Best Copycat Panera Autumn Squash Soup Recipe - CopyKat Recipes (2024)

Cozy up with Panera’s Autumn Squash Soup at home! This easy copycat recipe brings the fall flavors of butternut squash, pumpkin, and warm spices to your table. This rich blend of butternut squash soup is perfect for the cooler months. Don’t miss out on this easy soup recipe. I know you will love this copycat version.

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What makes this copycat Panera soup so good?

When the leaves change colors, and the crisp air carries the scent of the first fires of the season, there is nothing more satisfying than coming home to a warm bowl of Butternut Squash Soup. The fall season is a beautiful time to try out new butternut squash soup recipes.

This creamy soup has just the right amount of spice to help balance the slight sweetness from the honey and apple juice. Enjoy the soup as a first course or a light lunch.

My copycat Panera Autumn squash soup recipe is a gluten-free, vegetarian soup. Making it from scratch means you will enjoy a soup with no artificial preservatives or sweeteners.

Why you should try this copycat recipe

Other copycat Panera Butternut Squash Soup versions contain ingredients like cream cheese, shallots, ginger, garlic, and carrots. This recipe lets the taste of the slowly roasted butternut squash and pumpkin puree play a more prominent role in the soup’s flavor profile. This recipe has a hint of curry to give it a richness and depth of flavor, which makes it the perfect fall soup.

Panera Squash Soup Ingredients

For this butternut squash soup, you’ll need:

• Butternut squash
• Vegetable oil
• White onion, chopped
• Pumpkin puree, canned
• Vegetable stock
• Curry powder
• Cinnamon
• Apple juice
• Honey
• Heavy cream
• Pepitas

Many stores sell peeled and cubed butternut squash if you want to skip the hassle of doing it yourself. Breaking down fresh squash with a sharp knife isn’t too difficult.

Pepitas are pumpkin seeds without their hulls. You can find pepitas in many supermarkets.

Ingredient and recipe notes

I use fresh butternut squash and canned pumpkin for this recipe.

Canned pumpkin is my choice for soups because it tastes good and can be used easily and quickly for recipes.

Try not to let it get too brown when roasting butternut squash for soup. You don’t want the soup to be brown.

This soup uses two warm spices: curry powder and cinnamon. The curry powder adds just the right amount of heat, and the cinnamon adds the familiar fall flavor that we all love.

For this recipe, you will use pumpkin seed kernels, the inner portion of the seeds. Pumpkin seeds have a white outer shell. The meat of the seed is green and also called pepitas. I like to toast them in the oven or a pan because it adds just the right flavor.

How to Make CopyKat Panera Autumn Squash Soup

To roast the squash for this recipe:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Use a sharp knife to cut off the skin of the butternut squash.
3. Dice the flesh of the squash into 1-inch pieces.
4. Toss the squash pieces with vegetable oil and spread them on a baking tray.
5. Roast the squash until it is fork-tender but not browned, about 30 minutes.

To finish preparing the copycat Panera squash soup recipe:

1. Heat a large stockpot over medium-high heat.
2. Pour a splash of vegetable oil into the pot and add the diced white onions.
3. Season the onions lightly with salt and saute until they become translucent.
4. Add the pumpkin puree, roasted butternut squash, vegetable stock, curry powder, cinnamon, apple juice, and honey.
5. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir until the soup is hot.

6. Puree the soup right in the pot with animmersion blender. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a traditional blender, but be careful, as blending hot food can cause a mess.
7. Stir the heavy cream into the soup.
8. Toast the pepitas in a pan over medium heat or in the oven at 350°F.

9. Ladle the hot soup into bowls, garnish with pepitas and a drizzle of heavy cream, and serve warm.

Recipe variations

Make this recipe your own by changing the ingredients to suit your tastes. You may want to try the following suggestions:

• Replace the vegetable stock with chicken broth or stock for more flavor.
• Use croutons and a swirl of sour cream as garnishes instead of pepitas.
• Replace the heavy cream with coconut cream for a dairy-free and vegan version of this recipe.

What to serve with butternut squash soup?

Panera Autumn Squash Soup pairs wonderfully with many main dishes including chicken and turkey. Or you can enjoy the soup as the main course with a hunk of bread smothered with butter orgarlic breadon the side for a satisfying light meal.

How do you store your delicious soup?

Cool the soup down as quickly as possible by chilling it in a cold-water bath.

1. Fill a large mixing bowl a third of the way with ice cubes and cold water.
2. Place a slightly smaller mixing bowl inside the larger bowl.
3. Pour the squash soup into the smaller bowl and stir.

After the soup is cold, you can keep the leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days or freeze it for up to three months. It is helpful to freeze the soup in individual portion sizes, so you won’t have to defrost more soup than you want to eat.

If you want to make a batch of soup to freeze, leave out the heavy cream in the initial recipe and add it when you reheat it later. Doing this gives the soup a smoother texture.

What is the best way to reheat squash soup?

The ideal method of reheating squash soup is slowly in a heavy-bottom pot on the stove top over medium-low heat. Stir continuously and watch the heat carefully because this soup can scorch easily.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!

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• Panera Broccoli Soup
• Panera Creamy Tomato Soup
• Panera French Onion Soup
• Panera Mac and Cheese
• Panera Steak Sandwich
• Warm Grain Bowl

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Be sure to check out more of my easy soup recipes and the best Panera Bread copycat recipes here on CopyKat.com!