Smooth, rich, healthy Butternut Squash Soup made quick and easy in the Instant Pot, with a wonderful hint of Thai peanut and red curry flavors
This is Butternut Squash Soup like you've never had it, and the only way you'll want it for the rest of your life. Silky and luscious with just enough of a Thai inspired twist to make you say, “Wow! Where has this been my whole life!”
Funny enough, my anti kitchen/decorator extraordinaire sister Cami is the one that sent me this recipe and said, “You need to Instant Pot – atize this soup ASAP!
The original recipe is from Fooduzzi, Thai Peanut Butternut Squash Soup. Never would I have made this soup had Cami not suggested it. I thought, “Butternut and Peanut Butter? There's no way that could work.” I was so very wrong.
I ate this several nights in a row, each time tweaking, adding, subtracting, and bedazzling until I got it just how I liked it.
WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS EASY BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
- Flavorful orange fiesta in your mouth with every bite! No weird squashy, blah flavor here.
- Squash + Peanut Butter + Red Curry + Coconut Milk!!! You're thinking, hmmm…weird, but you're wrong! (no offense)
- Plump, cushy sausage filled tortellini AKA my go-to frozen food for amping up any meal
- Red curry infused coconut milk drizzle. Go ahead and drink the leftovers as a savory beverage
- Filling and satisfying, all while being healthy to the max
HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP WITH COCONUT MILK
- Saute onion, garlic, and ginger in a little olive oil (I do this outside in the pressure cooker because I don't like my house to smell like a teenage boy's gym bag – anyone else?)
- Add cubed squash, broth, and soy sauce, start the pressure cooker
- Once cooked, add peanut butter
- Puree until very smooth
- Add tortellini and use the saute function to simmer a few minutes until they rise to the surface
- Decorate with red curry coconut milk, basil, lots of dry roasted peanuts, and dive in!
SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR DETAILED COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
VARIATIONS
- Swap the peanut butter out for almond or cashew butter. It's a milder nutty flavor and is equally delicious
- Easy/Lazy version: Don't bother sauteeing the onion, garlic, and ginger. Just throw everything in and walk away. It won't have quite the depth of flavor, but it will still be incredible
- Vegetarian/Vegan Butternut Squash Soup: omit the tortellini and use vegetable broth
- Mix up the toppings: Bacon or prosciutto (try it baked! So good!), wilted spinach, goat cheese crumbles, sriracha, croutons, etc
HOW TO STORE, REHEAT, AND FREEZE BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
- Store: Cool leftovers and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Reheat: Soup can be reheated in a pan on the stovetop or in the microwave.
- Freeze: The tortellini get a little weird once they are frozen. If you are wanting to freeze the soup, I would suggest freezing it without the tortellini, then adding your pasta when you're ready to eat it.
Have you written “15 butternut squash” on your grocery list yet? Seriously, I've said for years that I hate butternut squash and now I'm swiping butternut squash from innocent shopper's carts.
Enjoy this one all cold season long my friends! It's truly a treasure of a recipe.
EXTRA TIDBITS – HOW TO EASILY PEEL AND CHOP A BUTTERNUT SQUASH
To make peeling and chopping a squash easy for this recipe, place your squash in the pressure cooker with 1 cup of water and cook for 10 minutes. Quickly release the pressure. The squash will be just soft enough to peel and cube very easily. You could even use a butter knife! I use this trick ALL THE TIME.
You can read more about this in my tutorial all about Instant Pot Butternut Squash.
If you want the really easy route, peeled diced butternut squash is easy to find in either the produce or freezer section.
TOOLS USED TO MAKE INSTANT POT BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
PrintInstant Pot Healthy Butternut Squash Soup – Thai Style
Rich, Creamy, and Healthy Butternut Squash Soup with a surprising and delicious Thai twist
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium sweet onion, coarsely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic
- 4 tablespoons chopped ginger
- kosher salt
- ground black pepper
- small pinch of red pepper flakes
- 5 – 6 cups of cubed butternut squash (approx. one 2 pound squash – see notes)
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 – 3 tablespoons unsweetened peanut butter (may substitute almond or cashew butter)
- 8-ounce package sausage tortellini
For the Red Curry Coconut Milk
- 1 – 2 tablespoons red curry paste – depending on how spicy you want it
- 1 cup lite or regular coconut milk
- pinch of kosher salt
Toppings
- dry roasted peanuts, red pepper flakes, fresh basil
Instructions
- Preheat the pressure cooker by selecting saute. Add oil, onion, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir to coat veggies with oil, then place the lid loosely on the pressure cooker and allow the veggies to sweat for 3 – 5 minutes, until starting to soften.
- Add butternut squash, chicken broth, and soy sauce, stir.
- Secure the lid and turn pressure release knob to a sealed position. Cook at high pressure for 10 minutes.
- While soup is cooking, combine red curry paste, coconut milk, and salt in a small bowl or measuring cup.
- When pressure cooking is complete, use a natural release for 5 – 10 minutes then release any remaining pressure.
- Add peanut butter. If you prefer a more mild peanut flavor, go with 2 tablespoons.
- Use an immersion blender directly in the pot and blend until very smooth.
- Alternatively, add soup to a high powered blender and blend until smooth. Return soup to the pot.
- Select saute. When soup starts to bubble add tortellini and cook for 3 minutes or until tortellini float to the top.
- Serve hot topped with a drizzle of Red Curry Coconut Milk, peanuts, and fresh basil
Freezer Meal Instructions:
- For this recipe, I like to double or triple the amount of ingredients listed in step 1. I reserve what I need for dinner that night, then portion and freeze the rest with the butternut squash for later. Don't forget to label the bag!
- When ready to cook, add bag of frozen ingredients to the pressure cooker pot, add broth and soy sauce. Cook at high pressure for 15 minutes, proceed with the rest of the above directions.
Notes
- Use the tips and tricks in this Butternut Squash Tutorial to easily peel and chop a squash. A 2-3 pound squash is perfect for this recipe or you can find prechopped squash in the produce section of most grocery stores.
- Adjust spice level by increasing, decreasing, or omitting the amount of red pepper flakes and red curry paste in the coconut milk mixture
- If not a fan of peanut butter, swap for almond or cashew butter
Keywords: instant pot recipe, butternut squash soup, healthy soup
Very yummy soup. I cooked my squash in the crockpot for 3 hours (whole squash, no cuts, dry) and it cut open very easily and then I just scooped out the good stuff and made my soup on the stove. Immersion blended in the pot and done.
Cindy, I love your adjustments! I’ve never tried making butternut squash in the slow cooker.
I just tried cooking spaghetti squash in the crockpot and it worked great. My new go to method for cooking squash!
Just bake my BN Sq for an hour. I don’t even cut it open. I do put a few holes in it like I would a baked potato then easy to cut open and scoop out all the squash. cook on foil lines pan. easy cleanup
★★★★★
Thank you for this scrumptious recipe! It was great for something different than my go to Butternut squash soup. I added a little Cinnamon and Cumin but other than that stuck to the directions exactly.
★★★★★
Kayla, Oh I love your spice additions! I’m so glad you liked it. It’s the recipe that turned me into a butternut squash lover.
I’m so excited to try this! Been browsing your website for freezer meals in prep for when our baby is born. What do you think about adding Rice noodles to this? I might try it, just to add some more substance but keep it meatless (my husband and I do meatless Fridays and I need at least 1 meatless recipe for him!) I’ll keep you posted for how it tastes, and THANK YOU SO MUCH for the tutorial on how to cut a butternut squash! I sorely needed that.
★★★★★
Julia, This one will be so nourishing after baby is here! Yes, I think rice noodles would be fantastic with this, I’m wondering now why I’ve never tried that. I hope everything goes beautifully smooth for you 🙂
I like a lot of your recipes and share them with my friends often. Easy and quick. I forgot the peanut butter in the butternut soup but mixed it in afterwards.
Anjanette, thank you!
Marci, I have made this soup several times. It is one of my favorite soups! My butternut squash has always been too large to fit in my Instant Pot so I cut it in half to cook. Please keep coming up with these delicious recipes!
Susan, Oh they’ll keep coming, I’ve got oodles 🙂
This recipe has been on my radar for a while now. I love simple, regular ol’ butternut squash soup and my husband loves Thai flavors with ginger so this recipe was a combination I wanted to try. During dinner, while I was gobbling it down, all I could think was WOW. It is incredibly delicious – and I didn’t even add the sausage tortellini! Thank you Cami for finding the original recipe, and thank you Marci for tweaking it to perfection. Every Thai restaurant should have this soup on the menu – it’s that good. I couldn’t find how to add a star rating but it’s 5 stars; no, make that 10 stars!
Candice, I just love your reviews. We definitely have the same passionate love for food, haha! Thai food is my favorite so this one gets high marks for my husband and I as well.
I have another go to butternut squash soup recipe that I love. I really wanted to try your version with the Thai twist, so I combined them. The roasting and addition of carrots and apples makes a sweeter soup. So I used this as the base with cinnamon but omitted the chilli and cumin. I cooked it and added the red chili paste, coconut and I had almond butter. It is soooo yummy. I didn’t add the tortellini.
https://paleogrubs.com/butternut-squash-soup-recipe
★★★★★
Michele, Oh wow, I’m going to have to try this twist. I bet that was spectacular!
I made it vegan and without the tortellini. Absolutely gorgeous. Velvety smooth, absolutely delish! I was afraid of butternut squash soup! lol !! but decided I must try it as it seems “all the rage”. Definitely my favourite soup!
Janice, I’m VERY pick with butternut squash soup. If they taste really sweet, I struggle. The balance on this one is perfection to me. I’m so glad you loved it and thanks for sharing!
Looks like another great one Marci 🙂 I am making this tonight! Just a few questions for you—for the squash I am using the frozen cubes stuff, since I already had some on my freezer, AND a quarter of cubes fresh stuff that I had leftover from something else this week. Will there be any different in cook time with the addition of the frozen? Should I reduce the broth amount because the frozen stuff contains lots of water….?
Also! I couldn’t find sweet onion in either of my grocery stores. Is regular yellow onion ok? Do I need to add any sugar to make up for the lack of sweetness?
Thanks for posting such great meals and especially for all the time you take to test and tweak them for us so we don’t have to!
Erin, I’m making this Tuesday! I would just keep the liquid and cook time the same. I’ve used the frozen before as well without any change in the recipe. And yes, the regular onion will work just great, no extra sugar needed! You are going to flip, this one is so good!
You were totally right. This is amazing. I think next time the only thing I would do different is use a slightly lighter brand of soy sauce–I only had the extra dark stuff in the fridge.
Sorry for the typos in my above comment, I was typing with fingers that were slightly olive oil-y :p
Thanks for your dedication to interesting, healthy food that you have road tested to perfection. And for your responses!!
Yay, I’m glad you liked it! We’re having it tonight and I’ve been excited all day about it. And thank you for your kind words. I love hearing that other people appreciate the spins I throw on things, haha!
Thanks.. That extra salt will definitely make a difference. Do you add the same amount of pepper?
★★★★★
Shelly, for the pepper I do about 4 cracks with my pepper grinder. Sorry, I know that’s not very exact. Next time I make it, I’ll measure exactly and update it here.
Hi, this may show twice… Oops. Made the squash per other recipe.. And then this marvelous soup. Even my no-Thai or curry husband liked it! Fast and easy. I made with almond butter on hand but look forward to peanut butter and adding more kick/heat! One question… How much actual salt and pepper do you usually use? I guessed with a large pinch but feel it was inadequate. Thanks for another keeper recipe Marci!
★★★★★
Shelley, YAY!!! I love turning people over to Thai! As far as the salt goes, likely close to 2 teaspoons. I grab a pinch, and then grab some more, I like things well seasoned 🙂
Hi,
Made the squash per your guidelines then tried this soup. So simple and so delicious! Even my husband liked it (not usually a curry fan). I only had almond butter on hand but will be trying again with peanut butter, and adjusting the heat of spice somewhat, now that we know how it tastes! One question… How much salt and pepper do you usually use in the soup? I’d rather use more in the recipe than add after… Thanks for another keeper recipe!
★★★★★
I made it yesterday, and it’s the BEST SOUP I’VE EVER EATEN‼️ (I have a cold, and it was wonderful to sit and sip and hoover over:)
I didn’t have Thai paste, so just stirred curry powder into the onion mixture as it was cooking. Also added some cayenne then.
And I love squash, so didn’t blend it.
I also skipped the tortellini (am celiac), and stirred about 1/4 can of coconut milk in after it had cooked. So silky.
I topped with some sriracha sauce.
I keep hearing up small bowls to sip on!
Now the soup is almost gone – and so is my cold❤️
★★★★★
Linda, The magic healing soup:). That’s exactly how I feel when I eat it, just pure comfort. I’ve never tried it unblended and now you have me curious! I’m so glad you’re feeling better!
I have made this soup now and it was delicious. Earlier I mentioned using loose Italian sausage instead of the tortellini, but I made it with neither. Maybe next time. I used 2 T. of peanut butter and 1 1/2 T. of the red curry paste. I used the Maesri brand. It comes in a small cans and is available in Asian markets and perhaps supermarkets as well. Since that’s the only brand I’ve used, I can’t compare it to any other brand.
I loved the method for cooking the squash in the pressure cooker so it could easily be peeled and cut into cubes.
Razzy, I’m so happy to hear back! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I haven’t made this recipe yet but hope to tonight. What I wanted to comment on today is the wonderful sense of humor with which you write. I chuckled as I read the article accompanying this story and just had to read it aloud to my housemate. Thanks for great recipes and stories worth reading.
Razzy, I Love this recipe so much! Bless you for your comment, it made my day!
I made this recipe last night and it was incredible! I used almond butter instead of peanut butter. My husband said it tasted like something out of a 5 star restaurant!
Jeanie, I’ll have to agree with your husband, layers upon layers of flavor. I’m so glad you loved it!
Hey Marci! I’m a quiet reader but LOVE your (and your sisters) sites so much!! I’m just not a huge commenter. Sorry. (#128527#)
ANYway,… do you think that a good curry powder could substitute for paste. If so, how much? Thanks much!!!
Nancy, I’m a quiet reader as well, haha! Thank you for support, we appreciate it so much. I’ve never used a red curry powder, but I’ve used yellow before. I would start with about a teaspoon, taste, and adjust from there. Let me know if you try that. I’m curious
Hi Marci
I’ve tried butternut squash in soups before with carrots and onions, but always found it watery tasting. This recipe sounds like it solves that problem, so I’m going to try it out! What kind of red curry paste do you use? TIA
Nancy, I agree, I have had a hard time liking butternut squash soup for that reason. Guaranteed you won’t get that here :). My favorite curry paste is Thai and True, but since I have to order it online, if I’m out of it I use Thai Kitchens which I don’t feel has quite the intensity of flavor, but it works. Let me know what you think!
Thanks for replying so quickly, Marci. I think we’ll try the Thai Kitchens brand, since we can’t take the strong ‘in-your-face’ hot stuff. lol
Definitely sounds delicious and Thai-like. I think I’d also do as Karen suggests, skip the tortellini and added some cooked sausage OR omit it altogether. Recently I learned that there was such a thing as powdered peanut butter. The friend who told me about it says she uses it in smoothies. I think this soup would be a natural for powdered peanut butter as well. I know Walmart carries this product and likely other supermarkets. Amazon has several brands including one which has only roasted peanuts, is vegan, has no additives, no salt, no sugar and is preservative free.
Razzy, I think the powdered PB would work great. I recently found a sugar and salt free version so I’ll have to try that next time I make it
Yum, sounds heavenly! I need to go buy a squash now! Goodness, I can’t wait for a cold spell to make this. (I know, I know. I can make it sooner but cold weather is when my husband will eat soup for supper).
🙂 Cecilia
Cecilia, I totally get that. I’ll eat soup year round but it’s of course that much better when I’m cold 🙂
you have me thinking this morning–since I have celiac and am trying to cut down my carb count a bit–i could omit the sausage tortellini and simply add some cooked sausage and it would likely be yummy too, yes? I think I might be making dinner tonight for my extended family!
Karen, We think alike :). I’ve had it with my favorite Trader Jo’s sausage as well. Roasted cauliflower is also a great addition.