Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
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Now you can make butternut squash soup in just half the time in the IP! Quick, easy, and velvety smooth.
Featured Comment
This is hands down one of my favorite feel-good, soul-warming soups during the colder months. Loaded with sweet butternut squash, caramelized onions, carrots, celery, Granny Smith apple, garlic, and fresh herbs – all topped with crispy bacon bits.
why i love this recipe
- Made in just a fraction of the time. By using an Instant Pot® pressure cooker, this butternut squash soup comes together lightning fast. Roasting butternut squash takes 30 minutes to 1 hour in the oven, but the cooking time in the IP is just 12 minutes!
- Flexible recipe. The soup will come together so beautifully with butternut squash, sweet potatoes or sugar pumpkin.
- Freezer-friendly. This recipe yields a generous amount of soup, perfect for freezing for a quick and easy lunch or weeknight dinner down the road.
tips and tricks for success
- Fresh herbs are best. Although you can certainly substitute dried herbs, fresh herbs are ideal here, delivering the best kind of flavor.
- Grab pre-cut squash. To cut down on prep time even more, use pre-cut butternut squash or sweet potatoes.
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your soup. Many brands love to pack in the salt so always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety. Homemade stock is even better.
- Blend, baby, blend. With the help of an immersion blender or a countertop blender, the soup will yield an even creamier, smoother consistency.
- Add garnishes. Garnishes are always optional but a fresh sprinkle of chives or some crispy bacon will certainly take your soup to the next level, adding more flavor, texture and contrast.
- Mix it up. Use sweet potato in place of butternut squash, or a blend of both.
what to serve with butternut squash soup
Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup: Frequently Asked Questions
You can substitute about 2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes.
Heavy cream (or heavy whipping cream) has one of the highest fat contents with about 36-40% fat. Half and half or whole milk are suitable substitutes, but will yield a lighter result.
A countertop blender (such as a Vitamix or Blendtec) or food processor should do the trick! When using a countertop blender, cool the soup slightly and blend in batches.
Toasted pumpkin seeds, fried sage leaves, sour cream (or Greek yogurt), heavy cream, or blue cheese crumbles are all great options!
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers without the heavy cream (cream soups tend to separate when frozen) in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop, adding heavy cream and garnishes when serving.
No Instant Pot, no problem. Here is our favorite stovetop version!
Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon, diced
- ½ medium sweet onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 fresh sage leaves, minced
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 ½ pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
- 3 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 rib celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
- 4 cups chicken stock
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Instructions
- Set 6-qt Instant Pot® to the high saute setting. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Add onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in garlic, sage and thyme until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in butternut squash, carrots, celery, apple, chicken stock, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 12 minutes. When finished cooking, quick-release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions; remove and discard thyme sprigs.
- Stir in heavy cream. Puree with an immersion blender until desired consistency is reached; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately, sprinkled with bacon and chives.
Video
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Fantastic soup I didn’t have a granny Smith apple so used a teaspoon of bramley apple sauce wow such a lush soup. New to IP cooking in UK so this is fast and easy to do I my going to make it my go to soup.
This was delicious. I’m new to IP cooking and next time I’ll just get butternut squash already cubed. I didn’t use bacon as I’m a vegan but it was tasty without. I used coconut milk instead of cream and added some cinnamon to it at the end.
Easy and very tasty. I did not have cream, so I used coconut milk.
I have made variations of this soup every other week all fall & winter long as it freezes great in my Souper Cubes for my lunches at work. It is perfect as is but I also tweak it depending on my mood and what’s in my fridge needing to be used up. Some of my favorites have been excluding the bacon, subbing 1/2 circle of herb Boursin cheese for the cream, adding ginger/nutmeg/Italian seasoning blend or cayenne pepper. For sure try the original recipe first!
This was delicious. Only issue I had was the cook time was too long. I followed the recipe to a T. But the vegetables were so mushy. I used a pre-cut butternut squash but the measurement was correct. Could this be cooked in less time?
Excellent. Switched fennel bulb for onions and garlic since I can’t eat them. I will definitely make again!
We loved this soup it was so good. Very flavorful. My daughter is paleo and low fodmap so we adjusted the recipe using coconut milk and leeks.
This was awesome soup. I reduced the broth to 2 1/2 cups then added 1/2 cup coconut cream as I am dairy free. It was very thick and creamy. So much flavor. Will be making this again.
This soup was delicious, and we will make this many times. The recipe is perfect, but I did sprinkle a little nutmeg on the bowl of soup, and will now add that to the recipe for next time. This won’t disappoint!
I made this today and it was really good. I will make it again. It’s very healthy and filling. I will probably reduce the stock by about one cup in the future.
Came out really good. My husband loved it. Substituted coconut milk instead of heavy cream and garnished with sweet corn and corn chips for crunchiness !!
Made this tonight. Followed recipe except I didn’t use the bacon. The flavor was very good, served with homemade bread. This recipe is a keeper.
Perfect!! Just what I was looking for! My husband loved it too.
Huge hit. Adding this to my weekly rotation. I will also reduce the stock a bit and/or add more butternut squash because it was a bit too liquidy for me. The flavors were great.
These look like they could be an epic contribution to a holiday potluck! I’m definitely going to give these a try with some homemade dinner rolls!
I won’t even bother looking for another butternut squash soup recipe. This one is incredible! Great texture and depth of flavor. It’s as delicious as everyone says!
Would this soup freeze well? Thank you.
It freezes great! It looks funny when you first start reheating it, but just keep stirring and it becomes smooth again.
Is it possible to double this recipe with the same instructions but just double the ingredients? or should i make it twice to fit it in the pot?
This was so delicious. The only thing I did different I added 4 potatoes and quartered them. So so good. Thank you!!!
Big fan! Made as written & turned out perfect.
Great soup. I used sour cream as I had no
Heavy cream also used chicken boullon cubes with water. And used a hint of nutmeg for additional spice.
Followed the recipe with a few changes.. first I roasted the squash for 50 minutes at 350 degrees. I then was able to complete the recipe as written. When finished I added half and half to give a bit more of a creamy texture. The soup is delicious! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!