Mexican Butternut Squash Soup is that soup you don’t mind making and you LOVE to eat!

Name: Mexican Butternut Squash Soup
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 2 lbs butternut squash; 6 cups chicken/turkey bone broth (click link for recipe); 1 inch serrano pepper; 1 bunch clilantro (divided); 1 Tbsp ground cumin; 1 tsp sea salt; 12 ounces corn (frozen); 2 cups cooked chicken (cubed or shredded); 2 carrots (thinly sliced); 14.5 ounces fire roasted tomatoes (drained); 1 bunch cilantro, leaves only (chopped); 1/2 cup sour cream; 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese; tortilla chips; sliced chili peppers

It comes together super fast, uses just a few ingredients and tastes delicious! You can make it stove top or in the Instant Pot; my preference is the Instant Pot because…

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I like the ease of hands off cooking. I also found that using the Instant Pot retained more of the beautiful color of the butternut squash than cooking it stove top. The first time I made it, I just fell in love with the color! Right after cooking and blending the soup into a puree, it has that beautiful color of a traditional butternut squash soup and is just as velvety with the perfect amount of Mexican spices.

Smooth Velvety Puree or Warm & Hearty?

You will love the versatility of this soup. Once you make the base, the possibilities are endless. You can easily make this soup vegetarian by substituting the chicken broth with vegetable stock and omitting the chicken. You could add in black beans and make a Mexican Style Chili or add rice and sausage and make a Mexican style jambalaya.

Leave it as a puree and it is a delicious first course. I actually fought with myself about adding in the chicken, corn, and carrots because of the simple beauty of the puree. In the end, I added the extras for a warm and hearty dinner and my husband thanked me! I’m sure he would have loved the creamy version, but he would have wanted to know what was for dinner after eating it. I’m sure you can relate!

I made the warm & hearty version of this soup 5 times over the past few weeks using the Instant Pot, so the 6th time I made it, I wanted to make sure to get the timing down for stove top instructions. This time I was going to make a smooth and velvety version topped with with a cilantro cream swirl.

Mexican Butternut Squash Puree (stove top method)

Embarrassingly enough, It didn’t turn out quite the way I hoped for! I almost didn’t post this picture because… well, you can see for yourself… it looks sort of like baby food green. It’s not the soups fault, I promise! It’s all on me. I had bad lighting and was kind of in a hurry and since we are friends, I knew you’d understand.

I will say that I really recommend using a pressure cooker if you are going to leave the soup a puree. I do think the stove top version did result in a duller orange/green soup, while the Instant Pot/ pressure cooker retained a more vibrant orange color that is just stunning as a puree. The next time I make the soup (and it will be soon), I’ll update the post with a better picture.

What you’ll need for Mexican Butternut Squash Soup

1. Chicken (or turkey) bone broth. You can use store bought, but I really recommend making your own using this recipe.
2. Butternut squash (about 2 pounds)
3. 1 bunch of cilantro. You’ll use the stems in the soup and the leaves for garnish.
4. 1 Serrano pepper. I used just one inch with the seeds and it was just hot enough. If you like spicy, throw the whole thing in.
5. Salt & Cumin
6. 2 Cups cooked chicken. Shredded or cubed. Rotisserie chicken works great.
7. 12 ounces of frozen corn. Of course you can use fresh when in season and canned works too, just make sure to drain the liquid.
8. One can (14.5 oz) of fire roasted tomatoes
9. 1-2 Carrots. Thinly Sliced

Mexican Butternut Squash Soup Instant Pot Instructions

1. Prepare the butternut squash by peeling away the outer skin with a paring knife, remove the seeds with a spoon and roughly chop.

2. Place squash cubes, chicken broth, cilantro stems, Serrano pepper, salt, & cumin in your Instant Pot or pressure cooker.

3. Set your pressure cooker or Instant Pot to high pressure for 20 minutes. When it is done use the manual release to release the pressure

4. Pour the cooked ingredients into a high powered blender and puree until smooth. Although I did not test this out, I think an immersion blender would work too.

5. Lightly rinse the pot that goes into the pressure cooker and return the puree to the pot.

6. Add shredded or chopped chicken*, sliced carrots, fire roasted tomatoes (drained), and corn. Set the pressure cooker/ Instant Pot to the soup setting for 5-10 minutes. If your pressure cooker doesn’t have a soup button, set it on low pressure for 5 minutes. Or you can finish the soup on the stove top in a large pot. Cook just until the carrots are soft.

Mexican Butternut Squash Soup Stove Top Instructions

1. Prepare the butternut squash by peeling away the outer skin with a paring knife, remove the seeds with a spoon and roughly chop.

2. Place squash cubes, chicken broth, cilantro stems, Serrano pepper, salt, & cumin in a large pot. Bring to a boil.

3. Reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for 25 minutes or until the butternut squash is soft.

4. Pour the cooked ingredients into a high powered blender and puree until smooth.

5. Lightly rinse the pot and return puree to pot.

6. Add shredded chicken, sliced carrots, fire roasted tomatoes (drained), and corn. Simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes or until heated through and the carrots are soft.

*This recipe works great with left over rotisserie chicken or baked boneless skinless chicken thighs.

The Final Touches

After ladling the soup into a nice big bowl, add whatever toppings you’d like. I chose some Mexican grated cheese, sour cream, fresh cilantro, and slices of a red chili pepper.

Tortilla chips would be incredible too.

Dig in and don’t forget to shake your maracas!

Enjoy!

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5 from 6 votes