Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk
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This Thai-inspired Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk is perfectly spicy, incredibly creamy and healthy all at once! Switch up your soup game with this super satisfying and nutritious soup!
In the mood for soup? I’ve got you covered with Easy Creamy Potato Soup, Roasted Cauliflower Soup, Carrot Soup, Green Chile Stew, and Tomato Basil Soup.
Why This Recipe Works
- Incredible Flavors: One thing I love about curry is that it is a wonderfully strong flavor and can make anything taste good. The combination of silky smooth, slightly sweet squash along with the curry and coconut milk makes this soup so flavorful! I top it with a Thai gremolata which is chopped peanuts, cilantro, lime zest and red chili flakes which adds a lovely crunch and fresh flavor!
- Easy to Make: This beautiful curried butternut squash soup with coconut milk is surprisingly easy to make. I made mine in the slow cooker, but you can also make this on the stove! After just a few minutes of prep, you can throw everything into the slow cooker to cook. Then blend and you are ready to eat!
- So Beautiful: Just look at it! This soup is so appealing to the eye. All creamy and yellow and delicious-like. So bright and cheerful looking it’s almost like a winter-summer soup hybrid.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this slow cooker creamy butternut squash soup:
- Butternut Squash– Peel and dice your butternut squash. Frozen butternut squash will work as well for this recipe.
- Unsweetened Coconut Milk– You can get this in a carton or it is also sold in cans.
- Chicken Broth– Chicken broth goes well with this soup, but if you want to keep it vegetarian you can use vegetable broth!
- Brown Sugar– A little brown sugar brings out the sweetness in the squash and balances the spices.
- Sriracha– For a little spice, add some sriracha to taste.
- Lime– Freshly squeezed lime juice is amazing in this soup. If you have bottled lime juice, it will work but you will lose some freshness!
- Milk– For a vegan soup, replace the milk for more coconut milk.
- Cilantro– Freshly chopped cilantro.
- Lime Zest– Use the zest from the limes you use in the soup.
- Red Chili Flakes– For a kick of spice!
Here’s How You Make It
For the Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk
- Add butternut squash, coconut milk, chicken broth, onion powder, brown sugar, sriracha sauce, lime juice, garlic powder, and curry powder to slow cooker. Cover and cook on high 2-3 hours or on low 4-5 hours. (photos 1-2)
- Blend mixture until smooth using an immersion blender, regular blender, or food processor. You may need to do this in batches depending on your available equipment. Return mixture to slow cooker. Add salt to taste and milk to thin the soup to the desired consistency. (photo 3)
For the Thai Gremolata
- Just before serving, prepare the gremolata. In a small bowl stir together cilantro, peanuts, lime zest, and red chili pepper flakes. Serve soup warm and top with gremolata, and enjoy! (photo 4)
Expert Tips
- Technically, you can make this soup really super easy and not do the Thai gremolata. But, you’ll be missing out on a lovely addition of flavor and texture.
- This is a great soup to make ahead! You can freeze your curried butternut squash soup in an airtight container or bag for up to 3 months. Once you are ready to eat, thaw in the fridge overnight and the reheat in the microwave!
- While this soup is filling and delicious on it’s own, you can also pair this with a grilled cheese or some focaccia bread to dip!
Frequently Asked Questions
Using an immersion blender is the easiest way to blend soup. However, if you don’t have one and you have a normal blender or food processor you can totally use that instead. You’ll want to let the soup cool down a little bit prior to blending it. When you do blend it, place the lid tightly on the blender and hold it down with a towel. Hot liquid in a blender creates pressure and the lid could pop off if you aren’t holding it down tightly! Blend in batches if needed.
Absolutely! If you don’t have a slow cooker, cook this soup in the same way in a large pot on the stove. Let it simmer for about an hour before blending!
More Soup Recipes To Try
- Roasted Cauliflower Soup
- Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
- Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup
- Carrot and Coriander Soup
- Creamy Mushroom Soup
- Loaded Baked Potato Soup
- Pumpkin Soup
Did you make this recipe? FANTASTIC. Please rate the recipe below and be sure to tag me on social when you share a photo on social – I love seeing what you’re up to in the kitchen!
Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk
Ingredients
- 2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and diced
- 14 ounces unsweetened coconut milk
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1-3 teaspoons sriracha sauce, (or to taste)
- juice of 2 limes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1-2 cups milk
- 3 teaspoons salt , (or to taste)
Thai Gremolata
- ¼ cup packed cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup peanuts, roughly chopped
- zest of 1 lime
- ½ teaspoon red chili pepper flakes , (optional)
Instructions
- Add butternut squash, coconut milk, chicken broth, onion powder, brown sugar, sriracha sauce, lime juice, garlic powder, and curry powder to slow cooker. Cover and cook on high 2-3 hours or on low 4-5 hours.
- Blend mixture until smooth using an immersion blender, regular blender, or food processor. (You may need to do this in batches depending on your available equipment) Return mixture to slow cooker. Add salt to taste and milk to thin to desired consistency.
- Just before serving, prepare the gremolata. In a small bowl stir together cilantro, peanuts, lime zest, and red chili pepper flakes. Serve soup warm and top with gremolata.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Just made this soup and it’s fantastic. Made my night 👍🏼
When your storing it do u just throw the gemolata in or store it seperate?
other than that it was pretty good! this is my 1st experience with butternut squash, I think I did a little too much lime & I substituted fresh ground turmeric instead of curry.
This looks very tasty! Thanks for sharing the recipe
Your soup was so amazing and remarkably easy to make. It’s such a bright, bold, beautiful color and has a great complex taste. Definitely a keeper.
This soup was so delicious! I wasn’t a fan of the cilantro or the lime zest in the gremolata. When I make it again, I will just leave those two ingredients out. The soup has an amazing flavor even without the gremolata. Restaurant quality, for sure!
I’ve made this twice because it’s very tasty. The gremolata really turns up and adds to this flavorful soup. This is a restaurant quality soup.
My hubster and I love your soup recipe! We make it at least once a week in a 1/2 batch in a smaller crock pot which gives us two meals. We wanted a flavorful soup using squash and your recipe is awesome, thanks for posting this on your blog~ esp
Slow Cooker Thai Butternut Squash Soup – Thanks for the tip on using pureed cauliflower with cream cheese as a milk substitute. Would Silk Almond Milk work as a substitute for the milk? Thanks
SLOW COOKER THAI BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP – Can I substitute the 1-2 cups of milk, I’m lactose and soy intolerant?
Would cauliflower that was blended ina blender work? Would the cauliflower liquid amount be the same as the milk?
Is it 1 or 2 cups?
I am confused, I don’t see anything about a roux in this recipe- am I missing something?
Hi Gina, I’m not sure I understand your question… there is no roux in the recipe, the butternut squash gets pureed and this creates a thicker mixture so you don’t need a roux! 🙂
You told her to out in cauliflower instead of the roux… There is no roux in the recipe, so she’s wondering what you’re talking about.
Oops! thanks for clarifying Ali – I’ll get back to her question!
Hi Gina, Sorry for the confusion – to clarify, there is no roux in this recipe. 🙂
This looks amazing! 2 questions; can I use soy milk instead of milk, and does it reheat well?
Hi Erin! As far as consistency, I don’t think the soy milk will have any negative effect on the recipe! I am not familiar with the flavor of soy milk so I can’t vouch for that part of it. The soup does reheat well though!