This Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup Recipe is perfect when you’re craving a warming, savory soup. It’s a great way to turn a butternut squash into a silky soup for lunch or dinner.
Why You’ll Love It
- You can make this Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup in a fraction of the time as you would on the stove top. It’s completely possible to make a fantastic soup for lunch or dinner in under 15 minutes.
- This soup is great for a quick meal, and even better as left overs. Store leftovers in individual serving containers to take to work the next day!
Tara says: 
Such a wonderfully comforting soup! Those flavors sound fantastic and I love how easily it all comes together in the instant pot.
Teodora Grujic says: Perfect for these colder days! We all love it in our family! Thanks for the recipe!
» Love soup? Try this Instant Pot Beef Stew or Potato Leek Soup
Ingredients You Need
For this soup, you’ll need a few basics, plus one lovely butternut squash (though you can use frozen if you need to). Here’s what you can gather:
- Butternut Squash – Look for a medium sized butternut squash – around 2-3 pounds. They’re easy to find in October, but other times of the year you might need to use frozen butternut squash. The soup needs no extra time to cook from frozen.
- Onions and carrots – These add to the aromatics of the soup and are essential for flavor.
- Chicken of Vegetable Stock – you can use either chicken or vegetable broth. Use vegetable to keep it vegetarian.
- Garlic – Be sure to use fresh garlic for the best flavor.
- Olive Oil: I like to sauté the vegetables in olive oil. You can use butter or a different oil, if you want.
- Seasonings: We use salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme to season the soup. You can use whatever herbs you like best, including sage or Italian seasoning.
- Optional garnishes: cream, red pepper flakes, chives, roasted pumpkin seeds, paprika, grated nutmeg, cayenne pepper, grated Parmesan cheese, bacon crumbles, etc.
PRO TIP: Whole butternut squash is cooked easily in the Instant Pot using this recipe.
Equipment Information
- Instant Pot: I use a 6-quart Instant Pot Duo Plus for this recipe. You can also use an 8-quart Instant Pot. Or any electric pressure cooker you have.
- Immersion Blender: This is a very handy kitchen tool to have around. If you don’t have one you can always use a blender. Just be careful, hot liquid can explode in the blender.
- Soup ladle – Something to scoop up your soup with!
Expert Tips
- You can use frozen store-bought butternut squash in place of a fresh one, if you want.
- If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can blend this soup in a blender.
- For a more creamy soup, add 1/4 cup heavy cream or half and half to the blended soup. Do not add the cream before cooking in the Instant Pot or it will curdle. You could also add coconut milk for a sweeter flavor.
How to Make Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
1. Prepare and Sauté the Vegetables
To ensure that the vegetable cubes cook evenly, chop them into small, same-sized cubes and add them to the Instant Pot with a little oil on the sauté setting. Season with half the salt.
When the onion and carrots are sautéed, they develop the flavor that makes this butternut squash soup so good, so don’t skip this step unless you’re really in a hurry.
Sautéing the veggies won’t take long. Keep an eye on the Instant Pot because the sauté function is really hot and the vegetables can easily burn if left unattended. If your pot is getting too hot, set it to low instead of high.
2. Add the Butternut Squash
Peel and cut the squash into chunks that are about 2-3 inches square. You can use fresh butternut squash or frozen squash.
Once the vegetables are a bit softened, after about 5 minutes, add the garlic, butternut squash, remaining salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme to the pot
Sauté it all for another 3-5 minutes to develop a bit more flavor. To keep it from giving you the burn notice, keep a close eye on it and stir it regularly. Turn it to low, if necessary. When done, turn off saute mode.
3. Add the Broth and Cook
Pour in the broth and scrap the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.
Close the lid of the Instant Pot and make sure the valve is set to pressurize. Press the Pressure Cook button and set the time for 8 minutes.
After the time is up, you can manually release the pressure, if you wish. If you’re not in a hurry, you can allow the pressure to release naturally.
4. Blend the soup
The best way to puree the soup to a silky consistency is with an immersion blender. You can stick the blender right into the soup and puree it until it’s smooth.
This can take a bit longer than you might think. At first the soup will be smooth, but not yet silky. You need to blend beyond that point until the soup is aerated and starts to look silky.
Note: If you don’t have an immersion blender, it’s okay to use a regular blender, instead. Make sure you take the plastic top piece off to allow the heat to vent as you blend, because hot liquids will erupt in the blender.
The soup will become very silky after blending for about 4 minutes. Make sure you blend long enough for this to happen.
If you love the silky smooth texture of this soup then try this caramelized carrot soup!
5. Add garnishes and serve
Add the butter and stir it in. Taste it to make sure it’s seasoned to your liking. Add a bit more salt until the flavor is right for you.
Why Use An Instant Pot?
The Instant Pot is one of the most useful kitchen appliances you can buy, because it drastically cuts down on the cooking time for developing flavors in soups and stews, getting tough cuts of meat tender, and even baking a cheesecake. If you don’t have one, check out our guide on which one to buy. Also see our guide to How to Use an Instant Pot and the many accessories you can buy for it.
- Don’t Have an Instant Pot? This guide can help you choose the right one.
- See reviews and prices for Instant Pots on Amazon.
- Learn some great Instant Pot Tips & Tricks.
- Click to find more recipes to make in your Instant Pot.
Optional Toppings
There are a few additional toppings you can use to dress up your soup, but it’s just as tasty without any garnish.
- A drizzle of cream to the top
- Red pepper flakes
- Croutons
- Roasted pumpkin seeds – Try this recipe to make them at home.
- A sprinkle of paprika
What to Serve With Instant Pot Butternut Squash
There are so many great main dishes you can serve alongside this Butternut Squash soup. Try one of these main dish ideas:
Questions About This Recipe
Do you leave the skin on butternut squash for soup?
No, you do not leave the skin of the butternut squash on when making soup. Unlike other types of squash, like acorn squash, you can’t really eat the skin of the butternut squash, because it’s too tough. Remove it before putting the squash into the Instant Pot.
Why is my butternut squash soup not smooth?
This can happen for two reasons. One is that you didn’t cook the butternut squash long enough. In the Instant Pot, if you cut the pieces to 2-3″ cubes, it should cook in 8 minutes. If the squash is still firm, cook for another 3 minutes. The second is that you didn’t blend it long enough. The immersion blender does a great job of pureeing soup, but you need to blend it for at least 4 minutes on high.
Why does my butternut squash have no flavor?
That really shouldn’t happen in this butternut squash soup, because we season with salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme. There should be a lot of flavor in this soup. Sometimes though, you get a butternut squash that has very little flavor, so the squash flavor is missing. In this case, there’s not much you can do except season well with herbs.
What if I don’t have an Instant Pot?
If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can make this soup in the slow cooker or in a pot on the stove. Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker and cook over low heat for 4 hours, then blend. On the stove, cook for 30-40 minutes over medium-low heat with the lid on, then blend.
We love making this easy soup for lunch or dinner pretty much anytime from October to December. It’s a life saver in the cold weather. It’ll warm you right up and it’s not too heavy! Instant Pot pressure cooker soups are perfect for fall.
More Instant Pot Soup Recipes to Try
- Instant Pot Kabocha Squash Soup
- Instant Pot Kale, White Bean, & Sausage Soup
- Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup
27 Delicious Instant Pot Soups & Stews for Fall
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Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
Note: Made in a 6-qt Instant Pot
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon (14.79 ml) cooking oil
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 1 carrot peeled and chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon (6 g) salt
- 1/2 teaspoon (1 g) black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.05 g) dried rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 g) dried thyme
- 1 butternut squash peeled and cut into chunks
- 4 cups (946.35 ml) low-sodium broth vegetable or chicken
- Optional garnishes: cream, red pepper flakes, chives, roasted pumpkin seeds, paprika, grated nutmeg
Instructions
- Press the Saute button on the Instant Pot. Allow it to warm up for 2 minutes. Add the cooking oil.
- Add the onion and carrot and saute, stirring often, for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, and butternut squash. Saute, while stirring, for an additional 3 minutes. Be careful not to burn.
- Add the broth to the pot. Stir well, making sure to remove the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Seal the lid. Press the Pressure Cook button and set the time to 8 minutes. When done, allow the pot to release the pressure naturally. (If you're in a hurry, you can manually release the pressure),
- Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth and silky (about 4 minutes). Serve with any garnish you like: roasted pumpkin seeds, croutons, or a pinch of paprika or nutmeg, if desired.
Notes
- You can use frozen store-bought butternut squash in place of a fresh one, if you want.
- If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can make this in the slow cooker or in a pot on the stove. Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker and cook over low heat for 4 hours. On the stove, cook for 30-40 minutes over medium-low heat with the lid on.
- For a more creamy soup, add 1/4 cup cream to the blended soup. Do not add the cream before cooking in the Instant Pot or it will curdle.
- If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can blend this soup in a blender.
Nutrition
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Laura is a passionate home cook and the owner of A Pressure Cooker Kitchen. She is dedicated to helping people create delicious Instant Pot meals with ease. Laura is an expert at developing recipes that can be prepared quickly and easily using a pressure cooker.
This Instant Pot butternut squash soup is perfect for dipping my favorite grilled ham and cheese sandwich into.
I love how comforting this is! Such a delicious meal!
This butternut squash soup is so ideal for fall – thank you!
Yum! I love butternut squash soup!
I’m so excited to see this for instant pot. This is one of my all time favorite soup recipes and I was going to try to figure out how to convert. I’ll be making it again this weekend.
I’m sure you’ll find it to be super easy to make in the Instant Pot.
About how big of a butternut squash should I buy?
A medium sized butternut squash is perfect for this recipe – around 2-3 pounds in weight.
This is the butternut squash soup recipe I’ve been looking for. The only thing I did different, I added a little cinnamon and I used leftover, cooked, mashed squash. After cooking and blending, it was so rich and creamy. My husband added a little of Smoky Paprika to his portion and that gave it a really good different flavor.
So glad you enjoyed it. Smoky paprika sounds like a great addition.
Perfect for these colder days! We all love it in our family! Thanks for the recipe!
I love squash soups and using the instant pot makes it so easy and quick.
Such a wonderfully comforting soup! Those flavors sound fantastic and I love how easily it all comes together in the instant pot.
Enjoyed this for dinner last night and it was a hit all around the table! Perfect comfort food for fall; my whole family loved it!
Ohh one of my favorite recipes but I had never tried making it in an instant pot until now. It was perfection 🙂 Thanks!