Cooking butternut squash (or pumpkin) in your Instant Pot is so easy! As long as the squash fits in your Instant Pot, there’s no need to peel, poke or cut before cooking.

Butternut Squash Image from Know Your Produce

Butternut Squash is one of my favorite autumn/winter comfort foods. It’s so versatile, sweet and delicious. Butternut plays beautifully in both savory and sweet dishes. Sometimes if I need some butternut puree or my butternut squash is looking like it needs cooking ASAP and I don’t have much time or energy, that’s when I turn to my Instant Pot for assistance.

This happened the other day when my youngest wanted to make her soft and chewy pumpkin spice snickerdoodles. We couldn’t find any cooked pumpkin in the freezer. But we had a nice, ripe butternut squash with a broken stem that needed cooking. I was busy, but she was on a mission, so I explained how to cook up a butternut in the Instant Pot. She handled it like a pro, and even whirled the cooked squash in our ninja food processor until it was silky smooth.

Soft & Chewy Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles

I thought you might want to know this little trick too. Of course you can google it and AI will tell you how it’s done. But is AI telling you the truth? That’s the problem with AI … sometimes it’s right and sometimes it’ll just make up an answer if it can’t find it.

Well, I’m here to tell you that yes you CAN cook a whole squash in the Instant Pot. I know because I’ve done it and my youngest also managed it, no sweat. And then she made cookies for friends with the puree. And if you’re hungering for more butternut inspiration, scroll down for a slew of my favorite butternut squash recipes.

How to Cook a Whole Butternut Squash in your Instant Pot

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews

Author: Ann
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Total Time: 45 min
Yield: 4 – 6 servings
Category: Dinner
Method: Pressure cooked
Diet: Gluten Free

Print Recipe

Description

Cooking butternut squash (or pumpkin) in your Instant Pot is so easy! As long as the squash fits in your Instant Pot, there’s no need to peel, poke or cut.

Ingredients

1 cup water
1 butternut squash

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Put the trivet in your Instant Pot. Pour 1 cup water in the bottom of the pot. Set the squash on the trivet and check whether or not the lid will fit. If it does, you’re good! If it doesn’t, cut the squash so that it’ll fit.
Put the cover on and set the Instant Pot on high pressure for 25 minutes. Turn OFF the “Keep Warm” setting. When done, you can quick release or let the pressure release naturally.
Carefully lift the trivet from the Instant Pot with the squash on it and set aside to cool. Once it’s cool enough to handle, the peel should remove easily. Scoop the flesh from the skin and remove the seeds. If you like, put the cooked squash in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: Sumptuous Spoonfuls – https://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/ … © Copyright 2025, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. This recipe was made by a REAL person with REAL ingredients. The photos are real photos taken by me personally. There is nothing AI here. This is real food made by real people for real people. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.

How to Cook a Whole Butternut Squash in your Instant Pot & 18 of my BEST Butternut Recipe

18 of my BEST Butternut Squash Recipes

I’ve loved butternut squash for so many years and I’ve tried preparing it in countless ways! Below, I’ve compiled 18 of my best butternut recipes to give you inspiration for enjoying this autumn treasure. Scroll down beneath the gallery for the links to the recipes.

Also, I want to note: you can absolutely use butternut squash puree just like you would pumpkin, so butternut pie, butternut bread, butternut bread pudding, butternut trifle and butternut cookies are also wonderful ways to enjoy your butternut squash!