Home » Lunch » » Curried Butternut Squash Soup {Slow Cooker}
Smooth, creamy, and super comforting Curried Butternut Squash Soup made in the slow cooker. Granny smith apples, onions, and carrots give this soup such an excellent, well-rounded flavor. A hint of cream makes it so comforting and luxurious!
It’s time to ditch the dutch oven.
And make curried butternut squash soup in your slow cooker.
A warm, comforting soup made with REAL food that I let simmer in my crockpot until the squash was tender and the whole house smelled like fall. It’s coziness in a bowl, a warm and hearty vegetarian soup for the soul.
When I first started recipe testing this soup, it would take me HOURS to make it. I would start by roasting the veggies on a baking sheet in batches. Then they would simmer it all in a large pot with curry powder, vegetable broth, and all the other spices. Finally, I’d blend them up, stir in the cream, and by then, I didn’t feel like making anything else for dinner.
Curried butternut squash soup has come a long way since then. Now it all gets piled into the slow cooker, and all you need to do is blend it up with an immersion blender until you’re left with a puree and drizzle it with cream.
Wait, what? The taste? Did I find that oven roasting the veggies made a significant difference in flavor? Nope!
Ingredients to make curried butternut squash soup:
- Butternut squash:You’ll want to start with 2-2 ¼ pounds of chopped squash. Make sure to use a sharp knife when you’re cutting the squash. Sometimes I’ll just buy prechopped vegetables or squash at the store to cut down on prep time even more. This soup, provides a big punch of dietary fiber with all the fresh ingredients we’re using, and also happens to tons of vitamin A and vitamin C!
- Onions:You’ll want to use one large yellow onion that you dice up. Don’t worry about chopping the veggies precisely, it all gets blended it at the end anyway!
- Apples:I use granny smith apples for this recipe because it gives the soup a delicious depth of flavor while adding more nutrition. You can also use a different variety if you prefer your soup to have more sweetness.
- Carrots:Add natural sweetness and color to the soup.
- Spices:This soup is heavy on spices but that’s where all the flavor is! You’ll need salt, black pepper, bay leaves, curry powder, and ground cinnamon. The curry powder will provide most of the flavor here. It contains ingredients like ground turmeric, coriander, cumin, chili powder, and ginger amongst others. Use hot curry powder for more heat or mild curry powder for less. And you can always add a small pinch of cayenne if you prefer to give the soup a good kick!
- Sugar:Adds a hint more sweetness. I prefer to use brown sugar for this recipe but maple syrup would also work well.
- Garlic:Cloves of garlic and onions are the aromatics that we use. They add flavor, aroma, and a cozy feel!
- Ginger:fresh ginger adds a little bit of warmth and lots of flavor to the soup. It also works well with the carrots and apples in this soup recipe.
- Vegetable broth:I usually have a carton of vegetable broth in the pantry so I use that but you can also use chicken stock or chicken broth here if you’d like.
- Heavy cream:I add the heavy cream to the soup right and the end and also like to drizzle a bit on each bowl as a garnish. You can also use coconut milk in place of heavy cream if you’d prefer to keep this recipe dairy-free andvegan-friendly!
Instructions for making curried butternut squash soup:
- Prep everything.Start by peeling your butternut squash with a peeler. Remove the seeds with a large spoon. You can keep the pumpkin seeds and roast them with taco seasonings or your favorite all-purpose seasoning later! Chop the apples, carrots, and onions into large chunks.
- Load it all up.Spray a 7-8 quart slow cooker with cooking spry. This just makes for easy cleanup later. Add your chopped veggies to the slow cooker along with light brown sugar, salt, black pepper, bay leaves, curry powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves garlic, and vegetable broth. Allow the soup to simmer in the slow cooker for 7-8 hours on the low setting or on high for 4-5 hours. You just want all the veggies to be fork-tender so that it’s easy to puree.
- Finish the soup.Using an immersion blender or my pouring the soup in batches into a conventional blender, blend the soup. Make sure to hold the lid of the blender down with a towel as sometimes it can get hot! When the puree is a sauce-like consistency, add it back to the crock pot. Stir in the cream and adjust with additional curry powder, broth, salt and pepper to your liking. Sometimes I’ll add in fresh lime juice or lemon juice for a bit more tang. Serve the soup in your favorite soup dish, straight from the slow cooker, or ladle it up in bowls and serve immediately!
FAQs about slow cooker curried butternut squash soup
- Can you make curried butternut squash soup in an instant pot?Yes! Just add everything but the cream to the instant pot and set the pressure cooker on manual high pressure for 30 minutes. Do a natural pressure release for 10 minutes. You would then follow the same instructions as the slow cooker by pureeing and stirring in the cream.
- Can I substitute sweet potatoes for some of the butternut squash?yes! I suggest chopping both the squash and the potatoes to the same size so that they cook evenly.
- Can I sub in yogurt or sour cream instead of the heavy cream?Unfortunately, I haven’t tried this before, so I’m unsure.
- How long do leftovers last?Leftover butternut squash soup can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Can this be a ‘freezer’ meal?You can prep and add all the ingredients (except for the cream) to a ziptopfreezer-safebag and freeze if you’d like. When you’re ready for soup, just pop the contents into a slow cooker along with the stock. The cooking time may take at the upper end but the recipe should work out just the same!
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
- Cajun Butternut Squash Soup
- Homemade Minestrone Soup
- Secret Ingredient Tomato Basil Soup
- Comforting Red Lentil Soup (Daal Soup)
- Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup
Yield: 6 large servings or 12 small
Curried Butternut Squash Soup (Slow Cooker)
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time4 hours
Total Time4 hours 15 minutes
Smooth, creamy, and super comforting curried Butternut Squash Soup made in the slow cooker. Granny smith apples, onions, and carrots give this soup such a nice well rounded flavor. A hint of cream makes it so comforting and luxurious!
Ingredients
- 2 - 2 ¼ pounds butternut squash, chopped into small chunks
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 granny smith apples, diced
- 2 carrots, cut into chunks
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon curry powder (mild or hot and more to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 cups vegetables (or chicken) broth
- ½ cup heavy cream (plus more to thin soup to preference)
Instructions
- slow cooker:Spray a 7-8 quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Add the butternut squash, onions, apples, carrots, sugar, salt, black pepper, bay leaves, curry powder, cinnamon, ginger, garlic, and vegetable broth. Allow the soup to cook on the low heat setting for 7-8 hours or on the high heat setting for 4-5 hours.
- instant pot:add everything but the heavy cream and cook on manual (high pressure) for 30 minutes. Let it hang out for 10 minutes before venting and releasing the pressure.
- both:The butternut squash is done when you can easily pierce it with a fork. Using an emersion blender, or by pouring the soup in batches into aconventional blender, blend the soup. Make sure to hold the lid down with a towelif using a regular blender. Stir in the cream and adjust the curry powder, broth, salt, and pepper to your liking. Serve warm with garlic toast or saltine crackers.
*Please note: the nutritional factscalculated are an estimate based on the ingredientsI’ve used.If you’d like a more accurate count, please calculate them using the ingredients/brands you’ve used to prepare the recipe.The nutritional info for this butternut squash soup is based on six servings.*
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Christmas Dinner Fall Instant Pot Slow Cooker Thanksgivingapples butternut pumpkin butternut squash carrots creamy crock pot crockpot curried butternut squash soup curry powder garlic ginger granny smith apples heavy cream onions pumpkin soup slow cooker soup squash
originally published on Oct 5, 2015 (last updated Sep 6, 2022)
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79 comments on “Curried Butternut Squash Soup {Slow Cooker}”
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rah — Reply
What is the round white ball ingredients in the crock port.
Can I use any other squash and can I omit the brown sugar.
Love this recipe wondering if I can freeze in batches.-
Marzia — Reply
It’s just pre-minced garlic that I scooped out of a jar. Yeah, definitely – this recipe would work with a lot of different squashes. You can omit the brown sugar but I would add honey or agave or another kind of sweetener as it adds a nice depth of flavor. And yes, you can freeze this soup in batches!
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Sabrina — Reply
I love curried butternut squash soup and the combination of fruit, vegetables and spices you used sounds fabulous!
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Eileen — Reply
Hi Marzia! This soup looks wonderful! Unfortunately, I only have a 4 qt. crockpot. How long do you think I should cook it on the stove? A couple of hours?
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Marzia — Reply
Hi Eileen!
You can make the soup on the stove by simply adding all the ingredients into a dutch oven (or something similar), let it come to a boil, then cut the heat back to low and allow it to simmer covered for 2-3 hours. Though I haven’t tried it myself, I think it should work. You may need to adjust the cooking time a little. I would check at hour 2 and see if the butternut squash/apples can easily be pierced with a fork. If so, blend and add in the cream and adjust to preference! 🙂
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john huntjens — Reply
Wow! This is terrific and easy to make. Very tasty, unique flavour. Thanks for the recipe.
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john huntjens — Reply
Wow, this is a great recipe and simple too. We were surprised at how filling it is. With a bit of bread and salad, it’s a meal.
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Heather — Reply
I have used your recipe a few times now and the soup is yummy. 🙂
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Kaitlyn — Reply
Is a serving one cup?
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Marzia — Reply
I can’t remember exactly now, but I believe each serving was approximately 1¼ – 1½ cups.
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Sonya — Reply
So I made this for dinner and I gotta tell ya..it’s insanely delicious! The whole house smells amazing while it bubbles away in the crock pot and then when you add the cream and puree it..something magical happens. It turns a beautiful orange color and you can smell the sweetness from the apples,the cinnamon and curry swirl around like a potpourri mix and everyone comes in closer to take a huge deep breath..lol
My husband in general is very so-so about soup and he finished before I did and went back for seconds. That’s a pretty big thing in my house. I usually have to ask if he wants more. So that alone is a huge thumbs up and my two teenage sons even went back. It’s such a wonderful recipe and the flavor is spot on. Thank you so much for such a wonderful tasty soup recipe that will be made often by me 🙂
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stayathomepirate — Reply
Hey there, great recipe! My stock was frozen, so while I waited for it to thaw, I went ahead and threw the rest of the ingredients in the crock pot on low, essentially roasting them. The flavor was great and it wasn’t any extra work!
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Elizabeth Rowe — Reply
Hi, Would coconut milk be ok instead of heavy cream? Just wondering because I dont have the cream and I really wanted to make this today! Thanks
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Marzia — Reply
Hi Elizabeth! Yes, full fat coconut milk with work just fine! 🙂
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Johanna — Reply
Made this soup last Sunday, with the aroma filling the house and teasing our tastebuds all day long. The flavour was amazing, so tasty, and my husband and teenage son loved it. Will certainly make this again… just next time will add a bit more vegetable broth as it was just a slight bit on the thick side for our preference.
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nazyla — Reply
yes I add about 3 cups of water myself.
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Katie — Reply
Too much salt I think. Next time I’ll start out with 1 teaspoon and then add more to taste. But otherwise very delicious.
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joely — Reply
my house smells amazing right now! and it was hardly any work (since I got the husband to peel and chop the butternut yesterday… 😉 Can’t wait to eat this soup. It’s very wet and blustery here in Seattle, our first storm of the season. xox
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Marzia — Reply
Seems like the prefect weather for soup, Joely! Hope you guys enjoy it! 🙂
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Michelle — Reply
I made this and it was delicious, but a bit spicy. How would I cut the spice?
Thanks for the recipe!-
Marzia — Reply
You can use a milder curry powder or even just ½ tablespoon of curry powder instead of 1 should do the trick!
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Lori — Reply
I would suggest cutting back on the ground pepper. I also found the soup to be ‘spicy’, but I think it was from too much black pepper.
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Nancy Archey — Reply
Will the taste be negatively affected if i use a honeycrisp or other sweet/crisp apple v. the tart granny smith?
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Marzia — Reply
You can certainly replace it with the honey crisp apple if you’d like. But you will most likely need to cut back on the brown sugar a bit to balance flavors.
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Robyn Williams — Reply
Hi – I’m so excited to try this recipe! I was wondering how much cubed squash I would use if I bought it already cut – I know the recipe says approx 2 lbs but wouldn’t that be for the entire squash – not just the edible portion? Thanks!
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Marzia — Reply
You can still use 2 pounds of cut squash, Robyn, as this recipe will work with up to 2 1/4 pounds (insides and skin of squash usually come out to about 1/4 pound). No need to be super accurate with this recipe, it’s pretty forgiving. 🙂
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Ashley — Reply
Hi! This soup looks and sounds amazing, and we are so excited to try it out! I’m wondering if you could freeze the leftovers (without the heavy cream). We often double crockpot recipes and then freeze the extra into individual portions for a quick lunch/dinner. I’m pretty sure this one would work, but wanted to see if anyone else had tried to freeze it successfully.
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Marzia — Reply
Absolutely! I think since you’re freezing it without the cream, it should be just fine.
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Christine — Reply
I’ve made this twice now. Very good! I add a little milk to my bowl of soup to thin it and tone down the spice.
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Barry — Reply
Made this twice already – amazing! I added a can of coconut milk last time around – highly recommend giving it a try. Also, forwent the heavy cream topping and used plain Greek yogurt thinned with REAL maple syrup. Give it a shot! My go to butter squash recipe
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Marzia — Reply
Glad to hear it! Thanks Barry!
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Patti — Reply
I am serving this as an appetizer on Christmas along (with 2 or 3 other apps). I have 12 guests coming, however I am thinking about keeping the recipe as is (serving size 6) rather than doubling it. I doubt everyone will have it.
Do you think the portions will be enough ? I am not looking for full bowls of soup, perhaps mini bowls.
If I double the recipe, would it fit in a 4 qt crock pot?Thank you!!
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Marzia — Reply
Patti, I think 1 batch of this butternut squash soup should be enough if you’re serving it in small bowls. This makes 6 dinner-sized portions so that should be more than enough for your party of 12! 1 batch of this soup cooks in a 7-8 quart slow cooker, I do not suggest using a 4 as the ingredients will not fit. Hope everyone enjoys the soup 🙂
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Patti — Reply
UPDATE!
This recipe is incredible. Everyone demanded we make it a Christmas tradition. The recipe was plenty for serving 12 adults…and I had a decent amount left over.
I was able to use a 5 qt crock pot no problem. I used a Cuisinart Smartstick Immersion Blender directly in the crockpot to blend.
Perfect amount of curry, perfect consistency.
I had to freeze my chopped squash ahead of time, and didn’t defrost it in time. Added it frozen directly to the pot and it did not water down the flavor or thin it out one bit.Thank you thank you!
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Ashley — Reply
I just barely fit everything into a 4 qt using the original recipe. It also cooks down as it goes
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Marilyn — Reply
Are the bay leaves pureed as well, or do you remove them?
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annette — Reply
Remove them.
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Angie S. — Reply
This was delicious! I made mine stovetop and added a red pepper. Used chicken bone broth. It was even better the next day. It was nice and thick, so I used a dollop of it on top of another meal as my sauce. Amazing!! And healthy too!!
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Angie S. — Reply
Oh, and I skipped the apple because I did not have one. Still delicious!
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Michelle — Reply
I’m so excited, this is in the Crockpot as we speak!! I only had a little over a pound and 1 quarter of squash, but I added 2 extra carrots and the rest of the recipe as is. I’ll let you know how it turns out! The colour is so pretty and it smells delish!! Thanks!!
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Cassidy — Reply
I made this yesterday and it turned out soooo good! I used whatever other kinds of apples I had laying around and actually added some potatoes because my squashes were quite small. Also, after blending, I realized I wanted more curry powder. Will totally make this again!
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Wanda — Reply
Love this slow-cooker version! Have made this a few times now … enjoyed “as is” and also with Kabocha squash and Pears instead of butternut and apples.
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JQ — Reply
I have made this recipe twice now for friends and family. Everyone loved it! The blend of vegetables, apples, and spices is phenomenal. I also like how it is thick enough that it can be served as both a soup and a “curry” over rice. Definitely a keeper and will make again.
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Ron Dorr — Reply
Wow! Most flavorful soup I’ve ever made. Every flavor comes through on it’s own, and together, they’re perfect. Perfect texture as well. I can’t wait for our guests to try it this afternoon. It’ll be a show stopper!
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Ang — Reply
Is it really a tablespoon of salt?? That seems like a lot…