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Home » Recipes » Dinner » Instant Pot Black Bean & Butternut Squash Soup

Instant Pot Black Bean & Butternut Squash Soup

By Taesha Butler December 5, 2019 (Updated August 5, 2021) 30 Comments

Servings4 people
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Jump to Recipe
5 from 8 votes

This Instant Pot Black Bean Soup is the perfect healthy dinner to make any night of the week. Hearty, easy to whip up and is veggie-loaded with delicious butternut squash. Vegan and gluten free.

Jump to Recipe
a bowl of black bean and butternut squash soup topped with veggies and sour cream

“Mmmmmmm. This is so so so good, Mom! Can you make it for dinner again tomorrow night?” said my 8 year old daughter, Alice, as she inhaled a bowl of this Instant Pot Black Bean and Butternut Squash Soup.

Now, let me tell you. This is not an every night occurrence. Don’t get me wrong, my daughter has definitely been raised to appreciate that she has food to eat and to value the love and effort put into the meals she is served. However, she knows she has an important job to the TNN community.

My family is truly my harshest critics when it comes to recipes. My daughter (who is 8 and takes her job as being the voice for all the kiddos who eat my recipes very seriously) will be the first to tell me when something is a no-go. No sugarcoating. Just “Yeah, no Mom. That looks weird” or she takes two bites of something and will make a dramatic face and say “I’m not eating that.”

Some people might be offended by their child rejecting their food, but I know that when Alice loves something as much as she loved this soup that you all are going to go nuts over it. And this Black Bean and Butternut Squash Soup is a total and complete veggie-loaded hit that you simply have to make!

Is this Instant Pot Black Bean and Butternut Squash Soup kid-friendly?

Oh yes! If you can’t tell from my daughter’s reaction recorded above, she believes that this cozy, veggie-loaded soup is going to be a hit with the littles in your house.

I find that blended soups like this one tend to be well received by young eaters. There is an even conscience instead of random color and textures in one bowl that might overwhelm them.

Can I use dry beans when making this Instant Pot Black Bean Soup?

I love cooking beans from dry and often do it (check out my slow cooker black beans or my Instant Pot Cuban black beans), but the thing about cooking beans from dry is that they take A LOT longer to cook then veggies and require a good amount of liquid. I wanted to make a hearty, veggie-loaded plant based soup recipe that you all could quickly make on the busiest of nights or when you had a hungry crowd asking when dinner was over and over again as you were trying to figure out what the heck to make.

So, no. Dry beans that haven’t been cooked won’t work in this recipe.

I highly recommend either cooking a big ‘ol batch of black beans and freezing them (they freeze so well after they are cooked) to keep on hand or keeping a stash of canned black beans in your pantry. Both options will come in so handy and you will find yourself grateful to have an emergency stash of beans more often than not.

When seasoning, keep your broth in mind.

If I have learned one thing over my many years of soup making, it is that the broth I use matters A LOT in the overall flavor of the soup.

Not all broths are made exactly the same. If you make your own and even brand to brand. Low sodium to regular. Vegetable or chicken or beef. They all will taste different.

Whatever broth you use, be mindful of how salty or seasoned it already is….and adjust the seasoning in this recipe to fit your own unique tastes!

Suggested Adaptions

  • Use frozen butternut squash. Don’t feel like you have to stick to fresh. Grab a bag of frozen, pre-cut butternut squash and make the prep for this even easier!
  • Use butternut squash puree. If you have a can of that kicking around, totally feel free to add that instead of the cubbed. I mean, the soup is going to be pureed anyway, so knock yourself out! I would say 1 1/2 cups of puree should do!
  • Sub the butternut squash with sweet potato or pumpkin. Not a butternut squash fan? Or maybe you just don’t have any on hand? Sub equal amounts cubed sweet potato or pumpkin in this recipe for an equally tasty soup!
  • Crank up the spice! I made this mellow in the spice department because I was serving it to a little one with sensitive tastebuds. But if you and your crew love a little extra heat, I totally suggest upping the amount of chili powder in this recipe to fit your personal taste! Also, when buying your diced tomatoes, grab some with green chilis for an extra punch of heat!
  • Make it in your slow cooker! No Instant Pot? That’s cool. Just sauté the onions, garlic and spices in a pan before adding them to the slow cooker with the remaining ingredients. Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or until the butternut squash is fork tender and puree as normal.
  • Make it on the stove top! After you sauté the onions, garlic and spices, add the remaining ingredients to the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and let the soup simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until the squash is fork tender. Puree as normal.

Other veggie-loaded soup recipes you are going to want to curl up with…

  • Instant Pot Lentil Soup
  • Mexican Slow Cooker Chicken Stew
  • Slow Cooker Turkey Taco Chili
  • Slow Cooker Chicken & Butternut Squash Stew
  • Instant Pot Paleo Pumpkin Chili
a bowl of black bean and butternut squash soup topped with sour cream and veggies
Print Recipe
5 from 8 votes

Instant Pot Black Bean and Butternut Squash Soup

This Instant Pot Black Bean Soup is the perfect healthy dinner to make any night of the week. Hearty, easy to whip up and is veggie-loaded with delicious butternut squash. Vegan and gluten free.
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: black bean soup, Instant Pot soup, vegan soup, vegetarian soup, veggie-loaded soup
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 538kcal
Author: Taesha Butler

Equipment

  • Instant Pot

Ingredients 

  • 3 cups cooked black beans drained and rinsed (about 2 cans)
  • 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juices
  • 3 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
  • 3 cloves garlic minced and to taste
  • 1 tbsp olive oil or avocado oil
  • 1/2 cup red onion minced
  • 3 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 tbsp cumin or to taste
  • 1 1/2 tsp chili powder or to taste
  • 1 tsp salt or to taste

Instructions 

  • Turn the sauté function of your Instant Pot on and add oil.
  • Once oil is hot, add the onions, garlic, cumin, and chili powder. Sauté for a few minutes until onion and garlic are fragrant. About 3 minutes
  • Turn off sauté function and add remaining ingredients to the pot.
  • Place lid on your Instant Pot and lock into play. Be sure valve is turned to sealing. Cook on HIGH pressure for 5 minutes. It will take your Instant Pot about 10 minutes to get up to pressure.
  • Once cooking time is up, carefully quick release the pressure and carefully remove the lid.
  • Using an immersion blender, puree the soup. If you do not have an immersion blender, you can puree the soup in batches in your blender. But be careful, as the soup will be incredibly hot.
  • Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
  • Serve warm topped with sour cream, grated cheese, extra red onions, avocado, chips, salsa or whatever you desire. Store leftovers in fridge for up to 4 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 538kcal | Carbohydrates: 110g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 3512mg | Potassium: 3805mg | Fiber: 29g | Sugar: 41g | Vitamin A: 13582IU | Vitamin C: 168mg | Calcium: 586mg | Iron: 20mg

The nutritional information is provided as an estimate only and may vary based on the product type, servings and other factors. If you are following a diet, please consult with a professional nutritionist or your doctor. Stay healthy!

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Filed Under: Dairy-Free, Dinner, Gluten-Free, Grain Free, Instant Pot, Soups, Vegan, Vegetarian Tagged With: squash

Previous Post: « Healthy Hot Chocolate (with veggies)
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    Recipe Rating




    Comments

  1. Laura McCracken

    December 5, 2019 at 6:11 pm

    This sounds delicious! But my husband cannot have tomatoes… Is there a sub for it? Or you think it would taste OK leaving it out?

    Reply
    • Taesha

      December 5, 2019 at 6:25 pm

      Hmmmm. I haven’t tried it without tomatoes and I feel like it would need something to bring the sweetness. Perhaps red bell pepper?

      Reply
  2. Jennifer

    December 6, 2019 at 7:24 pm

    Think it would be ok to sub a can of tomato sauce for the diced tomatoes?

    Reply
    • Taesha

      December 6, 2019 at 7:30 pm

      I haven’t tried it but I bet it would work!

      Reply
  3. Amanda

    December 10, 2019 at 3:11 am

    Delicious!!! I used a fresh butternut squash- I HATE peeling them through, so I just cut in in half & roasted for an hour, scooped it out, then blended with everything else. Also used Rotel tomatoes. So good!

    Reply
  4. Jessie Root

    December 23, 2019 at 3:02 am

    5 stars
    DELICIOUS!! As in I put cheese on everything and this did not require cheese DELICIOUS!!!

    Reply
    • Taesha

      December 23, 2019 at 5:15 pm

      Yay! I am so glad you enjoyed it!

      Reply
  5. Jackie

    April 12, 2020 at 1:04 pm

    Is there a recommendation for slow cooker adaptation? Looks delish, but no instant pot

    Reply
    • Taesha

      April 13, 2020 at 3:41 pm

      Look under the Suggested Adaptations portion of the post! I tell you how to do it in your slow cooker and on your stove top!

      Reply
  6. Laura

    July 19, 2020 at 8:06 pm

    This was very tasty

    Reply
  7. Linda

    August 7, 2020 at 9:25 pm

    5 stars
    I made this last night and added in some veggies I had on their way out (chopped baby carrots and a red pepper, white onion instead of red). The flavor of this soup is great and I love the consistency it has after blending! Will definitely a be a new go-to for us!

    Reply
    • Taesha

      August 10, 2020 at 2:06 pm

      I love the additions! And I am so glad you enjoyed the soup as much as we do!

      Reply
  8. Joanne Schultz

    October 23, 2020 at 8:43 pm

    Yum, I just made this and am eating it now. Raw squash is too hard to peel & cube, so I cooked it in instant pot for 5 minutes. Still to hard so cooked in instant pot for 5 more minutes!. Much easier to peel & cube!
    I doubled the chili powder, added some crushed red peppers, used the jarred minced garlic, and accidentally added som refrigerated minced ginger!
    Cooked per instructions, then threw it all in my vitamin blender.
    It’s got some great heat! This recipe is definitely a keeper!
    It made about 9 cups so I think it serves more than 4.

    Reply
    • Taesha

      October 23, 2020 at 10:35 pm

      Love the little changes!

      Reply
    • J

      February 14, 2022 at 11:49 am

      Do you have a dry beans version that doesn’t involve two rounds of cooking? I will attempt to adapt – for me the whole joy of the instant pot is that dry beans are much less expensive and can cook pretty fast. 🙂

      Reply
      • Taesha Butler

        February 14, 2022 at 11:55 am

        I do not. I love cooking beans from dry in my IP, too. However, they require a lot more liquid than I think would be idea in this soup.

        Reply
        • J

          February 15, 2022 at 12:28 pm

          For what it’s worth, I cooked my beans in the IP (first) and used the bean liquid instead of broth and I had to add another cup of liquid! So it should be pretty doable. It’s be something like 4-5 cups of liquid and cook for 25min – and should get the same texture. Will experiment and report back!

          Reply
          • Taesha Butler

            February 15, 2022 at 1:26 pm

            Yay! So good to know!

  9. Corinne

    January 26, 2021 at 2:35 pm

    What brand of vegetable broth do you recommend?

    Reply
    • Taesha

      January 26, 2021 at 3:43 pm

      I actually make my own with this base recipe and then I toss in veggie scraps from the week to add bonus flavor.
      https://thenaturalnurturer.com/easy-vegetable-broth/

      Reply
  10. Nancy

    January 10, 2022 at 5:53 pm

    Can this be made with frozen butternut squash?

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      January 10, 2022 at 5:57 pm

      yes!

      Reply
  11. Julia

    November 7, 2022 at 4:25 pm

    Hi Taesha,

    I thought you also used to have a recipe for black bean and butternut squash IP chili. It had red lentils? I love it and now can’t find it! Please repost if it exists somewhere. 🙂

    Thanks for considering it!
    Julia

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      November 8, 2022 at 7:05 am

      Hi Julia. I don’t think I do. I have a pumpkin chili you make in the IP, but it has ground turkey. And a sweet potato chili, but I don’t have (or have had) anything fitting your description. Though now I kinda want to make one! It sounds delicious.

      Reply
  12. Mandy

    December 3, 2022 at 9:41 pm

    So good! Made a few substitutions based on what I had in my kitchen and it still turned out yummy. 🤗

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      December 4, 2022 at 8:23 am

      So glad you enjoyed it, Mandy! I love how forgiving this recipe is and it always turns out so good.

      Reply
  13. Alison

    December 23, 2022 at 9:35 am

    5 stars
    This soup is DELICIOUS. A hint of spice, and just so flavorful. My 8, 5, 3 and 1 yr old ALL devoured it which truly never ever happens.

    I roasted the squash first, then just added it when we blended the soup. Used Rotel tomatoes with cilantro and lime, even added a diced sweet potato I needed to use up. Topped it with homemade fried tortilla strips and avocado this time. This is the second time I’ve made it and people have raved both times. THANK YOU!!

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      December 24, 2022 at 9:38 am

      I’m so glad it was family approved, Alison! Love the idea of using roasted squash. I bet it added such a little boost of flavor.

      Reply
  14. Hannah S

    January 18, 2023 at 5:48 pm

    5 stars
    The flavors are terrific! I went a little too far with my immersion blender though. Any recommendations for thickening it up after blending?

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      January 19, 2023 at 12:18 pm

      So glad you enjoy this soup as much as I do, Hannah! You could simmer it down a bit to reduce the liquid!

      Reply

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Hi! I'm Taesha! I help busy people fall in love with healthy eating with my simple, family-friendly, veggie-loaded recipes. I believe vegetables can and SHOULD be delicious. Here, let me show you how!

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