Healthy Butternut Squash Recipes (2024)

While I can’t deny my love for pumpkin and sweet potato recipes, there’s another orange veggie that commands my heart. Take one look at this extensive list of the best Butternut Squash Recipes, and you’ll quickly realize just how much I adore this healthy, nutty, and versatile vegetable.

Throughout my years of blogging, I’ve made it a point to create new and exciting healthy butternut squash recipes. Butternut squash makes an ideal side dish for family dinners and potlucks, a substantial addition to a main dish, and the most creamy and flavorful soups.

While the list below is full of delicious butternut squash recipes, I’m always looking for new ways to incorporate this tasty veggie (maybe I’ll create some mashed butternut squash recipes or a healthy butternut squash mac and cheese!). If there’s a recipe you’d like to see, always let me know in the comments section below.

Whether you’re a novice with butternut squash or its biggest fan, I know you’ll find a recipe you love on this list! I’ve included everything from salads to soups to pastas, and each one is filled with healthy ingredients and oodles of flavor.

What are the Health Benefits of Butternut Squash?

Butternut squash has numerous health benefits, especially vitamins and nutrients. It’s packed with vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, and disease-fighting antioxidants.

• Is butternut squash good for weight loss?When following a healthy recipe, butternut squash is good for weight loss. It’s low in calories and high in fiber, which helps keep you full.
• Is roasted butternut squash healthy? Roasted butternut squash is incredibly healthy! Roasting it is a great way to achieve delicious texture and flavor.

Do I Need to Peel Butternut Squash Before Roasting?

• You do not need to peel butternut squash before roasting, as long as you making a roasted whole butternut squash or whole squash halves. When a whole butternut squash is roasted, it’s easy to scoop the flesh from the peels prior to eating it.
• While the skin is edible, the texture is tough and not particularly enjoyable to eat, which is why most of these healthy butternut squash recipes utilize peeled butternut squash. If you are roasting diced butternut squash (versus a whole or halved squash), be sure to peel it first.

How to Cut Butternut Squash

I’ve found that using a vegetable peeler is the safest and easiest way to peel a butternut squash, and here’s how I do it:

1. For easy peeling, look for a squash with a long “neck”.
2. Cut off the top and bottom of the butternut squash with a sharp knife so that it’s easier to balance on your cutting board.
3. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin from the butternut squash. If you find a light, thin layer of flesh under the skin, you can leave it.
4. Cut the squash crosswise where the neck of the squash meets the rounder, base end. Stand each of the pieces upright on your cutting board and make a cut down the middle from top to bottom. You’ll now have 4 pieces.
5. Scoop out the seeds and stringy pieces and discard (or be industrious and clean and roast the squash seeds).
6. Lay your halves cut side down, and cut each into cubes o
7. That’s it!

For more specific tips and directions on how to peel and cut butternut squash for roasting, check out this post for Roasted Butternut Squash, which outlines the above steps in greater detail.

How do You Cook Butternut Squash?

• You can cook butternut squash in the oven, on the stove top, in the slow cooker, on the grill, and so many other ways!
• For these healthy butternut squash recipes, you’ll sauté it, roast it, puree it, slow cook it, or stuff it and bake it. Each cooking method yields unique and equally scrumptious results!

The Great Orange Vegetable Debate: Is Sweet Potato or Butternut Squash Better?

Both sweet potato and butternut squash are delicious, versatile ingredients that can be used in a myriad of recipes. It’s difficult to say which is better, which is why I enjoy both as a part of my diet.

• Sweet potatoes contain about double the calories of butternut squash, but they also have more fiber and protein. Win!
• Sweet potatoes cook more quickly than butternut squash, so they’re a better choice if you’re in a hurry. Also, win!

Recommended Tools for Making Butternut Squash Recipes

• All-purpose baking sheet. Ideal for roasting butternut squash.
• Vegetable peeler. Makes peeling butternut squash a breeze.
• Cutting board. It has so much room! This no-slip cutting board is also great.
• Sharp Chef’s Knife. This will make any and all chopping easier.

Now, let’s dive into those healthy butternut squash recipes!

Healthy Butternut Squash Soup Recipes

Some of my favorite butternut squash recipes are soup recipes! Whether it’s left in chunks or pureed, butternut squash is a flavor-packed powerhouse in soup.

• Crockpot Butternut Squash Soup
• Crockpot Lasagna Soup
• Butternut Squash Apple Soup with Sage Parmesan Croutons
• Minestrone Soup with Butternut Squash, Kale and White Beans

Savory Butternut Squash Recipes – Side Dishes

You may be familiar with roasted butternut squash brown sugar recipes that are extremely sweet, but you have to try these distinctly savory recipes! Each one is rich, autumnal, and deeply satisfying.

• Mashed Butternut Squash
• Roasted Butternut Squash
• Healthy Butternut Squash Casserole with Sausage and Sage Breadcrumbs
• Easy Roasted Butternut Squash Parmesan

Butternut Squash Main Dish Recipes

Yes, butternut squash can be a main dish! On this list, you’ll find recipes that will please every person at your table with their impressive flavors.

• Vegetarian Enchiladas with Butternut Squash and Black Beans
• Slow Cooker Risotto with Butternut Squash
• Quinoa Stuffed Butternut Squash with Cranberries and Kale
• Butternut Squash Spinach Enchiladas
• Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Pulled Pork Tacos
• Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole with Butternut Squash and Cranberries

Butternut Squash Salad Recipes

When you add butternut squash to a salad, it instantly becomes more filling. These recipes are great as a hearty side or as a healthy main dish that will keep you fuller longer.

• Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad
• Harvest Cobb Salad
• Maple Roasted Butternut Squash Freekeh Salad with Kale

Healthy Butternut Squash Pasta Recipes

These healthy butternut squash noodle recipes have TONS of glowing reviews! Readers love these restaurant-quality meals that can easily be made at home.

• Skillet Lasagna with Basil, Italian Sausage, and Butternut Squash
• One Pan Italian Sausage Butternut Squash Gnocchi

If you try one of these healthy butternut squash recipes, please let me know in the comments below. I always love hearing from you!