Stuffed Acorn Squash

This yummy stuffed acorn squash is the perfect show-stopping side dish for your Thanksgiving meal. It’s easy to make and all your guests will love it!

I don’t know about you, but winter squash used to intimidate me. I would warily eye it from across the grocery store and wonder if it was to eat or only to be used as holiday table decor. You see, I didn’t grow up eating winter squash and, to be honest, it has only been within recent years that I even knew what a winter squash was.

Like many of you, I didn’t realize that pumpkins, butternut, spaghetti, and acorn squashes are all considered winter squash. And lo and behold, they can be transformed into the most delicious recipes!

You will find the key to cooking winter squash is patience. Patience peeling (if needed), patience scooping out the seeds, and patience with the longer than normal cooking time. With that said, your patience will not be in vain once you taste your delicious and simple recipes.

This particular acorn squash creation graces our table each Thanksgiving as well as a few other times throughout the year. The filling made of fresh apples, soft pecans, and tart dried cranberries drizzled with sweet maple syrup bake just long enough for the flavors to infuse the squash and produce the most delicious and filling side dish.

As you can see, gone are the days of my winter squash intimidation. My hope is that after trying this simple recipe yourself you will feel the same way too!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Here is what you need:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 400F. Cut each acorn squash in half and remove the seeds and stringy bits with a spoon.

Step 2: If the squash does not sit flat, use a large knife to cut the outer skin little by little to create a flat surface on the underside of the rounded squash. Try not to cut to deep as a whole in the bottom would allow all the sweet juices from the filling to leak out.

Step 3: Place each flat bottomed squash half (orange flesh side up) on a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil lined baking sheet.

Step 4: Next, stir together the filling of diced apples, chopped pecans, dried cranberries, coconut sugar, salt and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl.

Step 5: Then divide the filling between the four squash halves until each squash is heaping full.

Step 6: Top each stuffed squash with a tablespoon of butter divided into quarters. lastly, drizzle the tops of each squash with a 1/2 teaspoon of maple syrup. Bake for 60-75 minutes. After the squash has baked for 30 minutes loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil to prevent the filling from burning. Squash is done when tines of a fork are inserted into the flesh of the squash with ease.

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Stuffed Acorn Squash

This particular acorn squash creation graces our table each Thanksgiving. The filling made of fresh apples, soft pecans, and tart dried cranberries drizzled with sweet maple syrup bake just long enough for the flavors to infuse the squash and produce the most delicious and filling side dish.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword Stuffed Acorn Squash

Prep Time 7 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 22 minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 2 acorn squash cut in half and seeds scooped out
• 2 small apples peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup pecans roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 2 Tbsp coconut sugar
• 4 Tbsp butter divided
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup divided
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Cut each acorn squash in half and remove the seeds and stringy bits with a spoon.
2. If the squash does not sit flat, use a large knife to cut the outer skin little by little to create a flat surface on the underside of the rounded squash. Try not to cut to deep as a whole in the bottom would allow all the sweet juices from the filling to leak out.
3. Place each flat bottomed squash half (orange flesh side up) on a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil lined baking sheet.
4. Next, stir together the filling of diced apples, chopped pecans, dried cranberries, coconut sugar, salt and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl.
5. Then divide the filling between the four squash halves until each squash is heaping full.

6. Top each stuffed squash with a tablespoon of butter divided into quarters. lastly, drizzle the tops of each squash with a 1/2 teaspoon of maple syrup. Bake for 60-75 minutes. After the squash has baked for 30 minutes loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil to prevent the filling from burning. 

7. Squash is done when tines of a fork are inserted into the flesh of the squash with ease.

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