How to Cook Butternut Squash
By embitca
I love butternut squash and since it is dead easy to cook, I think that it also loves me. At my house on Thanksgiving, we usually serve butternut squash mashed up just like mashed potatoes, with a bit of butter melted into it. But it is even easier to just cut it in half and bake it in the oven.
Here's a few different ways you can cook the extremely adaptable butternut squash.
Butternut Squash Recipes
The simplest method to cook butternut squash is cut it in half and bake it in the oven. Just be careful when cutting the squash. The skin is very tough. Use a VERY sharp knife.
Baked Butternut Squash
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Wash squash and then cut lengthwise down the middle
- Scoop out the seeds and crud
- Lightly coat the exposed meaty parts of the squash with butter or olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste, with a touch of ground ginger (or cinnamon, or nutmeg, your preference - for a sweeter taste, use cinnamon sugar)
- Place cutside up in a baking pan with about an inch of water in the pan
- Cook until fork tender -- usually about 1 hour. The squash should be lightly browned
After cooking, you can either serve the squash in the shell, or cut into quarters, or scoop out the squash meat. Some folks mash it or blend it, but I like it with a little more texture.
Baked Butternut Squash w/Garlic
This garlic butternut squash recipe from allrecipes.com looks delicious and is on my "to do" list for the next time I go to the supermarket.
Again, it is a very simple recipe, basically adding garlic, parsley and parmesan cheese to the standard baking method after cutting the squash up into cubes. From the photos, it certainly looks delicious!
For a more exoticly spiced flavor, also try this Roast Butternut Squash with Moroccan Spices recipe. It looks delicious too. There are way too many great squash recipes!
Alton Brown tells you all about Squash!
Squash Cookbooks
 | There are tons of great recipes for all the different squashes. Explore a variety of them here. Amazon Price: $7.62 List Price: $15.95 |
More Butternut Squash Recipes
- Butternut Squash Soup
This is a nice basic recipe from Whole Foods, and it includes several variations to the original recipe in case you want to spice things up a bit.
Comments
I use to work at a cafe that made a wonderful roasted butter nut squash salad with goat cheese, walnuts, and Port soaked raisins. I am salivating just thinking about it.
We use to roast the cubes of butternut squash and sliced onions with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, a little rosemary and salt and pepper.
I love the simple tip for just cutting in half and baking - sometimes easier is better.
I admit it. I have never cooked it. Though I love it when others cook it. YUM! I might have to give in and try this.
I have cooked with butternut squash quite often and it is excellent. I got a recipe at allrecipes.com for a butternut squash, apple au graten dish. That combo is wonderful!
Great, easy recipe. It's amazing how good food tastes when it is cooked properly...I should share this recie with my mom...
I baked the squash just like he said an the scraped out the stuff into a bowl added honey, brown sugar, nutmeg,butter, and milk didn't have cream but it turned out beautifuly
350 degrees bake for about an hr... add some nutmeg, brown suga and butter. u got an awsome side dish....
Great recipe, worked like a charm. I made my first butternut squash this evening with your help.
I'm going to try some in the slow cooker.
sonds great.. im making this right now.. thansk for the idea
I just grabbed an unidentified squash from the supermarket, turned out to be butternut. Thanks for all these great ideas on how to cook it easily!
Yum! Thanks... :)
I've never made butternut squash, have eaten it once; remember it being very good; and now I'm sitting here thinking about it and decided to search the hubpages to see what I could find. Thanks! Now I have to get to the fruit market, LOL!!!
I'm going to try to bake this butternut squash right now.
It sounds easy; bake at 350 for an hour with brown sugar and cinimon. Thanks for all of the suggestions; This website made me hungry!
yum!! im cookin it right now hope it turns out good!!!
this is very tasty!
It was nice to find a place that shows how to cook it. THANKS!
If you pierce the skin before cutting in half and cook in the microwave for about 3-4 minutes, it'll soften, making the cutting much easier.
My grandma use to make butternut squash soup she would add the garlic and veggies to it(meat if desired). Tonight I'm going for the cinnamon,butter,brown sugar and nutmeg!
I roast my butternut squash with butter and fresh thyme. It is always tasty.
i have never eaten butternut squash, but my father in law gave us 3 of them this evening. i am not much on the sweets. is there a way to prepare it that is not sweet??
Renny, try the baked butternut squash with garlic recipe. You don't need to add any sweet flavor to squash for it to taste good *g*
wow i got confused looked awful but tasted lovely
We've made a Mayan Hot Chocolate for years that is a chocolate base with pureed butternut squash blended in. Heavenly.
Acorn squash is just as tasty made same way
Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmy in my tummy.
doing this with cinnomon and butter witha drizzle of maple syrup grams used to do this and was ooooooh so tasty!
Sorry, your basic receipe did NOT work. After 1 hour
the squash was hard as a rock. Just cutting it in half
is not enough. Needs to be cut in several pieces.
Thanks for the info about temp and water in dish.
Hi embitca! I'm doing this tonight. Going to drizzle mine with butter pecan syrup & some pumpkin pie seasoning.
Kathy only YOU could screw up a simple squash. Joke. Her recipe is fine. Next time check your temperature.
Others: please don't assume everybody has a microwave oven. I have never had one and don't want one. I'm still alive.
I recently had butternut squash that was baked whole in the oven. Do you just wash it and put it in a 350 deg. oven until its tender?
well i'll be dipped. got yurself a done good recipe there for a quality tastin squash you do. tasty stuff that ol butternut squash is.
kevinlt9 3 years ago
I know a lot of people don't like Squash,I happen to love it.Great hub on how properly prepare it,I'm definitely going to try the garlic butternut squash recipe over the holidays,man that looks good!