Squash, let me introduce you to my blog readers. Blog readers, allow me to introduce you to the most insanely delicious, salty/sweet, tender/crunchy veggie dream that you’ll ever meet. I think you two will be very, very happy together.
Let’s talk about the perfect balance of everything that’s happening in this roasted acorn squash:
- The salty/sweet. We season the squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper before we do anything. That plus the salted vegan butter (you can use non-vegan if you’d like!) gives us the salty, savory element. The sweet comes from our lovely scoop of brown sugar that roasts and caramelizes in the oven.
- The tender/crunchy. The squash gets very soft, tender, and spoonable in the oven. But alongside the squash, we roast the squash seeds with some olive oil, salt, and pepper and sprinkle those over top. This gives flavor and texture variety that’s OUT of this world, fam.
I mean, is this the epitome of fall or what? This is the reason I love fall food. It’s all so cozy and comforting and wonderful.
The butter, brown sugar, and spices basically cook together in a natural little “pot” that is our acorn squash – the sauce cooks down a bit, the brown sugar caramelizes, some of the butter soaks into the squash – it’s honestly just too good for words.
Can anyone say “THANKSGIVING SIDE DISH” with me? Because pretty sure I’ll be bringing this to the table for the rest of forever.
I use vegan butter in this recipe because my son has a dairy allergy, and it was wonderful with vegan butter! If you want to use regular butter, you absolutely can do that, but if you’re vegan, I can assure you that this is a hit with the vegan butter!
So, how does one eat this squash? We leave the skin on, so the squash stays in its little boat that has some sturdiness and support. And to eat it, we take a spoon and scoop out a little of the flesh, making sure each bite is coated well in the buttery sauce and sprinkled with at least one or two crunchy seeds.
You can also mash the whole thing up together, but I like the spoon by spoon option. If you go with the mash and mix, this is what that looks like 👇🏻. Also a v good option.
Here’s the recipe!
PrintBrown Sugar Butter Roasted Acorn Squash
This squash is a little salty, a little sweet, savory, tender, and a little crunchy from the roasted seeds. It’s the best balance and it screams fall when you’re eating it!
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 2 acorn squash, sliced in half, seeds scooped out (don’t throw away the seeds)
- 4 tablespoons vegan butter (regular butter works if you don’t need it to be dairy free)
- Fresh ground nutmeg (you’ll use about 10 grates per squash half)
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees
- Place the squash cut side up on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. I slice a tiny bit off the back of each squash half so that there’s a flat surface for the squash and they aren’t rolling around
- Rub each squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper
- In EACH squash cavity, add 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, and about 10 grates of fresh nutmeg (or a big pinch of pre-ground).
- Sprinkle the cinnamon evenly across all the squash
- Roast the squash for 30 minutes, remove from the oven, spoon the sauce over top of the squash, making sure all the flesh is coated. Roast for another 15 minutes, or until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork
- Meanwhile, clean the seeds of the squash (you DON’T need to be perfect here – if there are some little squash pieces still attached they’ll roast off in the oven)
- Place the seeds on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, toss to combine, and roast in the oven with the squash for the final ten minutes of cook time!
- When it’s all done, sprinkle the seeds evenly into/over each squash and serve!
Notes
The seed roasting step is optional but highly recommended! Adds such yummy texture and flavor variation!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 squash half
- Calories: 241
- Sugar: 13 g
- Sodium: 10 mg
- Fat: 11 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 36 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and tag @thegarlicdiaries so I can see!
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