This vegan butternut squash + sweet potato soup is silky smooth, creamy, and easy to make.
There are so many ways to describe the awesomeness of this soup, but I’ll start with silky, creamy, warm, luxurious, sweet, beautiful, savory, and satisfying.
This is contentment in a bowl.
It’s one of those meals that will bring a smile to your face and add a spring to your step. This soup is overflowing with good-for-your soul (and health) ingredients, and its bright persimmon hue makes me feel like I’m gazing into a bowl of sunshine. Do you feel the sunshine, too?
This creamy soup is made with a base of butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and a dash of green apples. Warm and sassy spices are layered one after the other to create a complex flavor profile, and a splash of coconut milk sends the creaminess factor through the roof.
I strongly recommend topping this bowl of plant-based goodness with pepitas and radish sprouts. Why? Because they’re pretty to look at and up the health factor just one more notch.
To make this soup, you’ll start by heating a bit of coconut oil in a large stockpot. If you prefer, you can use a different oil (e.g., olive oil), but I find that coconut oil melds beautifully with the spices in this soup.
Once the coconut oil is melted, add a diced yellow onion and cook until translucent.
Then, stir in cubed butternut squash, sweet potato, green apple, vegetable broth, cinnamon, curry powder, ground ginger, and nutmeg.
Bring the mixture to a boil, cover, and cook for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are fork-tender.
You have two options for the next step: You can use a handheld immersion blender (neater method) or an upright blender (messier method). Either way, blend the soup for several minutes, or until silky smooth.
I like to serve this smooth soup with a bit of crunchy texture on top. My favorite toppings? Pepitas and radish sprouts.
But feel free to get creative. Most nuts and seeds will make a lovely addition.
For sprouts, stick to varieties that are heartier and firmer, and avoid softer types (e.g., alfalfa sprouts).
Butternut Squash + Sweet Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed (5-6 cups)
- 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed (1 cup)
- 1 green apple, peeled, cored, and cubed
- 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- pinch nutmeg
- 1/2 cup light coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- optional toppings: pepitas and radish sprouts
Instructions
- Heat coconut oil in a dutch oven or large stock pot over medium-low heat. Add onion to pot and cook until translucent (5-7 minutes).
- Add in the butternut squash, sweet potato, apple, vegetable broth, cinnamon, curry powder, ginger, and nutmeg. Gently stir.
- Turn up the heat to medium-high, cover, and cook for 20-25 minutes or until veggies are fork-tender. Turn off heat.
- Using an immersion blender, begin to pureé the soup, adding in the coconut milk and sea salt after a few minutes. (be patient as it will take 5-8 minutes to get your soup silky smooth depending on the strength of your immersion blender).
- Top as desired and serve warm.
- Store leftovers in refrigerator.
Totally gorgeous—LOVE that you put apple in this! It sounds absolutely divine :)
I love all your beautiful pictures Ashley.
Thanks so much, Kathy!!
What a gorgeous soup – that color and the garnish! Lovely!
I’ve been obsessed with creamy soups lately and this sounds delicious. Love the addition of apple to the soup — will have to make this : ))
Love the idea of pepitas on top!
So very creamy and smooth! The soup looks right up my alley.
Thanks for commenting, Angie! I was pleasantly surprised how creamy the immersion blender made this soup. The veggies are so tender by the time you blend them that they become silky and smooth with minimal effort! So easy and delicious :)
I made this soup and I am addicted to it! It is the perfect fall soup with great flavor. I can stop eating it!
Hi, Tanya! So happy to hear you’re enjoying the soup recipe! Thanks for taking the time to comment with your feedback :)
I just made this soup, with a couple of variations based on what I had in the house. I used a couple of carrots instead of sweet potato, a Honeycrisp apple instead of a green apple, and 1% organic dairy milk instead of coconut milk. I don’t have an immersion blender, so I pureed it in batches in my regular blender. So good!! Thank you! Now I’m going to check out your other recipes for inspiration…. :-)
10 out of 10<3
My boyfriend and I love this soup!!!!
10 out of 10?! You made my day with that rating, Bonnie!! I’m so happy to hear that you and your boyfriend enjoyed the soup. Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and comment; it means a lot!
I made this soup this past weekend and WOW do the color and flavors pop in your mouth! I made zero tweaks to it too. This by far is my favorite soup recipe! I’m making another batch this weekend and freezing it in vacuum sealed bags to pull out when I need it!
Hi, Suzanne! Thanks for the awesome feedback! I’m glad that you enjoyed this and were able to make the recipe as is without having to worry about tweaking it. My goal is always for exactly that to happen, so it’s exciting to hear when it does!
Hi Ashley, I must say at first I was skeptical about this recipe, but I had a buttercup squash that I had to use…so I made this recipe….and oh my! It is now in my to 10 soups to make!! It’s like eating pie. Yum! Thank you for sharing.
I made this last night and it was amazing. I followed the recipe exactly (rare for me!) and I wouldn’t change a thing. I will for sure make this for company and also freeze some for easy lunches. Great recipe- HIGHLY recommend. :)
Thanks for the kind feedback, Lauren! I really appreciate it and am so glad you enjoyed it!
Great soup! Question: can it be frozen? One recipe makes a bunch of servings!
Hi, Duncan! I haven’t tried freezing it myself, but I think it would freeze well!
Can this be made without the apple? I don’t have one on hand, but I have everything else.
Hi, Charlie! I think it should be just fine without the apple (although I haven’t tried it before, so I’m not certain). The apple offers a touch of sweetness and acidity, so you might just need to bump those flavors up using different ingredients (e.g., pure maple syrup for sweetness, apple cider vinegar for acidity) if it’s tasting flat. I hope this helps!
I recently started getting into food photography and came across this photo. Everything about it is beautiful – the blue striped cloth compliments the soup. And the garnishes on the soup make me want to eat it right now! I know it’s a couple years since you took this picture, but just wanted to let you know how much I like this photo.
I’m making this right now & can’t WAIT to eat it! Oh, it smells divine!!!!! Thanks for the recipe! I’ve just got a quick question for you: what’s the white cream on the top of the soup in your pics?
Made this last night and it was DELICIOUS! I’ll be checking out your other recipes for sure, thanks!
could this be made in the slow cooker?:)
Hi, Mal! I’m guessing it could be but I’ve never tried it so can’t say for certain.
Really yum! Just the right amount of sweetness for me.
I make this soup all the time and my whole family really loves it! Just wondering if you could provide the nutritional information for it, please.
Thanks so much!
Susan
Hi, Susan! So happy to hear you’re enjoying the recipe. I don’t calculate nutrition information for my recipes (see FAQ page for why), but there are lots of great calculators online that you can simply drop the post link into and it will automatically calculate the nutritional info for you.
I make this soup all the time and my whole family really loves it! Just wondering if you could provide the nutritional information for it, please.
Thanks so much!
Susan
This is so delicious and very easy to make. I’ve made it twice now and my family has raced every time.
So glad you and your family are enjoying the recipe, Maggie!
Preparing for Canadian Thanksgiving. Found I had an over abundance of sweet potato and fresh pumpkin squash. Rather than waste them, I looked up a recipe for a soup recipe that called for both squash/pumpkin and sweet potato. Very happy to have found your recipe. I’ve made no changes; it is now bubbling nicely on the stove with the wonderful smell of curry and other yummy spices wafting through my kitchen . Thank you for this recipe.
Just completed the soup and it is full of flavour and creamy smooth. Just added s pinch of cumin and it’s now perfection.
You’re welcome, Cath! So glad you found the recipe and thrilled to hear you’re enjoying it. Thanks for taking the time to come back and share your thoughts—means so much.
I am a soup snob, and this soup is now in the front of my soup recipes! I am not vegan, but try to cook and follow a plant based diet as much as I can without needing to purchase a lot of vegan ingredients. Based on the ease of this recipe, and the fact I had all of the ingredients in my kitchen, and how delicious it turned out, I wanted to see more of your recipes! So, I downloaded your cookbook and have already read through the story of your journey. Your suggested ingredients for my pantry is just awesome, and I may find a way now to reduce or eliminate dairy from my diet as I also experience some stomach upset. Because your recipes use the staple ingredients, I will make use of the things I need to purchase, Thanks!
So happy to hear you’re enjoying it so much, Jaci! And thank you for your support and kind feedback—means so much and truly warms my heart. I hope you enjoy cooking from my book as much as I enjoyed creating it. xo
Did you ever hear if anyone has ever made this in the crock pot or even an instant pot? If so, would love to know how. Thinking of making this for Christmas Day.
Hi, Ruth! I’m so sorry for the delay. I took the last week off to spend time with my family. I’ve never heard of anyone making this in a crockpot or Instant Pot, but I’d imagine it can be done. Not sure on times though, but I’d be happy to report back if/when I try it out myself.