Excited to have a warm bowl of creamy soupy goodness? This Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup is what you have been waiting for. This Thai Curried Butternut Squash Soup is creamy, flavorful, healthy, and vegan!
Very often, I am at Starbucks working, and the smell of pumpkin spice lattes and scones is mesmerizing. It gets me in a great mood for Fall….or rather, soup season! I am sharing this Butternut Squash Soup with you (You can use this same recipe to make pumpkin soup and pumpkin carrot soup!).
I love yellow and orange colors… you would know by seeing my blog. So this soup has my heart! Okay, it is not just the right color; it is also healthy and creamy, similar to my cauliflower soup and broccoli cheddar soup.
Table of Contents
Easy Instant Pot Recipe
Another thing that I love is spicy food. To add spice to this soup, I made it with Thai flavors. I use red curry paste and sprinkle some chili flakes to make this a Spicy Thai Curried Butternut Squash Soup in the Instant Pot. This is a super easy recipe that can be made in less than 30 minutes in the Instant Pot.
Butternut squash already gives a great creamy texture to the soup. I add coconut milk at the end to make this soup even creamier. It also helps to keep the soup vegan. You can always use heavy whipping cream if you want a non-vegan version.
Check out this collection of 20+ Instant Pot Vegetarian Soup recipes for more delicious soups!
Why will you love this Butternut Squash Soup?
✓ It is creamy, healthy goodness
✓ Add spice to your taste with the red curry paste and chili flakes
✓ It is vegan and gluten-free
✓ So easy to make in the Instant Pot
✓ It freezes well
Ingredients
Let’s start with gathering the ingredients. There are really not many.
The only one you might need to go to a store for is the Thai red curry paste (psst…you can use a curry powder…it won’t be Thai, but just curried then!). If you are vegan, make sure to buy a vegan curry paste. I like Thai Kitchen red curry paste or Maesri Thai curry paste.
The most painful part of the soup is peeling and cutting the squash. Think about the end result, and cutting it will feel effortless ☺️
I almost always see cubed butternut squash at our local Trader Joe’s and Costco too, so that is a great option to save the effort of peeling and cutting the squash.
How to Make?
- Start the instant pot and saute the onions, ginger, and garlic in some oil.
- Then, add the squash, red curry paste, and broth. Stir it all and pressure cook.
- Do a 10-minute natural pressure release once the instant pot beeps. Then, carefully open the lid.
- Using an immersion blender, puree the cooked squash. You can also use a normal blender such as Vitamix; make sure to let it cool a bit before blending.
- Add in the coconut milk, and lime juice and season to taste. I added some salt, pepper, and chili flakes (optional).
To keep the Thai theme for this soup, I like to garnish it with some coconut milk, cilantro, and roasted peanuts.
Doesn’t it look gorgeous? Let’s dig in!
Variations
1. Butternut Squash Apple Soup
Add a green apple cut into pieces along with the butternut squash before pressure cooking.
2. Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Add a tablespoon of curry powder in place of the red curry paste.
3. Coconut Butternut Squash Soup
Add more coconut milk to this recipe, about one 14oz can, to get a prominent coconutty taste. You can also garnish the soup with dried coconut flakes.
4. Spicy Butternut Squash Soup
Increase the amount of red curry paste and add chili flakes to your taste while serving.
What to serve with this soup?
Serve the soup with a little spread of coconut milk and a sprinkle of peanuts or chives on top. You can also top it with some pumpkin seeds or roasted chickpeas.
Enjoy the soup on its own, or you can pair it with grilled cheese or a sandwich for a heartier meal.
This soup is also great to include for your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner!
How to Store and Reheat?
This soup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can also freeze it in airtight containers in small portions for up to 3 months.
To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator or warm the frozen soup over low heat on the stovetop until steaming. After thawing, you can also reheat it in the microwave.
Common Questions
Yes! You can add frozen squash into the instant pot without defrosting. The same cooking time will work well.
Yes, it is not much extra effort to make a double batch of this soup. And you can easily freeze leftovers for another quick meal.
Give this Butternut Squash Soup in Instant Pot a try. Do share in the comments how you liked it.
More Instant Pot Vegan Soups
- Vegan Cauliflower Soup
- Vegan Roasted Red Pepper & Carrot Soup
- Instant Pot Lentil Soup
- Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup
- Sweet Potato Soup
- Curried Pumpkin Soup
Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup (Thai Curried)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 1 cup Yellow Onion, diced
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon Ginger , minced
- 2 lbs Butternut Squash , peeled, seeded and cut into pieces, about 6 cups
- 1 tablespoon Red curry paste , adjust more to taste
- 1.5 cups Vegetable broth
- 1/2 can Coconut milk, 14oz canned full fat
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt, adjust to taste
- Black Pepper, add to taste (optional)
- 1/2 Lime , juice
For garnish
- 2 tablespoon Roasted peanuts, chopped
- 2 tablespoon Coconut milk
- 2 tablespoon Cilantro, chopped
- Red Chili flakes, (optional)
Instructions
- Start the instant pot in Saute mode and heat oil in it. Add diced onions, ginger and garlic and sauté for about 3 minutes.
- Add butternut squash, red curry paste, broth and stir to combine. Press Cancel and close lid with vent in sealing position.
- Change the instant pot setting to manual or pressure cook mode at high pressure for 8 mins.
- After the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes then release the pressure manually.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the soup to a creamy texture. You can also transfer to a blender such as Vitamix to blend the soup. Be careful while blending to avoid hot splatters.
- Add coconut milk, lime juice and stir well. Add salt, pepper and chili flakes to taste.
- Garnish the soup with cilantro, coconut milk and peanuts. Serve hot with a side of crusty bread!
Notes
- Butternut Squash Apple Soup – Add a green apple cut into pieces along with the butternut squash before pressure cooking.
- Curried Butternut Squash Soup – Add a tablespoon of curry powder in place of the red curry paste.
- Coconut Butternut Squash Soup – Add more coconut milk to this recipe, about one 14oz can to get a prominent coconutty taste.
- Spicy Butternut Squash Soup – Increase the amount of red curry paste and add chili flakes to your taste while serving.
Hey Meeta,
Can we substitute pumpkin from Indian store for this recipe? What’s the difference between the two?
Thanks
Hi Sonal – This soup with work well with pumpkin too. Both are just different varieties of squash. Hope you enjoy the soup!
Hi Vijaya, I’m super excited to try this recipe. Can I use a can of puréed butternut squash instead of squash cubes? Or will the taste not come through when I pressure cook?
PS: Sorry, I meant Meeta. I just had a baby and I’m sleep deprived. So so sorry!
No worries, Sheena. Congratulations for the baby! I have not tried myself, but you can use pureed canned butternut squash. I think it will work fine. You can just pressure cook for 3 minutes, as the puree is pre-cooked. Hope you enjoy the soup!
Could you add carrots to this?
Hi Leigh – Sure, I think carrots will go well in this soup!
Hi
I used milk instead of coconut milk and it curdled!! It doesn’t smell bad but wondering if I should throw out the batch or use it anyway…what do you think? B
Hi Ayesha – Sorry I am late in responding. I would suggest that you could have used it especially as it does not smell bad. For next time, you can use heavy or lite cream can be used in place of coconut milk.
I rarely rate recipes, not because there aren’t a ton on this site that I love but it’s hard to find 5 mins sometimes, but this recipe, THIS RECIPE!!!! My husband pretty much arbores anything “mushy” and he isn’t a fan of any type of squash and he LOVED THIS DISH!! It turned out much thicker than I anticipated so I served it with quinoa as a main dish and the entire family was more than happy to eat their veggies. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Hi – So happy to hear that. Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience 🙂
Hi Meeta,
I tried this recipe today and it was delicious! You are a lifesaver! I am going to make it again for my toddler but very less spicy. Please share some soup recipes for toddlers. Thank you for all the recipes! You are amazing!
Love this soup, added a little more chilli. I make it regularly now.
Hi Cate – So good to hear that. Thank you for sharing it! 🙂
Loved how easy it was to make & tasted great. MY variation: I left it a bit chunky &put in fridge. Added more red curry & full can unsweetened coconut milk & cilantro. Served cold like a gazpacho. Spicy hot but cold temp perfect summer soup
Hi Sailor – So glad to hear you enjoyed the soup. Thanks for sharing the changes you made.
Could I use frozen butternut for this instead of fresh butternut?
Hi Aliya – Yes, frozen butternut squash should work well.
How long can we keep it in the freezer?
Hi Vijaya – It can be kept for up to 3 months. Freeze in small air tight containers, so it is easy to reheat only the portion needed. Hope you enjoy the soup!