Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

By Mary Risley

4.4

(188)

Active Time

15 minutes

Total Time

1 hour

This easy butternut squash soup recipe yields impressive, deeply flavorful results with very little fuss. Start by roasting butternut squash to enhance its natural sweetness and heighten the soup’s depth of flavor. You will have to cut the squash in half first—if this is your first time dealing with unwieldy large butternuts, follow our guide to butchering butternut squash (or just buy precut squash cubes at the grocery store, we won’t tell). Once they’re roasted, you’ll purée the squash with sautéed diced onions and a few spices for a creamy, warming bowl of comfort.

But, armed with such a simple recipe, there are many ways to make butternut squash soup your own. Play around with the seasonings: Instead of a cinnamon stick, stir in ¼ tsp. each of cumin and cayenne plus a 1 Tbsp. curry powder for curried butternut squash soup. Or top the soup with crispy chopped bacon and apple slivers for a sweet-and-salty take. You could substitute a different winter squash or combine squash with assorted root veggies. Garnish individual bowls with a swirl of coconut milk or a dollop of sour cream, a drizzle of chili crisp, or a sprinkling of crunchy toasted pumpkin seeds.

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6 servings

Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 375°. Grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil. Place 2 butternut squash (about 4¾ lb. total), halved lengthwise, seeds removed, cut side down, on prepared sheet. Bake until squash is very soft, about 50 minutes. Using a paring knife, remove peel from squash; discard peel. Cut squash into 2" pieces.

Heat 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil on the stovetop in a heavy large pot over medium-low heat. Mix in 2 cups thinly sliced onion, 1 Tbsp. light brown sugar, 2 tsp. minced fresh ginger, 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped, and ½ cinnamon stick. Cover pot and cook until onion is tender, about 15 minutes. Add squash and 5 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable stock and increase to medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Discard cinnamon stick.

Working in batches, purée soup in a blender. Return soup to pot; season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring to a simmer, thinning soup with more broth if necessary.

Ladle soup into bowls. Top with chopped fresh parsley.

Do ahead: Soup, without parsley, can be made 1 day ahead. Transfer to an airtight container and chill. Editor’s note: Head this way for more of our favorite butternut squash recipes →

How would you rate Butternut Squash Soup?

Leave a Review

Easy and a tasty. Could use a but more of a punch to the flavor, which can easily be done to preference. I have never ysed brown sugar and cinnamon in a soup and wondered if the soup would be to sweet for my palate, but not at all. The only sweetness came from the natural sugars if the butternut squash. I like that the soup base is on the thick side, allowing for midification to be thinner if desired. I will be freezing and will likely add other spices and cream to make different version of the soup. I would definitely make again.

Donna Dal Maggie

Orange County, CA

1/14/2023

We love this soup! It's one of our go-tos, it's easy to make and tastes great. And, it freezes well, which means I can have a quick bowl of good soup on a cold day. I make the recipe as is, however I've updated the cooking instructions for the squash. Instead of cutting open and removing seeds, I follow another epicurious squash recipe that calls for baking the squash in whole, with a few knife slits around it. Once finished baking then cut off ends, slice down the middle and remove seeds and skin. I still follow this recipe for temp and time to bake. For me, this technique is a little easier given the squash is soft to work with. Enjoy!

the_happy_cook

Washington, DC

11/27/2020

Too sweet for me. Good but not as good as my red lentil soup.

Anonymous

12/10/2019

I've been making this every fall for years. Love it! It can easily modified to suit your taste. After following the recipe exactly (which is great as is) I've added a bit more ginger just because I like it. As well, if I have homemade stock in the house (either chicken or veg), I use that. Just made a batch, which I've frozen as a first course for Thanksgiving dinner. I plan to serve this with a swirl of heavy cream and some pepitas sprinkled on top.

ginnymeltzer

Merrick, NY

11/17/2019

Delicious! I added a more garlic and a tad less brown sugar, but otherwise followed the recipe pretty precisely. Came out really, really well. Will definitely make it again.

Anonymous

Chicago

12/17/2018

Delicious. Most butternut squash soup gets boring by the 3rd or 4th spoonful. Not this one. Drizzle a bit of Greek yogurt over top and sprinkle fresh herbs and black pepper. Eat with sourdough grilled cheese. Yum.

terramelody1157

Oakland, CA

12/10/2018

Wonderful soup. Good to the last drop. 5 out of 5 in our house. My only changes were: I bake my squash and don't use sugar.

lisabethk

Mn

11/22/2018

Delicious! Used coconut oil and a bit of duck fat instead of vegetable oil. Also added a roasted apple and a couple of crushed cardamom pods. Needed to thin a bit at the end. Really nice. Not sure why some people get bent out of shape by “tweaked” reviews. It’s called creativity. I find them very helpful, particularly when one doesn’t have all the ingredients called for.

Sachi

NYC

10/28/2018

For the most part I tried the recipe as written. Only change was to use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. I thought it was a solid recipe and had a nice flavor. It's squash season, so I made two batches of this recipe and then made another where I added cardamon, turmeric, and cumin. That was good too, but not quite as good as the original recipe.

shellmrtn1

Chicago

9/23/2018

As directed, this soup makes a decent base for jumping off to add other flavours. Like Indian spices? Add curry, turmeric, cumin. Like autumn flavours? Add apple and sage. Thai? Add Thai spices, Thai curries, lemongrass, etc. Play with it according to your preferences.

pikny

California

11/15/2017

Doesn't anyone just follow the Epicurious recipes and then give their opinion of that recipe? I don't think we really care about the tweets that people do since we just really want to review the Epicurious recipe...I find that frustrating since the reviews for the Epicurious recipe are not truly accurate. I made this soup EXACTLY as what the recipe calls for and it was tasty and the cinnamon and ginger were not overpowering. I happen to like using apples and carrots in my butternut squash soup. That brings out a little sweetness in the soup

james_trez

NJ

11/12/2017

I doubled spices (ginger, garlic, cinnamon). Next time I will add even more ginger and cut the brown sugar. Very tasty, my sister in law liked it too!

mashah

Brooklyn, NY

10/28/2017

Delicious!

Mcoursen

Vermont

10/22/2017

Love this soup! Just the way it's described.

sophia52

dc

8/25/2017

I wish I could read a review of someone who actually made the recipe the way it was written and then come back with your tweaks when you make it the second time. So much more valuable. I wanted a straightforward butternut squash/ginger taste - wasn't interested in additional tastes such as coconut or thyme - made the recipe exactly as written and it was pretty spectacular. Tweaks are interesting - the second time around.

barba11

Pacific Grove, California

1/22/2017