This Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup recipe is super quick and easy to make in the pressure cooker, it’s naturally gluten-free and vegan, and it’s full of the best fall flavors that everyone will love! (This post contains affiliate links.)
This one goes out to all of my Instant Pot fans out there!
We’ve had loads of requests ever since this magical pressure cooker hit the market for tips on how to adapt my favorite Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup recipe for the Instant Pot. And with good reason — why wait 4-8 hours for this cozy soup to cook when it could be ready from start to finish in about 30 minutes instead?!
Like I said…magic. ✨✨✨
Seriously, this continues to be one of my all-time favorite soup recipes, and thousands of readers have made it over the years and agreed as well. So grab your pressure cookers and let’s make a batch…in an “instant”!
This butternut squash soup recipe actually hails from my mom, who first made it for our family when everyone was back home in Wichita a few Thanksgivings ago. It’s loaded up with lots of fall favorites — hearty butternut squash, tart Granny smith apples, a (surprise!) carrot, and some extra garlic and sage for seasonings. It’s also made extra creamy with coconut milk, although you’re welcome to sub in heavy cream or any other kind of milk that you prefer.
To make the soup in the Instant Pot (<– this is the model I own), just pop the beginning ingredients in there together and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes. Then, there’s no need to wait for the natural release. Just (very carefully) turn the valve to “venting” for a quick release. Then remove the sage, add in the coconut milk, puree with a blender (or immersion blender) until smooth and creamy, taste, season…
…and if you feel like adding an extra touch, drizzle some extra coconut milk on top and sprinkle with some fresh herbs or pumpkin seeds or a sprinkle of seasoning (smoked paprika, cinnamon, cayenne, you pick).
And within about 30 minutes, this gorgeous meal will be yours to enjoy. It’s so warm and hearty and comforting, it’s full of ingredients you can feel great about, and it is just SO amazingly good. Every time.
Enjoy, everyone!
Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and diced
- 1 medium (uncooked) butternut squash*, peeled, seeded and diced
- 1 sprig fresh sage
- 1 white onion, diced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper, or more to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne, or more to taste
- pinch of ground cinnamon and nutmeg
- 1/2 cup canned (unsweetened) coconut milk
- optional garnishes: extra coconut milk and a sprinkle of smoked paprika (or cayenne pepper)
Instructions
- Add vegetable stock, garlic, carrot, apple, butternut squash, sage, onion, salt, pepper, cayenne, cinnamon and nutmeg to an Instant Pot pressure cooker. Toss to combine. Close lid securely and set vent to “Sealing”.
- Press “Manual”, then press “Pressure” until the light on “High Pressure” lights up, then adjust the +/- buttons until time reads 8 minutes. Cook. Then very carefully, turn the vent to "Venting" for quick release, and wait until all of the steam has released and the valve has dropped. Remove the lid.
- Remove and discard the sage. Stir in the coconut milk.
- Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth. (Or you can transfer the soup in two batches into a traditional blender, and puree until smooth, being very careful when working with the hot liquid.) Taste, and season with additional salt, pepper and cayenne if needed.
- Serve warm, with optional garnishes if desired.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Going to try this tomorrow. Thinking about adding half cup of peanut butter. I had some squash soup with peanut butter in it. at a restaurant years ago and it was very good.
How many calories, please? This is super delicious!! Thank you!
Way more delicious than I though it would be for being so simple! Subbed: water instead of broth, unsweetened applesauce since I didn’t have an apple, half and half, ground sage. Added added a bit of ginger I had lying around. No nutmeg. Super good.
Delicious and simple to make. Would recommend reducing the amount of cayenne pepper. It was a too peppery but otherwise 2 thumbs up.
Made it and loved it. Want to use precut cubes. How many cups should I use?
Thanks
I used 4 cups of squash and 4 cups of stock and got two huge containers. If using 2 cups stock I would use 2 cups butternut squash.
Delicious. I made it for my daughter and her family when she was ill. Must admit I forgot the garlic and the cayenne, but figured the grandchildren might prefer the milder taste. Remember to figure in the time required for cutting up the squash. Yum. Can’t wait to make it for my husband and me.
This was delicious… I added some fresh grated ginger.. garnished with a little parm cheese and a HEART drizzle of toasted Pumpkin Seed oil.
A keeper recipe…thank you so much❤️❤️❤️
Made it for dinner tonight – easy, quick and unbelievably tasty. Didn’t have a Granny Smith but used a tart Lucy Red and it still turned out better than anything I’ve ever had in a restaurant. Best part is that hubby didn’t taste the coconut milk so we have a great milk free version that everyone can share (GF/DF/NF). Bookmarking this recipe and adding it to our repertoire!
What can I substitute the coconut milk with?
Milk, cream
Love this soup!! Slightly altered the recipe by adding pumpkin spice and cumin. I only wish that it had the carbs listed.