Butternut Squash Soup
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Effortlessly easy and irresistibly silky, this butternut squash soup is brimming with naturally sweet and savory flavors, making it essential 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, you’ve come to the right place. My no-fuss recipe begins with a smart shortcut: pre-cut squash from the supermarket. Then, simply tumble all the ingredients into a pot, simmer, purée, and voilà, 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 not mere suggestions; they 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 the soup 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.
Purée 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 butternut squash soup is brimming with naturally sweet and savory flavors, making it essential 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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5 Stars.
Due to family health issues I substituted one envelope of Stevia for sugar.
I used no salt as well as salt free butter.
To add flavor I used thyme tea for part of the water, made by picking fresh thyme, rinsing it and then pouring 2C boiling water on it and letting it steep.
The squash I washed, made a whole in it and nuked it in 1C of water until tender enough to remove the seeds and remove the peel. I used that water as well.
My squash choice this time was buttercup and my pepper was a red banana.
I will definitely make it again and appreciate the ease of your recipe.
Terrific and easy, could even be a weeknight meal, that’s how fast and easy this was. And so good, “company-worthy”
Used a large squash and found it too thin. Wish I had started with 3 or 4 cups of water and added more if it needed it. Also added some chicken bouillon. Liked the red pepper
I agree
This recipe was truly delicious. I will be keeping this one to use on my kids as they get older. It didn’t even taste like I was eating pure vegetables!
This is one of my favorite soups on your site. Not only was it easy, it was delicious. Due to a medical condition, I’m on a low sodium diet so I eliminated the salt and it was still so yummy! Can’t wait to make this again.
This soup is creamty, rich and easy! The red pepper is a perfect accent to the squash. I used half chicken broth and half water and served it with toasted pumpkin seeds and a swirl of cream. It was a huge hit!
Love that idea, Paula!
Fast and FABULOUS! Especially good the next day after it mellows a bit. A new household favorite!
How much is a serving? I am currently on weightwatchers, but want to make this recipe!
Hi Kelly, Serving sizes are approximate but I would say about 1-1/2 cups. Hope that helps 🙂
Can i use an alternative to heavy cream?
Hi Kim, The only other thing I might suggest is full fat coconut milk. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out.
I used half and half and it was nice and creamy.
I had never even eaten butternut squash until recently, i attend a family member wedding reception and it was served in a small round dish with a flaky crust top. It looked like I would be eating a pot pie. The dish was wonderful, so I set out to make it on my own. This was the best and easiest recipe I found and I tried three others. One I made it and share it with others they all wanted the recipe. It will be the start of my thanksgiving dinner this year. Thanks for sharing.
Can you tell me how to adjust the recipe to make approximately 10 servings
Hi Krystina, I would just double it — you can freeze any leftovers.
Easy & delicious!
Is the Nutrition Information right? Per serving (6 servings) sounds like the Sodium 1191 mg and the Cholesterol 27 mg are really high.
Hi Sandra, I just double checked and it is correct. Sorry!
This recipe looks fantastic, but the sodium count is super high, any suggestions on how to lower? Thanks!
Hi Angie, It’s fine to just reduce the salt.
This came out great! I omitted the sugar and added an apple and carrot for sweetness. Also used chicken stock instead of water. I added a pinch of cayenne, cloves and apple pie spice at the end. This is going to make great lunches this week!
How long does the soup have to simmer after you stir in the cream? Soup turned out a bit watery and wondering where I went wrong. Thanks.
Hi Barb, Not long but feel free to simmer it down until it is thickened to your liking.
Is there a substitute for the heavy cream for lactose intolerant people?
How about coconut milk? Or try my Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup, which is delicious w/o any cream at all 🙂
I omitted the cream, opting instead to use half chicken stock (Imagine Free Range Low Sodium Chicken Broth (Organic); or try Pacific Organic which I believe is no sodium). Soup was creamy when pureed. Placed 4 sprigs of organic thyme into pot, stirred and left on low for thyme to release its flavor into the soup. My husband and I loved the soup. He is on sodium restricted diet, so I added only 1 tsp Fine Sea Salt. On my serving I lightly sprinkled a small pinch of Fleur de Sal (will try Maldon Salt next time), and it just made the flavors pop more for me. Served with homemade dinner rolls (one each!). I always cut the sodium in all recipes and things work out fine.
This soup is as simple to make as promised. The flavor is great and it warms me up on a brisk fall day. This is a go to lunch with a green salad.
Hi i wonder if u can help me i must make butternut sop for a wedding, 160 poeple! Can u help me to dubble the ing. And can i use milk instead of cream?
Hi Cielie, You’d need to multiply the ingredients by 20. That’s a lot of soup! I would not substitute the cream with milk — it won’t work. Sorry!
Easy Butternut soup was really easy. I used yellow instead of red pepper. Tastes amazing and really easy!
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.
Would love to try this, but am astonished at the sodium count. Is it really this high? That’s pretty astronomical…….
Hi Lina, Yes, there are 2,325 mg of sodium in one teaspoon of salt, and this soup has three. You can always cut back if you like, or replace the water with no salt vegetable or chicken broth, which would add flavor without the sodium.
Delicious soup! Easy to make and very filling. Healthy and tasty
OMG!!!! So easy and so deicious! I can’t wait for my family to try it. I have a feeling that I will be making this soup for many years to come! I’m so happy that my husband requested Butternut Squash soup & I chose your recipe!!!
This is one amazing butternut soup recipe. So easy and tasteful. Saved and will definitely be using ad making this again.
Huge thumbs up
Delicious SOUP! I doubled up on salt, garlic & added a tablespoon of grated ginger.
This was delicious and I LOVE how the ingredients are super simple. I did add about 1/2 tsp of dried sage to the soup as well. Everyone loved it. Thank you.
So good!!! Definitely 5 stars. Worth wrestling with the butternut squash. I definitely reccommend the immersion blender. Regular blender was über messy. I added some cooked shredded chicken just for some extra protein.
This recipe worked very well for me, as I usually spend the usual 45 minutes roasting the squash.
Having been in Nicaragua for a while now, where meat is the base of almost everything, I put a vegan twist on this, by adding a little more than a tablespoon of raw cashew butter in, and added some a few extra garlic cloves with some ginger and cayenne to taste. Delicious result.
Can I use double cream?
Hi Natalie, Yes, that’s fine.
Since a battle with cancer 3 years ago my family and I switched to the Paleo diet. I made this more paleo friendly by dropping the salt, sugar and cream and it is still heavenly! It is creamy enough on its own. The red pepper adds just the perfect amount of sweetness and the onion and garlic are just right so no salt is needed.
I used brown sugar and added 2 tablespoons of Irish butter. It was a big hit!
Really good base for a soup, but could use some spice. I used half chicken stock added an extra half cup heavy cream and double-steeped a half cup of looseleaf herbal chai tea and it was amazing.
First time making this soup. Yummy..I used all the veggies you called for !/2 chicken broth and !/2 water. Blended when it was done. Tasted it added 1 tablespoon more sugar and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/2 cup whole milk Blended it again.. Ok after all that it is delicious and easy. Had the Squash already cubed from the store.
Just adding a note to my previous comment: I sautéed the vegetables in olive oil first before using the hand-blender. I think it helps boost flavour. Great recipe!
This squash soup has became the gold standard for me — I absolutely love it. I’ve made it twice and both times I’ve skipped the thyme to enjoy the purity of the squash. The red pepper is key, because it adds sweetness. The heavy cream is also key. It’s really nice to make a squash soup that isn’t overpowered with ginger or strong herbs, like most. Many commentators have noted the difficulty of prepping squash from scratch. The secret is an inexpensive gadget — a peeler — made by Kuhn Rikon. It looks like a basic peeler, but boy this thing has changed my life. I’ve tried others, but this peeler is amazing. It peels squash skin like nobody’s business (and, no, I don’t work for the company). Happy soup-ing everyone!
Hope you can help. Saw your comment re Kuhn Rikon peeler and would like to try one. However, there are several styles available. Please let me know which style you find so agreeable. Thank you so much.
Used chicken stock for 1/2 water and less salt, was really good. Warm, simple and healthy!
This soup is so good! I used a hand blender stick instead of the blender and it came out great. So easy.
5 stars! excellent and easy.
Can half & half be substituted for heavy cream
Hi Karen, This recipe really needs the heavy cream, but you can use half and half in my Butternut Squash Sweet Potato Soup recipe.
I made it without any cream or dairy. It was perfect without it! 🙂
This soup was a big hit with my family! I have made it a few times but this time I used the pre-cut squash which made it so much easier. I had to ask the produce guy if they carried the pre-cut squash because it was not out. He went to the back and sure enough they had it! Ask if you don’t see it!