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Butternut Squash Soup

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The best butternut squash soup recipe I know! It’s super-easy to make, naturally gluten-free and vegan, and so incredibly cozy and delicious. Stovetop, Crock-Pot and Instant Pot instructions included.

Best Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

Is there a more quintessentially autumn meal than a cozy bowl of butternut squash soup?

Well on a particularly chilly day this past weekend, we made our millionth batch of my mom’s butternut soup recipe to share with some good friends who came over for dinner. And as always, this vibrant, healthy, velvety soup came through with all of the fall comfort food vibes and completely hit the spot. It’s just perfect this time of year!

The great thing about this butternut squash soup recipe too is that it happens to be naturally gluten-free and vegan, which makes it a wonderful option for hosting large groups (especially around the holidays). It’s easy to make in either the Instant Pot, Crock-Pot or on the stovetop (all options included below). It’s loaded up with lots of savory veggies and seasonings, plus a hint of sweetness thanks to the addition of one apple. And most importantly, it’s just incredibly comforting, flavorful and delicious.

I first shared this butternut soup recipe on the blog nearly a decade ago, but thought it was worth bumping back to the top of the site today for anyone who’s craving some lighter fall comfort food. Our family hopes that you enjoy it as much as we do!

Best Butternut Squash Soup Recipe | 1-Minute Video

Crock Pot Butternut Squash Soup Ingredients

Butternut Squash Soup Ingredients:

To make this easy butternut squash soup recipe, you will need:

  • Butternut squash: You can either use 1 medium-sized fresh butternut squash (here is my tutorial for how to select, peel and cut fresh butternut squash) or you will need between 4 to 5 cups of pre-cut raw butternut squash.
  • Carrot and onion: These will serve as the additional veggies for the soup.
  • Apple: Any variety of apple will work in this recipe (peeled or unpeeled), but I’m partial to Granny Smith apples that add extra hint of tartness in addition to their sweet flavor.
  • Vegetable broth: I typically make this soup with veggie broth to keep it vegetarian and vegan, but chicken broth would also work well in this recipe too.
  • Coconut milk: I love the subtle sweetness that unsweetened coconut milk adds to this soup. But feel free to sub half and half (or heavy cream) instead of coconut milk if you prefer.
  • Seasonings: My mom’s recipe uses a simple blend of garlic, fresh sage, cayenne, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, sea salt, and black pepper. Feel free to adjust the amount of cayenne to taste. And I also highly recommend briefly frying up a few extra sage leaves to sprinkle on top of the soup as a crispy garnish.
  • Your choice of garnishes: I like to drizzle on some extra coconut milk (or cream), a sprinkle of toasted pepitas, and a sprinkle of extra black pepper and/or smoked paprika. Or see more ideas below!

You will also need a:

Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup in Crock Pot

How To Make Butternut Squash Soup:

Detailed instructions are included in the recipe below for how to make butternut squash soup in the Instant Pot, Crock-Pot or on the stovetop. But here is a brief overview:

  1. Cook. For extra depth of flavor, I recommend sautéing the onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil first if you are making the Instant Pot or stovetop versions, but this step is optional if you’re making the Crock-Pot version (or if you’re in a hurry). Add in the squash and veggies and cook until they are completely tender, then add in the coconut milk.
  2. Blend. I typically use an immersion blender to purée the soup until smooth, but you can alternately purée the soup in two batches using a traditional blender. (Just be extremely careful as always when blending hot liquids in a traditional blender. Safety instructions are included in the notes below fhte recipe.)
  3. Season. Once the soup has been puréed, give it a taste and season generously with salt and pepper as needed. If you would like to amp up the heat, you’re welcome to add in extra cayenne as well.
  4. Serve. Then dish it up, garnished with your favorite toppings, and enjoy!

Best Butternut Squash Soup recipe in dutch oven

Possible Variations:

Want to customize your butternut squash soup recipe? Feel free to:

  • Roast your veggies: To make roasted butternut squash soup, simply roast the butternut squash, carrots and onions before adding them to the soup to make roasted butternut squash soup. It doesn’t add too much extra time (especially if you prep the rest of your soup while the veggies roast) and the roasted veggies add a delicious depth of flavor.
  • Give it a Thai twist: To make Thai-inspired curried butternut squash soup, add a tablespoon or two of red curry paste and 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, then serve the soup with lime wedges and chopped fresh cilantro.
  • Give it a Mexican twist: To make Mexican-inspired butternut squash soup, omit the sage and nutmeg and stir in 1.5 teaspoons ground cumin and a big pinch of chipotle chili powder instead, then serve the soup with lime wedges and chopped fresh cilantro.
  • Give it a Chai twist: See my recipe here for the yummiest chai-spiced butternut squash soup.
  • Add rice or grains: To make your soup extra hearty, feel free to add in some rice, quinoa, farro or other favorite grains. Just be sure to also add in extra broth accordingly to help cook the rice or grains.
  • Use cream instead of coconut milk: If you are not a big fan of coconut milk, feel free to use heavy cream or half and half in place of the coconut milk to make this soup nice and creamy.
  • Have fun with toppings: So many toppings can pair well with butternut squash soup! Some faves include:
    • cheese: Parmesan, grated sharp cheddar, feta
    • nuts: toasted almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, pepitas, or candied pecans
    • herbs: fresh cilantro, thyme, sage, chives, etc.
    • bacon: crispy bacon or prosciutto
    • greens: fresh baby arugula or microgreens
    • homemade croutons

Vegan Butternut Squash Soup in Bowl with Pepitas

More Favorite Soup Recipes:

Looking for more cozy, comforting soup recipes for the season? Here are a few more of my faves…

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BEST Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

Butternut Squash Soup

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.8 from 496 reviews
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 6 -8 servings 1x

Description

My all-time favorite Butternut Squash Soup recipe!  It’s super-easy to make, naturally gluten-free and vegan, and so incredibly cozy and delicious.  Stovetop, Crock-Pot and Instant Pot instructions included below.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 white onion, peeled and diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and roughly chopped
  • 1 medium (about 34 lb) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
  • 1 sprig fresh sage
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
  • pinch of ground cinnamon and nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
  • fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper, to taste
  • optional garnishes: smoked paprika, extra drizzle of unsweetened coconut milk, or see more ideas above

Instructions

Stovetop Butternut Squash Soup:

  1. Sauté the onion and garlic. Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 to 2 more minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant.
  2. Simmer: Add the vegetable broth, carrot, apple, butternut squash, sage, cayenne, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir to combine. Continue cooking until the soup reaches a simmer. Then cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are all tender and mash easily with a fork. Remove and discard the sage. Stir in the coconut milk.
  3. Purée: Use an immersion blender to purée the soup until smooth. (Or alternately, see instructions in the notes below for how to purée the soup safely using a traditional blender.)
  4. Season and serve: Taste and season the soup generously with salt and pepper as needed. Serve warm, topped with your desired garnishes, and enjoy!

Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup:

  1. Slow cook: Add the oil (optional), onion, garlic, vegetable broth, carrot, apple, butternut squash, sage, cayenne, cinnamon and nutmeg to a small (4-quart) slow cooker or large (6-quart) slow cooker. Toss briefly to combine. Cook for 4-6 hours on low, or 2-3 hours on high, or until the squash is completely tender and mashes easily with a fork. Remove and discard the sage. Stir in the coconut milk.
  2. Purée: Use an immersion blender to purée the soup until smooth. (Or alternately, see instructions in the notes below for how to purée the soup safely using a traditional blender.)
  3. Season and serve: Taste and season the soup generously with salt and pepper as needed. Serve warm, topped with your desired garnishes, and enjoy!

Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup:

  1. Sauté the onion and garlic: Press the “Sauté” button on an Instant Pot. Heat the olive oil. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 to 2 more minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant.
  2. Pressure cook: Add the vegetable broth, carrot, apple, butternut squash, sage, cayenne, cinnamon, nutmeg, and toss briefly to combine. Close lid securely and set vent to “Sealing”. Pressure cook on high for 8 minutes, followed by a quick release. Remove and discard the sage. Stir in the coconut milk.
  3. Purée: Use an immersion blender to purée the soup until smooth. (Or alternately, see instructions in the notes below for how to purée the soup safely using a traditional blender.)
  4. Season and serve: Taste and season the soup generously with salt and pepper as needed. Serve warm, topped with your desired garnishes, and enjoy!

Notes

Puréeing using a traditional blender: As always, please be extra-careful when blending hot liquids in a traditional blender. I recommend puréeing the soup in two or three batches, so that the blender is not too full. Then also be sure to slightly tent the cap of the blender lid open so that the extra steam can escape.

Butternut Squash Soup Recipe from Gimme Some Oven

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1,367 comments on “Butternut Squash Soup”

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  1. If I could cook everything in my slow cooker I would, I love it that much. This soup looks absolutely fantastic. I’ve never had butternut squash before, but I keep reading great recipes like this one. I am going to try this over the weekend and see how it turns out. Thanks for sharing.

  2. Wine and Butternut squash soup? I definitely want to be part of your Thankmas!! Travelling at holidays can be so hard! But Butternut squash soup is my fav, and I LUHVE that you made this in the slow cooker! Pinned!

  3. Butternut Squash soup is one of my all time favorite fall foods. I love how your recipe includes the sweetness of the apple and the spiciness of the cayenne pepper, I bet the combination is magical! I love to eat my soup with a nice crusty baguette with melted Dubliner sharp cheddar on top. Because, why not? Can’t wait to try this slow cooker version!

  4. All of your soup recipes get me so excited! This reminds me of a time I attempted making butternut squash soup in a magic bullet. Microwaved it a little too much and the thing exploded EVERYWHERE! Glad to see a recipe that keeps me safe while cooking! :) 

  5. Love those flavors…and healthy too!!

  6. Everyone was excited about this recipe at Thanksmas (well, maybe Dad was a little less excited than the rest of us!). Thanks for the memories!

  7. This looks incredible and so comforting!  The color is divine :)

  8. Your family gathering sounds like it would have been very enjoyable – even as an outsider.  That is a wonderful tradition.

    I also like the idea of the butternut squash soup.  Very different from the one I made one time, a long time ago.  I may just have to try it.

  9. I’m in LOVE with this! Perfect for a cold day. And I bet it freezes well too. 

  10. This is the BEST tradition ever, I love it! Confession: I’ve never had butternut squash anything *insert hands over face monkey emoticon here* Pretty sure I’m missing out big time and I can’t think of a better starter recipe, thanks Ali!

  11. Love the addition of the granny smith!

  12. Hi Ali! I love and make butternut squash soup often. I even make it with cream, chilli powder and tortellini. But i never thought of putting an apple in the soup. It is such a new and fresh idea. Thank you very much! :)

  13. I love that you used coconut milk in this. I bet that just takes it to the next level!

  14. I LOVE butternut squash soup made with coconut milk. Definitely going to have to try adding a little cayenne next time.

  15. Thanksmas sounds awesome. And I can’t get over the Ted talks – that is hilarious! Butternut squash is a definite favorite of mine. Loving this :)

  16. Girl. Please do a video on your tooth brushing and barre-3 workout!! It’s so funny because I was doing leg lifts while brushing my teeth this morning thinking I should do them more often!

  17. I love this, what a gorgeous soup!

  18. I came, I made, I ate, I love

  19. This soup rocks! Easy to make & so tasty! Thanks for sharing the recipe. 

  20. Yum! I had planned on making my butternut squash soup soon but I may need to change it up and try yours. 

  21. Sounds like your convo’s around the Thanksgiving table are interesting with a group with diverse interests! Excited about this recipe because I got my own immersion blender for Christmas and now I can put it to work. 

  22. I made this yesterday and loved it! I might try a sweeter apple next time because I felt like there was a bit of a sour aftertaste. I don’t know if it was because of the sourness of the granny smith or if it was something else?

    • Thanks Allison! I’m sorry you found it a bit sour, and yes, you could definitely try a sweeter, more neutral-tasting apple. I bet a golden delicious would work well.

  23. I’ve been looking for delicious healthy things I can make and feed my 1 year old and things that will freeze well. I’m making this soup today (apple and all!) I’ve added a few more carrots because I had to use them up and I had no vegetable stock so had to make do with chicken.. Hope that doesn’t ruin it! Looking forward to trying this later, will tweet a pic! Thanks for this great recipe! Looks delicious! 

    • Thanks for sharing Ruby, I hope it’s a hit with you and your 1 year-old! Definitely let me know how it went! : )

  24. Thanks for the recipe! Made it today with 1 extra carrot and some red lentils. It’s yummy and my toddler couldn’t get enough : ) 

  25. I just made this for dinner for myself, and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! It was so easy to make and the cayenne adds the perfect kick. I haven’t had a butternut squash soup this good in a long time. I keep eating it while I’m waiting for it to cool to be put away. SO GOOD!

  26. I doubled the recipe because I knew this would be good. So glad I did. The cayenne pepper added just a hint of heat. 
    Thank you for sharing #2carsonlove

  27. Ok….I know this is probably such a lame question, but how do you peel and dice the squash?  Do you roast it first?  I’ve only cooked squash once, for spaghetti squash, and it was a PAIN to cut.

    • Hey Carissa, not a lame question at all! Here’s a good peeling and cutting tutorial you might find helpful. And no need to roast the squash before cooking — it will have plenty of time to cook in the soup. Enjoy!

  28. Wow, this is really really good.  We love everything fall and this includes butternut squash so when I saw your slow cooker recipe I had to try it. Followed it exactly as you have it posted (in a 4qt slow cooker – round) and it turned out perfect. Thank you for a great recipe!
    Em

    • Thanks Emily, we’re happy you enjoyed it! And we love fall too, pretty excited right about now! :)

  29. Hi there,

    I just made this not realizing til after that I wasn’t supposed to put the coconut milk in the crockpot until after…will it still be o.k?

  30. Recipe looks so delicious and perfect for fall. I’m wondering if you had any suggestions for replacing the coconut milk. Unfortunately have someone who is a bit allergic and I was thinking cream as a replacement I was wondering if you think there might be something else that’s a bit more low fat?

    Thanks :)

    • Thank you Ella, we hope you enjoy this! And we’d recommend using half and half or whole milk.

  31. Wondering if you have ever doubled the recipe?  I would love to, but wondering if there would be enough room.  I think my slow cooker is the same size as yours.  Thanks!

    • Hi Lisa! I haven’t tried doubling the recipe, but don’t believe my crock pot is quite big enough. It would probably hold a double batch of the cooked soup, but the ingredients took up quite a bit of room. Still, you might be able to swing it if you dice things small. Enjoy! :)

  32. Made this today and it was delicious! Only recommendations:

    -I used veggie broth instead of stock, so I added the 2 cups initially but added more towards the end to make it soupier
    -I’d recommend less cayenne–a bit toooooo spicy for my taste (and you can always add more later if you need to!)
    -Serve with warm sourdough bread–it really complements the flavor and helps you scoop up the leftovers! 

    Overall it was outstanding–will definitely be making this again! Thanks for sharing!! 

    • Thanks for sharing Sarah, we’re glad you enjoyed it! That warm sourdough sounds just perfect too. :)

  33. Wondering what kind of coconut milk you recommend (canned or carton?)

  34. I really  to make this today but only have whole milk and almond milk. Would either of those work? 

    • Either would be fine, but whole milk would be ideal (it’ll be thicker and creamier). We hope you enjoy!

  35. This was delicious! Sweeter than anticipated, amazing what the apple adds. I made two versions, with and without the coconut milk. Without is perfect for Phase 1 of the Fast Metabolism diet. Thanks for sharing!

  36. Hi!  I stumbled on your recipe from Buzzfeed’s list of 17 butternut squash recipes.  I’m making your soup now and wanted to know…when you pour the 2 cups of stock into the crockpot, should you be able to see any of it or should the other ingredients come up much higher?  Thank you!

    • Hey Shaina! Totally depends on the size of your crock pot, but I couldn’t see much of my stock until the recipe started cooking. Enjoy!

  37. I made this soup with a more savory theme…left out the apples and spices. I cut the onion in half but it was still too much. The onion was overpowering. 

  38. Add some honey or agave in there fore a touch of sweetness!

    • Thanks for your tip Allie! Sometimes, depending on the size and sweetness of the squash, we’ve found you don’t need to add any sweetener, but totally adjust to your preference and the sweetness of your squash. :)

  39. Do you think you could change out the butterNUT squash for butterCUP squash? I’ve never had buttercup squash… wondering if it has same or similar taste. This soup was AMAZING with the butternut!

    • Hmmm that’s a good question Holly! We’re not 100% sure since we haven’t tried that ourselves, but we think they seem similar enough that it would probably work. We think you should give it a try and let us know how it turns out! We’re happy you liked it with the butternut squash. :)

  40. I am confused about the coconut milk. Is it the coconut milk in a can or a carton?

  41. I am planning to make this today, and I wanted to know if anyone has frozen the leftovers. I don’t usually cook with coconut milk, and I was wondering if it freezes well.

  42. I make a very similar soup with 5 ingredients, and I sometimes add red curry paste to give it a kick. The leftover soup makes a great base for risotto and curries too. 

  43. This was wonderful! Thank you for sharing the recipe.

  44. I made this but added ginger, pumpkin spice and paprika.  It was so delicious I made a second batch.  This soup is now my favorite.

  45. Made this soup yesterday and it was FABULOUS! Highly recommend this recipe you will not be disappointed!

  46. I’m making this today and was wondering what kind of coconut milk you used. Canned or do you use the carton milk in the refrideratored aisle?  Also, do you think cashew milk would work well?

  47. This soup looks delicious! I’m going to get the ingredients for it and try it soon. Just wondering if it’s necessary to roast the squash before putting it in crock pot. Thank you 

  48. Looks great! could I add some sweet potato? I only have a small butternut squash on hand…

  49. It’s in the crock pot now!! Smells so good!! Thanks for sharing this recipe. :-)

  50. Hi,  could you approximate the weight of squash you used ? Thanks!