Our 28 Best Butternut Squash Recipes

By Food & Wine
Updated August 26, 2020
Johnny Miller
There are several seasonal ingredients we gravitate toward in the fall, including apples, pumpkins, cranberries, and, of course, butternut squash. Soft and creamy when cooked, with the ability to taste sweet or savory depending on the preparation, it’s a versatile food we keep coming back to. You can add it to macaroni and cheese, make it into soup, and even use it to create a version of chicken Parmesan. Read on for those dishes, as well as other butternut squash recipes we love.
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Butternut Squash Casserole with Leeks, Prosciutto and Thyme

Credit: © Alexandra Rowley
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This luscious squash-studded bread pudding is the ideal accompaniment to roasted meats and birds, or cut it into large squares and serve as a main course with a green salad on the side.

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Butternut Squash Glazed Tart

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This simple tart requires just eight ingredients, including butternut squash, all-butter puff pastry, cream cheese, cinnamon, and apricot preserves. 

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Winter Squash and Savoy Cabbage Gratin with Garlic Crema


Credit: Constantine Poulos
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San Francisco chef Matthew Accarrino of SPQR looks to cornstarch to thicken the creamy milk-based roasted garlic sauce here. It’s a rich but healthy combination of winter squash with cabbage, all topped with crunchy hazelnuts.

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Winter Squash Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage

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“This classic northern-Italian combo of sage-Parmesan-gnocchi-brown-butter is one of my top five desert-island dishes,” Andrew Zimmern writes.

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Butternut-Squash-and-Sage Wontons

Credit: Tina Rupp
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"Wonton wrappers are terrific for making ravioli when you don't have time to make homemade pasta," says Jill Donenfeld. The wontons here, filled with mashed butternut squash and roasted garlic, get nicely crispy when sautéed in a touch of oil, but they're also delicious simply steamed.

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Spice Roasted Butternut Squash

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Cumin, coriander and cayenne bring warmth and spice to this tender roasted squash.

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Roast Chicken with Butternut Squash

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Chicken quarters roasted with golden squash and sage are nice for a chilly autumn evening. To help the squash to brown evenly, be sure to spoon off the fat from the roasting pan after removing the breasts.

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Braised Pine Nuts with Butternut Squash

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In this risotto-like dish, the pressure cooker's intense heat penetrates the pine nuts' outer membranes and makes them soft inside.

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Roasted Butternut Squash with Sage

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Squash and sage are a classic—and delicious—combination.

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Mashed Potatoes with Butternut Squash

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For ultrafluffy potatoes, Grace Parisi presses them through a ricer. To achieve a similar texture, pass the potatoes through a food mill or a fine-mesh sieve. If you choose to mash them by hand, be gentle; otherwise, the potatoes will turn gluey.

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Mushroom, Butternut Squash & Gruyère Tart

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This sweet, savory, and cheesy tart is perfect for fall and winter.

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Gingered Butternut Squash Soup with Spicy Pecan Cream

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Chef Dean Fearing loves the holiday feel of butternut squash, especially when it's combined with ginger, as it is for his smooth, gently sweet soup. He tops it with whipped cream flecked with chopped pecans for a number of reasons: "Usually holiday soups have a dollop of cream—adding pecans gives it a dollop of flavor. And crunch. I think everything should have a little bit of crunch to it. "

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Farfalle with Spicy Sausage and Butternut Squash

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Sweet squash is the perfect counterpoint to spicy sausage in this warming winter pasta.

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Roasted Butternut Squash with Cilantro Cream

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Cooling, cilantro-flecked sour cream brings tang to this sweet roasted squash.

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Baked Butternut Squash and Cheese Polenta

Credit: Quentin Bacon
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This crusty baked polenta is swirled with mashed butternut squash and smoked Gouda cheese.

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Butternut Squash Risotto with Crispy Pancetta

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Feel free to swap any type of winter squash for the butternut used in this simple and satisfying risotto.

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Butternut Squash–Polenta Gratin

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Sweet puréed squash comes together with nutty polenta in this warming gratin.

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Butternut Squash Soup with Crisp Pancetta

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This creamy soup gets a jolt of texture from supercrispy pancetta.

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Roasted Winter Squash and Onion Turnovers

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The filling for these turnovers also makes a terrific side dish on its own.

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Vinegar-Glazed Butternut Squash Pasta Salad

Credit: Abby Hocking / Food & Wine
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Laura Rege combines some of fall’s best flavors in this rustic whole-wheat pasta dish. For the best results, seek out a great-quality unrefined hazelnut oil, which imbues the whole dish with a lovely nuttiness.

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Lentils with Butternut Squash and Merguez Sausage

Credit: © Fredrika Stjärne
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This dish from chef Mourad Lahlou of Aziza in San Francisco comes together in four steps, and since the sausage is cooked separately, it’s a meal you can serve to both vegetarians and meat-eaters at the same time.

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Lamb and Butternut Squash Tagine with Apricots

Credit: Victor Protasio
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Savory lamb, salty olives, and ras el hanout (a North African spice blend of coriander, cumin, and a range of warm spices) are balanced by sweet butternut squash, apricots, and a touch of honey.

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Roasted Butternut Squash Parmesan

Credit: Jennifer Causey
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“The idea for this Roasted Butternut Squash Parmesan occurred as I was making butternut squash schnitzel,” Raquel Pelzel writes. “Cut into planks, dipped in egg, dredged through panko, and fried, this was more or less the base layer for parm, except I used squash instead of eggplant (or chicken).”

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Risotto Nero with Squash & Burrata

Credit: Chris Court
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Nancy Oakes makes this gorgeous risotto with Venere black rice, a naturally black short-grain rice. The glossy grains are especially striking served with the golden butternut squash puree and creamy white burrata. 

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Coconut Chickpeas with Winter Squash

Credit: Johnny Miller
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Starchy, slightly sweet plantains are a natural addition to winter squash. Here, New York chef JJ Johnson simmers both, along with canned chickpeas, in coconut milk that’s been steeped with aromatics. The result is creamy, fragrant, and so comforting.

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Roasted Butternut Squash with Curry Leaves

Credit: Greg DuPree
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“A sprinkling of marash chile flakes and curry leaves with coconut oil add a bit of heat and an intoxicating fragrance,” Nik Sharma writes, “while the black mustard seeds add a hint of nuttiness.”

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Golden Macaroni and Cheese with Butternut Squash Puree

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The neck of the butternut squash is easy to peel and cube, making it perfect for easy pasta dishes. This recipe is a great way to use up that pesky bottom half, as here the halved squash is simply baked until soft, and then the flesh is scooped out.

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Curried Squash Galette

Credit: © David Malosh
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With a superflaky crust (the secret: frozen grated butter) and a lightly spiced sweet-savory winter squash filling, this rustic galette from Food & Wine’s Justin Chapple makes a perfect vegetarian meal; serve it with a green salad.

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