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This copycat Panera autumn squash soup recipe is a lightened-up version of the fall favorite you’ve been craving! It tastes just like the classic Panera autumn squash soup but is made with wholesome ingredients. This easy copycat recipe combines creamy butternut squash and pumpkin with apple, ginger, warm fall spices, and a touch of light cream cheese for the perfect velvety texture. It’s cozy, flavorful, and the perfect soup for fall!
This is hands down my favorite soup on Panera’s menu! Every fall, I find myself craving that creamy, sweet, and savory bowl of autumn squash soup, so I knew I had to create my own lightened-up version at home. After making it a few times and tweaking it until it was just right, I honestly think this homemade version might be even better than the original. For more cozy soup recipes, try our easy pumpkin soup, butternut squash apple soup, carrot ginger soup, and roasted tomato soup with basil next!
Table of Contents
🔎 Quick Look: Copycat Panera Autumn Squash Soup
- ⏱️ Prep Time: 15 minutes
- ⏱️ Cook Time: 45 minutes
- 🕒 Total Time: 1 hour
- 🍽 Calories: ~116 kcal per serving
- 👥 Servings: 6
- 🥣 Key Ingredients: Butternut squash, pumpkin puree, carrots, celery, onion, applesauce, maple syrup, cream cheese
- 📖 Dietary Information: Gluten-free, vegetarian
- 👩🍳 Cook Method: Roasted on a sheet pan and heated on the stovetop
- ⭐ Difficulty: Easy
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Healthier: This soup has all the same cozy, comforting flavors as the Panera version, without heavy cream and with less sugar.
- Rich and Creamy Texture: A touch of light cream cheese gives this soup a velvety, luxurious texture without weighing it down.
- Easy to Make: I roast the butternut squash, carrots, celery, and onion on a sheet pan, blend everything until smooth, then heat it through.
- Panera Copycat: It has the flavors of the Panera autumn squash soup. For another Panera copycat recipe, try our cinnamon crunch protein bagels!
“This is my granddaughter’s favorite soup, she says it’s better than Panera’s. We love making this one together, especially on a cold day. It’s also yummy with acorn squash.”
– patti
Key Ingredients
- Butternut Squash: Use one pound of peeled and chopped butternut squash.
- Carrots: Peel and chop the carrots.
- Celery: Chop the celery stalks.
- Onion: Slice half of a large sweet onion.
- Olive Oil: A touch of olive oil is used for roasting.
- Pumpkin Puree: Use pumpkin puree in this recipe, not pumpkin pie filling.
- Applesauce: Unsweetened applesauce adds apple flavor to the soup.
- Sweetener: Sweeten this soup with maple syrup. You can add more to taste if you want a sweeter soup.
- Cream Cheese: Use light or fat-free cream cheese. The cream cheese adds creaminess to the soup.
- Seasonings: To add flavor to the soup, use curry powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, ground ginger, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder.
- Vegetable Broth: Helps make the soup a smooth consistency. Use low-sodium vegetable broth.
Find the full list of ingredients and measurements in the recipe card below.
Substitutions & Variations
- Adjust the Sweetness: We liked this soup less sweet and felt that it was balanced with one tablespoon of maple syrup. If you want your soup to be sweeter, like the original Panera version, you can add more maple syrup to taste.
- What Sweetener to Use: You can sweeten this soup with maple syrup, sugar-free maple syrup, honey, or the sweetener of your choice.
- What Cream Cheese to Use: You can use any cream cheese you like in this recipe. We used light cream cheese. To further lighten up this soup, you can use fat-free cream cheese.
- Chopped Butternut Squash: You can peel the butternut squash and cut it into cubes yourself or buy pre-chopped butternut squash.
- How Many Carrots to Use: For this recipe, you will need 2-3 medium carrots, depending on the size of the carrots. We used 3 carrots because they were small.
How to Make Panera Autumn Squash Soup
- Peel and chop the butternut squash, or use pre-chopped butternut squash. Then, peel the carrots and chop them into 1-inch pieces. Also, chop the celery into 1-inch pieces.
- Add the chopped butternut squash, peeled and chopped carrots, and chopped celery to a sheet pan. Drizzle the olive oil over these ingredients. Also, sprinkle some salt and pepper over the ingredients.
- Roast the butternut squash, carrots, and celery at 375°F for 20 minutes. Then, carefully add the sliced onions to the sheet pan and continue to roast for another 20-30 minutes, or until the butternut squash is cooked through.
- Add the pumpkin puree, unsweetened applesauce, maple syrup, light cream cheese, curry powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, ground ginger, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder to a large high-powered blender. Then, add the roasted ingredients and vegetable broth to the blender.
- Place the lid on the blender and blend the soup until smooth. Or, you can place all the ingredients in a large pot and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.
- Heat the soup in a large saucepan on the stove over medium-low heat until warm. Then, serve the soup in bowls, and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- How to Chop the Vegetables: Chop the carrots and celery into 1-inch pieces. Don’t chop them too small. The butternut squash takes time to cook, and you don’t want the carrots and celery to cook too fast. So, about 1-inch chops are perfect so they cook at the same rate.
- Add the Onions Later: Let the butternut squash, carrots, and celery roast for 20 minutes before adding the sliced onions. Otherwise, the onions will burn because they take less time to cook than the other ingredients. Make sure to carefully add the onions to the sheet pan.
- Make the Soup Sweeter: The original Panera autumn squash soup is sweet. When making this copycat soup recipe, we liked it less sweet than the original. However, if you want your soup to taste even more like the original, add more maple syrup or sweetener of choice to taste.
- Roast Butternut Squash: If you don’t want to peel and chop the butternut squash into cubes, you can roast it whole instead. Just cut the butternut squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and roast it on a sheet pan at 375°F for 45-55 minutes, or until done. Then, scoop out the butternut squash for this recipe.
Serving Suggestions
Once the soup is warm, serve it in bowls and enjoy! Some optional toppings are roasted pumpkin seeds, red pepper flakes, and Greek yogurt. This soup is delicious on its own or with some crispy toasted bread, our brussels sprout salad, carrot apple salad, or a salad with our healthy Caesar dressing with yogurt.
Storage Instructions
To Store: First, let any leftover soup cool. Then, add it to an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator. This autumn squash soup will last 3-5 days in the refrigerator. We don’t recommend freezing it because the cream cheese will alter the consistency of the soup.
To Reheat: When ready to enjoy this soup again, warm it up in a saucepan on the stove over medium-low heat.
Panera Autumn Squash Soup FAQs
How Long Does Autumn Squash Soup Last?
This soup will last 3-5 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Is Panera Autumn Squash Soup Healthy?
This copycat Panera autumn squash soup is healthier than the original Panera version. We have lightened it up while keeping the delicious flavors of the original soup! Our version contains way less sugar, is made with simple ingredients, doesn’t contain any heavy cream or milk, and is lower in calories.
Is Panera Autumn Squash Soup Vegan?
Both the Panera autumn squash soup and this copycat version are not vegan. To make this soup vegan, omit the cream cheese altogether. Or, replace the cream cheese with tofu or unsweetened vegan plain yogurt.
More Recipes to Try Next!
If you try this recipe please be sure to leave us a comment and star rating, ★★★★★, letting us know how it turns out for you.
Copycat Panera Autumn Squash Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound peeled and chopped butternut squash
- 2-3 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2-3 stalks of celery, chopped
- 1/2 of a large sweet onion, sliced
- 1 teaspoon olive oil, for roasting
- 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup, or more to taste
- 2 ounces light or fat-free cream cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
- 1 pinch of nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- roasted pepitas/pumpkin seeds on top, optional
Instructions
- Peel and chop the butternut squash, or use pre-chopped butternut squash. Then, peel the carrots and chop them into 1-inch pieces, don’t chop them too small. Also, chop the celery into 1-inch pieces.
- Add the chopped butternut squash, peeled and chopped carrots, and chopped celery to a sheet pan. Drizzle the olive oil over these ingredients. Also, sprinkle some salt and pepper over the ingredients.
- Roast the butternut squash, carrots, and celery at 375℉ for 20 minutes. Then, carefully add the sliced onions to the sheet pan and continue to roast for another 20-30 minutes, or until the butternut squash is cooked through.
- Add the pumpkin puree, unsweetened applesauce, maple syrup, light cream cheese, curry powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, ground ginger, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder to a large high-powered blender. Then, add the roasted ingredients and vegetable broth to the blender.
- Place the lid on the blender and blend the soup until smooth. Or, you can place all the ingredients in a large pot and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.
- Heat the soup in a large saucepan on the stove over medium-low heat until warm. Then, serve the soup in bowls, optional: top with pumpkin seeds, and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Storage: First, let any leftover soup cool. Then, add it to an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
- Serving: This recipe makes about 6-7 cups of soup.
- Sweeten to Taste: If you want your soup to taste even more like the original, add more maple syrup or sweetener of choice to taste.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
this is my granddaughter’s favorite soup, she says it’s better than Panera’s. We love making this one together, especially on a cold day. It’s also yummy with acorn squash.
Hi Patti, how sweet, I’m so glad your granddaughter loves the soup! It’s so special that you both get to make it together, especially on a cozy cold day. I love the idea of adding acorn squash, that sounds like a delicious twist! Thank you so much for sharing this, and I’m so happy it’s become a favorite in your family!
Did anyone try freezing this recipe?
Hi Christina, normally we don’t recommend freezing this copycat Panera autumn squash soup, as the cream cheese may change the texture of the soup once frozen. However, since there is only a small amount of cream cheese in this recipe, it should be fine, just keep this in mind.
Very nice recipe chef 👍👌👏. As for the vegetable broth I used the one I make yesterday. Thank you for your effort 🌻🌞😎
Hi Jasson, thank you so much for leaving a review on our copycat Panera autumn squash soup! We are so happy to hear that you enjoyed it and that you were able to use your homemade vegetable broth! It sounds amazing!
Where is all the sodium coming from, using just 1/2 tsp salt? I have to watch sodium. How can I reduce that number. Thanks.
Hi Sharon, thanks for reaching out! Since there is only 1/2 teaspoon of salt, the majority of the sodium in this recipe comes from the vegetable broth. I would recommend using a low-sodium vegetable broth to reduce the amount of sodium. Or, you could even use a low-sodium chicken broth. I hope this helps and you enjoy the soup!
This was yummy! I made it the night before surgery to have a hearty soup available for afterwards. The spicing is just right. I just thined it a little more, mostly because my squash was bigger then the recipe called for.
Hi Karen, thanks for leaving a comment! We are so happy that you enjoyed the soup, thanks for sharing! I am glad you were able to thin it out.