Mexican Butternut Squash Soup is that soup you don't mind making and you LOVE to eat!
It comes together super fast, uses just a few ingredients, and tastes delicious! You can make it stove top or in your pressure cooker.
I like the ease of hands-off cooking. I also found that using the Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot retained more of the beautiful color of the butternut squash than cooking it stovetop. 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.
Variations of Butternut Squash Soup
You will love the versatility of this soup. Once you make the base, the possibilities are endless. Y
ou 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 it was perfect.
After making this soup both in pureed form and as a heartier soup, I will say that I really recommend using a pressure cooker if you are going to leave the soup as a puree.
The stovetop 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.
What you'll need for Mexican Butternut Squash Soup
- Chicken (or turkey) bone broth. You can use store-bought, but I really recommend making your own using this recipe.
- Butternut squash (about 2 pounds)
- 1 bunch of cilantro. You'll use the stems in the soup and the leaves for garnish
- 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
- Salt & Cumin
- 2 Cups cooked chicken. Shredded or cubed. Rotisserie chicken works great.
- 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
- One can (14.5 oz) of fire-roasted tomatoes
- 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.
Roughly chop into cubes. You don't have to worry too much about the size, I make them 2-3" usually.
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 immediately 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 stovetop 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 the puree to the 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 leftover 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 red chili pepper.
Tortilla chips would be incredible too.
Enjoy!
Mexican Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 2 lbs butternut squash
- 6 cups chicken/turkey bone broth click link for recipe
- 1 inch serrano pepper
- 1 bunch clilantro divided
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 12 ounces corn frozen
- 2 cups cooked chicken cubed or shredded
- 2 carrots thinly sliced
- 14.5 ounces fire roasted tomatoes drained
Optional toppings
- 1 bunch cilantro, leaves only chopped
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- tortilla chips
- sliced chili peppers
Instructions
- Prepare the butternut squash by peeling away the outer skin with a paring knife, remove the seeds with a spoon and roughly chop.
- Place squash cubes, chicken broth, cilantro stems, Serrano pepper, salt, & cumin in your Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
- Set your pressure cooker or Instant Pot to high pressure for 20 minutes. When it is done use the manual release to immediately release the pressure
- 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.
- Lightly rinse the pot that goes into the pressure cooker and return the puree to the pot
- Add shredded chicken, sliced carrots, fire roasted tomatoes, 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.
Pile on the toppings you love and Enjoy!
Notes
Mexican Butternut Squash Soup Stove Top Instructions
- Prepare the butternut squash by peeling away the outer skin with a paring knife, remove the seeds with a spoon and roughly chop.
- Place squash cubes, chicken broth, cilantro stems, Serrano pepper, salt, & cumin in a large pot. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for 25 minutes or until the butternut squash is soft.
- Pour the cooked ingredients into a high-powered blender and puree until smooth.
- Lightly rinse the pot and return the puree to the pot.
- 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.
Nutrition
ABOUT THE RECIPE AUTHOR, LOUISE LONG
Louise is a full-time recipe creator and food blogger @ The Salted Pepper. She has over 30 years of experience with cooking and recipe development. She owned a restaurant for several years and was a full-time RN until retiring to blog full-time.
She published her first cookbook in the Fall of 2018 and is very interested in writing several more.
Louise is also the creator of an online Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooking Course with over 100 instructional step-by-step videos. People absolutely rave about the course and all the value they have received from it.
Louise has several very active Facebook groups that help people with the basics of cooking and getting the most out of the Ninja Foodi.
Louise is also a YouTube creator and you can find most of her recipes in video format on The Salted Pepper YouTube channel.
She is very responsive to messages and eager to help in any way she can. Get more Information about Louise & contact information
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Tayler
Made this for the cold evening the other day. I left out the Serrano pepper so my toddler would eat it and added a can of seasoned black beans. Husband is obsessed and I loved it too. Definitely will try again with the pepper but it’s a very hearty soup and it makes a large amount. Also used an immersion blender as I don’t own a blender and it worked great. Awesome recipe.
Louise
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Vicki Robison
Do you think you could make this in the Foodi Hot and cold blender??