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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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!!!
This is the most wonderful soup in my recipe box! Easy to pull together and even my picky children love it! I cut the cream in half to make it lighter but the taste isn’t effected. Love Jen’s recipes!
Oops! But wonderful… I bought the “squash” at roadside stand and didn’t realize it was a long neck pumpkin til I got home, but I made the soup anyway. Soup was delish! Now I will have to make it again with butternut squash.
I’ve been searching for the best butternut squash soup recipe for quite some time now and I seem to have found it. This is perfect. I add a teaspoon of honey to each bowl of soup I pour myself, I like it super sweet but the rest of the house does not. I also douse it with black pepper in my bowl because I like the sweetness and the mild heat combined. This recipe tops the charts!
Couple questions here. But first- Love this recipe ! It’s best squash soup I’ve ever tasted! I want to make this soup a week ahead. So I will freeze it. What directions would you change or add if I’m freezing it then defrosting the day I’m serving ? Also does it “go” for this time of year? Or do u recommend more of a summer soup? Ty! It’s for 25 ppl, tripling the recipe should do it, right?
Glad you like this soup! You really don’t need to change anything in the recipe in order to freeze it, but if you’d like, you can wait to add the cream until you’re reheating it. Just reheat it on the stovetop until hot. You asked if the soup is appropriate for this time of year — while it’s always tasty, based on the butternut squash and sweet potato ingredients, it’s definitely more commonly made in the fall and winter. If you’d a more seasonal soup, you could consider this Green Pea and Asparagus Soup or this Creamy Zucchini Soup. Hope that helps!
Thank you!
Can you freeze this soup???
Yes – it freezes nicely!
I would never have tried this combination of flavors, esp. the apple and onions except that Jenn’s recipes are always good. It was wonderful. I am not a fan of sweet flavors, but it was not sweet, just a perfect blend . It was even better the next day. I did not add any cream to this, and liked it fine as is. The only thing left out was mace, because I just didn’t have it.
Delicious! Because of a dairy sensitivity we substituted coconut milk for the cream. Enjoyed every spoonful!
I just finished making this. I love it! I did not add the honey and I added 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes.
I didn’t add the cream since I personally don’t like a creamy soup and it’s excellent without it.
Will keep this recipe!
YUMMY! I made this delicious soup today. Very, very easy. The flavours are awesome. I wasn’t sure I’d love the cinnamon, nutmeg, honey thought it might seem too sweet for a soup but the flavours are amazing. I followed the recipe except I couldn’t find mace so I just omitted. Thanks Jenn – love your recipes!!!
This soup is FANTASTIC! Easy to make and even a beginner can impress with this one. I play with the amount of cream at the end, it is a beautiful soup even with a little less cream to lighten it a bit.
As always, Jenn doesn’t disappoint! The flavors are incredible. And even more amazing is how they build…first the squash & sweet potato then the apple and last but not least those spices! Oh my word!!!! This is the reason I go straight to this website for all my recipe curiosities. Looking forward to more of this one tomorrow!
Yummy yummy yummy! Today was a cold winter day with lots of snow and this seems like the perfect antidote, which it was. I would just like to know if there is a simple way to peel a hard squash like butternut? I put it in the microwave to soften it for a few minutes which helped but wondered if there is a better way to do it. Thanks for the great recipe!!
Hi Joan, Glad you enjoyed the soup! I take the easy way out and purchase squash that’s already been peeled and diced :). If you prefer buying a whole squash, I do have a little tutorial with images on the page with the recipe that shows the easiest way to prep it. Hope it helps!
Jenn, I love your soups and this one was no exception. So easy… bought the squash already cut up, the onions rough chopped at my local produce market, and followed the recipe exactly as written. I like a thicker soup so I let it simmer for another thirty minutes or so. Perfect! It’s a nasty night and I am sitting here with a big mug of this great soup. Thanks for another winner. Question, would love an update on your cookbook and I am thrilled with your grana padona (didn’t spell that right) giveaway. Love that cheese.
Hi Carol, so glad you enjoyed the soup. (It is perfect for a cold, dreary night!) The cookbook will be released in the Spring of 2018, so still over a year away, but I hope it will be worth the wait :)!
This is definitely a keeper recipe for us. I made about half a batch for my wife and I and for the main batch I replaced the Heavy Cream with Almond milk and it came out amazing. Near the end I scooped a large bowls worth out into another saucepan and added some additional spices. I was a bit concerned about the combination i used but I wanted a bit more of a kick to my soup. I added yellow curry, garlic powder, cayenne and cumin and it was amazing a very sweet start with a spicy finish. My wife and i are both thrilled. served it with a vegetarian BLT, and salad. Thank you so much.
Have you ever used a cup of cashews to replace the cream in any of your soups? They are healthier than heavy whipping cream.
I haven’t Michele, but it’s something I’ll have to experiment with at some point. Thanks for the suggestion!
Another wonderful recipe Jennifer. Great flavors! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I found this soup delicious but rather too sweet for my UK tastebuds. I will leave out the honey and apple next time. This soup was also thick and creamy without the cream if looking for a healthier alternative.
I made this for dinner the other day and loved it. Going to use it as a starter this Thanksgiving Can this be made ahead of time and frozen?
i have not made this recipe…but, I always freeze my butternut squash soup
The soup is absolutely delicious!! 5 star!!!
Thank you for the wonderful recipe, thanks to you people think I can make a great butternut squash soup. However, I just added a teaspoon of mild curry powder to satisfy my liking for spicy food. BTW I love your website!
This soup is fantastic. I have always hated soups which are on the sweet side and only picked this recipe because someone wanted me to cook for them. Well, what a surprise. Guess Ms. Segal has just turned my soup world upside down. Absolutely delicious! What a perfect balance of flavors.
Awesome soup. Substituted pumpkin spice for mace and it turned out great. Was a definite hit with the family! Looking forward to trying it again and more of your recipes.
I no longer have to go to Panera as often because I can now make delicious butternut squash soup at home! I used coconut milk instead of heavy cream and didn’t have mace. I added minced garlic to the onions. I knew this was a winner when the soup tasted great before adding the spices and milk. This is my new go to recipe during this season.
Easy recipe to follow with delightful results. I made 3 batches (had some butternut squash that was nearing a do-or-die point). All of them taste great, though there were some variations. No mace, so I doubled the nutmeg (as others suggested). 1 tsp cinnamon (love that stuff). I ran out of honey after first batch, so I used maple syrup in the last 2 batches…still as yummy as the first. I will definitely make this soup again.
I looked at several recipes on line and decided to try this one due to its simplicity and lack of strong spices. (My wife can’t handle garlic, etc.)
I used low sodium chicken stock and half and half instead of chicken broth and heavy cream. I also a bit more honey and a little more cinnamon. Oh, wow!
My wife’s comment: Can you make this as an appetizer for our Chtistmas dinner?
Absolutely. Thanks for sharing this!
Six stars! This is one of my favorite recipes and it has become a staple in our house. For this one, I often use homemade vegetable broth instead of chicken broth (I think it makes the flavors taste “brighter,” but the trade off is that the soup is less cozy, which is fine by us). And, we omit the apples and honey because we like a savory soup over a sweet one. Sometimes we serve it with a dollop of Greek yogurt a few slices of avocado on top. But, seriously, every single recipe on this website has turned out terrific. What a reliable collection of great recipes– thank you for doing all the leg work, Jenn!
I love butternut squash soup, so I’ve had a lot of it. This is one of the best I’ve ever tasted. And it wasn’t even torture to make! (I say that as someone who does not relish time spent in the kitchen.) My husband and I cut the squash ourselves (yes, I’m a weakling with terrible knife skills), so the prep took some time, but the end result was well worth it. Since there’s just the two of us, we got leftovers both to enjoy and to share with my mom, who was thrilled. Thank you, Jenn. This recipe will be saved and savored again and again.
Did a search because I wanted to make a butternut squash soup for Thanksgiving that included sweet potato and apple. At the last second, I learned one of the guests had a dairy issue so I decided not to add the cream and wow … it was still GREAT. It’s so rich it didn’t even need it! I used veggie broth, and more nutmeg instead of the mace. Five stars — thanks for this great Thanksgiving keeper.
It took every once of my being not to lick the food processor blade. This soup is amazing. I didn’t have mace (admittedly had to look it up), so I just added 1/4 tsp nutmeg. Can’t wait to share it with family and friends.
LOL…no soup is worth losing your tongue! Glad you like it, Diane 🙂
Turned out great! I used turkey stock instead of chicken broth and I didn’t have Mace so I used a little extra nutmeg. Yummy!
I had a feeling this would work. Seeing your site gave me the confidence to try it. It was really a tasty variation on one of our favorite fall soups (plain butternut squash).
Enjoying a cup of this fabulous soup right now! It is so, so, so very good. The best part is that the rest of it is waiting for me in my freezer!
Thank you, Jennifer!
Everyone enjoyed this soup…great recipe. Even I couldn’t go wrong.
Truly good. I learned some time ago, through trial and error, that sweet potato is a key to a good butternut squash soup!
This was a great soup for cool autumn weather. I used a whole squash and it was easy to prep. I only made one tiny change to the original recipe. I used 1 tablespoon of honey rather than 3. This is a huge recipe so I have plenty in the freezer.
Very nice soup! Even my little girl, who is often soup- and squash-averse, liked this one. I basically followed the recipe verbatim, using a Honeycrisp apple and all other ingredients except for mace. I also used 1/2 cup of half-and-half (which I had on hand) rather than a full cup of heavy cream, and it all worked out well. Thanks for another keeper, Jenn!
Which type of apple can i use instead of Fuji or Honeycrisp as i can’t get them Thx
Hi Wendy, Any apple will work fine.
I just made this and it was AMAZING! I am so happy with how it turned out.
I did have a few rainbow carrots that I wanted to use and added to the recipe. It’s perfect for this San Francisco ”summer” (it’s always chilly and foggy here so soup is great!)
This soup is absolutely fabulous!!! Just made it yesterday….it’s a 10 Star recipe!!!!
Hi Jenn! I was experimenting with a roasted butternut-carrot-sweet potato soup with sautéed onions, apples and garlic. It was good but needed something more so I pulled up your site- I have made many of your recipes for my cafe, btw (thank you!), and I love the addition of cinnamon and nutmeg- honey too. Just what it needed. The rest was quite similar to yours! I didn’t have mace. And I also added cream cheese instead of cream. Love your recipes!!