Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup — 🍲🧡😋 Along with cubes of tender butternut squash and a bit of spice from Italian sausage, this hearty soup has white beans, fire-roasted tomatoes, and spinach to make it filling and flavorful! EASY, ready in 30 minutes, and perfect for chilly weather! Hearty enough to be a meal unto its own. This soup freezes very well so you can make a batch and freeze some for later.
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Easy Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup Recipe
Squash is the perfect versatile fall ingredient. Whether you want to make Stuffed Acorn Squash with sausage which is a full meal, a lighter Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, or Sweet and Spicy Acorn Squash as a side dish, nothing says fall like squash.
For this hearty soup, I used butternut squash which is naturally a bit sweet and it’s the perfect contrast to the slightly spicy ground Italian sausage and fire-roasted tomatoes. Great Northern beans add extra protein and fiber and fresh spinach gives a pop of color and more texture. I’m telling you, this soup is bursting with texture and layers of flavor!
And did I mention, it’s hearty and filling and overall, it’s a healthy option. Those people who say ‘soup isn’t really a meal’ will change their tune after a bowl of this!
Made in one pot, and ready in 30 minutes, this is cozy comfort food for fall, winter, and chilly weather. Or this soup is the perfect accompaniment to your Thanksgiving and Christmas recipe lineup.
Ingredients in Butternut Squash Soup with Italian Sausage
- olive oil
- yellow onion – or white onion
- ground sausage – for more info about what kind of sausage to use, see the FAQs below
- butternut squash – see the FAQs for more squash talk and options
- garlic
- low sodium chicken broth – vegetable broth may be subbed
- bay leaves
- great northern beans – cannellini beans, garbanzo beans, or your favorite white beans are all fine subs
- fire roasted diced tomatoes
- salt
- pepper
- fresh baby spinach – kale is a good sub if here if you have it on hand
- lemon juice – really brightens up the flavor
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Make Sausage and Butternut Squash Soup
Follow these straightforward instructions and with about 10 minutes of prep time and 30 mins total time, you’ll be enjoying this soup.
- Add the oil, onions, and saute the onions to a large pot for a few minutes before adding the sausage. Crumble it as it cooks, brown it completely, and remove the onions and sausage mixture.
- Add additional oil, garlic, butternut squash, saute for 1 minute, add the chicken broth, bay leaves, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes or until squash is tender.
- Return the onions and sausage mixture to the pot, add the beans, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and heat momentarily to warm everything through. Remove the bay leaves.
- Add the spinach, lemon juice, and stir for about 2 minutes or until spinach has wilted.
- Taste for seasoning balance, making sure to add another pinch of salt or pepper if needed, and serve the soup nice and hot! For garnishing ideas, see the FAQs below.
Recipe FAQs
Butternut squash has a light and naturally sweet flavor. Acorn squash is a fine substitute noting that it has an earthier and less sweet flavor. Other squash like kabocha squash could work and also pumpkin intended for eating (because your Halloween pumpkin is for carving, not eating) may also work. There are tons of squash varieties and soup in general is very flexible. So while I have not tested other squashes, for the most part, most of them should work fine.
I use hot Italian sausage but you can use a sweet or mild ground pork sausage if you don’t want any heat. You can also use turkey or chicken sausage, noting that they won’t have as much fat so you will sacrifice a bit of flavor. Also make sure to add additional oil when browning them since they are so lean you’ll need the extra fat.
If you like a creamier soup (but still dairy-free), remove half of the butternut squash chunks after they’ve been boiled with the broth (and before adding the onions and sausage back in). Use an immersion blender to blend the remaining squash in the pot until you have a creamy puree. Alternatively, blend half of the soup it in a Vitamix or similar high speed blender and then add that back into the squash cubes in the pot.
Return the reserved butternut squash chunks before also then adding the onions and sausage and carrying on with the rest of the recipe.
You can also add in 1/2 cup or so of heavy cream at the very end. Or, you can just garnish each bowl with a splash or drizzle of heavy cream; see below.
A drizzle of heavy cream, chopped shallots, buttery croutons, crumbled cooked bacon bits, red pepper flakes, fresh sage, or your favorite cheese such as fresh Parmesan cheese or some feta or blue cheese crumbles could work nicely. Honestly, we don’t “garnish” it with anything because it’s great as-is but these are some extra touches you can use.
Storage
In the Refrigerator: This recipe will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
In the Freezer: This recipe will keep airtight in the freezer for up to 2-3 months.
To Freeze: Cool the soup completely before portioning into freezer safe containers. I recommend individual-sized or medium containers for easier thawing. Press out any air and seal tightly. haw completely in the refrigerator before reheating.
To Reheat: I use my microwave for quickness and ease and reheat my leftovers for about 30 seconds on high, or as needed. But you can use your stove, whatever is best suited for you.
what to serve with butternut squash soup
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Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup
Equipment
- 1 handheld immersion blender optional if you want to blend half the soup in the pot
- 1 high speed blender optional if you want to blend half the soup in a blender
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced or diced small (white onion may be substituted)
- 1 pound Italian pork sausage, I use hot, mild/sweet may be substituted, read the FAQs for more info
- 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed into 1/2-inch pieces (about 2 pounds or 2 1/2 cups cubes, see Tip box midpost for using precut squash)
- 3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 6 cups chicken broth, I use reduced sodium
- 2 bay leaves
- 15.5 ounces canned great northern beans, rinsed and drained (or use another white bean, see FAQs)
- 14.5 ounces canned fire-roasted tomatoes, use petite diced tomatoes if you don’t want any heat
- 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach, about 2 heaping handfuls, kale may be substituted for a more earthy flavor
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, optional
- Garnishing ideas, optional; see the FAQs
Instructions
- To a large pot, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, the onions, and saute over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes; stir very frequently.
- Add the sausage and cook to brown. As the sausage is cooking, break it up and crumble it for even cooking; stir very frequently and mix it in with the onions. Remove the sausage and onions mixture and set it aside on a plate, cover it with foil to keep warm, and set aside.
- As necessary, add 1 to 2 tablespoons oil, add the butternut squash cubes, garlic, and cook for about 1 minute, flipping and tossing the squash and coating them in the garlic.
- Add the chicken broth, bay leaves, bring to a boil, then cover the pot, reduce the heat to medium or medium-low, and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Squash Tip – Make sure your squash cubes are not bigger than 1/2-inch dice because it's such a hard, root vegetable that takes a long time to cook and the bigger the cubes, the longer they'll take to become tender, and the longer this soup will take to be ready. Creamier Soup Tip – (If you're not doing this, jump to the next step) If you want this soup to have a creamier mouthfeel without adding dairy, at this point you can either 1. remove half the squash cubes and using a handheld immersion blender, blend what's left in the pot, then add the intact cubes back in. Or 2. you can add half the cubes to a high speed blender, puree, and add the puree into the soup pot.
- When the squash is tender, remove the bay leaves, then add the onions and sausage mixture back into the pot, add the beans, tomatoes, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, sir to combine, turn the heat to medium-high, and cook for about 2 minutes to warm everything through. Seasoning Tip – Depending on if you used reduced sodium broth, and how salty the beans are (although you rinse them which removes most of the salt), the saltiness of the canned tomatoes, and your overall preference for salt, the amount of salt you add to the pot will vary. For me, less than 2 teaspoons causes this soup to taste bland. And if the soup tastes at all bland or boring, it means it could probably use more salt. So add more until you like the way it tastes, including more than 2 tsp if necessary. Squash is pretty bland on its own and needs proper seasoning to shine.
- Turn off the heat, add a couple big handfuls of baby spinach, the optional lemon juice (it really brightens up the overall flavor of the soup which needs a touch of acid for me so I always use it), and stir to combine to wilt the spinach, about 1-2 minutes.
- Serve immediately. If desired, you can garnish the soup with a variety of toppings which I discuss in the FAQs in the blog post. And/or a drizzle of heavy cream on top.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Fall Soup Recipes:
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Creamy Sweet Potato Chicken Soup – An EASY comfort food chicken soup recipe with sweet potatoes and more to keep you full and satisfied for hours!! Ready in 30 minutes with a flexible ingredients list based on what you have on hand!!
This is delicious! Version I did was to use the spicy sausage, pureed half the squash, did use the lemon juice and, because I didn’t have the correct beans, substituted garbonzo beans. This is definitely a keeper!
Thanks for the 5 star review, Norma, and I’m glad that this turned out great for you and you were able to tweak things based on what you had and enjoy!
Made as written and it was fabulous. Will make again after the roasted veggie butternut squash soup.
Thanks for the 5 star review, Chuck, and glad it was fabulous as written and that you’re trying the other butternut soup I have, also!
This Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup looks absolutely delicious! I love how hearty and comforting it sounds with the perfect mix of squash, sausage, beans, and spinach. The tip on making the soup creamier is also really helpful! Thank you for sharing such a flavorful fall recipe!
You’re welcome and glad this looks like a winner for you!