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!
I have made this over and over again. I use the instant pot version because it is so quick and easy. Tastes amazing! Everyone loves it! Thanks so much for the delicious and healthy recipe!! I’ll never need another butternut squash soup recipe.
This soup is delicious! Only thing I did was add 1 celery stick & fresh ginger. Will add this to my recipe book. Thank you!!!
Unfortunately I was distracted during the final moments of getting this into the pressure cooker that I added the coconut/half and half before pressurizing.
Would that have ruined the soup? Altered the taste?
Should I toss it?
I just did the same thing. I hope it turns out ok!
I did the same thing! Waiting to see how it turns out.
I used this recipe for my 1st use of my Instant Pot and new Immersion Blender. It blew me away! I have to be honest I bought pre-cut butternut squash, 2 bags 1 pound each. Then once I made it I noticed the notation at the end of the recipe a medium squash equals 3-4 pounds. So I had to go back to the store to pick up 2 more 1 pound bags. Cooked that and mixed it in with the batch I previously made. It turned out great! I barely had enough to share with friends but everyone loved it. 4 days later I’m making another batch!
The BEST!!! DELICIOUS and so fast and easy.
This is my son’s favorite soup. This recipe makes it so easy to make.
Wow I never review but feel so strongly about how good this turned out. First of all the instant pot makes this so much easier than stirring and watching the soup. I didn’t have all the Ingredients but made it work with what I had. I added two small sweet potatoes and 4 carrots. I didn’t have onion or coconut milk so I just used half and half. I added a little curry powder at the end. It is somehow so sweet and delicious without any added sweetener. Like another reviewer I love the Panera squash soup but this one is so much healthier. And love that it was an easy clean up! Thanks for this winner!
Just made this recipe and I am amazed and how delicious this is! It’s truly the best butternut squash soup that I’ve ever had and the ingredients are so simple and cheap :) can’t go wrong here, I’ll be eating this all winter season!
I’m ready to try this!! Sounds great; my first use of my instant pot!!!
Absolutely delightful!! However, whoever put in prep time is not being honest. This took me roughly an hour and a half to two hours to prepare. You have to first peel and cut the squash. Then you have to peel and chop the apple which is fairly quick to do and then you have to peel and chop the carrot which once again is Fairly quick to do but between cutting the squash which is not quick to do and then puréeing it at the end of cooking time in the Insta pot, you’re looking at 90 minutes to 2 hours
Is this a sweet soup? I like my butternut soup sweet. Would using sweetened coconut milk ruin it?