5 Ridiculously Easy Roasted Squash Recipes for Busy Fall Weeknights (2024)

FAQs

Which squash is best for roasting? ›

Tan and smooth, the versatile butternut squash has sweet, nutty flesh that works well in baked, boiled, and steamed preparations, but it's particularly well suited to deep roasting. A butternut squash can keep for up to six months.

Butternut squash have some of the best flavor of all! Butternut cultivars are pretty consistent when it comes to flavor. All have richly sweet, nutty flesh favored for all kinds of fall and winter cookery.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Wash and dry the whole squash, then place on a baking tray. Pierce once or twice with the tip of a sharp knife, then bake in the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until golden and very soft.

The most obvious difference between butternut and acorn squash is the size and shape of each. Butternut squash has an elongated, pear-like shape with a relatively uniform thickness throughout its length. This larger size results in a greater yield of flesh compared to acorn squash.

Learn how to roast butternut squash the EASY WAY without any prep work. No pre-peeling, chopping or deseeding (yes really!). Just whole-roast it in the oven until soft and tender.

Butternut, acorn, spaghetti can all bring big flavor to the holiday table. From acorn to butternut, spaghetti to delicata, don't underestimate winter squash to deliver big flavor to your Thanksgiving table.

The most popular varieties are crookneck, pattypan, and zucchini, although you might see eight-ball squash and zephyr throughout the summer at greenmarkets. Zucchini, both green and yellow, are available year-round at the grocery store, but like all other varieties of summer squash, it's best from early to late summer.

Yellow crookneck squash is a bush-type plant that is prolific and easy to grow. Harvest while skins are soft. Pick often for best flavor and continual production. Flavor and texture: Flavorful and firm fleshed.

Most recipes say to either bake or roast butternut squash—but what's the difference? While both cooking methods will turn the tough, raw gourd into a soft, sweet ingredient, roasting butternut squash is the more common process for achieving browned, crispy edges and a creamy interior.

How does Gordon Ramsay cook butternut squash? ›

In a large bowl mix the cubed squash, garlic cloves and ginger with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the spice mix. Season with salt and pepper and scatter in a single layer in a roasting tray. Place in the preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes until tender all the way through.

Rub the skin of the squash with a little oil, salt and pepper, and if you've got them, pat on any extra herb leaves you have to hand. Place the squash in the centre of a double layer of tin foil, then tightly wrap it up. Bake for around 2 hours, or until soft and cooked through.

Flavor: No, spaghetti squash doesn't actually taste like spaghetti. It has a tender, chewy, fragile texture, and a very mild flavor. Unlike other winter squash varieties, it lacks sweetness.

But delicata squash is my favorite by far. Nicknamed the “sweet potato squash,” it has a sweet, velvety flesh that caramelizes beautifully in the oven. But that's not all. Thanks to its small size and thin, edible skin, it's super easy to work with.

In addition to vitamins A and C, butternut squash is also rich in carotenoid plant pigments and minerals like potassium, magnesium, and manganese. Like acorn squash, butternut squash can be used in both savory and sweet dishes, such as baked goods, grain dishes, and soups.

Acorn squash is milder in taste and slightly more fibrous in texture than butternut squash: Its sweet, nutty flavor is additionally muted by the watery character of its flesh. Still, most recipes that call for acorn squash can be made with another members of the squash family, such as Hubbard or butternut.

Acorn squash: It has less vitamin A than butternut but provides even more fiber (9 grams per cup) and potassium (896 mg). Pumpkin: This squash has beta carotene and also contains more than twice as much alpha carotene as butternut squash.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Cut each squash in half lengthwise. Cut halves in half crosswise to make four pieces. Cut each piece in quarters lengthwise for a total of 16 short spears from each squash.

Far and away the most popular summer squash variety, both in the grocery store and in home gardens, zucchini, also called courgette in some areas, is known for being easy to grow and producing massive yields—so much that you're likely to find yourself giving extras away to friends at the end of the summer.