Learn how to cook butternut squash perfectly every time! Enjoy roasted butternut squash as a simple side dish, or add it to fall soups, pastas & more.
If you’re anything like me, you’ve already made a few batches of butternut squash soup by the time mid-October rolls around. But while butternut squash soup is hands down one of my favorite fall foods, my love for butternut doesn’t end there. When I’m not making soup, I like to simply roast butternut squash. Golden brown, caramelized, and seasoned with salt and pepper, it has a delectable sweet and salty taste and buttery texture. If you’ve never roasted butternut squash before, you have to try it this fall!
Today, I’m sharing my go-to roasted butternut squash recipe. It’s super easy – it requires 4 ingredients (squash, salt, pepper, and olive oil) and 10 minutes of active prep – but it’s delicious nonetheless. It’s good enough to enjoy on its own as a side dish, but it also amps up the fall flavor in all sorts of recipes – bowls, salads, soups, and more! Let’s cook.
How to Cook Butternut Squash
Making roasted butternut squash is easy! Here’s what you need to do:
Start by peeling the squash. Peeling winter squash can be intimidating, but don’t let butternut scare you. The skin is smooth and relatively thin, and it isn’t ridged. To peel it, use a good vegetable peeler, and work downwards from the stem, peeling off long strips. Use short strokes to trim off any remaining skin at the base of the squash. That’s it!
Next, cut the squash. Chop off the stem and slice the squash in half vertically. Set the cut side of the halves facing up, and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. If your squash is too hard to safely cut, pop it in the microwave or warm it in the oven for a few minutes until slightly softened.
Discard the seeds, and dice the remaining squash into 1-inch cubes. You might get some funky shapes around the base of the squash, where the seeds were scooped out. Just do the best you can to cut the pieces evenly – the closer they are in size, the more evenly they’ll cook.
Finally, it’s time to bake! Spread the cubed squash in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle it with olive oil, and toss it with generous pinches of salt and pepper (note: a sprinkle of fresh rosemary or thyme at this step would also be delicious). Make sure to leave a little space between each cube – this way, the squash will get nicely crisp and brown in the oven.
Transfer the baking sheet to a 400° oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the squash is tender and golden brown. Then, enjoy!
What to Do with Roasted Butternut Squash
Golden brown and caramelized, baked butternut squash is delicious on its own as a simple side dish. Just sprinkle it with chopped parsley, and serve! But your options don’t end there. There are a tons of ways to use roasted butternut squash. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Add it to an autumn pasta like stuffed shells, orecchiette, or spaghetti.
- Blend it into hummus.
- Stuff it into enchiladas or tacos.
- Toss it into a salad.
- Blend it into soup. Try the Sheet Pan Squash Soup on page 87 of Love & Lemons Every Day!
- Add it to an easy grain bowl with quinoa, greens, your favorite protein, and generous drizzles of tahini sauce.
- Top it onto a burrito bowl with cilantro lime rice, guacamole, pico de gallo or tomatillo salsa, black beans, and chipotle sauce or cilantro lime dressing.
- Or skip the salt and pepper, and puree it into pudding!
Let me know what butternut squash recipes you try!
More Favorite Roasted Veggies
If you love this baked butternut squash, try roasting one of these vegetables next:
Roasted Butternut Squash
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds scooped, and cubed
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Chopped parsley, optional, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the squash cubes on the baking sheet and toss with a drizzle of olive oil and pinches of salt and pepper. Roast 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.
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Thanks for the recipe! Easy to follow and delicious. I added curry powder and we loved it!
Hi Jessie, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I used this as a base for my turkey tenderloins. -roasted them right on top- I added red onion and cubed apples too. DELICIOUS!
Oops! Right comment wrong site. Apologies
Question if made with regular long grain rice and additional water, will the rice cook properly if uncovered in 375 oven? Has anyone tried this with regular rice? Love the keto version but some in my family prefer regular rice. Thanks
I clean the squash, don’t peel, put a couple whole garlic bulbs in with it, drizzle olive oil on them all and salt and pepper on the squash. When ready I squeeze the garlic bulbs on the squash and mix. So much flavor!
Love this recipe. After I roasted the squash I added a bit of maple syrup and nutmeg to it. It was amazing.
Hi Mary Ann, I’m so glad you loved the squash! Maple and nutmeg would be sooo delicious on it.
Can I roast the butternut squash a couple days prior, then reheat it the day served? I ask because Thanksgiving is coming and I want to simplify my day.
you can!
Can I use tin foil? I don’t have parchment paper or just use non stick sheet
Hi Catherine, yep! You can roast the squash straight on the baking sheet.
Thanks – I love butternut squash, and have been roasting using different hit-or-miss temps and times (I’m at 5000′ elevation). I will give yours a try!
One inconsistency I noticed in the recipe description/photo:
“To peel it, use a good vegetable peeler, and work downwards from the stem”, but it looks in the photo like you are peeling from the base to the stem end. Cheers!
Good catch! Hope you enjoy the recipe.
Followed to the letter and it was really bland. Wasn’t awful, but definitely worth the effort or the cost of having the oven at 425. It needs a lot more flavor – some herbs/spices? Anything?
Hi Sara, it sounds like your squash could have used a little more salt and pepper. A variety of spices would also taste great on it. Cumin and coriander, chili powder, or a pinch of cayenne would all be good seasoning options.
In addition to more salt & pepper, I like a little smoked paprika on it.
I love it pre-roast seasoned with curry powder, sometimes a little garlic powder and sometimes a little cinnamon. Delish (if you like curry).
Hi Sara, I use some celery salt, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and just a hint of cayenne and I put that mixture in a bowl with a little olive oil and mix it all in there first. And then I put my cubed squash in there and everything gets coated fine and evenly.
Thanks for the guidance. Our squash is on the parchment paper as I type and just about to go into the oven.
This recipe was amazing. I’ll never by frozen squash again.
So glad you loved it!
Just a quick PSA to wear gloves while handling either raw butternut squash or acorn squash that a contact dermatitis can develop. For me, it was a mild tightening and “cracking” of the skin on my fingers. It’s temporary and not serious, but annoying nonetheless. I read that it is called “Squash Hands”. Weird.
Great and simple recipe! I have this one bookmaked to use every fall when the squash comes out!
Aww yay! So glad you loved it!
Absolutely the best! Make again and again.
I’m glad you love the recipe!