Slow Cooker Thai-Inspired Butternut Squash and Peanut Soup
Slow Cooker Thai-Inspired Butternut Squash and Peanut Soup is so delicious and this vegan soup is so easy to make in the slow cooker.
PIN Slow Cooker Thai-Inspired Butternut Squash and Peanut Soup to make it later!
There’s a reason why there are so many butternut squash soup recipes, and it’s about the way the slightly nutty flavor of butternut squash gets along well with so many other flavors. In this Slow Cooker Thai-Inspired Butternut Squash and Peanut Soup, the cubed squash cooks in the slow cooker in a little vegetable stock until it’s soft and then it’s pureed and cooked a little longer with onion, garlic, ginger, Coconut milk, Thai Red Curry Paste, and peanut butter, with a tiny touch of fish sauce (affiliate link) (or vegan “fish sauce“) and brown sugar (or sweetener) to complete the Thai flavor notes.
Then the soup is finished with fresh lime juice and chopped cilantro, which I think is just the right addition, but omit the cilantro or use thinly sliced green onion if you’re not a fan. Even though I adore butternut squash, I haven’t used it in soup that much, but this soup is one I’ll be making over and over again. You can use My Top Ten Recipes for Butternut Squash to see more of my butternut squash faves!
I love it when I can find a recipe that really knocks my socks off that can easily be vegan, and this is one of those recipes. (To make this vegan, use vegan “fish sauce” link in recipe or sub soy sauce.) And my nephew and cooking assistant Jake is not a winter squash fan, but he gobbled up the soup. We adapted this recipe from one we spotted in Cooking Light, but we changed many things about the recipe, including using a slow cooker, starting with fresh squash, and adding peanut butter.
How to Make Slow Cooker Thai-Inspired Butternut Squash and Peanut Soup:
(Scroll down for complete printable recipe and nutritional information.)
- I’m not normally a fan of the pre-cut butternut squash (and I even wrote a post about How to Peel and Cut Up a Butternut Squash.) But for soup like this, the pre-cut squash is fine and it will help get this into the slow cooker much more quickly.
- Put 2 lbs. of butternut squash cubes into the slow cooker with 1 cup vegetable stock, season with salt and pepper, and cook on high for 2 hours, or until the squash is soft.
- Use a food processor, blender, or Immersion Blender (affiliate link)
to puree the squash. (An immersion blender is by far the easiest; be careful with the hot squash if you use a food processor or blender.)
- Heat the oil and saute the onion in a frying pan until it’s well browned. Add the minced garlic, ginger, and diced red bell pepper and cook about a minute more. (Bad blogger; forgot to take a photo of that!)
- Then add the coconut milk, Thai Red Curry Paste, and peanut butter, and heat, stirring, just until the peanut butter and curry paste are dissolved into the coconut milk. Add the sweetener and fish sauce (affiliate link).
- Stir the coconut milk mixture into the squash, turn the slow cooker to low, and cook about one hour.
- Then stir in the chopped cilantro and lime juice and cook about 15 minutes more. Serve hot, garnished with chopped peanuts and more chopped cilantro if desired.
More Meatless Soups You Might Like:
Indian-Spiced Slow Cooker Red Lentil Soup with Spinach ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Yellow Split Pea Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Kale ~ Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
Autumn Harvest Soup with Butternut Squash, Kale, and Farro ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Vegetarian Navy Bean and Kale Soup ~ Chick in the Kitchen
Slow Cooker Thai-Inspired Butternut Squash and Peanut Soup
Slow Cooker Thai-Inspired Butternut Squash and Peanut Soup is so delicious and this vegan soup is so easy to make in the slow cooker.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. peeled and cubed butternut squash
- 1 cup vegetable stock (see notes)
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 tsp. minced garlic
- 1 tsp. minced ginger root
- 1 red bell pepper, seeds removed and finely chopped
- 1 14 oz. can coconut milk
- 2 T Thai Red Curry Paste
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter (without added sugar)
- 1 T sweetener of your choice
- 2 tsp. Fish Sauce (see notes)
- 2 T fresh-squeezed lime juice
- 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro (see notes)
- extra chopped cilantro and chopped peanuts for serving (optional)
- Sriracha Rooster Sauce for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Peel the butternut squash and cut into cubes if you’re starting with a whole squash. (Here’s How to Peel and Cut Up a Butternut Squash if you haven’t done it.)
- Put the squash cubes and vegetable stock into the slow cooker, season squash generously with salt and fresh-ground black pepper, and cook on high for 2 hours, or until the squash is soft enough to mash easily.
- When it’s soft, use a food processor, blender, or Immersion Blender (affiliate link) to puree the squash, being careful with the hot food.
- Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan, add onion and saute until well-browned, about 8 minutes. Add the minced garlic, minced ginger, and diced red bell pepper and saute about a minute more.
- Then add the coconut milk, Thai Red Curry Paste, and peanut butter and heat just until the curry paste and peanut butter is melted into the coconut milk. Add the sweetener and fish sauce (affiliate link).
- Stir the coconut milk mixture into the pureed squash, turn slow cooker to low and cook for 1 hour more.
- Stir in the chopped cilantro and fresh lime juice and cook about 15 minutes more.
- Serve hot, garnished with more chopped cilantro and chopped peanuts if desired. If you’d like more heat, shake in a little Sriracha Sauce.
- I am assuming this freezes well. (I have some in the freezer but haven’t thawed it yet.)
Notes
You need about a 5-Quart Slow Cooker (affiliate link) for this recipe, although it can be slightly smaller.
Vegetable broth from a can is fine for this recipe. For the most carb-conscious version, use a peanut butter without added sugar. I buy Adams 100% Natural Peanut Butter (affiliate link).
Use thinly-sliced green onion if you're not a cilantro fan. If making a Vegan version use vegan “fish sauce”, or replace with soy sauce if you’re not a fan of fish sauce.
Recipe created by Kalyn and Jake.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 282Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 11gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 523mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 6gSugar: 6gProtein: 7g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Butternut squash is limited to Phase 2 or 3 of the South Beach Diet, and if you’re making this Slow Cooker Thai-Inspired Butternut Squash and Peanut Soup for South Beach they recommend light coconut milk, natural peanut butter, and using an approved sweetener. This recipe is good for low-glycemic diets, but probably not low enough in carbs for traditional low-carb eating plans.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Soup Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You can also Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there. Click here for more Slow Cooker / Pressure Cooker Recipes on my other site!
32 Comments on “Slow Cooker Thai-Inspired Butternut Squash and Peanut Soup”
Love Love Love this soup! Just had to tell you lol Make about once a month.
So glad you are enjoying it! I do love these flavors!
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I make this in my pressure cooker all the time and freeze it. We use it as a soup or a stew and add roasted chicken, cauliflower or chickpeas, whatever looks interesting in the fridge. It’s also good over brown rice.
So glad you have enjoyed it; I have to try it in the Instant Pot!
Hi, this looks delicious! Has anyone tried this using the Instant Pot? If so how long would the cook time be?
I’m guessing you could make it in the Instant Pot but I wouldn’t be able to guess at the time without trying it. Maybe Google Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup?
We get lots of butternut squash this time of year (autumn in Australia) and I'm always looking for new recipes. Made this tonight for myself and my husband and it's definitely going into our regular rotation. Thank you!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it! And I like the idea that as this recipe is going out of season here it's still being enjoyed somewhere else.
This is on my must make list — Thanks for the inspiration
Thanks Hari, glad you like it!
Wowwww…. Looks really amazing and perfect.. Love the color.. first time here.. Happy to follow your site 🙂
Yep, that's exactly what happened, and I did find it eventually (after posting a comment, of course)! Thanks for your reply!
Linnae, I hate it when I goof up like that but it sounds like you found it; I put that in the step-by-step instructions but left it out of the recipe. Just fixed it thanks, and glad you enjoyed it.
Oh my. This was AMAZING! I just wish I'd thought of it for my blog. 😉 Thanks for another keeper!
I'm making this right now, and I think it will be delicious! I don't see where to add the fish sauce & brown sugar…am I missing something? Thanks for another winning recipe!
Love Thai Food… this looks super awesome…
OMG, that looks heavenly.
Silke, so glad you enjoyed it!
I made it last night and it was DELICIOUS!! Thanks for the recipe! xo Silke
Donna, it really was quite amazing!
I love Thai – I thinkit's my favorite Asian cuisine. Butternut squash is a perfect match with Thai because it is pretty neutral. I want this. Tonight.
Lisa, drawing a blank on that. I'm wondering if you're thinking of a soup with sweet potatoes?
This soup looks so amazing. Butternut squash is amenable to many treatents. I think my favorite recipe is yours, the one with smoked paprika. Make it all the time!
-Lisa
Pam, that's just how Jake and I both feel about squash soup, but we both really liked this one.
Thanks Dara. Love Thai food so much!
Mary Sue, I completely meant to include that but I ended up finishing the recipe far too late at night! Also I removed "vegan" from the recipe title just to make sure there is no confusion.
Thanks, Kalyn. I had started to search for vegan fish sauce and that is the recipe I had decided on!
What a bonanza of flavors in this recipe! You caught my attention immediately with the mention of "Thai".
This version sounds wonderful. I usually don't like squash soups because they usually are taken down a sweet path, with cinnamon type flavors, which I don't like in a soup.
Joanne, Leah, and Mary Sue, thanks for catching that. I meant to include the link for making vegan "fish sauce", have added it in now. And you can buy vegan "fish sauce" in Asian Markets too.
Your recipe looks incredible! Do you know if the fish sauce you recommend is vegan?
This looks good but the fish sauce makes it neither meatless nor vegan
Butternut paired with thai flavors…and especially with peanut butter is one of my favorites! This soup sounds amazing!! (And just an FYI…with the fish sauce it's not vegetarian or vegan, but people could prob sub in soy sauce)