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 –Â These veggies add delicious depth of flavor.
- Fresh sage and rosemary –Â 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 –Â 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 –Â 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.
I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised at how rich and creamy this soup is! At first glance, it doesn’t appear there are any ingredients that would make it so, but it’s absolutely delicious. I used 1 cup of soy milk as part of the 4 cups of liquid to up the protein a bit. It wasn’t pretty, as it separated from the broth during cooking, but once the soup was pureed, it was perfection.
I’m so glad you loved it, Mimi!
I made this soup and it was really great! For some reason I decided to add a large carrot and a large russet potato as well. I also topped with a dash of cinnamon!
Hi Diana, I’m so glad you loved the soup!
This is my favorite fall soup! The only thing I added was a little brown sugar. Everyone wanted seconds, definitely going into fall rotation. Plus I cheated and purchased the butternut squash cut and ready to cook from Costco, which made it even easier.
Hi Ali, I’m so glad you loved the soup!
This is not the type of soup that would typically fly with my husband as a standalone meal, but he loved it! I roast the butternut squash, cauliflower and garlic separately and it definitely works. We enjoyed it with a little bit of crunch factor like salted, roasted pistachios, or pumpkin seeds, as well as some Louisiana hot sauce. That little bit of vinegar and heat really lifted the whole thing. All in all, it’s an excellent and very filling soup that I will be making regularly. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi, I’m so glad the soup was a hit!
Quite enjoyed this – make it periodically now. Very much like the squash forward flavour.
Often add a leek to the aromatics, that’s nice if you have it to hand.
Benefits from a little acid, increase the brightness (half lemon juiced, or a little white wine vinegar).
Benefits from starting with bacon fat and serving with bacon bits, if you are in the mood for a little more umami.
Benefits from deglazing with dry sherry after the initial browning, if you want to add a subtle extra layer of flavour.
Fresh herbs recommended, for sure, you can tell the difference after blending, and no, that’s not too much garlic!
Very much a fan of this dish as written, though. Yum!
Hi Tom, I’m so glad you love the soup! Thanks for sharing so many great variations.
Made the soup. I added 1 Tbsp heavy cream, 2 Tbsp butter, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/8 tsp cumin, and 1 Tbsp sugar. It added depth to the soup. I like that it included vegetable broth vs chicken. A bit of cumin really helped. In humor, now it’s near perfect.
Hi Claudia, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent soup for fall! I did not have fresh sage or rosemary, but used dried herbs instead. It still came out wonderfully delicious. Will definitely make this again!
Hi Sally, I’m so glad you loved it!
Very good soup! I grow sage in my garden and I think that it shines in this soup. My husband is not a fan so I froze 3 jars of soup for later and will have whats left for myself tonight. Will keep this recipe, thanks for sharinng
Hi Chris, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Absolutely amazing soup! I roasted the cubed squash and added 1 extra cube garlic and one extra cube ginger. Will be making this again soon, thanks for a great recipe!
I’m so glad you loved the soup, Marilyn!
Could you roast it and then blend it? I do not have a dutch over. Thanks!
Hi Jayme, other readers have successfully used roasted squash here. It’s fine if you don’t have a Dutch oven—a large pot works too!
Omg,I made this it’s incredible!! Didn’t have sage left it out. When it was done I sprinkled a little shredded cheddar on top and then had some cheese its with it. I had to have too big bowls. Ha. Boyfriend didn’t want to try it. I’m thinking yes more for me.. Thank you soo much. If you’re reading comments try this, you’ll be making it also again!!
Hi Patricia, aww I’m so glad you loved it!
Divine. Delicious. Thank you for another great soup recipe. Great time of year to make this bc Trader Joes has cubed butternut squash in 32 oz bags so no chopping of the squash.
Hi Stacey, I’m so glad you loved the soup!
This tastes amazing with focaccia garlic toast.
Recipe was very good. the squash is hard so I would recommend buying them re-cubed in the store. Wegman’s sells them this way. Also, I used an immersion blender instead of a blender and it worked very well.
This is my favorite butternut squash soup recipe. For some reason when I changed the servings to 12 on the print page, the vegetable broth stayed at 3 cups in the instructions. I added more anyway and it was delicious!
Lovely recipe! The flavors are perfect for autumn. My husband and I liked it so well that we had seconds. Thank you, so much, for sharing this gem of a dish with us!!
If you only have dry spices, how much would you add with the rosemary, ginger? I am not a sage lover, can I sub it with something else? Thanks.
Hi Linda, you could use dried rosemary and thyme instead of sage. I’d start with 1 teaspoon each and add more to taste. For the dried ginger, I’d start with 1/4 teaspoon.
Do you have measurements available for substituting dry herbs for the fresh ones? Thank you.
Hi Eric, I’d recommend starting with 1 teaspoon dried sage and 1 teaspoon dried rosemary and adding more to taste.
I just made this! Best soup I have ever made!
Hi Molly, so great to hear! I’m glad you loved it.
I made this Butternut Squash Soup tonight and it was easy and delicious! It’s truly a meal! After b enjoying it for dinner, we satisfied and full! And it’s easy!!
Thanks for a winner recipe!
So glad you loved it, Kathleen!