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Learn How to Cook Butternut Squash in your Instant Pot pressure cooker. Ready in no time, enjoy your perfectly cooked butternut squash mashed, pureed, and with all your favorite recipes.
New to butternut squash? Check out my post, All About Butternut Squash: How to Pick, Peel, and Prepare for Cooking!
Table of Contents
Instant Pot Butternut Squash
Two things I love: butternut squash and my Instant Pot.
You will too after you learn just how fast and easy it is to cook this formidable winter squash in less than 25 minutes without any added oils, fats, or seasoning – unless you want them, of course!
Unlike roasting, grilling, or sauteing, the Instant Pot cooks butternut squash using steam and high pressure. This removes the need for anything extra like butter or olive oil. So, if you’re looking for simple, perfect, buttery butternut squash to mash and puree, then this is the method for you!
Use it to make sweet potato muffins, curried butternut squash soup, or even butternut squash lasagna!
Prefer roasting your squash? Check out my post on How to Roast Butternut Squash!
What You’ll Need
First, decide if you want to cook your squash halved, with the skin still on, or peeled and chopped into small cubes.
If you plan to mash or puree, the results will be the exact same whether you mash or puree from halved squash or cubed squash. So, unless you really love to peel and chop this tough winter fruit (yep, it’s a fruit), then I highly recommend just cutting it in half, scooping out the seeds, and leaving the skin on.
Tools and equipment:
Instant Pot (or electric pressure cooker)
Steaming trivet (included with your Instant Pot) or silicone basket
Paring Knife (my preference) or Vegetable Peeler
How Long Does It Take?
There are two main advantages of pressure cooking winter squash. It’s fast and it’s easy. Dump it in your pot, set it, and walk away until you hear the timer beep indicating it’s finished cooking.
- Halved Butternut Squash: HIGH pressure, 8-10 minutes, quick pressure release
- Cubed Butternut Squash: HIGH pressure, 3 minutes, quick pressure release
However, there is one key advantage of roasting butternut squash versus cooking it in the Instant Pot – caramelization. Yes, the deliciously caramelized, slightly crispy, edges that can only be reached by slowly roasting in the oven. Unfortunately, roasting takes more than twice as long when compared to cooking it your pressure cooker at nearly an hour for halved squash and 25-35 minutes for cubed squash. Worth it? Sometimes. For me, this depends entirely on the day and the recipe, so I’ll let you be the judge.
How to Cook Cubed Butternut Squash in the Instant Pot
- Place the trivet (the wire-looking basket that came with your Instant Pot) or silicone basket (shown below) inside the bowl of your Instant Pot. Add 1 cup of water to the bottom.
- Wash the outside of your squash and dry thoroughly.
- Use a large, sturdy knife to cut the ends from the butternut squash. Use a vegetable peeler or paring knife (I like to use my paring knife) to slice the skin from the butternut squash by holding one end of the squash with one hand and slicing with the vegetable peeler or paring knife in the other. Always slice away from the body. Scoop out the seeds and chop into small cubes.
- If you are using the wire trivet that came with the Instant Pot, place an oven and microwave safe glass bowl directly on top of the trivet. Add the cubed butternut squash to the bowl. If you are using a silicone basket, add the squash cubes directly to the inside of the basket.
- Place the cover on your Instant Pot and switch the pressure valve to the sealing position.
- Set your Instant Pot to manual HIGH pressure and cook for 3 minutes. After the cooking time is finished, switch the pressure valve to the venting position and do a quick pressure release. Carefully remove the lid. Transfer to a bowl and season as desired.
Perfect Instant Pot Butternut Squash (Halved)
- Place the trivet (the wire-looking basket that came with your Instant Pot) inside the bowl of your Instant Pot. Add 1 cup of water. Please don’t forget to add the water!
- Wash the outside of your squash and dry thoroughly. Wash the squash because it’s probably dirtier than you think and dry because you’re about to cut it in half.
- Use a large, sturdy knife, to cut your butternut squash in half lengthwise. If the base of your squash is especially wobbly, you may want to cut the ends, creating a flat surface. Nest, scoop out the seeds using a metal spoon.
- Arrange the cut butternut squash halves inside the trivet (I managed to fit two whole butternut squash, 4 halves, in my 8-quart Instant Pot). If you’re wondering do I need to add more time if I add extra butternut squash? The answer is, no.
- Place the cover on your Instant Pot and switch the pressure valve to the sealing position.
- Set your Instant Pot to manual HIGH pressure and cook for 8-10 minutes. I usually cook mine for 8 minutes if I want it to remain a little firmer, or if I plan to dice it into cubes. If, however, I plan to mash, puree, etc, I may cook an additional 1-2 minutes longer.
- After the cooking time is finished, switch the pressure valve to the venting position and quick release the pressure. Carefully remove the lid. Transfer to a bowl and season as desired.
How to Serve
It’s easy to love butternut squash. Incredibly healthy, butternut squash is fat-free, full of fiber, and jam-packed with Vitamin A. There are a million ways to dish it up.
Unless you are watching your sodium intake, I highly recommend a nice sprinkle of salt. A little salt helps bring out the natural sweetness, amplifying the flavors. Serve it as a healthy side dish or use it with other awesome recipes.
If you’re looking to add a little extra flavor without a whole lot of fuss, try:
- Drizzle with maple syrup, melted butter, and ground cinnamon
- Mash with baked sweet potatoes, tahini, and lemon juice
- Puree with a little coconut milk, homemade chicken stock, or vegetable broth for a luscious, healthy, creamy Instant Pot butternut squash soup (so easy when you use an immersion blender!)
- Sneak into oatmeal, sauces, or smoothies
Or, enjoy it plain, by the spoonful.
Helpful Squash Recipes and Tutorials
Roasted Kabocha Squash (Japanese Squash)
More Butternut Squash Recipes,
Instant Pot Risotto with Butternut Squash
Pork Chops with Apples and Butternut Squash
Vegetarian Butternut Squash Chili
Easy Chicken and Butternut Squash Recipe with Mushrooms
Instant Pot Butternut Squash Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Halved Squash
- 1 butternut squash, halved lengthwise, seeds removed (quartered if necessary)
- 1 cup water
Cubed Squash
- 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and chopped into 1-inch cubes
- 1 cup water
Optional seasoning
- salt and black pepper
- maple syrup
- brown sugar
- fresh herbs
Instructions
Halved Squash
- Place the Instant Pot trivet inside the bowl of your Instant Pot. Add 1 cup of water to the bottom of your Instant Pot.
- Wash the outside of your squash and dry thoroughly. Use a large, sturdy knife, to cut your butternut squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds using a metal spoon.
- Arrange the butternut squash halves inside the trivet (I managed to fit two whole butternut squash, 4 halves, in my 8-quart Instant Pot).
- Place the cover on your Instant Pot and switch the pressure valve to the sealing position.
- Set your Instant Pot to manual HIGH pressure and cook for 8 minutes. After the cooking time is finished, switch the pressure valve to the venting position and quick release the pressure. Carefully remove the lid. Transfer to a bowl and season as desired.
Cubed Squash
- Place the Instant Pot trivet or silicone basket inside the bowl of your Instant Pot. Add 1 cup of water to the bottom of your Instant Pot.
- Wash the outside of your squash and dry thoroughly. Use a large, sturdy knife to cut the ends from the butternut squash. Use a vegetable peeler or paring knife to slice the skin from the butternut squash by holding one end of the squash with one hand and slicing with the vegetable peeler or paring knife in the other. Scoop out the seeds and chop into small cubes.
- If you are using the wire trivet that came with the Instant Pot, place an oven and microwave safe glass bowl directly on top of the trivet. Add the cubed butternut squash to the bowl. If you are using a silicone basket, add the squash cubes directly to the inside of the basket.
- Place the cover on your Instant Pot and switch the pressure valve to the sealing position.
- Set your Instant Pot to manual HIGH pressure and cook for 3 minutes. After the cooking time is finished, switch the pressure valve to the venting position and do a quick pressure release. Carefully remove the lid. Transfer to a bowl and season as desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
8 minutes was not long enough in my instapot. The thick end was still hard. I added 5minites in the micro. Maybe not quick release would have finished cooking them?
Thanks so much for the feedback, Lisa! Squash size can vary a lot, so for thicker bulbs I recommend setting 9 to 10 minutes on High and/or letting it naturally release for about 5 minutes before a quick release – that extra time usually softens the thick end without overcooking the neck. Also, double-check that there is 1 cup of water in the pot and that the squash is on the trivet; for a very soft mash, add 1 to 2 minutes more, and for cubes, about 3 minutes. Appreciate you sharing what worked!