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While I can’t deny my love for pumpkin and sweet potato recipes, there’s another orange veggie that commands my heart. Take one look at this extensive list of the best Butternut Squash Recipes, and you’ll quickly realize just how much I adore this healthy, nutty, and versatile vegetable.

Maple Cinnamon Roasted Butternut Squash with Rosemary. Butternut squash cubes tossed with maple syrup and cinnamon, then roasted until sweet, caramelized, and absolutely delicious! An easy, healthy side dish recipe for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or even a simple weeknight!

Throughout my years of blogging, I’ve made it a point to create new and exciting healthy butternut squash recipes. Butternut squash makes an ideal side dish for family dinners and potlucks, a substantial addition to a main dish, and the most creamy and flavorful soups.

While the list below is full of delicious butternut squash recipes, I’m always looking for new ways to incorporate this tasty veggie (maybe I’ll create some mashed butternut squash recipes or a healthy butternut squash mac and cheese!). If there’s a recipe you’d like to see, always let me know in the comments section below.

Whether you’re a novice with butternut squash or its biggest fan, I know you’ll find a recipe you love on this list! I’ve included everything from salads to soups to pastas, and each one is filled with healthy ingredients and oodles of flavor.

Quinoa Stuffed Butternut Squash with Cranberries and Kale. An easy, healthy vegetarian meal that everyone will love! #fall | wellplated.com @wellplated

What are the Health Benefits of Butternut Squash?

Butternut squash has numerous health benefits, especially vitamins and nutrients. It’s packed with vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, and disease-fighting antioxidants.

  • Is butternut squash good for weight loss? When following a healthy recipe, butternut squash is good for weight loss. It’s low in calories and high in fiber, which helps keep you full.
  • Is roasted butternut squash healthy? Roasted butternut squash is incredibly healthy! Roasting it is a great way to achieve delicious texture and flavor.

Do I Need to Peel Butternut Squash Before Roasting?

  • You do not need to peel butternut squash before roasting, as long as you making a roasted whole butternut squash or whole squash halves. When a whole butternut squash is roasted, it’s easy to scoop the flesh from the peels prior to eating it.
  • While the skin is edible, the texture is tough and not particularly enjoyable to eat, which is why most of these healthy butternut squash recipes utilize peeled butternut squash. If you are roasting diced butternut squash (versus a whole or halved squash), be sure to peel it first.

How to Cut Butternut Squash

I’ve found that using a vegetable peeler is the safest and easiest way to peel a butternut squash, and here’s how I do it:

  1. For easy peeling, look for a squash with a long “neck”.
  2. Cut off the top and bottom of the butternut squash with a sharp knife so that it’s easier to balance on your cutting board.
  3. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin from the butternut squash. If you find a light, thin layer of flesh under the skin, you can leave it.
  4. Cut the squash crosswise where the neck of the squash meets the rounder, base end. Stand each of the pieces upright on your cutting board and make a cut down the middle from top to bottom. You’ll now have 4 pieces.
  5. Scoop out the seeds and stringy pieces and discard (or be industrious and clean and roast the squash seeds).
  6. Lay your halves cut side down, and cut each into cubes o
  7. That’s it!

For more specific tips and directions on how to peel and cut butternut squash for roasting, check out this post for Roasted Butternut Squash, which outlines the above steps in greater detail.

How do You Cook Butternut Squash?

  • You can cook butternut squash in the oven, on the stove top, in the slow cooker, on the grill, and so many other ways!
  • For these healthy butternut squash recipes, you’ll sauté it, roast it, puree it, slow cook it, or stuff it and bake it. Each cooking method yields unique and equally scrumptious results!

The Great Orange Vegetable Debate: Is Sweet Potato or Butternut Squash Better?

Both sweet potato and butternut squash are delicious, versatile ingredients that can be used in a myriad of recipes. It’s difficult to say which is better, which is why I enjoy both as a part of my diet.

  • Sweet potatoes contain about double the calories of butternut squash, but they also have more fiber and protein. Win!
  • Sweet potatoes cook more quickly than butternut squash, so they’re a better choice if you’re in a hurry. Also, win!

Recommended Tools for Making Butternut Squash Recipes

 

Now, let’s dive into those healthy butternut squash recipes!

Healthy Butternut Squash Soup Recipes

Butternut Squash Apple Soup. A healthy and easy butternut squash soup recipe. Perfect for freezing and reheating!

Some of my favorite butternut squash recipes are soup recipes! Whether it’s left in chunks or pureed, butternut squash is a flavor-packed powerhouse in soup.

Savory Butternut Squash Recipes – Side Dishes

Easy Roasted Butternut Squash with Garlic and Parmesan. Simple, delicious, and gluten free, this is one of the best butternut squash recipes and a great way to get your veggies!

You may be familiar with roasted butternut squash brown sugar recipes that are extremely sweet, but you have to try these distinctly savory recipes! Each one is rich, autumnal, and deeply satisfying.

Butternut Squash Main Dish Recipes

Easy, filling, and delicious Vegetarian Enchiladas with Butternut Squash, Black Beans, and Cheese. A healthy, flavorful casserole recipe that’s freezer friendly and perfect a for meatless Monday.

Yes, butternut squash can be a main dish! On this list, you’ll find recipes that will please every person at your table with their impressive flavors.

Butternut Squash Salad Recipes

Maple Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad with Cranberries. A healthy, gluten free recipe filled with fall flavors. Easy, filling and perfect for make ahead lunches and dinners! Recipe at wellplated.com | @wellplated

When you add butternut squash to a salad, it instantly becomes more filling. These recipes are great as a hearty side or as a healthy main dish that will keep you fuller longer.

Healthy Butternut Squash Pasta Recipes

A large pot with butternut squash gnocchi and sausage

These healthy butternut squash noodle recipes have TONS of glowing reviews! Readers love these restaurant-quality meals that can easily be made at home.

 

 

If you try one of these healthy butternut squash recipes, please let me know in the comments below. I always love hearing from you!

 

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Erin Clarke

Hi, I'm Erin Clarke, and I'm fearlessly dedicated to making healthy food that's affordable, easy-to-make, and best of all DELISH. I'm the author and recipe developer here at wellplated.com and of The Well Plated Cookbook. I adore both sweets and veggies, and I am on a mission to save you time and dishes. WELCOME!

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  1. These all look delicious! I made the quinoa butternut squash salad and the Italian sausage gnocchi recipes last year and both were phenomenal. Can’t wait to try more squash recipes this year!

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  2. I love the Cinnamon Roasted Butternut Squash recipe! In fact I have made it five times since getting the recipe in October. We took it to a brunch that had a Thanksgiving theme and even took it with us for our Thanksgiving dinner. I think it’s on the Christmas dinner menu also. It is so easy and it tastes great!  The addition of the fresh rosemary gives the dish  great taste!5 stars

  1. These all look delicious! I made the quinoa butternut squash salad and the Italian sausage gnocchi recipes last year and both were phenomenal. Can’t wait to try more squash recipes this year!

    1