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.
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Tried this tonight and flavour was on point. I used 1/2 cup coconut milk as many others recommended and found the consistency a bit too watery, so may reduce the amount of chicken broth next time. I will try this again!
This turned out absolutely delicious!! I added some croutons on top of each serving.
This was really really really good. Totally digging the addition of bacon!
I used jarred thyme & sage because it was what I had and I used cream cheese instead of heavy cream.
This soup is incredibly hearty and flavorful. It did take me quite a bit more time to prep the squash then allotted in the recipe but well worth it. I did sub cream cheese for the heavy cream due to availability in my fridge but it turned out great. Looking forward to making this again!
my first soup made in Instant pot…absolutely love the recipe. I am obsessed with butternut squash! thank you
This soup is excellent! I used 1 tsp each of salt and pepper, 2 small sweeter apples instead of Granny Smith as that is what I had on hand. I chose to blend the cooked bacon into the soup as my personal “tweaks”. I will definitely make this again!
Turned out great even though I made a couple of substitutions with ingredients on hand. Would definitely make again.
OK, this soup is hands down one of the best, easy, subtle dishes I have prepared in a long while. I did it without an instant pot and it was better than fine. I just simmered the vegg until soft, every thing else as per the recipe. The Apple is genius.
Love this recipe! I added some ginger and loved it! Curious if you can double the recipe in an IP? I was planning on making this for a Friendsgiving, and I need more than 8 cups!
LOVED this creamy, flavor-packed soup! I got the whole family involved with the chopping prep and when it was done, my 6, 4, & 2 yr old approved with a BIG thumbs up! Looking forward to making this again. I substituted the heavy whipping cream for Whole-Fat Plain Yogurt & it was great. Thank you!
AMAZING soup! I didn’t have sage nor thyme so I used basil and turmeric. Didn’t have carrots – used a sweet potato instead – and no Granny Smith apple so I used a Gala. Also used white pepper rather than black.
Easy and incredibly spiced!
This was my first instant pot recipe and I absolutely loved it! There was so much flavour in this soup, thanks so much for sharing! I found the consistency to be perfect, unlike other commenters. I’ll definitely make this again.
Best I’ve made so far! I used coconut cream since the slight sweetness of the apple and the squash would fit with it instead of heavy cream. Very tasty!
Hi! I made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! I followed the recipe exactly and it didn’t need anything added to it – no additional salt, no acid (lemon juice/vinegar). It was perfectly balanced. Thanks for the easy and delicious recipe!
This is the butternut squash soup recipe I’ve been looking for. The only thing I did different, I added a little cinnamon and I used leftover, cooked, mashed squash. After cooking and blending, it was so rich and creamy. My husband added a little of Smoky Paprika to his portion and that gave it a really good different flavor. But I really like the wY I made it.
Best squash soup I’ve made. Will only make this one from now on!! Made just as states
Easy, Delicious, loved by all here.
Tay-Stee!! Made it as is and it was so good. Thanks for a reliable goodness!
I don’t have an IP. Can I make it on the stove? Do I need to add more liquid?
1 Sauté onion, carrot, celery in butter: Heat a large thick-bottomed pot on medium-high heat. Melt the butter in the pot and let it foam up and recede. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Lower the heat if the vegetables begin to brown.
2 Cook the soup: Add the butternut squash, apple, broth, and water. Bring to boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes or so, until the squash and carrots have softened.
3 Purée the soup: Use an immersion blender to purée the soup, or work in batches and purée the soup in a stand blender.
4 Add seasonings: Add pinches of nutmeg, cinnamon, and cayenne. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Make that one cup of water for the stove.
Help! I left the IP on for 20 minutes instead of 12 and when I finished the soup smelled funny and turned a brown color instead of bright orange. Did I over cook the soup or do you think the squash was bad (used pre-cut squash).
It looks very yummy and delicious
I just made this soup tonight and it was fantastic! I used precut butternut squash from Trader Joe’s (about 1.75 packs) and saved some time on the prep work. I ended up transferring it to my blender once it was done and then served it. I additionally added a few droplets of olive oil-y pesto on top after having a butternut squash soup at Gramercy Tavern in NYC which did the same. Looking forward to my leftovers with my extra bacon!
I used a whole onion, upped the garlic, used dried herbs and left out the cream because I didn’t have any. Delish!