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.
I absolutely love slow cooker soups; the lingering aroma is an added treat. I pretty much followed the recipe exactly – so good! I added a bit too much cayenne for my comfort level; so next time will back off, or not add at all. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Thanks so much, Meri! And yes, watch out for that cayenne. It can get spicy real quick if too much is used. Glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
Awesome recipe! I’m glad I make a healthier version and not spend the money at Panera. My daughter loves it.
So happy to hear it, Brandon! And love that your daughter loves it too. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Hi Bethany, thanks for the great & healthy recipe without any lactose! I tweaked slightly for a sweeter end product – half the carrots, double the pumpkin, double the coconut milk (& used low-fat). Since I don’t have an Instapot yet, I made it on the stove and sautéd the onions and carrots together to caramelize and bring out the natural sugars. Just like Panera’s – which now I don’t have to wait till the fall for. Hooray!
Mine turned out bitter, would you recommend adding more sugar to offset?
I’m sorry to hear that, Allie! I’ve not had anyone say it turned out bitter. But, yes add a little bit of maple syrup or sugar until the flavor is just right!
Made this soup for dinner. It was very good, and so healthy. This will be in my fall and winter meal plan rotation. Thanks for sharing!🙂👍
So happy to hear this, Daniel! Thanks so much for sharing!
I’ll confused. The ingredients state 2 to 3 garlic cloves needed but in the instructions it does not list it anywhere? Is garlic supposed to be used?
Hi Tammy, sorry about that! Garlic was added to the steps. 🙂 Yes its included!
I made this and the whole family loved it with some crusty bread. You might want to recheck the nutritional information though, because with coconut milk, it’s pretty low on calories and fat. ( we used the low fat coconut milk and it was still really good).
Delicious soups made the butternut curried autumn squash soup
Thanks so much, Julie! Glad you enjoyed the curried version. 🙂
I am so happy to find this recipe! Could you use cream in place of the coconut milk? I can’t wait to try it!
Hi Kelly, yes, you can of course use cream or half & half instead of coconut milk. 🙂 Hope you enjoy it!
Something is missing and it’s not very creamy, but flavor is there
So sorry to hear that, Elizabeth! If blended smooth and served with coconut milk it should be creamy. A touch of curry powder can help too if you feel like something is missing. 🙂
This looks so good! What a great combination of flavors for fall!
So easy and delicious! Thank you!