Our 20 Best Butternut Squash Recipes

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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. "

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

This crusty baked polenta is swirled with mashed butternut squash and smoked Gouda cheese.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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. 

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.

"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."

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.

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.