Instant Pot Cajun Butternut Squash Soup
Cajun butternut squash soup made in the instant pot. This recipe uses cajun flavors along with butternut squash to create a silky, smooth soup. Top it off with my homemade garlic croutons!
Creamy, cozy, comforting. Cajun butternut squash soup.
Okay, first thing first. I admit I have no idea if it’s cajun. My knowledge of Cajun or Creole cuisine is as tiny as my New Orleans trip a few years ago. Well, that and the stuff I’ve seen Emeril making. But what I do know is that the holy trinity is involved, and there are tomatoes and cajun/creole seasoning and when it cooks up altogether the air is thick with the smell of homemade comfort food.
And guess what? It’s quick enough to get on the table for dinner tonight using our handy-dandy kitchen workhorse, the instant pot (affiliate link).
In addition to being the creamiest, most velvety smooth soup, it’s also nutritionally dense. We’re packing in all the veggies and using a hint of cream to give our cajun butternut squash that little touch of luxury. And if that wasn’t enough, we’ll top it off with homemade fried garlic croutons just for good measure.
Oh my Lanta!
When Anees and I first got married, every fall a plump butternut squash would find it’s way into my grocery bag with the sole intent of becoming a roasted butternut squash soup. It was a long and sometimes tedious process. After battling with the butternut squash, you’d roast it with a couple of apples and onions then let it slow simmer in broth. Finally, at the end of a long day, you’d be left with a small vessel of that scrumptious golden elixir. Over the years, pre-prepped butternut squash became readily available, and I gladly swapped out my long, laborious process for a slow cooker version, and we enjoyed butternut squash soup more than just once in the fall.
This year, I wanted to change up the flavor (you know, a little variety and whatnot) and make it in the instant pot. Those of us that would happily dine on butternut squash soup every week can finally jump with joy! Speaking of, it’s the perfect soup to meal prep, pop into transportable containers, and take along with you to work for a luxurious, snug desk lunch.
The thing about cajun butternut squash soup is that the flavor intensifies as it sits so make it on Sunday. Tuesday’s lunch is going to be extra delicious.
There’s not much for me to say about how you’d make homemade cajun butternut squash soup. It’s just the holy trinity (onions, celery, and bell peppers) chopped up and added to the slow cooker along with garlic, two pounds of peeled and diced butternut squash, a small can of tomato sauce, a couple of bay leaves, broth, and cajun seasoning. Let it all cook up on high pressure for 30 minutes. Then just blend it all up using a hand blender or traditional blender and drizzle in some cream.
While we’re talking about the cream, I’d like to mention we’re using just 1/2 a cup, which I get, it sounds like a lot. But then factor in that this soup makes enough to serve 8. That comes down to just a tablespoon of cream per serving. We can do that. Especially since there’s zero oil in this soup. But if you’re still looking for another option, your best bet would be coconut cream. I haven’t tried it myself, but I can’t imagine it tasting anyway but good.
Also, whatever you do, don’t serve cajun butternut squash soup without homemade fried garlic croutons. It’s just a couple inches of olive oil, a hunk of day-old bread, and a few cloves of smashed garlic. First, we’ll infuse the olive oil with garlic cloves. Then fry up the bread in the oil. It’s seriously worth the 10 minutes it takes to put it together. And my favorite part is when some of those croutons soak up the soup, and you’re left it a semi-crunchy, semi soup-soaked crouton. Make a little more than you intend to consume because these guys have a way of just flying off the plate!
GAH, the best.
Toss the ingredients for this notably simple cajun butternut squash soup into a pressure cooker and let it make your daily lunches a little extra special!
You won’t regret this.
Instant Pot Cajun Butternut Squash Soup
Cajun butternut squash soup made in the instant pot. This recipe uses cajun flavors along with butternut squash to create a silky, smooth soup. Top it off with my homemade garlic croutons!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of butternut squash, cleaned and diced*
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 stalks of celery, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1-8 ounce can tomato sauce
- 3-4 teaspoons cajun seasoning
- 1/2 cup heavy cream or coconut cream
- garlic croutons (see notes)
Instructions
- instant pot: add everything but the heavy cream into the instant pot. Start with 3 teaspoons of cajun seasoning if you want something mild-medium. Add 4 if you want it spicy. Hit the manual button and on high pressure set the time for 30 minutes. Let it all hang out in the pressure cooker for 10 minutes before venting, or vent immediately if you're in a hurry.
- slow cooker: spray a 6-quart slow cooker or larger with non-stick spray. Add in all the ingredients except heavy cream. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 7-8. Squash is done when you can easily pierce it with a fork.
- Finish the soup: Blend the soup until smooth using an immersion blender or transfer the soup to a conventional blender and blend until smooth. Place everything back into the IP or slow cooker and stir in the cream. Adjust with additional cream or broth as desired. It was perfect for us as is!
Notes
- start with a butternut squash that's around 2 1/4 - 2 1/3 pound and you'll be left with 2 pounds worth once cleaned. Chop into 1-inch pieces for it to cook in 30 minutes (in the IP).
- garlic croutons: heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet with 2 smashed cloves of garlic over medium-low heat. Sometimes I toss in a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Allow garlic to sizzle for a few minutes, discard. Crank the heat up to medium and add 2 cups of diced day old french bread. Toss bread and allow to brown and crisp up on all sides. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate. Season with salt.
Can you provide tips on making this in a crockpot as opposed to an instapot? Just a longer cook time?
Sure thing, Amber! Spray a 6-quart slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray and add everything but the heavy cream in. Let cook on low for 7-8 or on high for 4-5. I find if you make this in the slow cooker, you sometimes need a little more broth at the end as some of the liquid evaporates during the longer cooking time! Hope you enjoy it 🙂
This recipe is delicious! Amazingly simple and fast.
Absolutely delicious!!
Very flavorful soup. It was easy to make
Can’t get enough of this soup. So simple to prepare and satisfies the whole family for dinner.
OH. MY. GOODNESS! I had never tried butternut squash soup before someone gave me 8 of them. In an attempt to use them up before they went bad, I made soup. Turns out that I do not like it. When searching for a way to make it something that at least my husband would eat, I ran across this recipe. I cooked the pepper, celery, and garlic then threw it in a blender with the tomato sauce and a few ladels of my pre-made soup then stirred that mixuture in the rest of the soup and added the spices. AMAZING! Now we are all fighting over it. Great recipe, thank you so much for sharing.
This was quite tasty and it came out great in the crockpot.
Also, I’m trying to add this to a fitness tracker and I don’t see anywhere in the recipe an approximate calorie count. Any guesses as to what that could be? The only hint it “under 500 calories” from the tags.
Hi Mary, glad to hear you enjoyed the soup. The best way to get the most accurate calorie count/nutritional value is to pop the ingredients into an online calorie calculator such as MyFitnessPal.com. That way you can add the brands you used and get the most accurate information! 🙂
I cooked spicy pumpkin cream soup with shrimps a couple of times, my family loves this dish, and, in my opinion, pumpkin cream soup is a real delicacy. By the way, the idea of adding crackers is super! In addition, it is a healthy, quick to prepare, fragrant and tasty seasonal dish. C-c-combo! There are a lot of pumpkins in the fall and I literally collect different recipes in my cookbook. Thank you!
Is it weird that I used the leftovers on top of pasta as a sauce? It was yummy! Great recipe.
Sorry, I don’t know how I missed this comment! Not at all! That sounds so delicious, I would totally try that! Glad you enjoyed the soup and thanks for taking the time to come back and comment 🙂
Frankly, I don’t know why I would ever make butternut soup any other way after making this recipe! It’s so easy in the instantpot with an immersion blender. The flavors are perfect and explode in my mouth! I followed the recipe exactly as written with 4tsp of cajun seasoning- it was a touch too hot for me, so I ruined the heat down with 2 TB of sugar and half of a squeezed lemon. It didn’t change the flavor, but did mellow the heat.
I think this would pair well with some sort of lemon drop dessert or a grilled cheese sandwich. I plan to make both later this week.
Hey Marzia, I don’t have tomato sauce, is there a substitute?
We have an Instant Pot Plus Mini. Will this recipe work with its smaller pot, or will we need to cut down on the ingredients?
This soup is amazing! Love the subtle heat that you get from each bite.
AMAZING recipe!!!! I’ve made it 3 times this month! Even my 14 month old loved it!
I added 1/2 tsp chili powder to give it an extra kick.
oh and i made it with 2 bags of frozen diced butternut squash and put it in the IP frozen. Even easier!!!!
Excellent flavor as is…..I used more onions, garlic, and some finely crushed crispy bacon at the end……. It was GREAT!!!
(ended up having to lick the pot!!)
Added shredded chicken to it as well – absolutely delicious!!