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Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup

June 11, 2024

Soothing and sweetly fragrant with warm spices, this slow-cooker apple and butternut squash soup is sure to become a harvest season tradition.

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two bowls of slow cooker butternut squash apple soup with a coconut milk drizzle on top

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Slow-Cooker Season + Squash Season = Glorious, Glorious Soup Season.

Squash—especially butternut squash—can be a little bit of a pain to prep. But once you’ve got the tough skin off and the squash cubed—we recommend using your knife to slice the skin off, rather than try to use a vegetable peeler—your work will be richly rewarded! And, if you’ve got a slow-cooker, it’ll do the cooking for you! We love to pair butternut squash with the warm flavor of curry powder and tangy, juicy Honeycrisp apples—piled high amidst all of the fresh produce at our local Kroger store, we just can’t resist their ruby red perfection!—for our simple and comforting, coconut milk-laced creamy autumn butternut squash soup recipe.

red honey crips apples on a blue surface. Some peeled and cut in half.

This Is the Best Butternut Squash Soup Recipe, EVER. Here’s Why:

We’ve mentioned this before, but a simple rule to remember when you’re trying to eat with the seasons is that what grows together goes together. In this case, we’re talking about rotund butternut squash, which come into season right along with Honeycrisp apples! Two classic fall flavors—both available at Kroger stores in their gorgeous fresh produce section—that make for a classic pairing. Combining them to make this simple, cozy vegan butternut squash soup was a no-brainer. To boost and compliment their autumnal richness, we also threw in:

  • Fresh garlic and onion.
  • Warming spices! Yellow curry powder and a dash of cayenne.
  • Stock. Use veggie broth to make this easy squash soup vegan, or if you prefer chicken broth, that works too!
  • Coconut milk. A can of full-fat coconut milk makes this silky soup into a really creamy luxury.
ingredients for slow-cooker butternut squash soup in small bowls
ingredients for slow-cooker butternut squash soup with apples cut up and in a slow-cooker
slow cooker butternut squash soup cooked in a slow cooker
slow cooker butternut squash soup in a slow-cooker being blended with an immersion blender
butternut squash soup with apples pureed in a slow cooker
butternut squash soup pureed in a slow cooker topped with coconut milk

How to Make Butternut Squash Soup with Apple:

Our healthy butternut squash soup with apples and coconut milk is easy easy easy—we’re letting our Crock-Pot do all the work. Well, most of it anyway. Here’s how to make this butternut squash and apple soup:

  1. Peel and prep your Honeycrisp apples and butternut squash. Take care when peeling your butternut squash, as the skin can be quite tough.
  2. Pop the squash and apple pieces into a slow-cooker along with the broth and all of the aromatics. Set it and forget it! For about four hours.
  3. Blend the soup until it is silky smooth—we like to use an immersion blender for this step—and stir in the coconut milk while the soup is still hot.
  4. Serve!
two bowls of butternut squash soup with apples topped with coconut cream and freshly cracked pepper
bag of simple truth organic honey crisp apples on a store shelf

Can You Freeze Butternut Squash Soup?

YES! This creamy butternut squash soup recipe is just made for freezing. Whether you’re stocking your own freezer, or bringing this soup to someone else as part of a meal train—it’s a crowd-pleaser!—it does really well in the freezer.

What to Serve with Butternut Squash Soup

Our creamy butternut squash soup could stand on its own as a simple lunch, or pair it with some crusty bread and a simple green salad for dinner. It would also be a great make-ahead starter for Thanksgiving. Or, serve it with one of these hearty salads:

Tools You’ll Need:

Healthy, Easy, Seasonal, Delicious. What More Do You Need to Know?

Snap a photo of your Crock-Pot butternut squash soup and maybe even a video of the beautiful people you feed it to. Tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!

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Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup

  • Serves:  8
  • Prep Time:  5 min
  • Cook Time:  4 hrs
  • Calories:  228

Ingredients

  • 4 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cubed
  • 1 small yellow onion, diced
  • 2 Honeycrisp apples, peeled and diced
  • 1 tablespoon curry powder
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
  • 1 (13.5-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk

Method

  1. In the slow cooker pot, combine the squash, apple, onion, garlic, stock, curry powder, salt, and cayenne pepper. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.

  2. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup directly in the pot until completely smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the coconut milk and stir to combine. To serve, ladle into a bowl and top with a drizzle of coconut milk and freshly cracked pepper.

Note: This soup freezes very well!

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories 228
  • Protein 4 g
  • Carbohydrates 28 g
  • Total Fat 11 g
  • Dietary Fiber 7 g
  • Cholesterol 0 mg
  • sodium 598 mg
  • Total Sugars 6 g

Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup

Questions & Reviews

Join the discussion below.

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  • Kate

    Looks delicious! Would this recipe fit in a 3-quart slow cooker?

    Probably not unfortunately.

  • Barbara

    Is it a total of 4 pounds before or after prepping. I'm assuming it's after?

    I usually buy a 4 pound butternut squash and then prepare it, but it will actually work either way. 4 pounds cubed will also be just fine. Enjoy!

  • Sue

    We're planning on serving this for New Year's Eve. If we cook it in the crockpot the day before and refrigerate it, do we add the coconut milk when reheating it?

    Yes, that will work fine. When ready to serve, reheat then stir in the coconut milk. Hope you enjoy!

  • Charlotte

    Can you use packaged frozen butternut squash cubes in this recipe?

    We haven't tried it with frozen squash but that should work ok. Let us know how it goes!

  • TerraKay

    Two of my kids hate the taste of coconut! This looks/sounds SO good to me! Do you think a cashew cream could replace the coconut without messing up the taste too much? Thanks for all your great recipes! Terra

    Hi there, if you are ok using heavy cream, I would try that. If you are trying to keep this dairy free, then I would go ahead and try the cashew cream!

  • Deb

    I've been making Butternut squash soup for years - this is by far the best tasting and easiest recipe I've made. The book club girls all wanted the recipe. Thanks for sharing!

    Thanks Carter! We are so happy you loved it!

  • Sue

    We're planning on serving this for New Year's Eve. If we cook it in the crockpot the day before and refrigerate it, do we add the coconut milk when reheating it?

    Yes that will work fine. Reheat it then stir in the coconut milk. Hope you enjoy!

  • Jenn

    This soup was SO EASY! I love when something can be made in the crockpot and the prep work was so minimal. Such a great meal for such minimal effort. I served it with some crusty bread.

    Thanks Jenn, we are so happy you loved it!