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!
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.
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:
- Cut the top and bottom off the squash.
- Cut it in half lengthwise.
- Scoop the seeds of the middle.
- 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.
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Pink Himalayan Salt
- Curry
- Turmeric
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Tarragon
- Parsley
Easy Instructions
- When the Instant Pot is hot, sauté onions, ginger, garlic, and a pinch of salt in coconut oil.
- Sauté until onion is soft.
- Add the vegetables and the spices.
- Sitr to incorporate.
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.
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
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.
Recipe
Butternut Squash Soup Instant Pot Recipe
Equipment
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
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.
Anna @Green Talk says
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.
My Darla Clementine says
I love Butternut Squash soup but have never had it with Curry, Turmeric, and Ginger before! Sounds fantastic!
How We Flourish says
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
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
Did your code expire? I tried it today on mazon and it didn't work.
The Food Hunter says
This soup sounds wonderful. I need an instapot! 🙂
Karen says
You should get it It's so versatile!
Megan Stevens says
In need to get one! Love your description of her superpowers! 😉
Karen says
Yes, it does have superpowers, like mothers!
Lisa (@retrohousewife5) says
The Instant Pot is on my wish list for sure! This recipe looks great as well.
Karen says
You definitely need it. It cooks food in 1/3 the time and energy!
hgnextdoor says
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
I aim to please. Actually, I wanted to keep it for myself for later on too. 🙂
Emily @ Recipes to Nourish says
Looks delicious! Love all of your Instant Pot recipes.
Karen says
Thx Emily! I love this pot!
Susie says
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
If you don't win one, use my discount code and get it! And write it off!
reneekohley says
My parents offered to get me an instapot for Christmas - all of your recipes have me wanting one! The soup looks great!
Karen says
How nice of your parents! Tell them about the discount code DRKAREN50! I'm sure you'll create awesome recipes Renee!