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!
This is the best butternut soup recipe out there!! Thanks for posting this!
This is my go-to butternut squash recipe. So good 100% of the time.
Insanely under seasoned. Yikes, there was no coming back from the lack of seasoning
LOVE LOVE LOVE this soup!! It’s filling, healthy, super easy, and my favorite soup to make when butternut squash is in season. Thank you for this recipe!!
Delicious recipe, made it for a potluck and everybody loved it! Here are some notes that others might care about (I prepared the 2x portions):
– Used 3/4 the can of coconut milk instead of the full can
– Didn’t add cayenne pepper
– Because I only had vegetable broth (not stock) with 800mg sodium per cup, I didn’t see the need to add any additional salt
– I ran the pressure cooker for 8 minutes, but then kept it running for an additional 8 minutes (slow pressure release)
– Ended up adding more cinnamon and nutmeg than just the 2x pinch (I didn’t keep track of how much more)
– I diced everything very finely (~1/3 inch cubes) except for the butternut squash
– I roasted the butternut squash in the air fryer before adding it in
Maybe what I did wasn’t right per-se, but it certainly didn’t go wrong! A recipe that’s resilient to modifications is always welcome in my cookbook.
Yes, Best squash soup ever. I made several mistakes (lost my coconut milk, used peanut butter instead, started with cooked squash, found coconut milk) still great soup. If you use cooked squash, a minute with a potato masher will do instead of a blender. A teaspoon or two of peanut butter will do if no coconut milk/ cream etc in the house.
Can I do this in a slow cooker? I like to prepare in the morning and eat when I’m home from work. Love my planners been using for years! Maybe the instant pot makes the Christmas wish list. 🙂
Just perfect, and tasted even better reheated the next day. I added some chilli powder as well as cayenne as I love heat and substituted allspice for nutmeg. This was delicious and so easy to make. I have frozen my leftover sage so I can make this recipe again and again!
Fall is in the air and I craved butternut squash soup..I made your recipe with some changes only because I didn’t have some items and I had others. This was delicious and I will make again..
My changes for ideas:
Used 2 boxes of precut butternut squash
4 cups chicken stock
Added fresh thyme and a dried bay leaf.grated fresh ginger and grated fresh turmeric
Omitted the coconut milk since I didn’t have
I used Better than Bouillon and that has sodium so I omit the salt and taste when finished.
I always take a little time to sauté the onion, garlic and ginger, etc. then add the rest of the ingredients.
Thank you and Happy Fall
My first Instant Pot recipe I ever made. The soup turned out great!!