Longing for some Panera Autumn Squash Soup but can't make it to your closest Panera location? No worries, you can whip up Panera Autumn Squash Soup right at home whenever you want.
Butternut Squash Soups are surprisingly easy to make and you can make them in an hour. You will need a lot of ingredients to make Panera’s Autumn Squash Soup but making it at home can be worth it.
You will need a couple of vegetables, spices, and broth but all the ingredients can be easily found in your local supermarket. You might also have some of the ingredients already!
In this article, I will be guiding you on how to make Panera’s Autumn Squash Soup. So grab your ingredients and let’s get cooking!
In this article:
- Ingredients Needed
- Instructions
- Customize the Panera Autumn Squash Soup
- How to Store and Reheat Panera Autumn Squash Soup
Ingredients Needed to Make Panera Autumn Squash Soup
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium-sized yellow onion, diced
- 1 Large butternut squash, chopped
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 tablespoon ginger, minced
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup apple juice
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- Roasted pumpkin seeds
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
Equipment Needed to Make Panera Autumn Squash Soup
- Large stock pot
- Blender or Handheld Immersion Blender
- Airtight containers (For any leftovers)
Instructions
- In a large stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Wait for the olive oil to start simmering and then add the chopped onions. Sauté the onions until they are nice and translucent.
- Once the onions are translucent, add the butter, carrots, butternut squash, ginger, and celery to the stock pot. Stir the vegetables together until the vegetables are a little on the softer side.
- Add the salt, vegetable broth, and apple juice to the stock pot. Over high heat, bring the liquids to a boil or until the vegetables are all soft and tender.
- Once you see the broth boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and let it sit for another 10 to 15 minutes. All the vegetables should be soft and tender by now. You can check with a fork to be sure.
- After 10 to 15 minutes, add in the cream cheese, heavy cream, honey, cinnamon powder, onion powder, and curry powder. Stir everything together until the cream cheese is well incorporated.
- To blend the soup, use a handheld immersion blender and blend all the ingredients until the soup forms a thick and creamy consistency. If you don’t have an immersion blender, carefully transfer the contents of the stockpot to a blender. Blend everything together at a high speed until it forms a thick and creamy consistency.
- Transfer the soup back to the stock pot or bowl, add a little bit more cream on top, and sprinkle in some roasted pumpkin seeds.
- You can serve the soup immediately or let it cool, transfer it to an airtight container, and place it in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 4 days.
Customize the Panera Autumn Squash Soup
What’s great about copying restaurant recipes at home is you can customize them and make them your own. Now, it’s not going to be a copycat recipe anymore.
However, if you’ve made the copycat recipe once, it is nice to give the recipe a little tweak so you can find other flavors that can suit your taste. You can definitely experiment with different squash varieties like honeynut squash or acorn squash and see if there is a change in flavor.
You can also roast your veggies first to give the soup a smokey and caramelized flavor. Adding more veggies like sweet potatoes or bell peppers can also enhance the flavor of the squash soup.
If you want to add more texture to your soup, don’t completely blend some of the vegetables and add them to your soup so you have a bit of a bite here and there. The possibilities are endless and you can add or remove any ingredient you like.
What Can You Serve With the Panera Autumn Squash Soup?
Butternut squash soups are already good on their own but sometimes you need to pair a bowl with something else.
The most common food to pair with a butternut squash soup is bread. You can even choose to have bread with your soup at Panera so why not buy one for your homemade Panera soup?
When I eat butternut squash soup (or any kind of soup with a thick and creamy consistency), I like to pair it with a baguette. Actually, any bread that has a crisp exterior and soft interior. This is because I don’t like my bread to be too soggy when I dip it into the soup.
You might have a different preference and may want chips with your soup. You can also serve crackers, sandwiches, salad, or even steak to go with the soup.
How To Store and Reheat Panera Autumn Squash Soup
As I mentioned earlier, to store your homemade Panera Autumn Squash Soup, you can transfer it to an airtight container and place it in the fridge for up to 3 to 4 days. Just make sure to let the soup cool down first before placing it in the fridge to avoid bacterial growth.
If you are making a large batch and there are a lot of leftovers, you can refrigerate the whole pot. However, the problem with this is that you might not need to reheat the whole pot.
While you can reheat your soup more than once, it can cause bacterial contamination if you always take it in and out of the fridge. Reheating soup multiple times can also affect its texture and quality.
If you have a large batch of soup, you can always divide it into smaller or individual portions. This way you will only reheat what you need.
If you don’t have smaller containers, you can still store and reheat your soup. Just take a ladle and scoop out only what you need to reheat.
To reheat leftover soup, you can transfer the soup to a microwave-safe container and heat it in a microwave for about 3 minutes. Make sure to stop after every 60 seconds to stir the soup. Nothing is worse than having a hot bowl with cold soup.
Alternatively, you can also heat leftover soup on a stovetop over low to medium heat. Stir the soup often so it heats up evenly.
Wrap Up
You can now make your very own version of Panera Autumn Squash Soup any time you like. This recipe does not take too much of your time and you whip this up in just about an hour or less, depending on how long your veggies start to become tender.
And that’s it! Making Panera Autumn Squash Soup at home can be very easy with this simple recipe. Of course, you can always tweak the recipe to explore new flavors.
Whether or not you follow this recipe or tweak it a bit, you’ll have a delicious and warm soup to fill your hungry stomach!
Related: Other Copycat Recipes Here:
- How to Make Panera’s Charged Lemonade at Home (Recipe)
- How to Make a Dutch Bros Caramelizer at Home – 5 Min Recipe
- How to Make Dutch Bros OG Gummy Bear – 5 Min Recipe
