Pull out your pressure cooker and make instant pot butternut squash soup with apples, sage, and bourbon! This sweet and spicy soup is easy, quick, and healthy. Perfect for fall and winter dinners.
1mediumbutternut squash,peeled and diced (about 3 cups)
1mediumapple,peeled and diced
1mediumyellow or white onion,diced
2clovesgarlic,diced
2sprigsfresh sage,chopped, or 1 tsp dried sage
2cupsstock,low or no sodium
1/2tspkosher salt
1/2tspchipotle powder
dashnutmeg
Mix-ins
1/2cupheavy cream
2-3tbspbourbon
Toppings
fried sage
croutons
Instructions
Add all the ingredients for the soup to your pressure cooker. Stir to combine.
Place the lid on the pressure cooker and lock into place.
Select manual, high pressure and set the timer to 10 minutes. (Total cooking time will be about 20 minutes.)
Once the cook time is over, press the quick release button.
When all the pressure has been released, take off the lid and puree the soup in the pot using a stick blender (or transfer the soup to a standard blender and blend until smooth then pour it back in the pressure cooker).
Switch the pressure cooker to saute and set the heat to medium.
Add the cream and bourbon and bring the soup to a simmer. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
Serve with fried sage and croutons.
Notes
Apples: Since the apple is going to be fully cooked and then pureed, you can use any crisp eating apple in the recipe. Braeburn, Honeycrisp, Gala, and Fuji are among the apple varieties I would recommend for the recipe.
Stock: You can use either vegetable stock (for a vegetarian soup) or chicken stock for a meatless (but not vegetarian) recipe.
Quick Release: To keep the steam from making a mess of your kitchen, place a kitchen towel over the vent when you hit the quick release. Leave it there until the pressure cooker done and you can open the lid.
Stick blender: My favorite stick blender is the KitchenAid Blender. I use it all the time.
Fried Sage: To make fried sage, cover the bottom of a small skillet with vegetable oil. Heat until the oil is shimmering then add the sage leaves. Cook them for about 30 seconds, or until the leaves are crisp. Quickly remove them to a towel lined plate and sprinkle with salt.