Spice Up Your Fall Dinners With These 5 Butternut Squash Dishes

Butternut squash is all over the food world right now because it is a winter squash. Winter squashes are more starchy in nature, are harvested in the fall, and keep well throughout this season. This is why you may be seeing it in your local supermarkets and all over social media. Plus, it’s super delicious and has valuable properties that enable it to be cooked in a myriad of ways! For example, its starchy nature allows for gelatinization, so it can be transformed into thick soups and sauces, as you can see in the next 5 recipes below! And once you master the first recipe, you will see how the other recipes become much easier to follow!

1. The Basic: Roasted Butternut Squash

• Prep Time:15 mins
• Cook Time:40 mins
• Total Time:55 mins
• Servings:4
• Easy

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash evenly cubed
• 1/2 a red onion sliced or more if you're into that
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder but you can never go wrong with a little more

• Step 1

  Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a cooking tray with parchment paper.

  

• Step 2

  Toss the cubed butternut squash in a bowl with the sliced red onion and olive oil.

  

• Step 3

  Add the spices and mix.

  

• Step 4

  Place the vegetables on the cooking tray and roast for 40 minutes, or until cooked through.

  

2. The Classic: Butternut Squash Soup

• Prep Time:15 mins
• Cook Time:1 hr
• Total Time:1 hr 15 mins
• Servings:12
• Medium

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash
• 2 small kombucha squashes
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 3 mackintosh apples peeled and cored
• 1 onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• Water enough to fill a large pot

• Step 1

  Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a cooking tray with parchment paper.

  

• Step 2

  Toss the butternut squash, kombucha squashes, sweet potatoes with the olive oil and spices. Roast for 40 minutes, or until cooked through.

  

• Step 3

  Boil the apples in water and sauté the garlic and onion at the bottom of a large pot.

  

• Step 4

  Add the vegetables and apples to the large pot. Add the ginger and enough water to fill the pot. Leave the pot on medium heat until it begins boiling.

  

• Step 5

  Blend the content with an immersion blender. Alternatively, transfer the contents to a food processor a little at a time and then add them back to the pot.

  

At this point, we've covered the basic squash recipes, and maybe you've even tasted foods similar to those listed above. This brings me to the next 3 recipes that will shock you. There are infinite complex recipes that can be created from a simple winter squash!

3. Butternut Squash Casserole

• Prep Time:20 mins
• Cook Time:40 mins
• Total Time:1 hr
• Servings:6
• Medium

Ingredients

• 1 roasted butternut squash as seen in Recipe 1
• 3/4 cup cooked farro
• 3 eggs beaten
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 tablespoon fresh or dried mint

• Step 1

  Mix the roasted butternut squash with the eggs, ricotta cheese, farro, and mint. Place the mixture into a pyrex dish.

  

• Step 2

  Bake the dish at 400°F for 40 minutes. Serve warm and enjoy!

  

4. Butternut Squash Pasta

• Prep Time:15 mins
• Cook Time:1 hr
• Total Time:1 hr 15 mins
• Servings:6
• Medium

Ingredients

• 1 roasted butternut squash as seen in Recipe 1
• 1 box pasta cooked
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese

• Step 1

  Sauté the garlic in olive oil with the red pepper flakes.

  

• Step 2

  Blend the roasted butternut squash with the sautéed garlic.

  

• Step 3

  Combine the butternut squash mixture with the cooked pasta and cheese. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes.

  

5. Butternut Squash Risotto

• Prep Time:15 mins
• Cook Time:1 hr
• Total Time:1 hr 15 mins
• Servings:6
• Hard

Ingredients

• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/2 a butternut squash roasted as seen in Recipe 1
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 3 cups hot water
• 1/2 diced onion
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pepper

• Step 1

  Sauté the onion in the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until it becomes translucent.

  

• Step 2

  Add the rice and stir for 5 minutes.

  

• Step 3

  Add the white wine and keep stirring until it is absorbed.

  

• Step 4

  Mash the roasted butternut squash until chunky and add to the pan. Add the chopped garlic to the pan at the same time.

  

• Step 5

  Add the water one cup at a time while stirring continuously until the rice is cooked through.

  

• Step 6

  Turn off the heat and add the parmesan cheese. Stir until melted.

  

And that's my butternut squash recipe roundup. Stay creative in your kitchens this fall!