This Butternut Squash Bisque recipe leans into roasted squash flavor, but keeps it simple with minimal add-ins. Creamy and velvety without being over-spiced or too sweet and with a little savory twist you’ll love.
As a former personal chef, I’ve made countless fall soups for clients and dinner parties. Over time, I’ve learned how to get maximum flavor from the best seasonal produce, without requiring complicated instructions or a large ingredient list.
This soup is a perfect example, as roasting the squash deepens its flavor, and keeping the ingredient list small allows it to shine. Unlike some other butternut squash soup recipes that drown the squash in cream, or add sweet ingredients like apples, brown sugar, or maple syrup, this version puts squash first and leans savory in flavor. A restaurant-worthy soup without the fuss!
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Why Make This Recipe
- Roasting the squash may be an extra step, but it is so worth it in flavor!
- Easy to make with simple ingredients but oh-so-elegant. Would be an excellent dinner party starter or contribution to your holiday table.
- Great way to make the most of fall/winter seasonal produce
- Perfect for vegetarians
🥗 Ingredients
- Butternut Squash: Choose a firm, medium-sized squash that feels heavy for its size. Try substituting other types of squash if you have them on-hand. Sugar pie pumpkins, honeynut squash, and buttercup squash would also work.
- Onion: I prefer a mild white onion in this recipe, but you could substitute a yellow onion or a sweet Vidalia onion.
- Miso Paste: This adds a little punch of umami flavor that’s really wonderful.
- Broth: Vegetable broth or stock works great in this recipe, and keeps the ingredient list vegetarian. But you could sub in chicken broth or chicken stock instead.
- Heavy Cream: This adds the richness you need for a creamy bisque. You could use light cream instead, but why?
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Peel a 2-pound butternut squash and cut into ¾-inch cubes. You should have about 1 ¾ pounds of cubed squash.
Put into a large bowl and toss with 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt.
Line a large baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and distribute the squash cubes in a single layer. (Use two sheet pans if needed.)
Roast for 20 minutes, then stir and roast for another 10 minutes until lightly browned and fully tender.
While squash is roasting, halve a medium white onion, then peel and slice thinly into half moons.
Peel and chop 2 garlic cloves.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat, then sauté onion slices for 5-7 minutes, until softened and just starting to brown.
Add the garlic, 1 tablespoon miso paste, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and sauté for 1 more minute.
Add roasted squash, along with 4 cups vegetable broth or vegetable stock. The liquid should cover the squash.
Turn up the heat and bring the soup just to a boil. Then reduce the heat, and simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Let cool slightly, then blend with an immersion blender. Alternatively, you can wait for it to cool a little more and then blend in food processor or blender. (Hot soup can splatter dangerously out of a blender.)
Add more broth or water if it is thicker than you’d like. Return to saucepan if you have transferred it to a blender.
Stir in ½ cup heavy cream, and heat over medium-low until warm. (Do not boil.)
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Garnish with a swirl of sour cream and a sprinkle of smoked paprika or pimente d'espelette for fun!
Storage Tips
Store soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can also freeze soup for up to 3 months. If you are making it in advance to freeze it, leave out the heavy cream. When you later defrost and reheat the soup, stir in the heavy cream.
🧐 Recipe FAQs for Creamy Butternut Squash Bisque
Yes, just substitute full-fat coconut milk for the heavy cream. You can use vegan sour cream or skip that part of the garnish.
Absolutely. Use two pans to roast the squash and make sure to use a large saucepan for the soup itself. Blend in batches if needed.
A bisque is a soup that focuses on one main ingredient. Squash in this case. It has a silky smooth texture that often includes heavy cream. Some bisques include alcohol like sherry or wine, but this version does not.
How to Serve Butternut Squash Soup
Garnish is optional, but recommended, especially if you are serving this for a special occasion. I love the pop of white from a swirl of sour cream or crème fraîche along with something bright and spicy. Piment d’espelette is perfect for this, but you could also use chili powder, paprika, or smoked paprika.
You can also garnish with fresh herbs or toasted pumpkin seeds. Glazed pecans on top would give a great texture contrast.
This soup makes a wonderful lunch or dinner, paired with a salad or sandwich. Try it with this Roasted Beet Salad, this Cucumber Carrot Salad, or on the side of these Chicken Salad Sandwiches or a plain grilled cheese sandwich. It’s great with a slice of crusty bread or a basic side salad as well. I also love to use this soup as a starter for Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner. Serve it in small cups with a garnish for an elegant presentation!
👩🍳 Expert Tips
I tested this easy butternut squash bisque first by cooking the squash in the broth directly rather than roasting it. That does work, but the concentrated flavor you get from the roasting process is really worth the extra time.
I prefer this y-shaped vegetable peeler (affiliate link) for the hard work of peeling a fresh butternut squash. Then use a large sharp knife to cut off the top and bottom so that it will sit flat on the cutting board (cut it in half if it is too tall and wobbly when you stand it up). Then cut slabs by slicing from the top to the bottom while it is standing up. Try not to slice anything that rolls for maximum safety!
When adding cream avoid boiling, as the cream will curdle if you are adding it to a liquid that is too hot.
Using an immersion blender in your large soup pot is great for reducing mess and for easy cleanup. But I personally love the silky texture you get by blending in a Vitamix!
If the bisque is too thick for your liking, simply add more broth or water after blending.
This creamy soup is actually even better on Day 2, as with many soups, so it’s great for make-ahead. You can also roast the squash 24-hours in advance for a head start.
Don’t want to peel your squash? You can just cut your squash in half and roast that way. You won’t get as many caramelized bits, but the flavor will still deepen. Just scrape the cooked squash flesh out of the peel and pop it into the saucepan.
Other Delicious Soup Recipes
I LOVE soup season. If you do too, you might want to check out some of my other favorite soup recipes.
If you try this butternut squash bisque recipe, I would love to hear from you! Please rate this recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to me.
And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I’d love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
📖 Recipe
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Creamy Roasted Butternut Squash Bisque
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash about 2 pounds
- 2 ½ tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 white onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon white miso paste
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt divided
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- ½ cup heavy cream
- Sour cream to garnish (optional)
- Pimente d’espelette to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Peel squash and cut into ¾-inch cubes. You should have about 1 ¾ pounds of cubed squash.
- Put into a large bowl and toss with 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil and ¼ teaspoon salt.
- Line a large baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and distribute the squash cubes in a single layer. (Use two sheet pans if needed.)
- Roast for 20 minutes, then stir and roast for another 5-10 minutes until lightly browned and fully tender.
- While squash is roasting, halve white onion, then peel and slice thinly into half moons.
- Peel and chop garlic cloves.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat, then sauté onion slices for 5-7 minutes, until softened and just starting to brown.
- Add the garlic, miso paste, remaining salt, and pepper, and sauté for 1 more minute.
- Add roasted squash, along with the broth. The liquid should cover the squash.
- Turn up the heat and bring the soup just to a boil. Then reduce the heat, and simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Let cool slightly, then blend with an immersion blender. Alternatively, you can wait for it to cool a little more and then blend in food processor or blender. Add more broth or water if it is thicker than you’d like. Return to saucepan if you have transferred it to a blender.
- Stir in heavy cream, and heat over medium-low until warm. (Do not boil.)
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Top with a swirl of sour cream and pimente d’espelette to garnish, if you’d like.
Notes
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this easy butternut squash soup recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I’d love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
Laurie Flynn says
I've made loads of different butternut squash soups over the years, but I'm not sure I'll ever go back to those recipes after making this one. It was so easy to pull together and adding the miso is everything! Delicious!
Molly Pisula says
So glad you loved this. Thanks so much for rating and commenting!
Janet says
Oh my goodness, this was insanely delicious. Kids loved it too!
Molly Pisula says
Yay! So glad to hear that.