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
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1
First, prepare the vegetables. Then add all of the ingredients (minus milk) to slow cooker.
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2
Stir ingredients together, cover, and cook in a slow cooker/crockpot for 5 hours on LOW or 3 hours on HIGH.
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3
When soup is finished cooking, use a hand-immersion blender or high-powered blend and puree soup until a smooth consistency.
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4
Serve with coconut milk, pumpkin seeds, and additional seasonings.
Extra Soup Tips
Our Favorite Hand-Held Blender
velvety soup in seconds
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.
If you click this link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.- 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
Copycat Panera Autumn Squash Soup
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
- 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.
- Cook: Add all of the ingredients (except coconut milk) to slow cooker/crockpot – vegetable broth, onion, garlic, 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.
- Puree soup: after soup has cooked, use a hand-immersion blender or high-powered blender to blend soup until creamy and smooth.
- 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.
Very easy soup to make – I love that it’s in a slow cooker so you can set it and forget it. I used my homemade veggie broth + pumpkin puree I whipped up after Halloween with our pumpkins. Delish!
Your recipe is my fall go-to soup! I made it for a company soup party, and everyone loved it, even the meat eaters. So, so, good!
I’m so glad to hear it, Kim!! Thank you for sharing:)
Very easy and fast. Is there a way to make it slightly sweeter? I guess add more sugar.
Yep! just add a tablespoon of sweetener at a time until the flavor is just right 🙂
We loved this soup! I was wondering if I could can it?
This turned out great. Used sweet onion and it was not overpowering as some others have found. Instead of fresh squash, I used Costco’s frozen organic roasted butternut squash. It has a light butter and sage seasoning that I thought was a great compliment to the other flavors. I cooked this in my instant pot on the stew setting. Really easy and quick – a little prep mid morning and yummy soup by lunch!
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