Perfectly Roasted Butternut Squash is an easy, healthy way to prepare butternut squash! This easy method for preparing butternut squash is great to eat alone as a healthy side dish or to use in salads.
If you love Butternut Squash, you will love Parmesan Baked Butternut Squash, Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup, or Butternut Squash Chili.
Roasted Butternut Squash
Nothing beats perfectly roasted butternut squash.
As the butternut squash roasts in the oven, it becomes tender on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside. The oven caramelizes the squash, bringing out it’s natural sweet undertones and ultimately intensifies the nutty, earthy flavor of butternut squash.
Roasted Butternut Squash is a delicious, healthy side dish, but it also makes a great addition to salads and rice bowls.
Frankly, the roasted squash rarely makes it off the sheet pan, because no one can stop munching on it!
Pro Tips for Roasting Butternut Squash
To Cut or Not to Cut
Let me be honest with you. I LOVE to save money and help you save money, so rarely would I ever suggest purchasing pre-chopped veggies.
The exception to this rule is butternut squash.
More often than not, I can purchase 36 ounces of chopped butternut squash for the same price I can purchase one 4 pound butternut squash, which equates out to about the same amount of cubed squash once peeled, stemmed, and seeds removed. And friends, it takes WORK to cut a butternut squash! So unless you have them growing in your garden, this is one time I suggest taking a little help from the store. But I have included instructions on how to cut the squash if needed.
Baking Materials
- Baking Sheet: I can not stress enough the importance of a rimmed baking sheet. This may sound obvious, but take it from me, you don’t want a piece of butternut squash to fall off your baking sheet into your hot oven–what a mess! Those rimmed edges let you move your pan around with ease and flip the squash without worry one piece will go overboard!
- Parchment Paper: Because butternut squash’s natural sugars caramelize as it roasts, it can easily stick to the pan. The parchment paper will help keep the squash from sticking to the pan, while not requiring as much oil as most recipes call for. Feel free to use a silcone liner or foil in place of the parchment paper, but do not use wax paper (it is not safe for the oven!) Alternatively, you can just grease the baking sheet or toss your squash with 1/2 tablespoon more olive oil.
Oven Temperature
It is best to roast vegetables at a high temperature that will allow their outside to crisp up. But you want to be sure that the oven is not too hot–that would result in the outside of the squash being cooked before the inside is nice and tender.
I find roasting butternut squash at 400 degrees results in perfection.
Important tip: Be sure your oven is fully pre-heated before placing squash in the oven! The rapid heating of the oven, will result in the squash browning too rapidly.
How to Roast Butternut Squash
Step One: Peel and Chop Butternut Squash
- Cut off both ends of the butternut squash.
- Use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin off a butternut squash.
- Cut the squash in half, separating the skinny neck of the squash from the thick round, bottom of the butternut squash.
- Cut the bottom of the squash in half to reveal the seeds in the squash, use a large spoon to scoop out the seeds from the squash.
- Cut the squash into 1 inch cubes.
Step Two: Season Butternut Squash
- Season the squash with olive oil, salt and pepper. This is where you can change up the seasonings if you would like. You can add in things like cinnamon, thyme, paprika, etc.
Step Three: Roast Butternut Squash
- Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Roast for 20 minutes and then flip over. Roast for at least another 20 minutes, or until squash is tender and browned slightly.
How to Serve Roasted Butternut Squash
This squash is delicious served alone as a side dish but is also great in salads or rice bowls. Try this squash in these recipes:
Variations for Roasted Butternut Squash
Change up this basic roasted butternut squash recipe with the following flavor additions to the squash before roasting.
- Thyme Butternut Squash: add 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
- Cinnamon Brown Sugar Butternut Squash: add 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Maple Butternut Squash: add 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- Garlic Butternut Squash: add 5-7 whole cloves of peeled garlic cloves
- Spiced Butternut Squash: add 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder.
Recipes for Roasted Vegetables
Roasted Butternut Squash
Ingredients
- 1 medium butternut squash about 4 pounds, or 36 ounces chopped butternut squash
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or grease the pan well with olive oil.
- Peel and cut the squash into 1 inch cubes.
- Season the squash with olive oil, salt and pepper. Feel free to add in seasonings of your choice at this step.
- Roast for 20 minutes, remove pan from oven and flip the squash over. Roast for at least another 20 minutes, or until squash is tender and browned slightly.
Notes
- A huge time saving tip is to purchase cubed butternut squash from your produce section (not the frozen cubed squash.) Often it is not only a time saver, but the difference in cost is negligible.
- Be sure to use a rimmed baking sheet to prevent butternut squash falling into a hot oven and burning.
- Parchment paper really helps to prevent the squash from sticking to the pan, but you can toss with an additional 1/2 tablespoon olive oil or line your baking sheet with a silicone liner instead.
- Be sure your oven is fully pre-heated before placing squash in the oven! The rapid heating of the oven, will result in the squash browning too rapidly.
- For Different Flavor Varieties:
- Thyme Butternut Squash: add 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
- Cinnamon Brown Sugar Butternut Squash: add 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Maple Butternut Squash: add 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- Garlic Butternut Squash: add 5-7 whole cloves of peeled garlic cloves
- Spiced Butternut Squash: add 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder.
Kristen Chidsey
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