Easy Roasted Butternut Squash Recipe (How To)

Learn how to easily make roasted butternut squash for a quick and healthy fall side dish or use in a recipe, such as butternut squash soup or a vegan cheese sauce!

Benefits of butternut squash

I love love love talking about the benefits of foods. Even cake! My personal belief is that we should celebrate all foods, rather than create fear around them.

I know many people have this fear that carbs are bad, and since butternut squash is technically a starch, I’d like to dispel a few fears!

Taste: I know pumpkin and sweet potato get much of the love during the fall, but butternut squash is also a wonderful healthy fall starch! It’s slightly sweet and has a bit of a “nutty” taste (don’t worry- it’s nut free, despite its name!) that’s really warming and comforting.

Nutrition: for every 1 cup of cooked butternut squash, there is 82 calories, more than quadruple the amount of needed Vitamin A, 22 grams of carbs with 7 grams of fiber, and a wonderful source of calcium and phosphorus.

Benefits: Butternut squash is also packed with antioxidants, and may even aid in preventing heart disease and mental decline.

Roasted Butternut Squash Ingredients:

This easy roasted butternut squash recipe really only needs a few ingredients:

• Butternut squash: you can purchase this whole or cubed. If you’re purchasing it whole, please see the below section!
• Refined Coconut oil: If I’m roasting veggies or squash at temperatures that are 400F or above, I use refined coconut oil in lieu of olive oil. This is because refined coconut oil has a smoke point of 450F, whereas olive oil has a smoke point of between 350-400F. I like to drizzle with olive oil once it’s roasted so that I can still have that olive oil flavor!
• Herbs & spices: this is pretty customizable; I like to use thyme, sage, ginger, and cumin, but feel free to mix and match! You can even do just cinnamon!
• Sea salt: a given of course 🙂

How to peel and cube butternut squash

You can definitely purchase the butternut squash already cubed in the grocery store. However, if you like to purchase your butternut squash whole or you’ve gone to a pumpkin patch and picked your own squash, let’s go over how to peel and cube butternut squash!

You’ll need a cutting board, a potato peeler, a large kitchen knife, and a spoon.

Wash the butternut squash, pat it dry, and carefully peel the squash with the potato peeler, making sure to peel away from you.

Once peeled, discard the scraps, and slice open the butternut squash. Use a spoon to carefully scoop out the seeds. You can save them in a small bowl to be rinsed and roasted for a snack.

Flip the butternut squash halves so that the flat side is on the cutting board. Carefully slice the butternut squash halves horizontally into 1″ strips, then vertically to make them 1″ cubes.

Now you’re ready to cook the butternut squash!

How to roast butternut squash

This easy roasted butternut squash recipe is truly a wonderful and easy way to have a good fall starch that you can make on Sunday for meal prep or right before dinner even!

To roast butternut squash:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F and grease a baking dish with coconut oil or line a sheet pan with parchment paper. If you’re wondering whether you should use a baking dish (like a casserole dish) or a sheet pan, I personally recommend the former. This is because it’s so much easier to toss and evenly coat the butternut squash in the herbs and spices. However, you can still use a sheet pan- it will work, you just might need to toss the butternut squash in a bowl if it’s not working for you!
2. Add the cubed butternut squash to the dish and top with the remaining ingredients.
3. Lightly toss the squash together with the spices and oil. Make sure that everything is coated evenly.
4. Place the dish into the oven to bake. You’ll notice the squash is ready when the edges are browned and you can run a fork easily through the squash.

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Then you just need to remove the roasted butternut squash from the oven and serve!

Ways to serve and use butternut squash

This roasted butternut squash recipe is amazing as both a side and an ingredient to recipes!

• Serve as a side to your vegan Thanksgiving dinner. Don’t get me wrong, I love sweet potato casserole, but let’s not forget how good roasted butternut squash is with all of the Thanksgiving goodies!
• Add the roasted butternut squash to a chickpea scramble or really any savory breakfast recipe!
• Use the roasted butternut squash in a vegan cheese recipe. One is coming to the blog next week, so stay tuned for that!
• Make a vegan butternut squash soup that’s packed with plant based protein.
• Blend the roasted squash into a mash which then makes yet another wonderful Thanksgiving side!
• Add to any fall salad recipe for a vibrant pop of color and satiating carb!
• Omit the spices, swap in cinnamon, and use the roasted butternut squash in a baked good! If you puree the butternut squash, you’ll get a wonderful substitute for pumpkin or sweet potato.

How to store roasted butternut squash

If you have any leftovers, you can most definitely store your baked butternut squash in the fridge or in the freezer.

If storing in the fridge: place any leftover squash into an airtight container, and store in the fridge for up to 5 days.

If storing in the freezer: use an airtight container or freezer bag, and store the butternut squash for up to 2 months in the freezer. To reheat, you can either bake for 10 minutes at 350F on a baking sheet, or heat in a sauté pan!

I hope you love this roasted butternut squash recipe as much as I do! If you try it, let me know down below in the comments section, as well as giving it a rating for how it went.

As always, I love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest so be sure to tag me there!

Happy Roasting!

More healthy butternut squash and squash recipes:

Vegan Butternut Squash Pasta

Creamy Vegan Butternut Squash Soup

Healthy Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

Vegan Pumpkin Bread

Paleo Vegan Marbled Pumpkin Bread

Easy Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole

Vegan Sweet Potato Spice Cake

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

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