Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup Recipe – Panera Copycat!

How to Make Butternut Squash Soup in the Instant Pot

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE Panera’s Autumn Squash soup (which is a butternut squash soup). It is one of their seasonal soups that you can only get a few months out of the year… PLUS it’s pretty expensive (more than $6 for a bowl where I live!).

So I found a popular butternut squash soup recipe and modified it to be cooked up right in the Instant Pot! If you love Panera’s Autumn Squash recipe, you’ll love this one! I tried it on the stove top and the taste was comparable – but cooking it in the instant pot was so much faster! It’s definitely one of those set it and forget it recipes.

Butternut Squash Soup – First Step

The first step is to sauté some chopped onion. Many Instant Pots have a Sauté button that gets the job done fast. Once the onion begins to soften, it is time to add the other ingredients.

No need to spend too much time chopping the onion or any of the veggies because it will all get blended together in the end. The Instant Pot can handle some good sized chunks.

Add the butternut squash, carrots, chicken broth, apple cider (note – NOT apple cider vinegar!), curry powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the Instant Pot. If you cannot find apple cider, you can sub apple juice.

How long to cook butternut squash soup in the Instant Pot?

Put the lid on and set to seal. Cook for only 6 minutes! Of course, it does take some time for the Instant Pot to come to pressure, around 15 minutes. Then I let it sit for 10 minutes after the cooking time to naturally release some pressure because it helps reduce splattering. Quick release the remaining pressure.

The veggies come out super soft and ready to be blended! It fills my 8 cup blender to the top, but still works wonderfully. Or for an even easier option, use an immersion blender right there in the instant pot! Super handy!

Now it is time to add the remaining ingredients: pumpkin, butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar. Blend in the goodness. Add some salt, to taste, too.

Squash Soup Blender Option

If you use a blender and it is already filled to the top, pour half of the blended soup mixture back into the Instant Pot. Then add the pumpkin, butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar to the mixture remaining in the blender. Blend it up, then add it back to the Instant Pot as well and stir it all together.

Garnish with cooked pumpkin seeds, if desired. Enjoy!

Check out more of our favorite soup recipes!

Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup Recipe - Panera Copycat!

Make this copycat Panera butternut squash soup all in one pot - your Instant Pot!

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Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Serves: 8

Adjust Servings: 8

US CustomaryMetric

Equipment

• Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ¾ cup yellow onion chopped (about 1 small onion)
• 2 pounds chopped butternut squash peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 cup carrots peeled and roughly chopped (about 3 small carrots)
• 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 cups apple cider
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ cup pure pumpkin puree or pumpkin solid pack
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 ounces cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• salt to taste

Instructions

• Heat oil in Instant Pot on Sauté setting. Add chopped onion and sauté until it begins to soften, 1-2 mins.
• Add squash, carrots, broth, cider, curry powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
• Cook on manual high pressure for 6 minutes.
• Once done cooking, allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 mins, then quick release the remaining pressure (you can quick release if in a hurry).
• Use an immersion blender or pour mixture into a blender, blend until smooth.
• Add pumpkin, butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar; blend until smooth. Add salt to taste. (If using a blender, you may need to pour some of the mixture back into the Instant Pot so you have room to add the additional ingredients, then stir it all together in the Instant Pot to combine.)
• Garnish with cooked pumpkin seeds, if desired.

Recipe Notes

Make sure you do NOT use apple cider vinegar... it will taste horrible in this soup!

Nutrition

Calories: 178kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Sodium: 391mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 13g