Served piping hot with a hunk of crusty bread, this creamy, nourishing butternut squash soup recipe is fall comfort food at its best.
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
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!
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.
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!
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:
- Simple Lemon Green Beans
- Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon Zest
- Simple Roasted Beets
- Rainbow Kale Salad with Carrot-Ginger Dressing
- Shredded Brussels Sprout Salad
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Roasted Beet Salad
Alternatively, serve it as an appetizer with a hearty vegetarian main dish like Roasted Cauliflower Steaks, Vegan Meatball Sandwiches, Homemade Mac and Cheese, Sun Dried Tomato Pasta, or a grilled cheese sandwich!
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!
Butternut Squash Soup
Equipment
- 5.5-Quart Dutch Oven (I personally use the Staub Cocotte)
- Blender (I've used my trusty Vitamix for years)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 (3-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- ½ tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 3 to 4 cups vegetable broth
- Freshly ground black pepper
For serving
- Chopped parsley
- Toasted pepitas
- Crusty bread
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.
Absolutely the BEST butternut squash soup I have ever made.. Hands down. I love to cook and enjoy recipes. I augment when I think it needs it. This one was perfect, except I added more ginger than what was listed (maybe double?) and it was perfect. The only other thing I could imagine would make it more amazing is a little apple sautéed with everything to soften before blending. Excellent!
I’m so glad you loved the soup!
I hate cooking but made this and my family loved it!
Hi Daisy, I’m so glad the soup was a hit!
One of the best butternut squash soups I’ve ever made. Perfect for every one including my dairy free son!
Hi Pat, I’m so glad you love the soup!
I have made this soup 3x in the last 3 weeks. It’s so delicious and easy to make. I love the fact that it doesn’t require any dairy too! Absolutely delicious. Thank you
Hey! Lol. Looks like we enjoy the same recipe. I have litterly just cooked it again. Found this gem during the beginning of the pandemic. I have tried it with the curry recipe. I personally prefer this as my favorite. Especially with the cold weather, enjoy
I’m so glad you love it!
Fabulous and sooo creamy. No need to add milk or cream.
Hi Karen, So glad you loved it!
I’m lazy. I pike a knife through the skin then bake the butternut squash for an 90-120 minutes. Rough chop an apple, onion, (and sometimes, a sweet potato-skin on). Throw everything in pot with butternut squash. Cook as directed or on low for a few hours then use my immersion blender. Your spices are spot on! For me, it’s so much easier to bake and scrape a cooked squash then to peel and cube an uncooked squash.
Sounds like a great variation! So glad you enjoy the recipe.
Love this recipe, it’s my new go to for butternut squash soup! I fed it to people who normally wouldn’t eat this type of food, and they said it was good! I think the ginger gives, great balance in flavor.
I’m so glad you loved it!
Made this to have with homemade French bread and it was divine! I was skeptical my butternut squash cubes would take much longer to soften than the recipe called for. Worried unnecessarily as the timing was spot on!
Hi Emily, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Amazing! I have a new favorite soup!
So glad you love it!
Made this with blue Hubbard squash. I left some skin on. I wanted a recipe without coconut milk lol and this one was so easy. I had to add but more water just because the Hubbard was bit denser than a butternut. Vegan daughter and omnivore daughter both loved this lol
Hi Anne, So glad you loved the recipe!
Awesome!!
So glad you loved it!
I made this recipe after a friend recommended it to me! I baked my butternut squash as it was easier to work with this way. Otherwise, I made the recipe as is. I think the ginger is a bit heavy in this recipe, as it overpowers the squash in the end. But otherwise, great recipe!
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I used this as a baseline. I used butternut, carrot and pumpkin.
I substituted the sage and added tumeric, a dash of cumin, nutmeg, brown sugar and vegetable stock cubes instead while keeping the rosemary, ginger, garlic, onion, and pepper.
I also added a small can of condensed coconut milk, a bit of butter, Watkins butter and maple bacon liquid flavouring, and a dash of liquid smoke. Debating adding a touch of mild curry, probably will omit.
I followed the recipe exactly as written and it came out delicious! My only deviations were using an immersion blender and sprinkling some crumbling cooked bacon on the finished soup. Everyone loved it and we had zero leftovers. This recipe will go into my autumn rotation.
I’m so glad you loved it!
Refreshingly different and lighter! Love the herbal additions. I added 4 T butter to include some creaminess but not sure it needed it. Wonderful Fall recipe!
Hi Jan, I’m so glad you loved it!
Love that this doesn’t require milk or cream. I’ve made this twice. Here are a few tips:
– this makes approx 2 qts. “Large pot” is a relative term. I used a 3 qt pan and had plenty of room for things to cook down etc
– an immersion blender works great
– first time I halved the amount of squash (pre-cut) and approx half of broth but did not halve the other ingredients. I thought that was the right balance and would have been otherwise bland. Second time I made a full batch but doubled the aromatics and herbs. Still convinced that’s the right balance. It needed extra salt and broth both times.
– I cut a squash in half, scooped out the seeds and roasted about an hour then scooped out the softened squash and finished cooking with the soup ingredients. Much cheaper than the pre-cut and easier than peeling a butternut.
– flash fried sage leaves mark a wonderful topping. Instead of petit as and parsley
So glad you’re enjoying the recipe!
This soup was delicious! I chose this soup to be the first thing I cooked all by myself (looking back now I have no clue why I had so much confidence in myself) and thanks to the amazing instructions and recipe, I was able to make a delicious soup! Will definitely be coming back to this recipe!!!!
Hi Camille, I’m so glad you loved the soup!
Made this last night and it was really yummy! I modified it to cater more to my taste, but this recipe was a great base for me to layer on, thank you! To see what I added, https://www.hippiebarnacle.com/butternut-squash-soup
Hi Sami, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This was so yummy! This week I’m getting a honey nut squash in my farm box, can I use that instead of butternut?
Honeynut squash would be great here! The only thing to note is that honeynuts are often considerably smaller than butternuts. You’ll still want about 3 pounds of squash for the recipe.
This looks delicious! I can’t find butternut squash right now, but wondered if canned pumpking might work? If so, how much do you suggest? Thanks!
Hi Chris, no, canned pumpkin comes out very bland (for me) in soup). You could use another type of squash… this acorn squash soup is delicious: https://www.loveandlemons.com/acorn-squash-soup/