Butternut Squash Soup
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Effortlessly easy and irresistibly silky, this easy butternut squash soup is brimming with naturally sweet and savory flavors—perfect comfort food for crisp fall days.
If you’re on the lookout for a standout butternut squash soup recipe that’s as easy as it gets, this is the one! My no-fuss recipe begins with a smart shortcut: pre-cut squash from the supermarket. Then, simply throw all the ingredients into a pot, simmer, purée, and you’re done! But—and this is me wearing my kitchen dictator hat—please stick to the recipe as written. The simplicity here means that full measures of sugar, salt, and cream are essential to achieving that rich, full-bodied flavor and silky texture that take this soup from simple to sublime.
For the finishing touch, you have two seasoning options: fresh thyme or curry powder. Each leads this easy butternut squash soup recipe in a deliciously different direction, so choose whichever one suits your mood or pairs well with what you’re serving.
Table of Contents
“This is one of those obscenely simple recipes that gets rave reviews from everyone! Ive made it for as many as 150 people and they ALL wanted the recipe. So quick to put together—my favorite “dump” recipe; but the result is elegant, fragrant and such a beautiful color.”
What You’ll Need To Make Butternut Squash Soup
- Butternut Squash: The star of the soup, butternut squash provides the soup’s base, offering a sweet, nutty flavor and a velvety texture once blended.
- Red Bell Pepper: Adds a subtle sweetness and a vibrant color to the soup.
- Onion and Garlic: These aromatics are essential for building the soup’s flavor foundation.
- Water: Used as the liquid base, water helps to blend all the ingredients smoothly without overpowering their flavors.
- Salt: Enhances the natural flavors of the soup. Remember, don’t skimp because it’s essential for bringing all the flavors together.
- Sugar: While it might seem counterintuitive to add sugar to a savory soup, a touch of sweetness enhances the butternut squash and red bell pepper’s natural flavors. It also helps balance the saltiness. Again, don’t skimp on this essential ingredient.
- Heavy Cream: Gives the soup a luxurious, creamy texture and a slightly sweet richness.
- Thyme or Curry Powder: Choose based on the flavor profile you prefer: earthy and herbal with thyme, or warm and spicy with curry powder.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin by tossing all of the vegetables, salt, and sugar into a large soup pot.
Cover them with water.
Bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the vegetables are very tender, about 35 minutes.
Puree the soup with a hand-held immersion blender (or in a standard blender) until silky-smooth.
Pour in the heavy cream.
Stir until combined and bring to a simmer. Mix in the fresh thyme (or curry powder), then taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
That’s all there is to it. Ladle the soup into bowls, drizzle with more cream if desired, and serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! While it’s generally more expensive to buy pre-cut produce at the supermarket, it can be a huge time-saver, especially with large, unwieldy vegetables like butternut squash. Peeling, seeding, and chopping a whole butternut squash is a chore, so ready-to-cook cubes are a great shortcut. The key is to make sure the package is very fresh. The grocer’s rule is “first in, first out” so the freshest package will typically be towards the back of the shelf.
Yes, the soup can be frozen, without the cream, for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator for 12 hours and then reheat on the stovetop over medium heat until hot. Once heated through, add the cream and bring to a simmer before serving.
Yes, it’s an excellent make-ahead dish. It can be prepared up to 3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. In fact, letting the soup sit for a day or two can enhance its flavors as the ingredients meld together. When ready to serve, gently reheat the soup over low heat, stirring occasionally.
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Butternut Squash Soup
Effortlessly easy and irresistibly silky, this easy butternut squash soup is brimming with naturally sweet and savory flavors—perfect comfort food for crisp fall days.
Ingredients
- 2½ pounds pre-cut butternut squash (7 to 8 cups, cubed)
- 1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
- 7 cups water
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¾ cup heavy cream, plus more for serving
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon curry powder, for a different flavor profile)
Instructions
- Combine the squash, pepper, onion, garlic, water, salt, and sugar in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 35 minutes
- Using a hand-held immersion blender, purée the soup until silky smooth. (Alternatively, cool the soup slightly, then purée in a blender in batches, making sure to leave the hole in the lid open to allow the steam to escape.) Stir in the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Mix in the thyme (or curry powder), then taste and adjust seasoning (depending on the sweetness of the vegetables, you may need a touch more sugar). Ladle the soup into bowls, drizzle with more cream if desired, and serve.
- Make-Ahead/Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The soup can be prepared up to 3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. It can also be frozen, without the cream, 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. Once heated through, add the cream and bring to a simmer before serving.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 217
- Fat: 11 g
- Saturated fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 31 g
- Sugar: 11 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 1192 mg
- Cholesterol: 34 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.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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I normally really enjoy recipes from Jennifer, and even bought her cookbook because I felt guilty having made so many of her recipes, repeatedly with great success. This time for this recipe, I used an orange bell pepper since I didn’t have a red one. I used coconut creamer instead of heavy cream since that’s what I had on hand. The entire batch of soup had to be throw out. It was awful. I thought I made this before and thought it came out wonderfully, but I can’t be sure. I think it was so good because I used chicken bone broth instead of water. Allow me to further investigate and update my review. For now, I can’t recommend this one, but Jenn has the most wonderful recipes. I will update on those separately.
In her defense you did tweak it a lot that technically it’s not her recipe anymore.
I usually love recipes from this blog, definitely a go-to site, but this one fell flat for me. It was bland. I had to add coconut and curry to salvage it, but then it was good so I guess that as a base for the flavors you prefer it works well.
Just made this today to warm and serve on Thanksgiving – so delish! Have to keep my husband out of it for 2 days. Soon to be a family fav 😋
How many days will this soup keep covered in a Tupperware in the fridge? Thanks!
Hi Stephanie, this should keep well for 2 – 3 days in the fridge. 🙂
Really such a delicious soup. I normally don’t love butternut soup, but just felt like it tonight and I loved it.
It was one of the few recipes that really took as long as it said. I couldn’t believe that I could make such a yum soup, from start to finish, in less than an hour.
I didn’t have peppers and I didn’t add cream. But it was still delicious.
Thank you for sharing this recipe Jenn
Delicious! The only change I made was to add a tablespoon of white pepper to add a little kick. Everyone loved it!
Followed the recipe directions but I added 1/2 tsp ground white pepper before serving. I felt it needed a little something after making it and the pepper gave it more depth. I pureed the soup in the Vitamix instead of using my immersion blender. I like the silky texture that blending provides. Even after adding the cream, the soup was still very bright orange!
Hi Jenn
This looks fabulous and will be trying it out this weekend. Instead of a blender can I use my food processor to puree?
Sure, Lisa – just don’t add too much to the food processor at once or it will leak out. Enjoy!
We loved this! And it was easy to make, even though I cut up the squash myself. The one question I have is that the red pepper skin came off and rolled up so the soup was not as smooth as I would have liked. I also sometimes have this happen with red peppers in other recipes. Do you know what causes this and how I can avoid it? Thanks! Making your potatoes au gratin tonight!
Hi Tom, glad to hear this was a hit! If those little bits of bell pepper are bothersome, you could strain the soup to catch those pieces of skin. Also, if you don’t mind the extra step, believe it or not, you can peel bell peppers.
Hello Jenn,
Why would this recipe be so high in Sodium? I don’t get it. Is there that much Sodium in a TBSP Of salt?
Hi Tissa, a tablespoon of sodium has 6,976 mg of sodium, so that’s where the great majority of the sodium comes from. Feel free to cut the salt back and add more to taste if necessary. Hope that clarifies!
Finally made this soup, and it was fantastic, Jenn. Added more cream to make it creamier. Excellent! Kudos again!