This Copycat Panera Squash Soup tastes just like the original, but I made it a bit healthier!
Remember last week when I was talking about my homemade mild curry powder and I said I really truly made it for this soup? Well, here it is!
We were at a church event not too long ago and my pastor’s wife asked me if I had a squash soup recipe on my site. I said yes I have a creamy butternut squash soup with smoked paprika, and a really old post about squash soup with sage. But she was looking specifically for a copycat Panera squash soup.
I don’t blame her – it is delicious!
I made efforts to reduce the calorie content a bit while still keeping the flavors rich and slightly indulgent. I think I found a good balance, but if you’re looking for an exact replica, feel free to add more butter, cream, and sugar.
If you read the recipe closely, you’ll see this squash soup also contains carrots and pumpkin. They give it extra sweetness and depth of flavor. If you don’t have pumpkin or don’t want to add pumpkin, just use a little less vegetable broth. Remember you can always add more at the end to make it thinner but it’s more difficult to make it thicker.
I’d recommend using carrots with the squash because they really do add great natural sweetness, and they help achieve the beautiful color of the soup. Plus, Panera squash soup also has carrots in it.
I garnished my Copycat Panera Squash Soup recipe with roasted pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds). Their crunch and color add a nice contrast, don’t you think? You could also garnish it with chopped, fresh herbs like sage or parsley, or homemade croutons.
Important note: This soup calls for two cups of apple cider, NOT APPLE CIDER VINEGAR. If you can’t find apple cider (sometimes it’s hard to find if it’s not fall), use a natural (100% juice) apple juice. If you use vinegar by accident, your soup will NOT turn out and will definitely NOT taste like Panera’s.
PS: This isn’t my first rodeo with making a Panera copycat – make sure to check out my Copycat Panera Mac and Cheese! People LOVE it!
Copycat Panera Squash Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced (about ¾ cup)
- 2 pounds chopped butternut squash (about 6 heaping cups)
- 3 small carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 3-4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups apple cider or apple juice (do NOT use apple cider vinegar)
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- dash of nutmeg
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 ounces low-fat (neufchatel) cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar, more to taste
- salt to taste
- heavy cream, optional
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until translucent, stirring frequently.1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 small yellow onion, diced
- Add squash, carrots, vegetable broth, apple cider, and spices.2 pounds chopped butternut squash, 3 small carrots, chopped, 3-4 cups vegetable broth, 2 cups apple cider or apple juice, 1/2 teaspoon curry powder, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, dash of nutmeg
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until squash and carrots are soft. Remove from heat and add pumpkin puree, butter, cream cheese and brown sugar. Puree with a hand (stick) blender or in batches in a normal blender. Blend until very smooth.1/2 cup pumpkin puree, 2 tablespoons butter, 2 ounces low-fat (neufchatel) cream cheese, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, more to taste
- Taste soup and add salt as desired. You may also add extra brown sugar or honey to achieve a taste closer that of Panera’s. You can also add a little heavy cream if you want a more decadent soup. If desired, add more vegetable broth to thin soup.salt to taste, heavy cream, optional
- Return to burner over medium-low heat, if needed to heat the soup back up, and then serve immediately.
Notes
- If you want it to be just like Panera squash soup – add more brown sugar and/or honey to taste. Adding more cream will also give it a richer flavor.
- This soup calls for two cups of apple cider, NOT APPLE CIDER VINEGAR. If you can’t find apple cider (sometimes it’s hard to find if it’s not fall), use a natural (100% juice) apple juice. If you use vinegar by accident, your soup will NOT turn out and will definitely NOT taste like Panera’s.
- To reduce sodium, use low sodium or no salt added vegetable broth.
Video
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!
EXCELLENT. WONDERFULLY WASY TO MAKE. GREAT INSTRUCTIONS
So glad you liked it! Thank you for leaving a review!
Curious what a “serving” is? How many cups?
About 1 ¼ cup
Can I use frozen butternut squash? How will that change cooking instructions?
That should work – it cooks pretty quickly typically and likely won’t change the instructions because you’ll still have to cook until the carrots are tender, and the squash should be tender by that point as well.
What size pan do I need to use for this recipe?
A 7qt pot should work well.
Can I use pure, homemade apple sauce instead of apple juice or apple cider?
That will probably work, you just may need a little more liquid.
I come back to this recipe again and again! I’ve been making it for years and will occasionally tweak it by adding a potato, parsnip, or apple. I’ve tried an immersion blender in the past, but nothing makes it smoother than a blender! I will usually top with a fresh whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg! Truly the best! Thank you!
Yes a blander is always the best! Thanks for leaving a review!
I made it last year it was excellent. I used apple juice . Making it again . Was very close to Paneras. Thanks .
So glad you liked it! Thank you for leaving a review – I really appreciate it.
This recipe is THE BOMB.COM!! I made it with a few tweaks; I used chicken stock instead of vegetable and added 1 medium chopped apple since I didn’t have apple juice on hand, adding 2 cups of additional stock to make up for the lack of juice. My blender burnt out on me a few days ago, so I ended up mashing the chunks by hand. It came out pretty chunky, but my husband and I really enjoyed the heartier texture! I also went by your recommendation of adding extra brown sugar (1 tbsp extra) and ended up adding 1.5-2 tsp of salt as per my taste. It was seriously perfect. I’m excited for the leftovers!
So glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for leaving a review!
Way too much apple cider, just turned out gross. I even added more pumpkin, and c still all you could taste was apple cider.
Did you use apple cider, not apple cider vinegar? It also should be non-alcoholic apple cider. It really just adds a subtle sweetness to the soup.
Made a vegan version. It was outstanding. Doubled the batch this time. The only other difference was I cooked the whole squash in the IP first to make it go faster and be easier to cut.
So good-thank you so much!
So glad you liked it! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Can u plz share how you cooked it in the inatapot? Thx
I’m not sure this message posted so if it shows up three times, I apologize but I don’t see where it’s posted in the list. .. I also did not intend for this to be a reply to
Jo McEnroe, so I apologize.
I think I made this recipe about a year ago and it was fabulous! So, of course, I couldn’t wait to try it again. But me being me, I used more of this and little of that and ended up putting in a stock of celery and probably more carrots than I should have but I also had quite a bit of butternut squash to the point of it being double the recipe so all the add-ins I figured would balance out. I even played with the idea of throwing in a banana. What do you think? LOL. Well I Just Whipped it up and you can definitely tell that there are carrots in there and overall it has a wonderful flavor. After reading the nutrition facts, I was a little surprised that the amount of sodium. And I’m assuming that’s for an 8 oz cup? The other thing I was going to put in there, but I got distracted, were raw cashews. I figured I would let them boil in there and get soft and that they would whip up really nicely. So maybe I’ll try that the next time. Again thank you for this wonderful recipe and since I’m the only one who will be eating it, it will last me quite a while.. it’s double the recipe, after all! You wouldn’t happen to have the hack recipe for the broccoli cheddar would you? My son loves that one. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and to your family.
I’m not sure about the banana! But I’m glad you like the recipe! I’ll have to work on a broccoli cheddar recipe.
Can you share what you substituted with for your vegan version? Thanks!