Easy Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
Easy Instant Pot Butternut squash soup takes classic butternut squash soup and cuts the preparation time in half! This quick soup makes a cozy, vegetarian dinner or a quick appetizer for your holiday dinner.
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I’ve had a love hate relationship with my Instant Pot. Honestly, I bought it months ago and have been trying to figure out what all the hype is about since I bought it.
But, I’m happy to say, I’ve finally figured it out! I love it for soups like this butternut squash soup. It also makes some pretty delicious pasta dishes. More on that later this week thought. I’m still an Instant Pot skeptic, but for soups oh yes.
Quick Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
The fabulous thing about making soup in the Instant Pot is it cuts the cook time of a soup like butternut squash soup way down. I am a huge fan of making roasted butternut squash soup. To make that, I’d oven roast the squash for about 50 minutes. Then you need time to let the squash cool before you blend it. And then you transfer it to a pot on the stove. It’s not hard but it’s definitely not a meal to make when you have 30 minutes or less to get dinner done.
With my Instant Pot butternut squash soup, you cut your total time down to about 30 minutes. That’s it! And you’re not sacrificing any flavor by following this method instead of making roasted butternut squash soup. Plus if you’re making it for Thanksgiving, you can free up a burner by making it in the Instant Pot.
The Yummiest Butternut Squash Soup
Part of my love hate relationship with the Instant Pot is that I love food with big flavors. A lot of times the Instant Pot kind of dilutes the flavors. But knowing that, I adjusted the recipe accordingly. In my roasted butternut squash soup, I relied primarily on the flavors from the sweet caramelized squash and onions, the garlic, and ginger. With the roasted butternut squash soup, that combination of ingredients provides tons of depth of flavor.
For this Instant Pot soup, I’ve added more flavors to the mix to get a similar depth of flavor that you would get by roasting the squash in the oven. I’m adding all the same flavors plus a touch of cinnamon, sage, and chili powder to this soup. It sounds a little off, I know. But trust me that the combination is perfect. It’s similar to the spice blend for my roasted southwestern steak and baby potatoes. A touch sweet and very mildly spicy. I do mean VERY mild. My 5 year old ate it with no complaints.
An added benefit of this soup? It stores really well. I store leftovers in the fridge in a sealed container and just reheat it in the microwave. It doesn’t get weird or separate the way some soups do.
How to Make Butternut Squash Soup in the Instant Pot
Making this soup is really easy! Basically, just add some olive oil to the inner liner of the Instant Pot. Then add all your cut veggies and spices. (P.S. If you want more information on how to peel and cut your squash, check out this post on the Kitchn.)
Pour some veggie broth over it and then put the lid on and set your Pot and that’s it.
You’re pretty much done minus blending it all. You can use an immersion blender or carefully pour it in 2 batches into a regular blender. And boom, soup’s done.
Save Even More Time! Shortcuts and Tricks
It’s hard to shave off more time when you already are making a dump and go soup, but there are some very handy tricks and shortcuts for nights when you are really in a pinch.
- Some grocery stores have precut and peeled butternut squash available. One container is about equal to one medium squash. Not peeling and cutting the squash will cut your prep time down a ton so go for the precut squash if you’re in a pinch.
- I like to press fresh garlic and grate my own ginger. However you could buy minced garlic and ginger paste or powder.
What to Serve with Butternut Squash Soup
Sky’s the limit really! You could serve this Instant Pot butternut squash soup up as an appetizer for Thanksgiving dinner. You could do soup and fall salad and serve it with this apple and pear kale salad. And of course, you could soup and grilled cheese, because classic.
I like to serve butternut squash soup topped with roasted butternut squash seeds or pumpkin seeds like these sweet and spicy roasted pumpkin seeds. I also love it topped with croutons or with a hunk of crusting bread on the side or soft, fresh baked yeast rolls. You could also top it with some crumbled bacon, a few drops of cream, or even some chopped toasted walnuts for some crunch.
Ingredients
- medium butternut squash peeled and cubed
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 3 onions rough chopped
- 3.5 cups of vegetable broth or stock
- 4 cloves of garlic pressed
- 1 inch of freshly grated ginger OR 1 tsp of ginger powder
- 1/2 tsp of chili powder
- 1/2 tsp of sage
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the inner liner of the Instant Pot. Then add the cubed butternut squash, onion, spices, and salt and pepper to the inner liner of the Instant Pot. Pour vegetable broth over the cut vegetables. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and turn the vent to sealing. Then push the Manual or Pressure Cook button (depends on the model you have) on your Instant Pot. Set the cook time to 8 minutes on high pressure. When it is done cooking, turn the valve to do a quick release. Let the steam release and then carefully remove the lid on the pot. Using an immersion blender blend the soup until smooth. Add more broth if desired to thin out. Serve with roasted squash or pumpkin seeds and croutons.
