Roasted Acorn Squash w/ Sage, Pine Nuts & of course, Butter
Roasted acorn squash is a simple way to enjoy this popular squash. It’s a great side dish for Holidays or anytime you’re craving a squash meal.
Roasted Acorn Squash
Baked acorn squash was never a dish that I obsessed over. Because of my love of butternut squash, acorn squash always seemed to hide in in the shadows of my other squash love affairs. It wasn’t until I started food blogging that I really understood the appeal of these cute acorn shaped globes.
After 2 holidays of food blogging, I read a mountain of blog posts about roasted or baked acorn squash and every single post was dripping with amazing butter, sugar and more butter and sugar. I was visually hooked and put this dish on my mental notes of “must.try.soon”. Now I wish I had tried it sooner because now I’m asking: Dear Acorn Squash. Where have you been all my life?!
I won’t make such a broad generalization that this recipe is so EASY.FAST.and SIMPLE (although that’s the truth) because there is one step that can be intimidating. If you’re a home cook who doesn’t own a good sharp knife, beware.
Sliced squash and fresh sage
Carefully Cutting Squash
The only difficult part about preparing acorn squash (or most hard winter squashes for that matter) is that it’s as hard as rock when it’s raw. One can probably use it as a lethal weapon and if thrown with enough force, the acorn squash can probably take our your enemy pretty quickly. Personally, I’ve never toyed with this thought, although hard squashes do make great paper weights.
If you can get past the initial cuts with a good sharp knife with safety and all your 10 digits still attached to your hand, this acorn squash recipe is as easy as pie and will be a sure winner to any holiday meal.
The oven roasting aromas of browning butter, sage and toasted pine nuts had me humming Christmas songs in the kitchen. Yes, this silly little dish put me in a good mood. Go figure. Before I knew it, the squash was finished and I was eating the warm, flavorful slices like candy.
I’m obsessive about acorn squash now and it took me this long to finally discover their flavor and cooking appeal. I’ve found a new squash love and Dear Butternut Squash, please don’t be jealous.
Happy Holidays! xoxo
Diane
More Acorn Squash Recipes from bloggers that got me hooked:
- Simply Recipes Classic Baked Acorn Squash
- The Pioneer Woman Roasted Rosemary Acorn Squash Wedges
- Here’s our epic squash guide
Roasted Acorn Squash w/ Sage & Pine Nuts
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons Butter
- 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- 3 Sage Leaves , approximately
- 1 Acorn Squash (@2 lbs - 910g)), sliced into 1/2" thick wedges
- 2 Tablespoons toasted Pine Nuts
- Sea Salt to taste
- fresh cracked Black Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to roast at 375°F
- Heat a saucepan over medium heat and then melt the butter in the pan. Continue cooking until the butter stops sizzling, then add brown sugar and sage leaves. Stir until everything is mixed well, then remove from heat.
- Toss acorn squash and pine nuts with sage leaves and brown sugar to coat completely, then spread out into an even layer onto a sheet pan. Season to taste with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.
- Roast for 15-25 minutes or until tender. Cooking time will vary depending on how thick your squash slices are. Check at 15 minutes and if they're not cooked, cook for a little longer. Serve warm.
Nutrition Information per Serving
Just found this recipe while searching for an acorn squash recipe… Super good! My husband who “doesn’t like squash” even liked it! Love the flavor combo especially with sea salt. Mmmmm ๐
Thanks for the shout out you two! Have to say we were never ones to be obsessed with winter squash either, until we made it simply; now we cannot get enough. The recipe you share of ours is a fave around our house, the tahini is a perfect match with the roasted squash – try it with roasted kabocha as well. Wonderful.
Happy holidays to you and your loved ones!
I wanted to report back on this recipe: fabulous!! I served it to company, and am passing the recipe to friends and linking it to my family on my blog. I sharpened my knife and put on my samurai face to whack the squash, but it really was not that difficult to do. We all agreed the peel was just fine to eat. Once it is cooked it shrinks a bit and (sort of) softens. We all loved the crunchy bits of caramelized sugar, too. It’s a keeper!! Thanks.
I am also obsessive with acorn squash. This recipe is so simple, yet it’s looks absolutely delicious and flavorful. Just yummy.
Thanks for the warning about the skin. That’s my main problem with squash– My knife is sharp but there’s a thickness to squash that seems to make cutting it difficult and awkward.
I think I may try this with a kabocha. That’s my squash of choice. It’s so sweet though, maybe I’ll reduce the sugar a little.
mariko- i love kabocha! let me know how this recipe turns out with kabocha, I’d love to try it too.
My wife loves acorn squash I will have to let her know about this recipe. You should share this over at http://www.dishfolio.com it would be a welcome addition.
I love the idea of roasting acorn squash with sage and pine nuts! A while back I roasted the squash and stuffed it with a variety of spices, veggies and cheese – and then kind of forgot about it and didn’t use it again. Your post inspired me to get an acorn squash when I go grocery shopping tomorrow and try this recipe! My friend just directed me to your blog since I recently started one of my own and I’m really enjoying reading your posts! Your photographs are amazing too btw ๐ I’ll definitely be a regular reader from now on!
hello anjali- thank you and welcome. Hope you get your acorn squash mojo back, it’s wonderful.
As a kid, I ate a lot of acorn squash because my mom grew it in her garden. The torture-your-sister-playing field would have been evened out had I known the potentially lethal benefits of its mass and trajectory.
I’m a good shot….my older brother wouldn’t have stood a chance!
๐
Stepanie- oh lucky for them you didn’t know back then! but it’s never too late. ๐
Thanks Dianne. I’m confused about the outer skin. Can this be eaten? Or does it get removed after cooking?
Hi Susan,
On all of the acorn squash we’ve bought, it has gives a nice texture left on. If you personally don’t like it, or have a super tough squash skin, peel the squash before roasting.
Your cooking stove is sooo.. uuuhhh.. Clean ๐
Love the recipe and as usual the photographs!
Thanks Prerna,
We love our cooktop and oven and actually enjoy keeping them clean. They work so hard for us, it is the least we can do. Plus restaurant habits of cleaning virtually daily makes keeping them nice and pretty fairly easy. ๐
I’ve never cooked acorn squash either. Now I gotta try. Thanks Dianne!
I too have never eaten/cooked acorn squash and my curiosity has been growing! This looks delicious. Thanks for sharing!
Looks easy & delicious. Great pics.
This looks great! Can’t wait to try it out! Thanks!
Wonderful and delicious recipe!
Happy holidays to you as well!
Che deliziositร devo assolutamente provarlo.. e ti dirรฒ come viene.. see you later..kiss