Welcome to my new favorite thing to make in the Instant Pot: an easy Butternut Squash Soup that tastes like Panera's Autumn Squash Soup, but I can make it year round AND it has half the calories AND it's way healthier. I've eaten this Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup for almost every meal for days, and I'm still absolutely in love with it!
Given how many people are obsessed with their Instant Pots, I was really excited for my Instant Pot when I first got it. However, I quickly realized that a lot of people use their Instant Pots to make .... welllllllll ... let's just say "not my kind of food".
Recipes that involve things like canned "Cream of Whatever" soups, multiple bricks of cream cheese, or some other ingredient that you might catch me using on occasion, but isn't really anything I care to cook with on the regular.
So I started trying to figure out what I could make with my Instant Pot that was still true to how I usually cook - mostly whole, seasonal foods.
Foods that don't taste like they were made some specific way. You know - how you can always just tell something was made in the slow cooker? I don't want to make anything that tastes like that!
So I decided to stick with things that let the pressure cooker shine without playing up its weaknesses. The pressure infuses this soup with a rich, deep flavor in a super short amount of time, and even though I put in a healthy bit of cream at the end, it is still really delicious without the cream as well, and you can feel free to leave it out if you want an even more healthy Instant Pot soup recipe!
Tools you need to make Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup:
Other awesome, healthy Instant Pot Recipes you'll love ( click on the image to go directly to the recipe! ):
Instant Pot Mashed Cauliflower
Instant Pot Black Beans
Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon curry powder I used Trader Joe's curry powder which is yellow and has a slight spice to it
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 carrots and sliced into approximately ¼" rounds
- 1 apple peeled, core removed, and roughly chopped ( I used honeycrisp )
- 2 pounds of cubed butternut squash
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Remove the lid of the Instant Pot and set it aside. Press the Saute button. Once the display reads "Hot", add the olive oil to the pot insert. Let the olive oil heat up for approximately 1 minute, then add the chopped onion to the pot and stir to coat with the oil.
- Saute the onions in the pot with the oil for approximately 8 minutes, or until most of them are translucent and softening.
- Add the garlic, cinnamon, curry powder, ground ginger, and black pepper to the pot and stir to combine. Saute for one minute, stirring frequently.
- Add the carrots, apple, butternut squash cubes, vegetable broth, and water to the pot, and stir to combine again.
- Place the lid back on the pot, and turn to lock. Move the steam release to sealing - don't worry, it will feel loose. Set the pot for Manual / Pressure Cook for 15 minutes on Normal pressure ( this should be the default pressure setting on your machine but it's always work double checking to be sure! )
- After 15 minutes, your Instant Pot will beep and begin counting up. Let the pot sit undisturbed for 10 minutes while the pressure slowly comes down in the pot - this is called Natural Release, and it is often referenced as "NPR". After 10 minutes have passed, carefully push the steam release to Venting and let any remaining steam escape. Once the pin next to the release has dropped, open the lid and set it aside.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the entire contents of the pot until smooth. Add the ½ cup of cream, and blend again to combine. Serve!
Notes
Our two girls are grown now with a tiny one each of their own. Can’t wait to start cooking with the next generation!