Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
This easy-to-make butternut squash soup with sweet potatoes, apples, and warm spices tastes like fall in a bowl.
This easy-to-make butternut squash and sweet potato soup is one of my favorites, and I serve it every year for Thanksgiving. The hardest part of making it is wrestling with the butternut squash, so, to make life easy, I call for pre-cut squash from the produce department. Anytime you’re selecting pre-cut produce, make sure it’s fresh; I always grab a package from the back of the shelf, as those tend to have later expiration dates.
What you’ll need to make Butternut Squash and sweet potato soup
Step-By-Step Instructions
To begin, melt the butter over medium heat in a large pot and add the onions.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the butternut squash, sweet potatoes, chicken broth, salt, and pepper to the pot.
Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to low.
Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 minutes.
Add the diced apple and honey.
Purée the soup with a handheld immersion blender until very smooth and creamy. (Alternatively, use a standard blender to purée soup in batches, being careful not to fill the jar more than halfway. Leave the hole in the lid open and loosely cover with a dishtowel to allow the heat to escape. Pour the blended soup into a clean pot.)
Stir in the cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, and heavy cream.
Bring to a simmer, then taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. If you like a sweeter soup, add more honey. To thicken the soup, simmer over low heat until desired consistency is reached.
YOu may also like
- Creamy Butternut Squash Polenta
- Thai-Style Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk
- Easy Butternut Squash Soup
- Spicy Pumpkin Leek Soup
- Curried Cauliflower and Apple Soup
Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Soup
This easy-to-make butternut squash soup with sweet potatoes, apples, and warm spices tastes like fall in a bowl.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups roughly chopped yellow onions
- 2 pounds pre-cut butternut squash
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (about 1½ pounds before peeling)
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tart yet sweet apple, such as Fuji or Honeycrisp, cored, peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
- 3 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground mace
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Melt the butter over medium heat in a large pot. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the butternut squash, sweet potatoes, chicken broth, salt, and pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to low; simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat. Add the diced apple and honey and purée the soup with a handheld immersion blender until very smooth and creamy. (Alternatively, use a standard blender to purée soup in batches, being careful not to fill the jar more than halfway. Leave the hole in the lid open and loosely cover with a dish towel to allow the heat to escape. Pour the blended soup into a clean pot.)
- Stir in the cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, and heavy cream. Bring to a simmer, then taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. To thicken the soup, simmer over low heat until desired consistency is reached.
- Note: This soup thickens as it cools. If necessary, add a bit of water to thin it back to desired consistency.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The soup can be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost the soup in the refrigerator for 12 hours and then reheat it on the stovetop over medium heat until hot. (The soup will thicken up while in the freezer. While reheating, add a bit of water if necessary to thin it to your desired consistency.)
Pair with
Nutrition Information
Powered by 
- Per serving (8 servings)
- Calories: 359
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated fat: 10 g
- Carbohydrates: 43 g
- Sugar: 19 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 9 g
- Sodium: 816 mg
- Cholesterol: 59 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Hi there, just a couple of questions: what is mace? and what can be substituted if I don’t find it and will substituting vegetable broth be just as good? thank you for your time and delicious recipes.
Hi Sandra, Mace is a spice that is similar to (but a little more subtle than) nutmeg. If you don’t have it, it’s perfectly fine to omit it – it will still be delicious (and vegetable broth is completely fine). Hope you enjoy!
Once you add the apples, you don’t have to cook the soup any longer?
Yes, that’s correct. Hope you enjoy!
This soup was so delicious! I have made both butternut squash recipes and this one is much more flavorful. To be fair, in my prior attempt, I may not have cooked it down to my desired consistency. I made this recipe as written with the exception of using half of the recommended amount of cream. I think one could even get away without using cream if desired.
My whole family loved this soup. My (very picky) sister was raving about it. I substituted the heavy cream with the thicker parts of coconut milk, and the spices with 1/4 or 1/2 tsp allspice, and 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger (plus an extra couple dashes) as I did not have the others on hand. Also used goat butter instead of cow butter due to dairy allergies. YUM Jennifer, I always use your recipes when I know I need something good, and this was excellent. Thank you.
What a silky smooth soup! Perfect consistency. I am lactose intolerant so I used unsweetened lite coconut milk in place of heavy cream. I was afraid the coconut flavor may overwhelm the soup but I was wrong! I couldn’t really taste it and it gave the soup a very nice smoothness. Added a little garlic and used a little less honey as the apple gave the soup just the right amount of sweetness for me. I had never used mace before and found the flavor was truly “autumn in a bowl!” I was surprised it made so much so I’m going to try and freeze a few portions. Hoping the coconut milk will freeze ok. Thanks for another great recipe. Next on the list this week….Italian Wedding Soup! I am so glad I found Jenn and her blog!
Dear Jenn,
I made this soup last year for Thanksgiving and it was fabulous! I made it again last week and it tastes a little flat to me — obviously I did something different. Instead of using lower sodium chicken broth I used regular chicken broth and left out the salt thinking that would be appropriate. Could this be my problem? How/can I correct this? BTW — I love your cookbook!!
Hi Tracy, Yes that’s definitely the culprit – you won’t need as much salt with regular chicken broth but you’ll definitely still need some. I’d start with half the amount and add more to taste as necessary. Hope that helps and so glad you like the cookbook! 🙂
I made this soup last night- it’s easy, quick and delicious. Only adjustment made was instead of heavy cream, I added 1/2 Cup almond milk. We have been extremely happy with each new recipe. Thanks Jenn! E in Miami
This turned out great! I love the velvety texture and the warm spices. I will feeeze the leftovers to have again. Fortunately, my husband peeled and cut the butternut squash for me.
Hi Jenn,
I do not have mace for the squash, sweet potato soup. Is there a substitute for it or should I just make it without?
Another question! I want to make your birthday cake in advance. Is it all right to freeze the layers and frost it later? It’s for a surprise party and I am squeezed for time!
Hi Esther,
It’s fine to just leave it out – it will still be delicious. And, yes, you can definitely freeze the cake layers. 🙂
I absolutely LOVE this soup. I make it every year now for Thanksgiving 🙂 Thanks for sharing!!!