Panera's Autumn Squash Soup

5 from 2 votes

Fall into Autumn with our Panera's Autumn Squash Soup copycat recipe. Velvety smooth butternut squash soup with a warming blend of intriguing spices that will surprise you with facets of flavor!

Prep Time10

Cook Time40

Total Time50

Course: Soups & Stews

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 203kcal

Author: Kelly Bloom

Equipment

Ingredients

6 cups Butternut squash cubed, fresh or frozen - 1 medium butternut or 2½ lbs cubed.
3 large Carrots peeled, trimmed, chunked
½ cup Pumpkin puree from a can
3 tablespoon Butter or olive oil
1 Onion diced
1 medium Leek minced, both white and green top
1 clove Garlic grated or minced
1 cup Apple juice or apple cider
4 cps Broth chicken or vegetable
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
½ cup Cream plus 1 tablespoon per serving to garnish with.
½ teaspoon Curry , ground
¼ teaspoon Cinnamon , ground
¼ teaspoon Nutmeg , ground
⅛ teaspoon Cayenne , ground
1 teaspoon Salt or to taste
Pepper to taste
Pepitas seeds for garnish
smoked paprika for garnish

Instructions

Heat the butter or oil in a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat on your stove top. Saute the onions, leek, and grated garlic until tender and soft.
1 Onion, 1 medium Leek, 1 clove Garlic, 3 tablespoon Butter
Sprinkle in the curry powder, ground cinnamon, grated or ground nutmeg, and cayenne the last minute to cook the spices and bloom the spice flavors.
½ teaspoon Curry, ¼ teaspoon Cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg, ⅛ teaspoon Cayenne
Add the butternut squash cubes, chunked carrots, and pumpkin puree to the pot.
6 cups Butternut squash, 3 large Carrots, ½ cup Pumpkin
Pour in the vegetable or chicken broth, apple juice, and the brown sugar. Stir and season to taste with salt and pepper.
1 cup Apple juice, 4 cps Broth, 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar, 1 teaspoon Salt, Pepper
Bring to a boil, cover, then reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes or until the butternut squash and carrots are soft and tender.
Using a stick blender on the low setting, puree the soup right in the pot until smooth and velvety. Stick blenders are very inexpensive, and much safer than using a blender.
Remove soup pot from the heat and stir in the heavy cream very last before serving. Garnish each serving with drizzle of cream and a sprinkling of toasted pepitas seeds and smoked paprika.
½ cup Cream, Pepitas seeds, smoked paprika

Notes

If you have the time, roasting the butternut squash cubes and carrot chunks will lend extra roasted caramelized flavor to your Autumn squash soup! Spread the cubes out on an oiled sheet pan and roast for 30 minutes at 400 degrees F. Then add to your soup pot.
To reduce sodium, use low sodium broth, no salt added broth, or make your own broth. Our Instant Pot Chicken broth recipe is perfect for many of my soup recipes also!
Apple cider and apple cider vinegar are totally different ingredients. Be sure to use apple cider or apple juice only.