A homemade Vegan Butternut Squash Soup made in under 20 minutes with the Instant Pot! A soul satisfying, healthy recipe for a naturally creamy soup that's a quick and easy lunch or dinner meal idea.

An easy recipe for a soul satisfying butternut squash soup
With winter and the holidays right around the corner, I'm all about making easy and healthy meals.
Especially ones that warm the belly and don't require a lot of clean up.
The Instant Pot is a perfect cooking vessel for this butternut squash soup.
It's quick, one pot, and turns this into the creamiest soup with NO CREAM!
Watch how to make this delicious vegan soup recipe
Homemade soups make the BEST meals because they are:
- uncomplicated
- a one pot meal
- hearty
- a warm bowl of comfort
- it's easy to make extra and have leftovers for another dinner or lunch!
What is butternut squash?
Butternut squash is a type of winter squash that has a sweet and nutty taste, similar to a pumpkin. It's loaded with vitamins, naturally fat free, and can be roasted, boiled, braised, sautéed, or grilled.
Butternut squash can also be mashed up and eaten as-is or added to other recipes to make them moist and add flavor (like breads, muffins, cakes, etc). It can also be puréed into a rich and creamy vegan soup!
Use winter squash for the best kind of winter soup
Soup isn't just for when it's cold outside, but winter is the time of year when I eat bowls of this warm goodness almost every day.
Winter squashes are in season right now and there are at least 2 butternut squashes in my weekly organic CSA share each week.
I've made butternut squash in a variety of ways, but their sweet flavor make the best soup recipes and it's my favorite to use in vegan soup recipes too.
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How to use instant pot for the best soup
My Instant Pot is hands down the best cooking equipment I've ever bought in my life!
I love getting this little pot out and making a quick dinner in less than 30 minutes.
Clean up is so easy too, because nothing ever sticks it!
Making soup with the IP always turns out perfect too.
With this recipe, I sautéed the onions, carrots, garlic, ginger, and spices together for a few minutes.
If you're short on time, skip this step and just throw everything in the instant pot.
Another time saving technique is to purée the soup after right in the pot using an immersion hand bender.
Then just place the pot's cover back on and select the "warm" button to keep the soup ready until ready to serve.
A healthy vegan soup recipe for the holidays
This vegan butternut squash soup is light and ideal for a first course of a holiday meal.
I'll be serving it at our Thanksgiving dinner this year.
I always prep the ingredients the night before, then make it first thing in the morning.
It will keep warm in the Instant Pot until ready to serve!
A recipe that's simple and stress-free for the holiday!
Looking for more butternut squash soup recipes? Try my Loaded Sweet Potato soup (leave out the bacon to make vegan) and this spicy Chipotle Butternut Squash soup.
Get your instant pots out for this simple and healthy Vegan Butternut Squash Soup and enjoy! PIN it for later and please let me know in the comments what you think about the recipe.
RECIPE
Instant Pot Vegan Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil (olive oil, coconut oil, or avocado oil)
- 1 ½ cups carrots, chopped (3 medium)
- 1 cup onion, chopped (1 small)
- 3 whole cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger root, freshly grated
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
- 1 (4 pound) butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 1 inch cubes (about 8 cups total)
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- salt and pepper, to taste
optional toppings: roasted pumpkin seeds and minced fresh garlic chives
Instructions
- Put olive oil in a 6 quart Instant Pot and turn on sauté. Add the chopped carrots and onion and cook until slightly brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder, cumin, and nutmeg. Stir well and sauté together for about 1 minute. Turn off the Instant Pot.
- Add the butternut squash cubes and the vegetable broth. Place the lid on the Instant Pot; making sure it's locked and the steam value is in the closed position. Set the manual high pressure for 10 minutes.
- When the soup is finished cooking, wait 10 minutes for the Instant Pot to cool down or release pressure manually by taking a hand towel and carefully opening up the steam value on the lid. It is safe to open the lid once all steam has been released.
- Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve in large bowls topped with roasted pumpkin seeds and a sprinkling of garlic chives, if desired.
Recipe Notes & Tips:
- Leftovers can be stored in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator.
- Soup can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and blend the soup again before heating to get a smoother consistently.
Nuria Astals
Thank you for the recipe. Really creamy, tasty and satisfying. I added oat milk before blending.
Karrie
Welcome Nuria and so happy you like the recipe! Thank you so much for taking the time to review it too and adding oak milk is a great idea!
Donna N.
Butternut squash is one of my fave fall veggies! Love how creamy this soup is and how quick it comes together in the IP. Thanks for the easy and delicious recipe!
Karrie
Thank you Donna 🙂
Deanna
Wonderful! I used fresh turmeric too and cooked the veggies a little longer. This is the tastiest soup I’ve had in a long time!
Karrie
Thank you so much Deanna!! So happy you enjoyed the recipe and I'm using fresh turmeric next time I make this!
Heather Wells
I make this recipe all the time once the weather turns cold. Whole family loves it, even my 3 year old!
Karrie
Thank you Heather and so happy everyone loves it!
Jeff
Served this with homemade potato dinner rolls and it was the best!
Karrie
That's great Jeff and I need to do potato rolls next time I make this soup!
Karen
I just had this butternut squash soup for lunch today and it was so good! Having leftovers for dinner with vegan grilled cheese sandwiches. can't wait!
Karrie
Thanks Karen and yay to leftovers!!
Varanasi
Step by step explanation is brilliant !!
This looks delicious and healthy !!
Karrie
Thank you!