This flavorful Ina Garten butternut squash soup will be your new fave way to enjoy butternut squash and pumpkin. This savory and filling soup is delicious topped with creme fraiche.
Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa cookbooks are actually what first inspired me to want to become a better cook. I love her recipes because they are all flavorful, easy to follow, and crowd pleasers. I have most of the cookbooks from her collection, and this recipe is adapted from her Winter Squash soup recipe in Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You can Make at Home.
Ingredients for Ina Garten Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
Unsalted Butter & Olive Oil are used to saute the onions to start the base.
Yellow Onions add flavor and depth, and are pocked with nutrients. The yellow onions will be chopped before added to the soup, but eventually will be pureed with a handheld blender for a smoother finish.
pumpkin puree adds the pumpkin flavor to this soup. Make sure you purchase plain pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling, which contains other flavors and sweetener.
butternut squash combined with the pumpkin give this soup it’s winter squash flavor. While you can purchase butternut squash already cubed, buying a fresh and intact butternut squash and peeling/cubing it yourself results in better flavor.
chicken stock brings a lot of flavor and nutrients to this dish so don’t use the cheap, flavorless stuff! Use homemade chicken stock or a good quality brand from the store. I often use my homemade chicken bone broth for this soup.
kosher salt & black pepper are added as part of the recipe, but you might want to add more at the end, to taste.
nutmeg is not a part of the original Ina Garten recipe, but I find that a pinch of nutmeg adds a a hint of nutty and sweet flavor.
half & half is added in the final step and adds creaminess.
How to make Ina Garten Butternut Squash Soup
First, heat butter and olive oil in your dutch oven or stockpot. Then, add chopped onions and cook over medium-low heat for about ten minutes, or until onions are fragrant and translucent.
Now, add butternut squash, pumpkin puree, chicken stock, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, then lower heat. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes or until the butternut squash is tender and can easily be pierced with a fork. If butternut squash is still too firm, continue to cook until it is ready.
Turn off the heat and carefully use an immersion blender to puree the soup until it is your desired consistency. Finally, stir in half and half to the soup and heat back up slowly. Add more salt to taste if necessary and serve with your desired toppings. Gruyere, croutons, or creme fraiche are great options, but creme fraiche is my personal favorite!
Recipe Note
For extra flavor you can also roast the squash for this soup. Simply slice the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, drizzle with a little olive oil, place butternut squash face down on foil-lined baking sheet, and roast for about 20 minutes, or until butternut squash is tender. Scoop the flesh out and use in recipe in place of butternut squash cubes.
Ina Garten Butternut Squash Soup
You'll want to make this flavorful butternut squash and pumpkin soup on repeat all Fall long!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups yellow onions chopped
- 1 15 oz can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 1/2 lbs butternut squash* peeled and cut into chunks
- 3 cups good quality chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup half and half
Optional Topping Ideas
- Creme fraiche
- grated Gruyere
- croutons
Instructions
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Heat butter and olive oil in dutch oven or other heavy bottomed stockpot. Add chopped onions and cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes or until onions are fragrant and translucent.
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Add the butternut squash, pumpkin puree, chicken stock, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes, or until the butternut squash is tender and you can easily pierce through with a fork.
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Turn off heat and use an immersion blender** to puree the soup to your desired consistency. Move it around in the pot to ensure you get all the veggies.
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Stir in half and half to the soup and heat slowly. Add more salt to taste, if needed. Serve with creme fraiche, gruyere, or croutons.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
*For extra flavor you can also roast the squash for this soup. Simply slice the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, drizzle with a little olive oil, place butternut squash face down on foil-lined baking sheet, and roast for about 20 minutes, or until butternut squash is tender. Scoop the flesh out and use in recipe in place of butternut squash cubes.
**The original recipe calls for using a food mill for this step. If you use a food mill instead of an immersion blender, process the mixture through the medium blade and then return to the pot and proceed with recipe.
Nutrition facts are based on the soup, without any toppings included.Â
Any nutritional information on RainbowDelicious.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. The nutritional labels are a product of online calculators such as (but not limited to) Verywellfit.com  Although RainbowDelicious.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered only as estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe.
This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten’s Winter Squash Soup recipe.
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Oh yes, I am so ready for soup season and your butternut squash soup looks so good! Love the topping ideas!!
Thanks Christie! It is a winning soup. I’m so excited about soup season too.
Such a delicious and warming bowl of comfort food!
Thanks Alexandra!
This is the perfect soup for Fall. Pumpkin season is starting so I can already tell I’ll definitely be making this soup all the time. 🙂
I hope you enjoy it, Anita! It is a favorite in my house.
Butternut squash is one of my favorite flavors of fall. This soup looks like a great way to enjoy it. Thanks for the recipe!
It’s one of my favorite flavors too. Enjoy, Annissa!
I love that you used pumpkin and squash in this recipe. That really makes this the ultimate fall recipe!
It really is! Thanks, Leslie!
Butternut squash soup is one of my favorite things to have this time of year! Can’t wait to make this, thanks for sharing!
Of course, I hope you enjoy this soup, Taleen!
I absolutely love butternut squash soup! I’m so happy it’s soup season and can’t wait to try your version!
I hope you enjoy this version, Lesli!
I love butternut squash soup! This looks so delicious, I think I’m going to make this on Sunday – yum!
Enjoy, Stine!
Perfect timing for this post, I just made chicken broth and need a good soup to use it with. I do like your idea of roasting the squash first. This soup just looks amazing.
This is so delicious and to be honest, we are always making this even if its not a fall season. Such a perfect recipe, love it!
Ina always has the best recipes. I was excited to put this soup recipe to use last night and it was a huge hit with my family.
I love Ina Garten and it’s cool that you have shared her delicious recipe. Thanks ever so much!
This was the perfect soup for dinner tonight. It’s been getting colder and the butternut soup warmed us up nicely
Your soup looks delicious, perfect for this time of year. Love the idea of adding toppings to the soup.
I love butternut squash soup and I love Ina. The perfect recipe to welcome fall!
What a gorgeous recipe for fall! I love the rich flavor of this soup and how it’s perfect for lunch or a simple dinner at home. WIll make again.
Great soup to have on a winter night with the family with a good movie. Thanks for the tip of roasting it for extra flavor.
Love that this soup has butternut squash and pumpkin. We can’t find canned pumpkin puree here in Italy but I guess I can make some myself or add pumpkin cubes to the pan instead of puree! On my to make list!
Homemade pumpkin puree would work too! I hope you enjoy this recipe Jacqueline!
Butternut squash soup is one of the best to try in fall. So creamy and delicious. I will try it this way soon.
I love, love, butternut squash so I will totally fall in love with this soup! Love the hint of nutmeg added to make this yummy soup!
This butternut squash pumpkin soup sounds delicious, with a fairly simple ingredient list to let the flavors of the squashes shine through, and that touch of nutmeg to bring out the creamy flavors. Yum!
Butternut squash soup is my favorite of all. Yours looks so comforting and yummy. I could easily gobble this soup with some toasted bread.
This is my absolute favorite butternut squash soup recipe. So amazing!
This is such a wonderful soup. All of Ina’s recipes that I’ve tried are so tasty. Today I’ve been making three soups to freeze. My husband loves soup so what better way to spend a rainy, blustery day in the Northwest! Thanks Ina for sharing.
What a great idea to make soups ahead of time to freeze. Enjoy, Gayle!
I’m a fan of Ina Garten too! I have some of her cookbooks. This soup looks delish!
Thanks Lucia!
This is a really delicious soup. Only thing I added was a little thyme, sage and chili powder and it popped! Just building on a fantastic recipe. My daughter wants this on s weekly basis! Thank you!
Thanks Trish! Your additions sound amazing, I’ll have to try that next time I make it. I’m so glad you and your daughter enjoyed this soup, that makes me happy!
Thank you for sharing. Now I know what to cook with my butternut squash! It’s been sitting here for a week.
It always feels good to use up veggies from the kitchen. Enjoy, Jade.
I was looking for a fall recipe to use up some butternut squash, and this soup totally hit the spot! Thanks!
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this butternut pumpkin soup, Marlynn.
This is such a warm and comforting soup. Butternut squash and pumpkin are perfect for the fall months.
It really is such a wonderful Fall soup recipe. Thanks, Lucy.
This is so simple, yet comforting!
Love this comfort bowl
Thanks, Alina.
Such a pretty soup – I love that there’s pumpkin in it, too!
The pumpkin definitely adds a little something special. Thanks, Jennifer!
I love pumpkin soups and butternut squash soups. This recipe looks absolutely delicious. Thanks so much for sharing it with so many lovely photos. This soup looks very appetizing.
Thanks, Mairead!
I found a use for a can of pumpkin sitting on my shelf, I was so glad! The soup came out just perfectly!
Thanks! Lovely soup!
Debbie
I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup recipe, Debra!
Looks amazing…can you make the day before and reheat in a crockpot or does the cream get funky?
You can definitely make it the day ahead and reheat but I would probably leave out the cream until the end, and simply add in before eating.
It had a lot of flavor but it wasn’t sweet enough for me so I added 2 Tbsp of dark brown sugar to the soup and a 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. Bueno!
That’s a great idea for those who want the soup a little sweeter, thanks for sharing!!
Interesting how many peeps are giving this 5 stars without having made it. What’s that all about?
Note that Ina Garten uses Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. If you are using Morton’s, use this conversion:
1 tsp table salt = 2 tsp Diamond Crystal = 1.5 tsp Morton’s Kosher salt.
I’m making this soup tomorrow; we’ll see how it goes. Haven’t had a bad recipe from Ina yet!
Hi Bee, thanks for the additional information about salt. I hope you enjoyed the soup!