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    Home » RECIPES » Paleo

    Instant Pot® Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

    Published: Sep 1, 2020 / Modified: Oct 8, 2020 by: Karen Lee / This post may contain affiliate links. As Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. /

    Jump to Recipe ⬇️

    Butternut Squash Soup Instant Pot Recipe is easy and quick but so flavorful. It's perfect for the fall and your family will ask for seconds!

    3 bowls of orange colored squash soup with cream and green garnish on grey background

    I'm addicted. To my Instant Pot. To an electric pressure cooker, if that makes sense. I haven't named her, yet, but I'm clearly addicted to her superpowers. I am constantly thinking of what (else) I can make in it. You can clearly see how much fun I'm having here my Instagram photos. Just check all the foods I've had in the last week or so. I bet you're drooling now that you've seen all the delicious dishes I made.

    Perfect Winter Squash Soup

    It's pretty shocking that you can make a hearty soup from raw vegetables in just 10 minutes. That's as long as it takes in my Instant Pot! (See why I love it so much?)

    If possible, it is always best to cook with seasonal ingredients. Sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and onions are all vegetables that are in season in the fall.

    Other types of winter squash are acorn squash and buttercup squash. This soup looks and tastes the best with butternut squash.

    How To Make Butternut Squash Soup

    The entire recipe is in the printable card at the bottom of this post. First, I have some helpful tips for you that I learned when I made this soup.

    Peeled and split in half butternut squash on cutting board next to peeler, knife, and cubed butternut squash in bowl

    Use A Sturdy Vegetable Peeler

    If you are going to peel the butternut squash, you need a strong and sturdy vegetable peeler like the one, pictured above. It's like no other vegetable peeler I ever had. It's strong and the entire peeler is made with stainless steel, not just the handle that gets weak after a while.

    This is by far, the best peeler I've had. The set also comes with a shredder which is great for shredding carrots for salads.

    Peel and Cut The Vegetables

    Some people don't even cut the squash or sweet potatoes but I didn't want the skin so I peeled them, then, cut them up for even faster cooking.

    Have you ever wondered how to cut a butternut squash? It's pretty simple! Just follow these steps and it will look like the photo above:

    1. Cut the top and bottom off the squash.
    2. Cut it in half lengthwise.
    3. Scoop the seeds of the middle.
    4. Use a vegetable peeler to peel the skin.

    You don't have to chop them up into very small pieces. They will cook just as fast in large 3-inch chunks.

    If you don't like sweet potatoes (That's ok. We can still be friends.), you can use carrots instead. Or skip the root vegetables all together. But be aware that it will be less sweet.

    Use Pre-Made Bone Broth To Save Time

    I already had a huge stash of bone broth I made in Instant Pot (2 hours on HIGH pressure made the densest gelatinous bone broth!) so that was another time saver. I recommend making homemade bone broth, if you can, as it will have more flavor than anything out of a can or a box.

    But if you don't have homemade broth, you can still use a can or box. Just make sure you use bone broth instead of stock, since broth is thicker with more gelatin and you want a thick consistency for this soup.

    Best Spices To Use In Butternut Squash Soup

    The best thing about cooking your own soup is that you can alter these spices and make it as spicy or as mild as you wish. I loved the combination of sweet and heat that this spice mixture gave the soup.

    butternut squash, sweet potatoes, 3 plates of herbs and spices, onion, and parsley on grey background
    • Garlic
    • Ginger
    • Pink Himalayan Salt
    • Curry
    • Turmeric
    • Cinnamon
    • Nutmeg
    • Tarragon
    • Parsley
    2 bowls of orange colored soup with green garnish next to a plate with seeds

    Easy Instructions

    1. When the Instant Pot is hot, sauté onions, ginger, garlic, and a pinch of salt in coconut oil.
    2. Sauté until onion is soft.
    3. Add the vegetables and the spices.
    4. Sitr to incorporate.
    butternut squash soup steps 1-4

    5. Set the Instant Pot on Manual or Pressure Cooker for 10 minutes on HIGH pressure.

    6. When the timer ends, allow the Instant Pot to depressurize naturally.

    7. Using an immersion blender, pureé the vegetables in the inner pot until smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender, allow the soup to cool a little and use the blender to pureé.

    8. You can eat the soup 'as is' or garnish with coconut cream when serving.

    Butternut squash soup steps 4-8

    Freeze This Soup For Later

    Make this quintessential fall soup today and freeze what you don't finish. You'll appreciate a quick soup when the weather gets colder.

    There are two ways you can freeze it - you can either do all the food prep and freeze all the ingredients with the bone broth or you can completely cook and prepare the soup, let it cool, and freeze it.

    It is much faster to prepare if you freeze it after you cook it completely. That way, all you have to do is let the soup thaw and warm it up on the stove. Easy!

    This soup will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 3 months.

    Butternut Squash Soup Instant Pot Recipe

    Orange colored squash soup in Instant Pot

    Not only does a pressure cooker method cooks food ⅓ times faster, saves energy, retains moisture and more nutrients, it also eliminates the need for using so many pots and pans. It makes one pot meals so much easier!

    For this Butternut Squash soup, I didn't bake or steam or boil the squash first to make soup. I did everything in the Instant Pot, from the beginning 'til the end so clean up was so much easier. I'm all for fewer pots and pans to clean!

    More Soup Recipes

    If you enjoyed this hearty soup, I have more soup recipes you will love too.

    • Chicken Zoodle Soup
    • Cheddar Cheese Corn Chowder
    • Cream of Potato With Roasted Cauliflower

    Recipe

    Did you try this recipe? We would love your feedback! Click on the stars on the recipe card below.
    3 bowls of squash soup against grey background
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    4.35 from 61 votes

    Butternut Squash Soup Instant Pot Recipe

    Savory butternut squash soup made in the Instant Pot is easy and quick!
    Prep Time10 minutes mins
    Cook Time10 minutes mins
    Total Time20 minutes mins
    Course : Soup
    Cuisine : Paleo
    Keyword : Vegetable
    Servings: 4 servings
    Calories: 194kcal
    Author: Karen Lee

    Equipment

    • Pressure Cooker

    Ingredients

    • 2 tablespoon Coconut Oil
    • 1 small onion cubed
    • 1 inch ginger grated
    • 2 cloves garlic minced
    • 2 cups Butternut Squash peeled, seeded, and cubed
    • 2 cups Sweet Potatoes peeled and cubed
    • 3 Cups Bone broth or Chicken broth or Vegetable Broth if vegetarian
    • 1 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt
    • ½ teaspoon curry powder
    • ½ teaspoon turmeric
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
    • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
    • 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
    • 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh parsley for garnish optional
    • 1 teaspoon pumpkin seeds for garnish optional
    • 1 tablespoon coconut cream or dairy cream for garnish optional
    US Customary - Metric

    Instructions

    • Press "Saute" setting on Instant Pot.
    • When 'HOT" appears on the screen, add coconut oil, onions, ginger, garlic and pinch of salt.
    • Sauté until onion is a bit soft.
    • Add the rest of the ingredients.
    • Stir to mix.
    • Close the lid tightly, make sure the vent release valve is on "SEALING".
    • Press "MANUAL" and set the timer to 10 minutes.
    • When the timer goes off, pressure release naturally.
    • When it's completely depressurized, open the lid carefully.
    • If you have an immersion blender, pureé, right in the pot.
    • If you DON'T have an immersion blender, transfer the soup to a food processor or a blender and pureé. Be careful with hot soup when using the food processor or blender.
    • If using, garnish with finely chopped parsley, cream of your choice (i.e. dairy or coconut cream), nuts, and/or pumpkin seeds before serving.

    Notes

    • An immersion blender is very convenient to make smooth soups like this right in the inner pot. And since you don't have to transfer the soup into another blender, you have one less thing to wash! 
    • But if you don't have an immersion blender, you must allow the soup to cool down a little before pureeing in a blender as hot soup will splatter. 
    • If you don't have sweet potatoes, you can also use carrots. It'll taste just as sweet! Or you can omit the root vegetables all together for lower carbs! 
    • If you want to garnish with cream and you can tolerate dairy, top with heavy cream before serving. If you can't tolerate dairy, then, use coconut cream.  

    Nutrition

    Calories: 194kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 689mg | Potassium: 510mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 16875IU | Vitamin C: 18.8mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 1.2mg
    DisclosureThis recipe may contain links that pay commission to this site when you purchase from the links, at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure!
    Tried this recipe? Share your photo and mention @koreanfoodiemom or tag #koreanfoodiemom!

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    About Karen Lee

    I am a food writer, recipe developer, and a cookbook author sharing my family’s favorite simple & easy, allergy-friendly recipes with you! Let's connect on Instagram || Facebook || Pinterest || YouTube Learn more about me on the ABOUT page.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Anna @Green Talk says

      October 23, 2015 at 9:15 am

      I can't believe how fast the butternut squash soup takes. I have to buy one of these and get rid of my old rice cooker.

    2. My Darla Clementine says

      October 22, 2015 at 5:56 pm

      I love Butternut Squash soup but have never had it with Curry, Turmeric, and Ginger before! Sounds fantastic!

    3. How We Flourish says

      October 22, 2015 at 7:50 am

      I seriously need an InstaPot. I am hoping to get one soon! Maybe I should save one of the butternut squash we have lying around for this. Looks delicious!

      • Karen says

        October 22, 2015 at 4:21 pm

        Chloe, IP would be perfect for you! It's on sale on Amazon today but if you miss it, you can always use my discount code, 'DRKAREN50' And yes, save the squash to make this when you get it! 🙂

        • CJ Neil says

          November 09, 2015 at 9:02 am

          Did your code expire? I tried it today on mazon and it didn't work.

    4. The Food Hunter says

      October 21, 2015 at 11:31 am

      This soup sounds wonderful. I need an instapot! 🙂

      • Karen says

        October 22, 2015 at 4:22 pm

        You should get it It's so versatile!

    5. Megan Stevens says

      October 20, 2015 at 2:42 pm

      In need to get one! Love your description of her superpowers! 😉

      • Karen says

        October 22, 2015 at 4:23 pm

        Yes, it does have superpowers, like mothers!

    6. Lisa (@retrohousewife5) says

      October 20, 2015 at 1:26 pm

      The Instant Pot is on my wish list for sure! This recipe looks great as well.

      • Karen says

        October 22, 2015 at 4:23 pm

        You definitely need it. It cooks food in 1/3 the time and energy!

    7. hgnextdoor says

      October 20, 2015 at 12:47 pm

      I love that this recipe is specific for the insta pot! I get a little nervous when using it 🙂 Glad you tested it for us!

      • Karen says

        October 22, 2015 at 4:24 pm

        I aim to please. Actually, I wanted to keep it for myself for later on too. 🙂

    8. Emily @ Recipes to Nourish says

      October 20, 2015 at 11:09 am

      Looks delicious! Love all of your Instant Pot recipes.

      • Karen says

        October 22, 2015 at 4:25 pm

        Thx Emily! I love this pot!

    9. Susie says

      October 20, 2015 at 9:26 am

      Oh yum! And I need this instant pot. I'll hold onto the hopes of winning one. Otherwise, I'll have to expense it as a blogging expense. Obviously my life would be better with one!

      • Karen says

        October 22, 2015 at 4:26 pm

        If you don't win one, use my discount code and get it! And write it off!

    10. reneekohley says

      October 20, 2015 at 9:06 am

      My parents offered to get me an instapot for Christmas - all of your recipes have me wanting one! The soup looks great!

      • Karen says

        October 22, 2015 at 4:27 pm

        How nice of your parents! Tell them about the discount code DRKAREN50! I'm sure you'll create awesome recipes Renee!

    4.35 from 61 votes (61 ratings without comment)

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    Karen Lee

    Hi, I'm Karen! I am a food writer, recipe developer, and a cookbook author sharing my family’s favorite allergy-friendly, simple & easy recipes with you!

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