Creamy Butternut Squash Black Bean Soup (vegetarian)
This Butternut Squash + Black Bean Soup is a personal feel-good staple in our house (especially when paired with a grilled cheese *drool*). Hearty, super easy to make with convenient canned black beans, frozen or fresh butternut squash + canned tomatoes, this naturally vegetarian soup is blended creamy smooth (or left a bit chunky, if you like!) and can be made on your stove top, in your slow cooker or Instant pot! Oh, and the leftovers? Magical!
“Mmmmmmm. This is so so so good, Mom! Can you make it for dinner again tomorrow night?” – my then-8 year-old daughter
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. Which is to tell me when a recipe is worthy of YOUR time and tastebuds…and which need to go no further than our dinner table (and she is a tough critic who takes her job very seriously!)
Now there are two things I love about this black bean soup. First—it’s ridiculously easy to make with mostly pantry staples. We’re talking canned black beans, canned tomatoes, broth, cumin, and chili powder. The only fresh thing you need is butternut squash, and let’s be real—you probably have one sitting on your counter waiting for its big moment. Or maybe a bag of frozen squash hiding in your freezer? That totally works too. So, chances are, you don’t even need a grocery run.
Second—it makes amazing leftovers. Stays good in the fridge for about four days, or you can freeze it and have a cozy, no-stress dinner ready to go whenever you need it. Future you is gonna be so grateful. And if you love an easy, peasy legume-loaded soup as much as I do….my 30-Minute Carrot Lentil Soup needs to be your next dinner stop. You won’t regret it…pinky promise.
Let’s make dinner together. Just you and me….
Creamy Butternut Squash Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoons avocado oil
- ½ medium red onion, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced and to taste
- 1 Tablespoon cumin, or to taste
- 1 ½ teaspoon chili powder, or to taste
- 3 cups (516 g) cooked black beans , drained and rinsed (about 2 cans)
- 14 ounces (396.89 g) can fire-roasted tomatoes, with juices
- 3 cups (420 g) peeled and cubed butternut squash, cut into 1 inch cubes. Can use frozen if desired. About 12 ounces
- 3 cups (709.76 ml) low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
Instructions
For Stovetop
- Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and add the 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
- 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 20 minutes or until the squash is fork tender.
- 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.
For Instant Pot
- 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 and garnish with suggested toppings.
For Slow Cooker
- Optional step: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add onions, garlic and spices to the skillet + sauté for 3 minutes. This is an optional step but adds a good deal of flavor to the soup.
- Scoop the sautéed onions, garlic and spices into your slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients to your slow cooker, cover and Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 6 hours. It is important to note that every slow cooker cooks a bit differently, so you'll know your soup is done when the butternut squash is fork tender.
- 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 and garnish with suggested toppings.
Notes
- 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!
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?
Hmmmm. I haven’t tried it without tomatoes and I feel like it would need something to bring the sweetness. Perhaps red bell pepper?
Think it would be ok to sub a can of tomato sauce for the diced tomatoes?
I haven’t tried it but I bet it would work!
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!
DELICIOUS!! As in I put cheese on everything and this did not require cheese DELICIOUS!!!
Yay! I am so glad you enjoyed it!
Is there a recommendation for slow cooker adaptation? Looks delish, but no instant pot
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!
This was very tasty
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!
I love the additions! And I am so glad you enjoyed the soup as much as we do!
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.
Love the little changes!
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. 🙂
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.
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!
Yay! So good to know!
What brand of vegetable broth do you recommend?
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/
Can this be made with frozen butternut squash?
yes!
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
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.
So good! Made a few substitutions based on what I had in my kitchen and it still turned out yummy. 🤗
So glad you enjoyed it, Mandy! I love how forgiving this recipe is and it always turns out so good.
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!!
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.
The flavors are terrific! I went a little too far with my immersion blender though. Any recommendations for thickening it up after blending?
So glad you enjoy this soup as much as I do, Hannah! You could simmer it down a bit to reduce the liquid!
So easy and so good! I used canned pumpkin because I had it on hand and it was a total pantry clean out. So good!
So happy you enjoyed it. This is probably one of my favorite soup recipes and I love how easy it is.
Could I get a weight on the butternut squash, please? At 80 yo, there is no way I can cut through a squash or cube up three cups worth. I always just cook the squash whole and then scoop but don’t want to guess at the amount. Thanks so much!
I’d guess at 15 ounces!
I made this adding red bell pepper and using a can of tomato sauce (was out of canned tomatoes) with 3 cups water & 2-3 tablespoons of Better Than Bouillon No Chicken base, omitting the added salt. The entire recipe fit into a 3 qt. Crock Pot, but it was quite full (1” or so from the top). I cooked it on high for 5 hours. Came out fabulous! I removed a couple of ladles of soup before using the immersion blender and then added it back in and gave it another quick blend. I topped mine with a tablespoon of Daiya Mexican Blend Shreds, a tablespoon of Philadelphia Plant Based Cream Cheese, a few tortilla strips and a drizzle of Valentina Salsa Picante. It was the perfect meal. I think it could be a warm dip if the broth was reduced to 2 cups. It’s so good and great for Chicago winters, especially when the temps are hovering around zero like they are this week. Thanks for a great recipe.
So glad you loved this one as much as we do, Lori! True winter staple here!
My 6 year old is a picky eater and will eat none of these ingredients separately- but he loves this soup. He refers to it as “my favorite soup” and requests it often. It is frequently in our dinner rotation, because it is so easy on a busy weeknight and I love how many nutrients are in one bowl that both my kids love. Thank you for this recipe!
Oh I love this, Vicki! My 13 year old also isn’t a fan of butternut squash but adores it in this soup! So glad its a hit in your home too.
Ok you’re making me look too good with my kids. The past three recipes of yours I tried had them repeatedly complimenting the meal. Like over and over (this is not common!), I wish I had footage to share with you. We loved this recipe. Even the baby had three helpings! You’re now officially in my back pocket when planning dinner.
Oh man! What a great comment to find this morning! So honored to be part of your virtual village when feeding your family, Katie. I’m delighted that you all are loving my kitchen creations and I appreciate you taking the time to come and share that with me!
I made this soup tonight and loved it! I wasn’t sure how the squash and beans and tomatoes would work together but they did! Delicious! I used a large white onion, a little extra squash, and added a little salsa bc I made fire roasted tomatoes and was short about 4 oz. I left the soup a little chunky. When serving, I topped w/a scoop of plain yogurt, a handful of spicy Mexican cheddar cheese and chunks of avocado-so good!
I love that you loved this one so much, Mickey! I remember making this OG as a “use up random stuff” recipe and it just worked *so well*. Its so simple yet so satisfying in all the ways. Thanks for trusting my kitchen creations and coming and sharing your love of them!
So good and smells delicious! A plus is that it’s way easy to make .
Yay! So glad you loved this easy peasy one as much as we so!
Delicious!!! I’ve made it twice now and both times it was excellent. I wanted a bit more protein so the first time I made it with shredded chicken and the second I added ground beef. Both turned out great! I also added a can of mild green chiles, a green bell pepper and a can of corn. I really love that you can adjust this recipe so much. I made it once with butternut squash and once with sweet potato and both were wonderful. It’s becoming a regular in my rotation.
Oh I am so glad you love this one as much as we do, Catherine! I love your meat additions (very much something I do too!) but now I must try it with the green chilies added! Such a great idea! And I love that you have taken to playing with it to make it your own. It makes my heart so happy to hear that people can do that with my recipes but then totally make it their own vibe with such success. Thanks so much for coming back and sharing. I always appreciate reading these kinds of reviews 💚
The flavors are excellent together. Loved it!
I used a 1lb bag of dried black beans (presoaked) and a whole small butter nut squash (skinned and cut to small pieces) doubled the spices and cooked in the slow cooker all day. Now we have great leftovers.
So happy you loved it, Denise! And I love that you made it with dried beans and a whole fresh butternut squash! It sounds like such a cozy batch to have tucked away for leftovers.