Name: Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Ingredients: 8 cups butternut squash (chopped—about one medium squash); 3½ cups water (or vegetable broth); 1 cup plant milk (I use rice, oat, or almond milk); 1 tsp ground ginger (or 4 tablespoons of freshly grated ginger); ½ tsp dried tarragon (or ½ tablespoon of fresh); ½ tsp pink Himalayan sea salt (reduce or leave out if using salted vegetable broth); ⅛ tsp black pepper (I use coarse ground)

You can make this gluten-free, vegan butternut squash soup recipe in an Instant Pot® pressure cooker or on the stove with just a few simple ingredients. It is quick, easy, and has a nice peppery ginger flavor.

bowl of butternut squash soup — Creamy soup with a nice peppery ginger flavor.

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What’s Needed

instant pot, blender, knife, and vegetable peeler — Tools that make it easy.

Chef’s Knife – A sharp chef’s knife can make cutting a butternut squash a breeze.
Vegetable Peeler – A good vegetable peeler is priceless. You want one like this OXO Good Grips Swivel Peeler that’s comfortable to hold and cuts through tough vegetable skin.
Large cutting board – One with non-slip feet is nice so it doesn’t move around while you’re chopping.
Instant Pot® – An Instant Pot allows you to fix it and forget it. I often add the water and squash to the pot in the morning, then leave it on the keep-warm setting when the cooking cycle ends so I can blend in the remaining ingredients at lunchtime. But, you can also make this recipe in a pot on the stove if you want to!
Immersion Blender – An immersion blender lets you blend the soup in the pot—no fuss, no mess. And you can usually pop the blade attachment in the dishwasher. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you’ll need to spoon the cooked squash into a blender, pour in the cooking liquid, add the remaining ingredients and blend. And try not to make a mess!

🧑🏻‍🍳Tip

Wear food prep gloves to keep your hands from getting sticky when you cut the squash. Otherwise, the squash juice is almost impossible to wash off.

About the Ingredients

soup ingredients — All it takes is a few simple ingredients.

Butternut squash – Frozen butternut squash works if you are pressed for time. But cutting up a fresh squash only takes about five minutes once you get the hang of it. The recipe calls for a medium squash or about eight cups. If you have a larger squash, simply add more liquid and adjust the herbs and spices to taste. Sometimes I’ll just double the recipe for a large squash.
Water or vegetable broth – I tend to use water in this recipe because I don’t always have broth on hand, and I like the simple flavor. Vegetable broth provides a richer flavor, but possibly more sodium. Try it both ways to see which you prefer.
Plant milk – any type of plant milk will do. Full fat coconut milk (the kind that comes in a can) creates a nice creamy soup, but one higher in fat to state the obvious. I usually use rice or oat milk because I’m sensitive to the thickeners in other types of store-bought plant milk.
Ground ginger – I use ground ginger for convenience. If you prefer to use fresh, one tablespoon of freshly grated ginger equals a one-quarter teaspoon of ground ginger. The recipe is ginger forward and calls for one teaspoon of ground ginger or four tablespoons of fresh. Feel free to adjust the amount according to taste.
Tarragon – If you aren’t familiar with tarragon, it’s an herb with a light, fresh taste and slight licorice flavor. If you’re not a fan of licorice, don’t worry. My husband hates licorice (and ginger too, for that matter) and loves this soup! Again, I use dried herbs for convenience. If you want to use fresh, a good rule of thumb with any herb is one teaspoon of dried equals one tablespoon of fresh. Dried or fresh, tarragon offers several health benefits, including decreasing blood sugar and improving sleep.
Sea salt – I use pink Himalayan sea salt—it doesn’t make me retain water like other kinds of salt.
Black pepper – Fine ground pepper will fade into the flavor of the soup more than coarse ground. I prefer the coarse ground.

How to Cut a Butternut Squash

Basic Steps

You can make this soup in a snap.

Chop the squash.

squash and water in instant pot — Step 2

Place the water (or broth) and squash in the Instant Pot and cook on the soup setting for 20 minutes. (Or see stovetop instructions below.)

Allow the pressure to release naturally, then add the remaining ingredients and use a stick blender to blend until creamy.

Stovetop Instructions

bowl of butternut squash soup with larger serving bowl in the background — A medium-sized squash will make about nine cups of soup.

If you are cooking on a stovetop, place the chopped butternut squash and water in a large saucepan, cover, and bring it to boil over high heat.

Then, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer partially covered for 30 minutes or until squash is soft when pricked with a fork.

Add the remaining ingredients and blend until creamy.

Storing and Reheating

Add more or less milk to make the soup thinner or thicker.

Store the soup in a sealed container in the refrigerator for three or four days or in the freezer for four to six months. When freezing, leave a little room in the container for the soup to expand.

To reheat in a microwave, heat refrigerated soup in a microwave-safe bowl on high power for about two minutes or until hot; microwaves vary. If the soup was frozen in a microwave-safe container, remove lid and heat for about four minutes, stir, and heat for another two or three minutes or until hot. Thaw the soup in the refrigerator before heating if you didn’t use a microwave-safe container.

To reheat on a stovetop, place the refrigerated or frozen soup in a pot on medium heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Covering the pot will help the soup heat faster.

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