Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup
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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.
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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
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- 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.
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This soup was OK, as written. It seemed to lack a flavor component however. I added garlic powder to the finished soup and it greatly improved. I think if I were to make this again, I would add 1-3 garlic cloves to the butter and onion and sauté in the beginning, then follow the rest of recepie as written. Along the lines of the classic French winter squash soup with butternut and acorn squash, I think the sautéed garlic is important to this savory and sweet soup.
This is the most delicious soup! I have made orro several parties and everyone loves it. It seriously tastes like Fall in a bowl. The honey adds just a hint of sweetness. Absolutely delicious and didn’t substitute anything.
Hi made this soup for a dinner party. It was excellent. One guest said it was the best soup she had ever eaten. Thank you!
This soup is amazing. I have found the perfect butternut squash soup after trying many recipes. Made it twice in one week to rave reviews. Thanks!
Great recipe, I added a dollop of sour cream and bacon bits to finish. Had 4 at the dinner table ask for the recipe before finishing their bowl..
Just doubled the recipe for Thanksgiving and, naturally, had to taste the soup before putting it in the freezer. It is delicious! Thank goodness I know I will have leftovers.
A question, I need to put the calorie amount into my diet sheet but, I notice you say there is 19g of sugar? How is this when there are 3 tablespoons of honey which equates to 63.75g of sugar? Confused, I am!
Hi Jacqui, There are 8 servings and the nutrition info is for each individual serving.
🙂 I must have been having a “senior” moment, thanks for the info. The soup is absolutely fantastic!
This recipe is fabulous! I did add 3 large carrots and sine I didn’t have mace or nutmeg on hand I used only the 1/2tsp cinnamon but added 1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spice. For garnish, I whipped up the leftover heavy cream with some cinnamon and added a dollop. My always refuse to eat squash kids loved this!
Absolutely loved this recipe! Easy to follow and my god is it tasty!!! I followed another users suggestion for spices as I didn’t have everything listed, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and 1/8 tsp of pumpkin spice. Wow! The flavor is great, the sweetness is perfect. Overall a great soup I’ll definitely be making again! 🙂
Thanks Christa, I didn’t have all the spices either and used your measurements for cinnamon and pumpkin spice 🙂 (though I didn’t add the carrots) still turned out delicious!!
can you freeze this soup?
Hi Gwen, Yes, absolutely.
Yes!
Can this be made a day or two ahead?
Hi Dale, Absolutely!
What would you suggest as a garnish for this soup? I plan to serve at Thanksgiving this year. =)
Hi Janine, You could do a swirl of cream with a dash of cinnamon or some chopped chives; a crouton; some finely chopped apples tossed with a little cinnamon; or even some pomegranate seeds. Hope that helps!
We love it with feta cheese and bacon!
I made this soup tonight. It was wonderful! I halved the recipe (I wasn’t sure if would like it) and it turned out great. I tasted it after adding the apple and blending it and thought it was good even before adding any of the spices (my husband liked it too). Adding the spices made it taste like the perfect soup for the holidays. I skipped the cream altogether, didn’t feel it was necessary.
Just made this, yummy! I changed the cream for low fat plain yoghurt and didn’t put in the mace. Absolutely delicious.
Does anyone know how many calories and the breakdown? I know it’s a “boring” question, but I’d really like to know!.
Hi Jacqui, The nutritional facts have been posted underneath the recipe. Hope that helps!
Can this be made vegan? Has anyone done this successfully?
Hi Maureen, You can substitute vegetable oil for the butter, vegetable stock for the chicken stock and omit the cream; won’t be quite as rich and creamy, but it should still be delicious.
Add coconut milk (not water) instead of cream – maybe a bit less – should make it rich – you might not need the honey with this.
Wow! Just made this recipe and it is pure perfection. I’ve been looking for a butternut squash soup recipe for a while now and found your site while looking for some other recipes, saw this and had to try it. So glad I did! It’s so easy to make, too. It’s silky, creamy, earthy, sweet and savory. Just what I was looking for. Thank you for this and all your other amazing recipes!
Love this recipe as is. It has become a fall staple in my household.
Jenn, your recipe for Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Soup has by far been the best soup I have ever made! Now when I make it, I make about 10 qts of it so I can freeze some plus have some for leftovers, and I live alone. That should tell you how much I love this soup. I’ve made it for friends & given the recipe to friends & they all love it too! I never used to be much of a soup person but you’ve made a soup lover out of me. The combination of the squash & potato & apple with all the spices is just perfect! The cream as you said just makes the soup! I normally don’t use cream in anything & I tried the soup without it & it was delicious but the cream made it so much better! I don’t know what I’ll do in the months when I can’t get squash now. Thanks for all the hard work you do to create these wonderful recipes! Keep ‘em coming!
Excellent! I have made other squash soups which were fine but this soup is delicious. My guests will be thrilled when I serve it this weekend. I’m looking forward to trying more of your great recipes.
This soup was absolutely fantastic! I love the combination of the squash & sweet potato as they are both my favorites. And for Erin about replacing mace, I used Allspice which my Substitution book said to do. I love to put Allspice in a lot of recipes anyway. Thanks so much for this recipe. Keep them coming! :~)
I garnish with fresh sage from the garden.
I made this for my grandchildren who don’t like vegetables, they loved this soup 🙂 I topped it with Pomegranate seeds and served with some of our wonderful San Francisco sourdough bread. We all loved it!
This is one of those soups that you crave year-round. My family loves it topped with garlic aioli ..
This is my absolute favorite recipe! I prefer to purchase the organic whole squash and cut it myself. Butternut squash soup is one of my favorite things for fall and winter, and this recipe is just deliche!
I’m already longing for fall so I cam make this.
Made it this past weekend and it was a hit! I froze some, so I’m anxious to see how it is once defrosted. Thanks for the great recipe!
This is so yummy, and great on a cold fall or winter day. I top it with pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries. Fabulous!
I made my first butternut squash soup last week but I would love to try this recipe with sweet potato! So good and so good for you!
I love this soup! The combination of butternut squash and sweet potato is so yummy. My family loved it…they’ve already asked me to make sure I always have the ingredients on hand 🙂
I absolutely love butternut squash soup and I love sweet potato anything. Never thought about blending the two ~ this is fabulous! A new all-time favorite.
Great recipe and even better now that they sell the squash precut!
This is one of my favorite soup recipe. I love the sweetness from the squash and onions. So easy to make and I think they are better the next day too. It’s good to make a large batch and save some for later! Delicious recipe!
amy [at] utry [dot] it
Is there a difference if I use chicken stock or chicken broth in a soup?
Carolyn, Vegetable broth will work just fine. Hope you enjoy it!
Can you make this with a vegetable broth instead of chicken broth?
Erin, Don’t worry about replacing the mace with anything. Just leave it out…it will still be delicious. Hope that helps!
What can I replace the mace with? I can’t find mace!
Love the pumpkin seeds garnish!
Last night I ate some leftovers of this soup and added some craisins to it. Fantastic! It gave the soup a sweet quality with a true fall harvest taste.
This soup was excellent! My whole family enjoyed it, including 13 and 10 year old girls. The only changes I made were to roast the squash and sweet potatoes in a 400° oven for 40 minutes, instead of boiling them, and I used whole milk instead of heavy cream. Served it with roasted pumpkin seeds as a garnish on the soup and crusty bread. Excellent fall dinner!
your suggestions answered my questions submitted earlier. should have read all the comments first… I am going to try with almond milk with smaller amount of cream to lighten up the fat. And I am going to top with fresh lump crabmeat from our wonderful Chesapeake Bay.
It’s so nice to have you do all of the research for us. It makes our decision making so much easier!! Thanks.
This soup is delicious. I had such a large quantity left over when I made it last month that I froze half of it. I was unsure about how such a creamy soup would taste when defrosted, and whether the texture would hold up. This past weekend, I defrosted the remaining portion and heated it up. It tasted just as delicious as it did the day I made it, so yes, you can freeze it. Thanks, Jenn!
This sounds delicious and w/ the holidays fast approaching (not to mention the cold weather) I’m definitely going to make this.
Debbie: You can definitely omit or cut back on the cream. Don’t worry about adding anything as a substitute…it will be thick enough. Enjoy!
I am vegan and am considering substituting coconut cream for the heavy cream. I think it will work with the flavors. What do you think? Thanks!
Hi Craig, Yes, that definitely should work. Please let me know how it turns out.
Hi Jenn,
This looks great, I’ll try it. I’d like to skip the heavy cream. Would you suggest using a regular Idaho Potato to thicken it up?
Thanks,
Debbie Greenspan
this soup is AMAZINGLY delicious! the best butternut squash soup we’ve ever had (my dad was here and agrees).
I made this soup to bring to a friend who just had a baby and it was a huge hit. I dropped it off along with a loaf of locally-made farm bread. Thanks for an easy, yet elegant recipe.
HI Jenn–Thanks for checking it out:) I just do it for fun–your site looks AMAZING!! I have seen it before thru Julie (after i had already started my blog!)LOL
Will check back and try some of your fantastic recipes!!! Starting with this one!!!! 🙂
I made the soup and it was fantastic!! We loved it, loved it, loved it! Thanks so much and keep them coming.
I love a good sweet potato soup. This seems to be a good combination.