Served piping hot with a hunk of crusty bread, this creamy, nourishing butternut squash soup recipe is fall comfort food at its best.
My favorite fall tradition is making butternut squash soup on Sunday afternoons. On a brisk day, there’s nothing more soothing than chopping and simmering vegetables over a warm stove. As you cook, the kitchen fills with the cozy scent of sage, rosemary, and butternut squash, and when you’re finished, steaming bowls of butternut squash soup (that will last all week!) reward you for your work.
In the past, my go-to butternut squash soup recipe has included coconut milk and curry spices, but this fall, I found myself craving one that was a bit more traditional. When I say traditional, I don’t mean that I use chicken stock, heavy cream, or butter in this recipe. It’s a delicious, all-veggie healthy butternut squash soup with ginger, sage, and rosemary. This is basically fall in a bowl.
We’ve been loving this soup lately – it’s creamy and nourishing, perfect for satisfying cozy fall cravings. With only 10 ingredients, it’s easy to make, so cook a big batch today, and enjoy the soup all week long! Happy fall. 🙂
Butternut Squash Soup Recipe Ingredients
To make this easy butternut squash soup recipe, you need 10 simple ingredients:
- Butternut squash – This soup packs in 3 pounds of squash, so look for a medium-large one at the store or farmers market. If you don’t have a scale at home, I recommend weighing the squash when you buy it!
- Yellow onion and garlic – These veggies add delicious depth of flavor.
- Fresh sage and rosemary – I don’t reach for rosemary as often as some other fresh herbs, but I absolutely love it here. Along with the sage, it makes this soup cozy and complex.
- Ginger – Its warm flavor highlights the autumnal taste of the herbs and squash.
- Extra-virgin olive oil – 2 tablespoons add the perfect amount of richness.
- Vegetable broth – Because the blended squash becomes creamy on its own, there’s no need for dairy, coconut milk, or nuts here! With veggie broth as its base, this is a vegan butternut squash soup recipe.
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper – Add them with the onion at the start of the cooking process, but make sure to taste and adjust at the end as well. That way, you’ll make a soup you really love!
Let’s cook!
First, chop the veggies! Sauté the onion until it becomes translucent, add the squash, and cook until it begins to soften. Then, stir in the herbs, garlic, and ginger. Pour in the broth and simmer until the squash becomes tender, about 20 minutes.
When the squash is soft, transfer the soup to a blender. Blend until the soup is vibrant orange and creamy. Finally, pour it into bowls, garnish with chopped parsley and pepitas, and enjoy!
What to Serve with Butternut Squash Soup
Enjoy this soup as a starter, side, or main dish. When I’m making it the center of a meal, I serve it with good crusty bread, homemade focaccia, avocado toast, or corn muffins and a simple veggie side or fall salad. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Simple Lemon Green Beans
- Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon Zest
- Simple Roasted Beets
- Rainbow Kale Salad with Carrot-Ginger Dressing
- Shredded Brussels Sprout Salad
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Roasted Beet Salad
Alternatively, serve it as an appetizer with a hearty vegetarian main dish like Roasted Cauliflower Steaks, Vegan Meatball Sandwiches, Homemade Mac and Cheese, Sun Dried Tomato Pasta, or a grilled cheese sandwich!
If you love this butternut squash soup…
Try my ginger miso soup, curried lentil soup, or many-veggie soup next, or check out this post for more of my favorite soup recipes!
Butternut Squash Soup
Equipment
- 5.5-Quart Dutch Oven (I personally use the Staub Cocotte)
- Blender (I've used my trusty Vitamix for years)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 (3-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- ½ tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 3 to 4 cups vegetable broth
- Freshly ground black pepper
For serving
- Chopped parsley
- Toasted pepitas
- Crusty bread
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, salt, and several grinds of fresh pepper and sauté until soft, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the squash and cook until it begins to soften, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic, sage, rosemary, and ginger. Stir and cook 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant, then add 3 cups of the broth. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until the squash is tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
- Let cool slightly and pour the soup into a blender, working in batches if necessary, and blend until smooth. If your soup is too thick, add up to 1 cup more broth and blend. Season to taste and serve with parsley, pepitas, and crusty bread.
I tried this recipe because I did not want to roast the squash. It was delicious, I tweaked the flavor a little bit more to my own liking but it was delicious just how she tells you to make it. I definitely will be making this again.
Do you have a nutritional breakdown for calories per serving?
Oh that’s soup goes awesome with my fresh baked sourdough bread can’t stop eating Bonnie
Perfect fall dinner!
Made this soup for my family on a cold fall evening and was overjoyed with how tasty it was! Super flavourful and something to warm you up. Paired it with a freshly made bread as well that was lightly toasted, delicious!
So this just happened! Sooo good! I added a pinch of ground ginger and curry powder. Simple recipe!! THANKS!
Made for the Cooking Club! I had to get some help cutting the squash but it was worth it. This soup is so rich, filling and flavorful without any cream or butter. Love it!
It was very easy to make. I loved the subtle ginger flavor , don’t skip that ingredient.
Made this for the cooking club and it was really good, I like the ginger in it, I’ve never had butternut squash soup with ginger! Thank you for the cooking club, it’s a great idea!
Made this soup again this weekend and it was just as excellent the second time around.
This is the perfect weeknight soup! It was flavorful, yet easy to make….and my house smelled AMAZING aftewards. I am looking forward to the next Cooking Club Challenge and appreciate that photos are submitted via email and not just social media. Keep the great recipes coming!
Delicious, simple to create and devoured immediately! All of my favorite things about a recipe. Thank you!
This soup is such a perfect treat for the fall and winter months. I’ve made several batches now because it’s my new favorite thing to eat after a hard day’s work. I highly recommend it!
This is my favorite butternut squash soup recipe. It’s so simple, and just so perfect!
Great recipe, very easy to make and it has a kick from the ginger and sage.
Hi! Do you happen to know what the settings would be if I used my instant pot to make this soup? Thank you!
Delicious, thick, flavorful fall soup! My toddler slurped it up from a cup too.
I made this this weekend for the cooking club and loved it! I used 2 cups veg broth and one can unsweetened coconut cream. Otherwise, followed the recipe. No one else in my family likes butternut squash so thinking of trying to freeze some to see how it holds up. I made it with vegan grilled cheese and it was a perfect comforting combo!!
Candice try making it again with chicken stock …I use Kitchen Basics Original chicken stock (smell is fantastic..you’ll buy no other again) and eliminate the coconut cream. Bet you”ll give it 5 stars…let me know how you like it. Oh you can freeze it too!!
This is the best Butternut swuash recipe ever! Absolutely delicious!
So good! Didn’t have a large enough BN squash so added a small sweet potato and 2 medium carrots. Roasted the veggies first and also the seeds of the BN squash. Topped with a dollop of sour cream, cilantro and the roasted BN squash seeds. Great recipe! Thank you!