onestop shop for health promoting recipe ideas is of great value and I have already begun promoting it with my clients.
Keep up the excellent work!
Phil Sooveere ND.
Terri Exel
There is a filipino soup/stew that uses chayote. My Father-in-law taught me the recipe when I wasn’t a vegan. The ingredients called for water/chicken broth, 1/2 head of garlic, a whole chicken, 6 chayote (he would at times replace the chayote with papaya), 1 piece of ginger 2″x2″, 1 large onion, salt & pepper to taste. Basically, after the chicken was boiled in the water/broth then you would throw in the remaining cleaned, pealed & chopped ingredients, serve over rice. This recipe was one of my husband’s favorites. Well I am a recipe cook… I can’t cook a meal without a recipe. So I tried making this soup without the chicken and it tasted bland. I thought maybe sharing this with Susan it would inspire her to use this squash again and try to fix my dilemma for my us. Thanks.