Thai Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk (Creamy, Spicy)

An easy recipe for Butternut Squash Soup with coconut milk, and Thai curry flavors prepared in Instant Pot for a speedy fix for chili night dinner. Refrigerate for a week. Freeze up-to 6 months. Gluten free, Vegan. 

This soup is super special because it is creamy, spicy, and delicious but still vegan and low-calorie. This is what I love about Coconut milk in soups. Have all the flavor, and a creamy soup without a drop of cream. You can even go super low-calorie by using low-fat coconut milk or using half coconut milk and half vegetable broth. 

Preparing soup in Instant Pot makes it quick option for weeknights. Plus no need to dice squash. Simply peel and cut in rough chunks. Instant Pot pressure cooker setting still makes it soft and ready-to-be-creamy soup in just 10 minutes. And flavor is like soup slow-cooked for an hour. (A serving of nutrients and vitamins is pure bonus.) 

So, let's make some Spicy Butternut Squash Soup!

(Oh, if you like spicy soups? Don't forget to checkout my Roasted Spicy Butternut Squash Apple Soup, Spicy Black Bean Soup, and Turkey Posole Rojo. Yumm!!)

USE YOUR FAVORITE THAI CURRY FLAVOR

This soup is also my favorite because you can use any Thai curry base you prefer for this recipe. This year I shared three Thai curry pastes - Green Curry Paste, Red Curry Paste, and Yellow Curry Paste.

I used Red Curry Paste for this recipe. But you can really use any paste you have in hand - yellow and green both will make an equally delicious Thai Curry Butternut Soup.

With homemade curry pastes, you don't even need a try to grocery store to make this soup. Dinner tonight! (hint hint)

USE GOOD QUALITY COCONUT MILK

Star ingredients of this butternut squash soup are coconut milk, Thai curry paste, and lots of lime/lemon flavor.

I recommend to use a good quality coconut milk. This is one ingredient that defines this Butternut Squash Soup. Not only does it balances the spice of Thai Curry Paste.. It also gives soup a subtle coconut flavor. And amazingly creamy texture without a hint of dairy-cream. Such as my favorite Organic Thai Coconut Milk. This is unsweetened, organic and 100% vegan Coconut Milk.

Unsweetened milk gives me option to control the amount of sugar. Honestly, I don't like a overly sweet soup. You don't want it sweet like a Thai Curry. So, I recommend adding a moderate amount of sugar when cooking the soup. Unsweetened coconut milk also has some natural sweetness. So, I start with two tablespoon sugar in 2 quart soup. I know, it may sound less. But best is to taste and adjust as per your preference.

The heat-sweet balance in soup also depends on kind of Thai Curry Paste used. When making this soup with homemade Thai Curry Pastes, I use 3 tablespoon curry paste, 2 tablespoon sugar, and 12 ounce unsweetened coconut milk for 2 quart soup. For store bought curry paste, I use 2 tablespoon paste and one tablespoon sugar. In store bought, I use Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste. It is 100% gluten free and vegan.

Bottom line - always taste and adjust seasonings.

I also add lemongrass in this soup as per availability. If you can't find lemon grass, add a tsp lime zest and some extra lime juice.

Now, imagine aroma of hot pot of butternut soup with coconut milk, Thai curry and lime flavors filling kitchen with Thai restaurant like aroma. I know your grocery list is out. Make some tonight!

INSTANT POT or DUTCH OVEN

To prepare this coconut milk butternut squash soup, I used Instant Pot. Instant Pot helps develop flavor in this soup in way less time. Instead of simmering soup in dutch oven for 25 minutes, I simply pressure cook soup in Instant Pot for 8 minutes. Pressure cooking also preserved nutrients.  In-fact, after squash is cooked and soup is loaded with fragrant Thai curry flavor... I add coconut milk. And then pressure cook soup again for 3 minutes which helps me reduce 10 minute worth of cooking time to 5 minutes.

Note: You can by all means prepare this soup in regular dutch oven. It will only need more time to cook the soup. Rest all steps remain the same.

USE BUTTERNUT SQUASH ANY WAY: FROZEN, ROUGH CHOPPED, OR DICED

When cooking in Instant Pot, I don't even have to dice the squash because I know it will cook well under pressure. When using fresh butternut.. I simply cut squash in half. Peel off then slice in big chunks that can snuggle well in Instant Pot. That's it. It still cooks well, soft and puree perfectly.
Frozen diced squash is always in my refrigerator. That works perfect for this recipe as well.

Let me summarize why should you try this Butternut Squash Soup!

1. Coconut Milk - Creamy soup without cream. You can also make it low-fat with lite Coconut Milk.
2. Thai Curry - Use as Thai curry flavor you like. I use Red Curry. Green and Yellow works perfect. No other change needed.
3. Vegan, Gluten free, Paleo-Diet friendly. (use natural sweetener of choice)
4. Loaded with flavor and nutrients with cooking under-pressure in Instant Pot.
5. No Need to peel and dice squash. Simply cut into rough chunks that can fit in pot. Use a pre-diced or frozen butternut squash. Either one will work.
6. Soup stays good for up-to a week in refrigerator. Freezes well up-to 6 months.

Thaw/Re-Heat: Please note soup will get thick with time. To thin-out, add some vegetable stock or water. Reheat. Taste and adjust seasonings such as salt, sugar, lemon juice.

Make some tonight for Meatless Monday dinner and enjoy! -Savita x

For love of Butternut Squash:

1) Butternut Squash Apple Soup
2) Butternut Squash Soup
3) Butternut Squash Risotto

What is you favorite Butternut Squash recipe? Leave a comment below and share with me.