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Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup, a simple fall squash soup thanks to pressure cooking.
It’s that time of year. Fall is when this year’s crop of winter squash show up in my local markets, and my wife starts asking for butternut squash soup.
Squash soup is easy if you have an Instant Pot and and Immersion blender. The pressure cooker makes short work of the cooking, but the immersion blender is the key tool.
I love my super-powered blender, but…I have Coat the walls of your kitchen bad luck with blending hot liquids. Pureeing hot soup in a blender requires care, patience, and small batches. I hate being patient - I am a pressure cooking guy after all - and eventually I overfill the blender. That’s when an explosion of hot air shoots off the lid and sprays soup everywhere.
My stick blender is my savior. No air pressure buildup, no extra cleaning, and I can blend right in my Instant Pot. And, as I bonus, I get to pretend I’m driving a motorboat; it’s got that same sound to it.
Oh, and one more tip - make sure you get all the herb sprigs out before you start stick blending. I can neither confirm nor deny that I had a rosemary sprig sink to the bottom of the pot and get blended in to lots of woody bits in my first batch of this soup…
Recipe: Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
PrintInstant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups of soup 1x
Description
Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup, a simple fall squash soup thanks to pressure cooking.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3- to 4-pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into a rough ½-inch dice
- 2 cups chicken broth, preferably homemade broth (or vegetable broth, or water)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt (½ teaspoon if using store-bought broth)
- 1 sprig fresh sage, rosemary, and thyme, tied together
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg (about 4 grates)
Sour cream for garnish
Instructions
- Sauté the aromatics: In an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker, melt the butter over Sauté mode (medium heat in a stovetop PC). Add the onion, garlic, and 1 cup of the diced squash. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of salt. Sauté until lightly browned, about 8 minutes.
- Everything in the pot: Add the rest of the diced squash, stir in the chicken broth, and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt. Float the bundle of fresh herbs on top.
- Pressure cook for 5 minutes with a 15 minute natural release: Lock the lid and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes (“manual” or “pressure cook” mode in an Instant Pot.) Let the pressure come down naturally for 15 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure.
- Season, blend, and serve: Unlock the lid, tilting it away from you to avoid the hot steam. Fish out the bundle of herbs. Stir in the brown sugar and sprinkle with the fresh grated nutmeg. (I grate it directly into the pot, and eyeball the amount.) With an immersion blender, puree the soup in the Instant Pot, blending it until everything is smooth. (If you have to use a regular blender, work in batches, don’t fill the blender more than half full, and hold the lid down with a towel as you blend.) Serve, adding a spoonful of sour cream to each bowl of soup.
Notes
- Pre-cut butternut squash is a great shortcut. Use about 2 pounds of pre-cut squash in the recipe.
Tools
- 6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot 6-Quart Pressure Cooker)
- Immersion blender (or regular blender)
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Side dish
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
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My other Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Recipes
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Cynthia says
I just love this recipe!
Mike Vrobel says
Thank you!