How to Roast Butternut Squash
Butternut squash is a superfood, high in fiber, antioxidants, phytonutrients, beta-carotene, and anti-inflammatory compounds. That’s not why it’s one of my all time favorite vegetables though. I simply love the rich sweet taste of this incredibly flavorful squash. Butternut squash is quick and easy to prepare, requiring little effort to prior to serving. When served as a side dish, I put butternut squash on the table hot out of the oven with a dollop of coconut oil, a big shake of ground cinnamon, and a pinch of sea salt.
Like pumpkin, butternut squash is a winter squash, and a member of the gourd family. Winter squash is generally in season from later summer through mid-winter, though can be grown year round in some locales. I find that I am able to obtain the tastiest winter squash in my area from mid-September until sometime in March, depending on the weather each year.
Here’s how to roast butternut squash. If you wish you can line the baking sheet with parchment paper, that will work just fine. Or, roast the squash sans parchment to get the edges a bit more browned.
How to Roast Butternut Squash
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
Instructions
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Using a big knife, cut the squash in half
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Scoop out seeds and discard, or save for later use
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Rub inside and out of squash with coconut oil
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Place face down on a metal baking sheet
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Bake at 350°F for 40-60 minutes, or until tender
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Serve
Equipment
In my experience, butternut squash works incredibly well in recipes that call for pumpkin. I use these two members of the gourd family interchangeably in my recipes. It is often easier to find a ripe sugary butternut squash than it is to find a sweet pumpkin, though I do have great success with hokkaido pumpkins quite often.
Speaking of pumpkin, I’m often asked why canned pumpkin does not work in my pumpkin recipes. Unfortunately, numerous readers have reported that using canned pumpkin in my pumpkin dishes (I’ve created all of these recipes using fresh baked squash or pumpkin) yields an extremely watery, soupy result. So it’s best to stick with the exact recipe, or consider making an adapted version as a complete experiment, with an unpredictable result. You can learn how to roast a pumpkin on my site too!
Use butternut squash in the following easy paleo recipes that call for pumpkin, it will work very well!
