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 have tried several butternut squash soup recipes and yours is my keeper. This is the second time I’ve made this recipe and this time I changed it up slightly. Instead of adding the 2 Tbs of sugar, I chopped up a couple of carrots and an apple and added those to the pot. I also found that using the purée option on my blender is much easier for me than using the immersion blender. It is the perfect consistency and tastes wonderful.
It was delicious, but I did a few things differently for lack of planning. I boiled the squash and red pepper in water with a little salt. When they were spft after simmering, I put them in the blender. After they were creamy, I added a tad of brown sugar and blended again. Then realized I had no cream, and added plain non-fat yogurt. Yum! The little sour kick os delicious! Not much needed in the mix, as each member in the family added a little more to their taste directly to their plate. Seriously awesome!
Oh, by the way, I drained after simmering and only added less than a cup of water. It was all squash with the one red pepper. Consistency was creamy, thick even. Yummy!
This is the first of youe recipes I have made and both my wife and myself enjoyed it however like many Noth American recipes and products we fond it overly sweet , our personal taste probably. Next time it will be with less sugar and maybe only six cups of water. Congratulations on an excellent site.
Made this recipe as the weather in NY is still decently cold and wanted a nice healthy bowl of soup to cuddle up on the couch with! As far as squash soup, I prefer mine to be on the sweeter side, so for about every 1 1/2 cups of soup, I added 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and at the end an extra teaspoon of sugar. Additionally, instead of heavy creamer I used unsweetened almond milk and it helped lessen the taste of the pepper which seemed to be a bit overwhelming to me at first. I would definitely make this again for sure!
My soup came out very lumpy. How can I make it a creamier consistency?
Hi Alexandra, Just keep blending it; it takes a while to get smooth, especially using a stick blender.
I just returned from surgery from a fractured jaw and came across this recipe while looking for liquid food recipes. I realized while I was cooking though that I forgot to buy onions 🙁 Will this make a huge difference to the flavour?
Hi Bulelani, Unfortunately, yes, you need the onions. Sorry!
So i was too tired to go back for the onions, I mad it anyway though and it still turned out pretty good. But the onions definitely would’ve made it perfect.
By the way, the water left over from boiling, should you add it all in or just enough to get a decent consistency?
You add it all; if you had added the onions, it would have been just right but it was probably too watery without them. Hope you’ll try it again 🙂
That’s exactly it, it was too watery. It was still great and delicious nonetheless. I have a whole bag full of butternut so I’m definitely going to try this recipe again 😀
I absolutely love the flavour of this soup and I am planning to serve it for Easter dinner for a crowd of 15. I wanted to know if I could make the soup ahead and then freeze it? If so, how long can it be frozen for without changing the taste or consistency??
Hi Hilary, It’s fine to make the soup now and freeze for Easter, however I would wait to add the cream until you defrost it.
Forgot to add that I substituted Alpro Soya Cream as it was being served for a meat meal. (Kosher dietary rules).
Thank you for this excellent recipe. I stumbled across it whilst browsing for a simple and speedy soup. It was served last week for the Purim festival feast and everyone loved it! Looking forward to now working through your extensive menus.
Would love to make this soup but I cannot tolerate garlic is there a substitute I could use.
Hi Gill, It’s fine to just leave it out.