This easy roasted butternut squash soup is full of flavor and is ultra-creamy, without any cream or butter! It’s the perfect fall soup.
Why You’ll Love It
Why you’ll love it: It’s creamy and luxurious without butter or cream!
How long it takes: 1 hour 35 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: Oven, baking sheet, large pot, immersion blender
Servings: 6
Butternut squash soup is one of my favorites. However, most recipes I come across are cream based. While this is very tasty, it’s not always the healthiest choice. This recipe has no cream or butter in it, but you will honestly not believe how creamy it tastes.
About This Squash Soup Recipe
It begins with roasted butternut squash. Roasting the squash brings out so much sweetness and flavor. Don’t be worried if it gets a little brown; that’s just more flavor!
In the meantime, sauté onions and celery until they start to soften, and then add lots of fresh sage. Sage + squash just screams fall!
When the squash is golden brown and fork tender, add it back to the soup along with broth (vegetable or chicken!). Simmer the soup for about 30 minutes (your house will smell absolutely amazing).
After the soup has simmered, blend it with an immersion (handheld) blender, or you can transfer it into a blender (you’ll probably need to do this in batches). Make sure to vent the cover of the blender and drape a towel over it so it doesn’t explode on you. BE CAREFUL.
If it’s super thick, add some broth to thin this creamy soup until it’s just the right consistency for you. I like my soup thick, but I typically end up adding about another cup of broth at the end.
You’ll also want to taste it at this point and add more salt and pepper as needed.
make It your own
Oh, so many ways! Here are some ideas:
- Make the soup even more creamy. If you do want to add a little cream to make this soup more decadent and even more creamy, go for it! Start with a quarter cup. If you want to keep it vegan, try adding a bit of coconut milk. I love the flavor coconut milk lends to the soup.
- Add a touch of sweetness.If you like a sweeter, less savory soup, omit the sage and add cinnamon and nutmeg instead, or season the squash before roasting (like this spicy sweet butternut squash), and then use the seasoned squash to make the soup. Another way to add natural sweetness is to roast a peeled apple with the squash and add that to the soup. Of course, you can always add a little brown sugar or maple syrup, to taste.
- TOPPINGS! It’s no secret that I love toppings! Try this squash soup topped with crumbled bacon (make quick and easy air fryer bacon), homemade croutons, or crumbled sausage. A little minced parsley adds a great bright fresh flavor to the soup.
- More squash soup recipes: copycat Panera squash soup (a bit more healthy than the restaurant version), butternut squash soup with bacon, vegan butternut squash soup with roasted garlic, and kabocha squash soup.
The soup is great to make ahead and will keep fresh in the fridge in a covered container for about four days. It also freezes well for up to three months. Freeze it in individual portions for easy lunches!
Thaw frozen soup in the fridge overnight for best results and rewarm in a saucepan or in microwave. You could also reheat larger amounts in a slow cooker.
What to serve with squash soup
It’s great on its own but it also pairs well with sandwiches or salads. Try these:
- Healthy Chicken Salad
- Best Ham and Cheese Sliders
- Air Fryer Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
- Egg Salad Sandwiches
- Sweet Kale Salad
- Kale Sweet Potato Salad with Quinoa
- Kale Salad with Apples and Golden Raisins
Interested in a weekly meal plan (it’s free!) that includes this squash soup recipe? Take a look at my Meal Plan #46. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. Let me do the planning for you this week!
We’ll be adding a new meal plan weekly. If you’re interested, browse all of our meal plans.
More Butternut Squash Recipes
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 (3 lb.) butternut squash
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 3 celery stalks, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves
- 4 cups (32 oz.) low sodium vegetable or chicken broth (see note)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400ºF. Peel and seed the squash. Cut into 1-inch cubes and place them on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt, and pepper; toss to coat. Spread in a single layer and roast for 15 minutes. Flip squash and continue to roast until softened, about 20 to 25 minutes more.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and celery, and cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Add sage and saute 1 minute more.
- Add broth and roasted squash and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until vegetables are very tender.
- Remove from heat. Let cool for about 10 minutes. Use a handheld (immersion) blender to blend soup directly in the pan. Return to stove and warm over medium-low heat. Add broth as needed to thin as desired. I typically add about 1 cup.
- Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
Notes
- I love to serve this with crumbled cooked bacon if I’m not serving it to vegetarians or vegans. It’s also great with homemade croutons.
- To save time, skip the roasting step and cook the squash cubes in the broth until tender. It won’t have quite as much flavor, but it will reduce cooking time slightly and there’s one less pan to wash.
- If desired, you can roast the squash a day or two ahead and refrigerate until ready to make the soup.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!Note: Photos and post updated October, 2019
ABSOLUTELY THE BEST! The burst of flavor in this soup took us by surprise and elicited such strong responses from everyone that I knew I now had THE butternut squash soup recipe for our family.
Thank you! It’s a relief for me to have this ace in my recipe box.
Here’s the way I made this recipe my own.
1. 《♡》 I roasted the squash according to Rachel’s Nov 8, 2019, post entitled “How To Cook Butternut Squash (4 Methods, How To Cut, Storage Guide)” using the “Oven Method, Halved” option – way easier than cubing, plus the kitchen needed warming.
That page has a lot of useful information about the butternut squash that I didn’t know I needed to know. Check it out. I even ordered 2 of her linked, favorite tools, the “good vegetable peeler” and veggie brush and set aside the grapefruit spoon for the summer.
Rachel, I have high hopes for that peeler. I reckon I’ve never had a “good” one because I would be in a dream the day my peeler cut through the rind of a winter squash.
2. 《♡》 Changes I made to align with the low FODMAP diet due to IBS:
▪substituted 1/2 c. thinly sliced green onions, dark green parts only, instead of yellow onion and sautéd in 1 Tbl. avocado oil for about 3 min. until soft, but no browning
▪excluded celery altogether
This was my first recipe I’ve made from this site. I’m excited yet relieved to have all of these yummy, healthy dishes to cook and all of the practical kitchen skills taught here.
Wow, thank you SO much for this kind comment! And thank you for sharing your adaptations! I’m glad you loved the soup…it always amazes me how creamy and rich it tastes but how healthy it really is! Thanks again!
I made this soup again this weekend and got rave reviews. Folks love it! I like to serve it with homemade parmesan croutons. Delish!
Yum! Homemade croutons would be perfect.
Rachel — just wanted to let you know I made this tonight and Dan and I both enjoyed it! For anyone who might want to know — I used 2 T of oil (instead of 3) and 1 T of Olivia instead of butter and it came out to be about 80 calories per cup — not bad!
Megan–The version on your site sounds great too. I always have nutmeg in the house so it would be a better go-to recipe. Plus, I love nutmeg!
Karen–It would be great with ham! What do you put in your soup?
This looks like a great recipe! I've made a variation of this before…it goes REALLY well with ham. yum!
I love butternut squash soup! This looks like a great version. I've never tried fresh sage before!