Goat Cheese Butternut Squash Soup with Bacon

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This easy, creamy butternut squash soup is perfect for chilly evenings! Topped with tangy goat cheese and crispy bacon.

Squash soup topped with bacon and goat cheese.

When you test recipes for a living, it's rare to find something you want to make over and over and over again. But every autumn, without fail, this easy squash soup is the FIRST thing I reach for.

This soup is rich and creamy, with a burst of tangy goat cheese flavor and a salty, smokey note from crispy bacon. It's got a deep, earthy, cozy-kinda-vibe that's the perfect antidote to cold weather.

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Ingredients
Variations and Substitutions
Instructions
Serving Suggestions
A Few FAQs
More Cozy Soup Recipes
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments & Reviews

Ingredients

Scroll to the recipe card below for a full ingredients list with exact quantities.

Before you jump in, there are a few things we want to highlight:

Butternut squash is the star of the show here! Roast a small squash (between 1 ¼ - 1 ½ pounds) in the oven, then scoop out the soft interior.
Diced bacon is crisped up in the pot, then set aside to use as a topping. We'll use the rendered bacon fat to cook our onion and garlic, which helps us get that nice, smoky note all the way through this soup.
Chicken broth (or chicken stock) is essential for a creamy texture! Use veggie stock instead if you like.
Goat cheese gives this soup a punch of flavor and helps it blend up nice and smooth.
Heavy cream gives this soup a thick, silky finish. Swap it for half and half if you prefer!

Variations and Substitutions

This recipe is super forgiving: It's easy to customize with whatever you have on hand! A few of our favorite riffs:

Swap the butternut squash for roasted pumpkin if you like! Frozen butternut squash or store-bought cubed butternut squash will also work here: Roast the squash pieces just until they begin to brown and caramelize for maximum flavor, or add the squash directly to the soup and let it simmer until soft before blending (like we do in our curry butternut squash soup!) Canned pumpkin or canned butternut squash purée will also work in a pinch.
Use shallot or sliced leeks in place of the onion for a more mild flavor.
Add rosemary, fresh sage, or thyme to this soup for extra flavor! Fresh herbs are our favorite, but use dried if that's what you have.
Use crème fraîche instead of goat cheese if you like!

Instructions

Roast the Butternut Squash

Roasting butternut squash on a large sheet pan.

Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Drizzle it with olive oil and hit it with a generous pinch of kosher salt (Image 1, above), then flip it (Image 2) so that it's skin-side-up on a rimmed baking sheet (3). Roast until the squash is tender and easily pierced with a fork (4).

Pro Tip: Be sure to use a rimmed baking sheet (one with sides all around) when roasting squash! Squash and pumpkin often release quite a bit of liquid as they roast; using a baking sheet with sides prevents those juices from rolling into your oven and making a mess. We used the USA Pan half sheet pan in these photos; we also like the Great Jones enameled Holy Sheet pan (it's dishwasher-friendly!)

Scooping roasted squash out of the peel after roasting.

Let the squash sit until it's cool enough to handle (5), then use a large spoon to scoop all of the soft squash out of the skins (6). Set the squash aside until you're ready to add it to the soup; discard or compost the skins.

Make Ahead Tip: Roast your butternut squash in advance to make this soup more weeknight-friendly! Scoop out the roasted squash as directed, let it cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Cook the Bacon

Crisping diced bacon in a large sauce pot.

Add diced bacon to a large soup pot over medium-high heat (Image 7, above), and cook until it's crispy (8). Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate (9), leaving the bacon fat in the pot.

Add the onion and garlic (10) and sauté until they're soft and have begun to brown. The pot will be hot - work carefully here!

Build the Soup

Adding roasted butternut squash and chicken broth to soup.

When the onion and garlic have browned (Image 11, above), add the roasted butternut squash (12). Stir everything together until you have a thick mixture, and the squash has soaked up any remaining bacon fat from the bottom of the pan (13).

Slowly stream the chicken broth into the butternut squash mixture (14), stirring as you go to make sure everything is evenly incorporated.

Using an immersion blender to blend soup.

You'll end up with a deep orange mixture that resembles a chunky stew (15). Bring the soup to a low simmer, then stir in your goat cheese along with a few turns of cracked black pepper (16). Let that sit for a minute or two, stirring frequently, until the goat cheese has mostly melted.

Turn off the heat, then use an immersion blender to carefully purée the soup (17). Once smooth, pour in a bit of heavy cream (18) and give everything another stir. Let the soup continue cooking at a low simmer for a few minutes, until it's thick and creamy.

Pro Tip: Work slowly when blending hot liquids, and make sure the head of the immersion blender is always fully submerged to avoid splatters.

Lifting a ladle full of soup out of the pot.

Serving Suggestions

This goat cheese butternut squash soup is excellent as a cozy weeknight meal, a Thanksgiving appetizer, or a date night dish! Some of our favorite pairings to help make this a full meal:

Homemade Bread is a must with any creamy soup. Whip up our fan-favorite crusty bread recipe (or try our small batch bread if you're cooking for two!) or try a roasted garlic rosemary bread or asiago bread. You can also serve this soup in a bread bowl!
Grilled cheese sandwiches are just begging to be dunked into a bowl of this soup. Keep the fall theme going with a bacon brie grilled cheese, a brie and cranberry sandwich, or a roasted mushroom sandwich.
A quick lemon arugula salad or apple spinach salad make a great, light side dish.

A Few FAQs

Can I make this soup with a regular blender?

Yes! Be sure to remove the top cap in order to let steam escape (cover the hole with a tea towel just when starting and ending blending to prevent spattering), and don't fill the blender more than halfway full when blending hot liquids. You'll likely need to work in batches if you use a regular countertop blender. (You can see a hot blender soup in action in our Roasted Tomato Soup recipe and how-to video!)

Can I make this recipe vegetarian?

Yes! Omit the bacon, use a bit of butter or olive oil in place of the bacon fat to sauté the garlic and onion, and use vegetable stock instead of chicken broth.

How do you make soup less gritty?

If you find that the final texture of your autumn squash soup isn't as smooth as you'd like, it's often because 1) you didn't blend the soup long enough, or your immersion blender wasn't powerful enough or 2) the ingredients needed to cook a bit longer in order to dissolve more evenly into the soup.

The good news is, no matter what the reason, it's an easy fix! To make soup smoother, run the final soup through a mesh colander or a food mill to remove any lingering texture. This will give you an almost impossibly creamy squash soup: While we don't typically feel the need to add this step at home, it's a popular technique in the professional kitchens we've worked in.

If you don't want to run the soup through a strainer or food mill, you can let it simmer a bit longer to soften up any big pieces, then add an extra dash of cream and blend it again to smooth it out more.

Heavy cream is especially useful in blended soups, because it adds a rich, creamy texture that balances out any grittiness. If you have omitted the heavy cream in this recipe, you may notice the soup feels like it has a bit more texture.

You may also need to blend the soup longer than you think you do: We recommend blending for one full minute after the soup already appears quite smooth for the best texture.

Can I freeze butternut squash soup?

Yes! This soup freezes quite well: Let it cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 6 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight, then reheat in a small saucepan on the stovetop. You may want to add a splash of heavy cream or chicken broth and blend reheated soup with an immersion blender for a few moments to restore its rich, creamy consistency after freezing.