Copycat Panera Autumn Squash Soup
This Panera autumn squash soup is the perfect fall recipe! It has a velvety smooth consistency, is made completely in a slow cooker, and is filled with some of the best fall produce.
If you know me at all at this point, you know I love soup! I could eat it for every meal and be completely happy.
Soup is such a seasonal food and can be made year-round in so many different variations as the produce changes. And this butternut squash soup is perfect for the fall season! It’s filled with some of the best fall produce such as pureed pumpkin, butternut squash, carrots, and onions.
This recipe came about after trying Panera Bread’s classic squash soup. I thought it was too delicious to not try and whip up my own version of it!
The flavors of this recipe are sweet & savory, the consistency is perfectly creamy, and it’s all made easy in a slow cooker. You’ll find it not only delicious but very easy to make! All around a win-win situation.
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Ingredients You Need
You’ll need just 10 ingredients to make this slow-cooker soup happen. Here’s everything you need: carrots, pureed pumpkin, vegetable broth, yellow onion, coconut sugar, salt & pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic cloves, coconut milk, and butternut squash.
How to Make Panera Autumn Squash Soup
- First, prepare vegetables. Then add all of ingredients (minus milk) to slow cooker.
- Stir ingredients together, cover, and cook in a slow cooker/crockpot for 5 hours on LOW or 3 hours on HIGH.
- When soup is finished cooking, use a hand-immersion blender or high-powered blend and puree soup until a smooth consistency.
- Serve with coconut milk, pumpkin seeds, and additional seasonings.
Extra Soup Tips
velvety soup in seconds
Our Favorite Hand-Held Blender
Save yourself the hassle of having to transfer your hot soup into a blender. This hand-held immersion blender is SO easy to use and safely blends your soup right in the pot within seconds! We use it in soups, sauces, and so much more.
- Use homemade broth: whenever I have it on hand, I love using homemade vegetable broth in this recipe to elevate the flavor even more.
- Use a blender to puree soup: if you don’t have a hand-immersion blender, use a high-powdered blender to puree the soup (you may have to do several batches depending on the size).
- Additional spices you can add: to add a little bit more herbs and spices to your soup we recommend a pinch of curry powder, sage, rosemary, thyme, or ground ginger.
How to Store Leftovers & Freeze
Keep leftovers fresh: store soup in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days for ultimate freshness.
Freeze: store cooled soup in an airtight container or freezer-friendly ziplock bag for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature and reheat.
Serving Suggestions
This soup goes wonderfully with homemade bread – like our no-knead cranberry walnut bread or cinnamon raisin! You can also serve it with a seasonal fall salad like our Apple Pomegranate Harvest Salad or Warm Brussels Sprout Salad – you can’t go wrong with either!
Other Delicious Soups to Try:
- 30-Minute Leek and Potato Soup
- Creamy Roasted Broccoli and Cheese Soup
- Healthy Tomato Basil Soup
- Healthy Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
- Tuscan White Bean Soup
- Creamy Cauliflower Soup
If you tried this Copycat Panera Autumn Squash Soup recipe or any other recipe, don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know what you think. I love hearing from you! You can also follow me on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM, and FACEBOOK for more crave-worthy content.
Copycat Panera Autumn Squash Soup
This Panera autumn squash soup is the perfect fall recipe! It has a velvety smooth consistency, is made completely in a slow cooker, and is filled with some of the best fall produce.
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 small yellow onion chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 1 medium-large butternut squash peeled and cubed
- 2-3 carrots peeled and chopped (or a little over 1 cup)
- 1/2 15 oz. can organic pumpkin puree
- 2 Tbsp coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cracked pepper
- 1/2 cup canned coconut milk (unsweetened)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch nutmeg
- pinch of cayenne *optional
- pumpkin seeds for topping *optional
Instructions
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Prepare vegetables: peel squash and cut into 1-2 inch cubes. Cut heads of carrots off and slice into 1/2-inch thick pieces. Peel onion and slice into pieces.
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Cook: Add all of the ingredients (except coconut milk) to slow cooker/crockpot – vegetable broth, onion, squash, carrots, pumpkin puree, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, pinch of cayenne, and salt & pepper. Mix ingredients together. Set slow cooker time for 5 hours on LOW or 3 hours on HIGH.
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Puree soup: after soup has cooked, use a hand-immersion blender or high-powered blender to blend soup until creamy and smooth.
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Season to taste and serve: before serving soup, taste it and adjust with salt & back pepper or additional spice if desired. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut milk and then serve with pumpkin seeds, cracked black pepper, and a sprinkle of coconut sugar if desired.
Did you make this recipe? Share your photos and tag @asimplepalate #asimplepalate.
Made this tonight and it was delicious! I love the silky, melt in your mouth texture. I did add a chopped Granny Smith apple and some curry powder like some other recipes, and sautéed the onion, apple and garlic before adding it to the crockpot. Then cooked the rest on low for 5 hours. Thank you for a great, easy recipe!
Thanks so much, Sydney! Glad you enjoyed the recipe. Curry powder is a great addition to this soup too!
Made this for a potluck and it was a big hit. I did up the sugar a bit, but I appreciate that it started out on the less sweet side. Thanks Bethany!
Thank you, Colleen! That’s wonderful to hear. Thanks so much for sharing!
Tried this recipe and loved it. It was really flavorful, smooth and delicious. Easy to make, great for a fall or winter nights dinner.
How can I make this using a stove and not a slow cooker?
can i omit onion?
Hi Lauren, onion is so important for flavor – but if you prefer not to include it you can. I haven’t tried it without onion, so I can’t promise how the results will be! I’m sure it’ll be fine. 🙂
I used leeks instead of onions.
It needed some tarragon and thyme for my taste. But yeah this was very good!!
Thanks so much!
Wouldn’t know what to do with 1/2 can of pumpkin; can I substitute with sweet potato?
I’ve not tried sweet potato with this recipe, so I can’t promise how the results would be!
perfect. tastes like paneras to me. I saved my squash seeds, removed most of the squash strings and roasted them with my squash- a little olive oil on both. Salted seeds and sprinkled on top…
I didn’t have all the spices but I had chai tea so I used that. Worked great. Made w zucchini instead. Soooo good!
This was very easy and really good! I used frozen squash and used 4 c of broth and it’s the perfect consistency. I will make this again.
In your recipe, it says “Add all of ingredients (except almond milk)”, yet almond milk is not listed. Did you mean the coconut milk? Is the coconut milk just used when serving? Thanks. Looking forward to trying out this recipe! So excited.
Sorry about that laura, it’s coconut milk.
A couple questions. How many cups of cut up squash does it end up to be and can I use a can of pumpkin pie filling instead of purée? I don’t know anything about pumpkin purée.
Hi Marlene, it should measure out to about 3 1/2 cups butternut squash. And no, I don’t recommend using pumpkin pie filling. Only pureed pumpkin!
Thank you Bethany. I got the soup at Panera and my mom loved it but as a diabetic Panera’s version is not safe for her but yours is! We will try it this week.
While this soup was good it, the first flavor I tasted was the carrots. If I make it again I will leave them out.
I have never rated a recipe, so this is the first! The soup tastes like the Panera bread soup! I used lowfat evaporated milk in place of the coconut milk, won’t use the cayenne pepper again as mine is a little spicy but I just added some more evaporated milk. With my swap, much less points on Weight Watchers and so delicious!!!
Thanks so much, Michelle! I’m thrilled you enjoyed it so much. 🙂 Thanks for the kind words!
I have to make this for the fall
This is the best squash soup I have ever had. Better than Panera! It has so much flavor.
I’m so glad to hear it! Thanks so much, Suzy!
This was fantastic! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Thank you, sandy!
The best soup ever! Make double batches and freeze some or later. I add coconut milk after Emulsifying.
Thank you, sheila! I’m super happy to hear it. 🙂
Close to Penara breads.. I added a little more spice n brown sugar but my squash may have been more going in pot. Love how easy it is to make! And delicious!
Thanks so much, Laurie! So happy you enjoyed it.
We will be making this every Autumn! So easy to make and tasted great.
so thrilled to hear that!
Loved your recent email! I also really, really love British Bake off! I’m so glad I found your blog! ❤️ I’m making your minestrone tomorrow and this Saturday. Thanks so much for these great recipes!
ahhh I’m so happy to hear it. Isn’t that show THE best?! It’s currently on repeat. I hope you love the minestrone soup – Thank you so much, Allison💛
Yummy! I substituted Pink Banana Squash for the Butternut, added 2 apples, and used 1 can coconut milk instead of almond. Turned out awesome! Canning the leftovers (I made a batch for 12 and only 6 showed for dinner). Will be doing this again
Love it! So happy to hear you enjoyed it 🙂
Turned out beautifully! I followed the recipe exactly and used all the suggested spices you mentioned above the recipe…I also had some fresh apple cider in the fridge and used 1/2 cup in the recipe…TOTALLY RECOMMEND doing this and making this recipe! Thank you 🙂 can’t wait to try your other soups!
Love that idea with the apple cider! Thank you, Casey! I’m super glad to hear it was such a success 🙂
Delicious! This is easy to make and tastes wonderful. I love soup in Fall and Winter and this makes good use of seasonal produce.
Thank you, Annie! So happy to hear you enjoyed it 🙂
This soup is very delicious. I cooked it in the InstaPot for an hour but it probably didn’t need that long. I did add a little extra brown sugar to mine after tasting.
Happy to hear it! I’ve not cooked it in an instant pot, but the cook time could probably be 20-30 minutes in it. 🙂
This soup is amazing, I use almond milk or whole milk (lactose free) because I can’t have lactose. I’m sure it’s better with the cream, but it’s still amazing with almond milk or milk.
I’m really glad to hear that! Love that it worked with a dairy-free sub. Thanks, Jessica! 🙂
So delicious!! Taste just like the Panera soup. I just added more brown sugar and cinnamon. Will definitely make this again
Thank you Barbara! so happy you liked it 🙂
Glad you could adjust it to your liking! Thanks for sharing, Lexi!
Fantastic soup. I used chicken broth instead of vegetable broth, because that is what I had. Having it tonight with a salad and rolls. Would definitely make this again.
Wonderful! Thank you, Kathleen!
Thanks Kathleen. Was just wondering if I could use chicken broth.
Have you tried this with frozen butternut squash? I’m wondering how many cups of squash you will need. I know fresh is best, but I have several bags of frozen squash that I want to use for this.
I’ve not tried with frozen, it should work out fine. My only thought is frozen squash may have a bit more moisture to it once cooked, so you may have to lessen the broth if so. Let me know if you try it!
Well written instructions and tips. DELICIOUS!
Very yummy. I added 2 apples to it and used honey instead of sugar.
awesome idea! Thank you, Kathy!
How did you add the apples?
It goes into the slow cooker with the rest of the soup ingredients! Sorry if that wasn’t clear. 🙂
Made this last night. Added 2 peeled, chopped Granny Smith apples and substituted a sweet onion for the yellow. I sautéed the onion first and put all ingredients (up to cream) in Instant Pot and cooked it on high pressure for 12 minutes; let the pressure release naturally (took about an hour from start to finish) I’ve tried about a half dozen copy cat recipes and I think this is the closest match to Panera’s soup out there. Thank you for posting!
I agree it was good but not the same as Panera. I pulled up the ingredients on the label and added 1/2 to cup of applesauce, a couple good squeezes of lemon., tablespoon of honey, half block of cream cheese. It was great. I also added a little pumpkin coffee creamer to my individual bowl . Enjoy!! Fully loaded
I don’t have a slow cooker. I have a pressure cooker. What do I do
Hi Anita, It should only need about 20 minutes to cook in your pressure cooker!
Loved this recipe, my daughter loved it too. Thanks for sharing!
So happy to hear!
This is so good and just like Panera’s soup. I love it and will be making this soup again and again. Thank you so much!
Yay! So happy to hear. Thanks, Laurie!
The autumn squash soup at Panera is my favorite and this looks just as amazing! Can’t wait to try it out this weekend. I wanted to let you know I featured this in my recent post: https://amysenter.com/january-pinterest-roundup/
I made this soup. I cooked it overnight in my crockpot on low. Worked great. The only thing I will change next time is I would skip the carrots and use the whole can of pumpkin . I never know what to do with a half can left over. It was yummy.
Super glad to hear!
If you have a dog, pumpkin is a great healthy treat for them. My dog loves when I make this soup because she gets the left over pumpkin purée😊
Couldn’t agree more! I just made cookies with pumpkin and my dog was quite happy to lick the spoon when we were done. 😉
For my taste it’s definitely missing something. I am going to add applesauce as one reader suggested and a baked sweet potato and double the seasoning.
This is absolutely wonderful! Made pretty much as written. Used brown sugar. Omitted the nutmeg. It was fantastic. Even better the next day!
Thanks so much, Stephanie! When leftovers are better it is always a win. 🙂
Sooooo good!
yay!
I was hoping my kids and I would like this as were trying to go more vegetarian but it did not go over well at all:( Not the OPs fault at all!
I’m so sorry to hear that! But I completely understand – I personally think this soup can be an acquired taste. I’m obsessed with soup and can say that 🙂 I have many other vegetarian soups that are kid friendly that are linked in this post. Feel free to check them out!
The ingredients are in my slow cooker as I type for dinner. But I just read the nutritional facts. I’m using low sodium broth – what else am I missing that makes this so high in sodium so I can adjust next time? Thank you!
Hi Terri! I’m bummed to say the nutrition label platform I use does not have the option for low sodium broth – which is what I always recommend. So ignore the sodium levels if you are using “low sodium broth” – it is significantly lower than what is shown! Hope that helps.
This soup is delicious! Tastes so similar to Panera’s!
So glad to hear 🙂
Great fall soup! Used delicata squash from my garden.
so happy you like it!
Do you think it’d also work if I used a stand mixer?
While this is a VERY good soup, I would not say exactly like Panera. Its missing…..something….I added a pinch of curry, but I am not sure that’s it. Thank you for posting.
Glad you liked it! While this isn’t the EXACT soup – it’s my interpretation of it. Thank you, Dee! 🙂
How much cinnamon and nutmeg? Thanks!
Ahhh – so sorry about that. Just added the measurements!
What is the serving size ?
Can you use heavy cream instead of Coconut Milk?
yes! Works just the same. 🙂
What size of the can for pumpkin purée?:)
15 oz. can of pumpkin puree! 🙂
Eating this while writing this review. Literally tastes EXACTLY like panera’s!!! ❤️❤️❤️ thank you so much for this!
Thank you so much, Denise! I’m so so happy to hear that. 🙂
Bethany this was so delicious!! The perfect soup for fall too!
Right?! Perfect for fall. Thank you!