Butternut Squash Soup

Served piping hot with a hunk of crusty bread, this creamy, nourishing butternut squash soup recipe is fall comfort food at its best.

Butternut squash soup

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

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!

Butternut squash

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.

Butternut squash soup recipe Vegan butternut squash soup

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!

Butternut squash soup

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:

Alternatively, serve it as an appetizer with a hearty vegetarian main dish like Roasted Cauliflower SteaksVegan Meatball Sandwiches, Homemade Mac and CheeseSun Dried Tomato Pasta, or a grilled cheese sandwich!

Butternut squash soup

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!

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Butternut Squash Soup

rate this recipe:
4.99 from 1618 votes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Serves 6
This vegan butternut squash soup is the ultimate fall comfort food! Store it in the fridge for up to 4 days, or freeze it for up to a few months.

Equipment

Ingredients

For serving

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.

 

964 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it)




  1. Susan Farmer
    11.21.2020

    5 stars
    Absolutely delicious comfort food! We will be making this for our micro Thanksgiving this year. It’s like a warm hug, which we all need right now 🙂

  2. Judy
    11.20.2020

    5 stars
    This is the most delicious soup! All fresh and healthy ingredients and a rich satisfying flavor. A+ recipe.

  3. NYPL
    11.17.2020

    5 stars
    Very good and easy to make!

  4. Brian
    11.17.2020

    5 stars
    This was the first butternut squash soup I’ve made without coconut milk and boy was it good! Very simple but extremely tasty.

    I suggest using a hand blender if you have one vs multiple trips to a pitcher blender. Less time/effort and keeps it all in the pot.

  5. Faye
    11.17.2020

    I am looking forward to making this for Thanksgiving. Can I make it the day before and reheat? By the way, I love your recipes!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.17.2020

      Hi Faye, yep – it can made a few days in advance – it’s great reheated!

  6. Elena
    11.11.2020

    5 stars
    Simple and very healthy. Tastes very complex and it feels rich and decadent despite having no cream or additional fats! I am so impressed by this recipe and am making it a second time around adding a bulb of fennel to switch it up.

  7. Fran Stewart
    11.10.2020

    You should share not only recipes, but also where you get your sweaters/blouses. Some in the pics are very nice and if I knew you in RL, i think i’d be raiding your closet all the time!

  8. Sophie
    11.09.2020

    5 stars
    I had a ton of squash to cook and nothing to do with it, so I decided to cook up this recipe. It was PHENOMENAL! Total hit in my house!! I tweaked it a little bit to fit my liking, but it was seriously so delish and we have so much left over.

    I added a little bit more of everything – I just kept tasting it until it suit my liking. I added 1/2 cup less veg stock and swapped it for unsweetened coconut milk, and I added a few tablespoons of hot sauce. It was spicy, sweet, creamy, and so delicious. I totally recommend making those swaps, but the recipe on its own is sooo yummy. So versatile too! Thanks so much!

  9. Joel
    11.08.2020

    5 stars
    This came out perfectly! Highly recommended. Best squash soup I’ve ever made.

  10. Karen Lipsey
    11.04.2020

    This is a little different than the recipe in LL Everyday. Seems to be miso paste and white wine vinegar or rosemary, sage and ginger. Do you have a preference?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.04.2020

      Yep, it’s a different recipe – I like them both 🙂

  11. Andrea
    11.02.2020

    This recipe sounds great! I am wanting to make this for a large crowd. I know it feeds 6 people. Do you know or can guess how many quarts does this recipe make?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.02.2020

      Hi Andrea, it makes 1.75 quarts. I hope you enjoy!

  12. Bridget C
    10.31.2020

    5 stars
    Delicious!! And so easy to make! Will definitely make again; perfect for the fall weather!!

  13. Stevie
    10.31.2020

    Made this soup for Halloween and it was perfect!

    • Stevie
      10.31.2020

      5 stars
      Forgot to leave the stars!

  14. Jeffrey Salvadore
    10.31.2020

    5 stars
    Delicious recipe! It turned out so well. Excited to enjoy it as part of this month’s Cooking Club!

  15. Tamara
    10.31.2020

    5 stars
    Love this recipie! The texture and flavor is just so great and I love how rich the flavor is without any cream or coconut milk! Brilliant!

  16. Ellen
    10.31.2020

    The Butternut Squash soup was delicious! Making the Butternut Squash Soup recipe was a mother daughter activity. I made the soup and my daughter made the bread. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon! Looking forward to November’s recipe. Thanks!

  17. Kelly
    10.31.2020

    5 stars
    This soup was super creamy and tasted awesome. I had it with garlic Parmesan herb bread and will definitely keep this recipe on repeat 😊

  18. Kayla
    10.31.2020

    Of all the butternut squash soup recipes out there, this is by far our favorite! Will be making again ASAP.

  19. Jackie
    10.30.2020

    5 stars
    This is an easy, flavorful recipe that anyone would enjoy! It’s so creamy and tasty that my boyfriend thought I blended in some coconut milk, but nope! It’s called BUTTERnut squash for a reason. 🙂

  20. Janet
    10.30.2020

    5 stars
    My family loved this soup! It was so easy and delicious– perfect for a cold autumn night! I use your cookbooks all the time, and always get great results! Thanks for making cooking fun AND reliably yummy!

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Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.