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close up of creamy squash soup with garnishes in white bowl
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5 from 6 votes

Creamy Autumn Squash Soup

Creamy Autumn Squash Soup is a delicious blend of butternut squash, carrots, and pumpkin simmered in a fall spiced vegetable broth. Now you can make the popular soup from Panera Bread at home! Simple ingredients in this classic fall and winter soup and it's ready in 30 minutes.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: Soup
Keyword: Autumn Squash Soup, Butternut squash, Copycat Panera Bread, Soup, vegetarian
Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 Cipolline onions, peeled and cut into quarters
  • 2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, deseeded, and cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 3 small carrots, peeled and cut into i inch pieces
  • 4 cups unsalted vegetable broth
  • 2 cups 100% natural apple juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • salt, to taste
  • 1 can coconut milk, divided
  • chili pepper slices, chopped parsley, and coconut flakes for garnish, optional

Instructions

  • Cut off the ends and then use a vegetable peeler to remove the outer skin of the squash. Slice the squash in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, remove the seeds and discard them. Then cut the squash into inch slices and then dice into inch pieces.
  • Prepare your vegetables by chopping the squash and carrots into one inch pieces. Set aside. Peel the onions and slice them in quarters. Gather the rest of your ingredients and a large pot.
  • Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the onions and allow them to saute for a few minutes until they are softened. Then add the vegetable broth, apple juice, curry powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, parsley, squash, and carrots to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, and cook until vegetables are tender about 15-20 minutes.
  • Once the vegetables are tender, remove the pot from the heat. Add the pumpkin puree, butter, and brown sugar. Puree with an immersion blender or use a blender (this one is my favorite). If you're using a blender, puree the soup in batches. Blend until smooth and then taste the soup for sweetness. If you like it sweeter, add a bit more brown sugar or even honey.
    Add 3/4 of the can of coconut milk (save the rest for garnishing the bowls of soup)
  • Place the Dutch Oven pot of soup back on the stove and allow the soup to reheat for a few minutes if it needs it. Serve immediately. Garnish bowls of soup with drizzles of coconut milk, sliced chili peppers, coconut flakes, and more parsley, if desired.

Notes

Tips, Tricks, and FAQs
  • The size of your squash and carrot cubes should be uniform to ensure even cooking time. If you have larger pieces, they will need more time to cook.
  • You can opt to use chicken broth in place of the vegetable. Also, choose a lower sodium or unsalted kind so you can control the amount of salt.
  • Do not use apple cider vinegar for this recipe. It will not turn out correctly.
  • The recipe calls for 100% natural apple juice but you can use apple cider if it's in season.
  • If you do not have or cannot find the Cippolini onions, a yellow onion works great, too.
  • Want a thicker soup? To thicken the soup, you can use a cornstarch slurry. Add a tablespoon of cornstarch with 2-3 tablespoons of the soup in a cup. Stir well before adding it back to the soup. Allow to simmer a while longer until thickened a bit more.
  • If you prefer the soup to be a bit sweeter, like Panera Bread's, add a bit more brown sugar or honey.
  • My soup is too thick, what can I do? Thin out with a bit of broth.
Recipe adapted from Rachel Cooks