This easy butternut squash soup recipe is perfectly creamy, velvety, and full of sweet and savory autumn flavors. Instant Pot, Crock-Pot and stovetop options included.
The Coziest Autumn Soup
Is there a more quintessentially autumn meal than a cozy bowl of butternut squash soup? ♡
On a particularly chilly day this past weekend, we made our millionth batch of my mom’s butternut squash soup recipe to share with friends who came over for dinner. As always, this vibrant, nourishing, velvety soup delivered all the fall comfort-food vibes and completely hit the spot. It’s just perfect this time of year!
One of the best things about this butternut squash soup is that it’s naturally gluten-free and vegan, which makes it a great option for hosting (especially around the holidays). It’s also easy to make in the Instant Pot, Crock-Pot, or on the stovetop, so you can take your pick. Most importantly, it’s perfectly balanced with sweet-and-savory autumn flavors and absolutely delicious. Thousands of readers have made this one over the years and agree!
Best Butternut Squash Soup Recipe | 1-Minute Video
Recipe Tips
Here are a few tips to help make the best butternut squash soup every time:
- Aim for silky-smooth. Blend longer than you think—an extra 30–60 seconds makes it ultra-velvety.
- Balance the sweetness. Granny Smith adds brightness; a squeeze of lemon at the end can perk flavors right up.
- Salt matters. Different brands of broths vary in saltiness, so season in layers and finish with a final pinch to make flavors pop.
Recipe Variations
Feel free to try these easy twists to customize the recipe and make it your own:
- Roast the veggies: Roast the squash, carrot, and onion at 425°F until caramelized, then blend for deeper, sweeter flavor.
- Make it smoky: Swap cayenne for chipotle chili powder and finish with a sprinkle of smoked paprika.
- Use cream: Sub heavy cream or half-and-half for the coconut milk for an ultra-silky, dairy-based finish.
- Go Thai-inspired: Stir in 1–2 tablespoons red curry paste and 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger; finish with lime and cilantro.
- Go Mexican-inspired: Omit sage/nutmeg and add 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin plus a pinch of chipotle; serve with lime and cilantro.
- Brighten it up: Add a squeeze of lemon juice or a splash of apple cider vinegar to balance sweetness.
- Have fun with toppings: Try toasted pepitas, roasted chickpeas, crispy sage, chili crisp, coconut milk swirl, croutons, or Parmesan.
FAQ
Yes, you will need about 4 to 5 cups diced raw butternut squash, which roughly equals about 2 pounds. Feel free to use fresh or frozen!
Definitely! Let it cool completely, portion into airtight containers, and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight and rewarm gently, adding extra broth if needed.
If you feel that the soup is too sweet, feel free to add a pinch more salt, a squeeze of lemon, or an extra dash of cayenne or black pepper to balance the sweetness.
Sure. Kabocha, honeynut, or sugar-pie pumpkin all work well. They’re often a bit sweeter/drier, so feel free to add a splash of broth or lemon juice if needed.
More Vegetarian Soup Recipes To Try
Looking for more cozy vegetarian soup recipes to make this season? Here are a few of our favorites:
- Cozy Autumn Wild Rice Soup
- Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Potato Leek Soup
- Quick Black Bean Soup
- Tomato Feta Soup
Butternut Squash Soup
- 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
- 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 3 pound*) 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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.)
- 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:
- Slow cook: Add the oil (optional), onion, garlic, vegetable broth, carrot, apple, butternut squash, sage, cayenne, cinnamon and nutmeg to a small (3-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.
- 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.)
- 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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.)
- 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
Store-bought diced squash: If you’d like to save time, feel free to use 2 pounds of pre-cut butternut squash (fresh or frozen) instead.
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.
Just finished two bowls of this! So easy and so delicious!! I added a dolup of sour cream and cayenne pepper and it was perfect!
Thanks Haley — we’re so glad you enjoyed this! :)
Can you use Silk original coconut milk? I think it is somewhat sweetened.
It won’t be quite as thick, but if you’re okay with that, then we say sure! :) We hope you enjoy!
Thank you so much for the Ted talks idea! I’ve never posted a comment before, but felt I had to show my appreciation for your inspiration And yummy crock pot soup idea. Thanks again!
Thanks Shirley, we hope you enjoy this soup!
I made this last week and just made a double batch because the family loved it so much! I didn’t use the sage and substituted red pepper flakes for the cayenne pepper since that’s what I had. I used one package of squash that was peeled and cleaned which made this recipe even easier. Love that is has apple and carrots in it, so nutritious. Topped it with roasted pumpkin seeds as another reviewer recommended. So good. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thank you for sharing with us Tish, we’re so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed this! :)
I just started my soup. Had to swap a few ingrediance. No sage so I used poultry seasoning . No nutmeg so I used pumpkin spice mix. I sure hope it turns out good.
We hope you enjoyed it April, let us know how it turned out!
I was wondering if there is a nutritional guide for this soup!!! Trying to figure how to put it into my eating program. Many thanks, I love it!!
Hi Maureen! We’re sorry but we are unsure of the nutrition facts/amount of calories in this recipe. We currently are not publishing nutrition facts on the site, as the nutrition calculators available are not 100% accurate, and we never want to publish anything that might be misleading. However, a lot of our readers love the My Fitness Pal nutrition calculator, so feel free to try that for an estimate. We hope that helps!
Hi, I am making this today for the 6th time and just want to thank you so much for posting it! I’ve served it to friends and family and have received rave reviews each time. I’m looking forward to having it in a few hours.
Thank you!
You’re so very welcome Lise, we’re happy you and your family love it! :)
I just made this soup lady night and found 1 onion is too much…it over powered the squash. To compensate I added 1 small container of heavy cream, 1/2 stick butter and additional pinches of cinnamon and nutmeg. Refrigerated overnight and just served today…awesome!
We’re sorry you found the onion overpowering Elizabeth, but we’re glad you were able to salvage it and still enjoy it! :)
Jus finished making this gr8 timing in this “cold” weather dwn in SC….. can’t wait 2 taste it…..
Awesome, we hope you love this Giselle! :)
I made this today for dinner for my husband and I. It was absolutely delicious! I will probably omit the cayenne pepper next time…either the cayenne became more concentrated as the soup cooked or I mismeasured (I eyeballed it). My husband does not like things too spicy. Other than that, it was really really good. Perfect flavors! I made a couple minor changes: I only had half an onion in the fridge, I only had a small Macintosh apple, so I also added a diced pear, I did not have fresh sage but found that a 1/2 tsp of ground sage was just fine, and lastly, I used Almond milk instead of coconut. It worked perfectly!
One last word: definitely let the soup cool a bit before blending. I’m a burn nurse and just two days ago I had a woman present to the burn unit with 2nd degree burns to her face from her blender building up too much steam from soup she was pureeing and it exploded.
Loved this recipe and can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow! I served it with homemade ciabatta croutons and a large tossed salad.
Hi Claudine, thanks for sharing all of this with us — we’re so happy you and your husband enjoyed it! :) And oh my goodness, that poor woman – that’s so scary! Thanks for the reminder about cooling the soup before blending!