Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup is delicious, creamy, cozy, and easy soup to make. It is healthy and perfect for the fall. It is also vegan and gluten-free but will appeal to everyone. Perfect for meal prep lunches.
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There are many things I love about fall: leaves changing colours, all the cozy sweaters I get to wear, smell of cinnamon in the air. And, of course, butternut squash. I do cook a lot with pumpkin puree because it’s easy but I prefer the flavour of butternut squash over pumpkin.
A few years ago most restaurants in town had some kind of butternut squash soup on their menu in the fall. I think that obsession slowed down a little bit but I still love making a few batches of delicious Butternut Squash Soup in the fall. And making it in Instant Pot means that I can do it even fast and easier.
This Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup is the ultimate autumn soup. Thick, smooth, creamy, and luscious. It has a slight kick and warmth from cayenne. It’s delicious with a big hunk of crusty bread. Perfect for meal prep and taking to work for lunch.
Ingredients to make Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
- Coconut oil
- Leek
- Sweet potato
- Butternut squash
- Seasoning (I use simple salt, pepper, and cayenne)
- Vegetable broth (I use this brand exclusively)
- Full fat coconut milk
- Cilantro
How to make Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
This soup is very easily made on the stove or in Instant Pot. I love making Butternut Squash Soup in my electric pressure cooker because it means I can add all the ingredients into the pot, press a few buttons and leave. I don’t have to babysit the stove. I don’t have to time anything.
You can leave the soup in Instant Pot on Keep Warm function for a few hours while you are running errands. Once you are home, just puree it and serve. So easy.
- Add all the ingredients except for the coconut milk and cilantro to Instant Pot.
- Cook on High Pressure for 4 minutes.
- Do a Quick Release or a Natural Pressure Release, whatever you prefer.
- Use an immersion blender or a regular blender puree the soup until smooth.
- Add the coconut milk, chopped cilantro, and mix.
So easy, convenient and super delicious. Perfect soup for chilly autumn weather!
How to peel butternut squash
Butternut squash has a very interesting property. It has some oils that when touched excessively will make the skin feel very tight. Often, when you peel a few butternut squashes and hold them with bare hands then your hands will feel tingly and a bit weird.
A few years ago I was talking to a chef at some restaurant about they butternut squash soup and she gave me this super handy trick: wear gloves when peeling butternut squash. They will prevent the butternut squash oils from seeping onto the skin and making it feel tight.
I use a regular Y-shaped potato peeler to peel Butternut Squash.
How to make Butternut Squash Soup on the stove
I absolutely love the convenience of making Butternut Squash Soup in my Instant Pot: set it and forget it. However, it is definitely not the requirement to make this soup. It is just as easy to make it on the stove but it requires a bit more effort.
- Sauté the leeks in coconut oil in a soup pot until soft.
- Add the rest of the ingredients except for the coconut milk and cilantro to the pot.
- Bring to boil, then reduce the heat, cover with a lid, and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are very tender.
- Remove from heat and puree the soup using a regular or a hand blender.
- Add the coconut milk, chopped cilantro, and mix.
How to store Butternut Squash Soup
This soup can easily be stored in the fridge for about 4-5 days. It will get a bit thicker the longer it is stored. You can thin the soup with an extra splash of coconut milk or broth.
Variations for Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
- If you aren’t following a vegan or vegetarian diet, then feel free to use chicken broth instead of vegetable broth.
- For a non vegan variation you can also use regular dairy cream in place of coconut milk, however, coconut milk really adds a delicious depth of flavour to the soup. I highly recommend using the coconut milk in this recipe.
- If cilantro isn’t your herb, feel free to use parsley or basil.
- I love that the flavour of butternut squash shines in this recipe and I don’t use too many spices but if you prefer you could use some green Thai curry or red Thai curry.
- Feel free to use pumpkin instead of butternut squash if you’d like. In fact, you can try my Pumpkin, Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Soup recipe.
More Instant Pot Soup recipes:
- Lemon Lentil Soup (Instant Pot or Stove Top)
- Instant Pot Tomato Orzo Soup
- Quick and Easy Instant Pot Fish and Potato Soup + Video
- Instant Pot Meatball Soup
- Instant Pot Borscht (vegan and gluten-free)
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Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 small leek (white part only)
- 1 large sweet potato (3/4 to 1 pound)
- 1/2 medium butternut squash (about 1 pound)
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 can full fat coconut milk
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Wash the leek really well as there might be dirt trapped between the layers. Cut off the white part, slice in half lengthwise and thinly slice.
- Peel the sweet potato. Roughly chop into 1-inch pieces.
- Peel the butternut squash, scrape out and discard the seeds and the strands around the seeds. Roughly chop the butternut squash into 1-inch pieces.
- Add all the ingredients except for the coconut milk and cilantro to your Instant Pot.
- Close and lock the lid.
- Turn the vent on the lid to the sealing position.
- Press Manual or Pressure Cooker button (depending on your model) and using the arrow buttons set the cook time to 4 minutes. Use defalt High Pressure.
- Depending on your Instant Pot model and how cold the broth is, it'll take around 15 minutes to come to pressure. It could take up to 20 minutes, so be patient.
- Once the Instant Pot beeps that the 4 minutes of cooking are done, do a quick release. This will take about 5 minutes.If you'd like, you could do a Natural Pressure Release as well, which means just leave your Instant Pot be and it'll release the pressure naturally. It could take up to 30 minutes.
- Once the pressure is released, open the lid and use an immersion blender to puree the soup until it is very smooth.
- Add the coconut milk, chopped cilantro, and mix.
- Serve with a drizzle of coconut milk, freshly cracked black pepper and crusty bread.
Video
Nutrition
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Julia G. says
Made it today, another easy and yummy recipe from Julia!
Julia says
I’m so glad you liked it 🙂