I see an acorn squash and I have immediate flashbacks to childhood when my mom would prepare them. On occasion. And also with lots of butter, lots of brown sugar, lots of maple syrup, and a healthy dose of pecans. And that was dinner.
Times have changed. Mom no longer believes that to be a healthy or acceptable dinner (somewhat unfortunately), and I don’t know that she has made acorn squash in years.
My point is, when I see an acorn squash, my initial thought is sweet…not savory.
This was the first acorn squash dish with which stepped out of the sweet zone and entered into savory. This is even almost a tease or a starter for the quickly approaching American Thanksgiving Day where surely many of you, dear readers, will enjoy stuffing…and turkey.
Both turkey and a stuffing-like filling are what go into these acorn squash halves. The flavors of apple and sage closely mimic those of a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Your home will waft with the flavors of the foodie holiday and you may just think you time-traveled a few weeks to November 24th, 2011.
Other than tasting great, smelling wonderful, combining some of fall’s best flavors, and offering up a rather impressive nutritional resume…these are also show-stopping in appearance. See?
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Sausage and Apple-Stuffed Acorn Squash as seen on Sunny Side Up In San Diego adapted from Food.com
2 large acorn squash, halved and seeded
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 clove of garlic, pressed
1/2 tsp ground sage, divided
3/4 lb Italian turkey sausage links, casings removed
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
4 oz mushrooms, chopped
1 apple, cored and chopped
1 cup panko crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine the melted butter, garlic, and 1/4 tsp sage. Brush the inside and outside of each squash with the butter mix. Place the squash on a cookie sheet, cut side up, and roast for 50-60 minutes, or until fork tender.
In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the sausage. When the sausage is browned, remove it from the pan and place on a paper towel lined plate, set aside. To the skillet add the onions, celery, and mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes. Add the apples and cook for another 2 minutes.
Return the sausage to the skillet then remove from heat. Season with 1/4 tsp sage, salt, and pepper. Stir in the panko and Parmesan. Add the egg and stir to combine.
Divide the stuffing evenly among the four squash halves. Return to the oven and bake for another 20 minutes. Yield: 4 servings.
Nutrition Information (per serving): 395 calories; 15.8 g. fat; 113 mg. cholesterol; 413 mg. sodium; 45.3 g. carbohydrate; 5.5 g. fiber; 23 g. protein
Result: These were wonderful and simple to make…and also extremely healthy and rich with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. I also love the moderate calories with the “perfect” distribution of fat, carbohydrate, and protein…while offering 5 1/2 grams of fiber! Hubby ate these and liked them, even though squash isn’t his favorite food 🙂 Enjoy!
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This weekly menu is a bit abbreviated because Friday morning I am heading to San Fran for the Foodbuzz Festival with lots of bloggie friends! I’m getting very excited!
Weekly Menu: October 30th-November 3rd
- Sunday: Vegetarian Chili
- Monday: leftovers
- Tuesday: Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice with Roasted Garlic Herb Foccacia
- Wednesday: leftovers
- Thursday: Spicy Peanut Noodles with Veggies and Chicken
We are carving pumpkins today and tonight is hockey. I need to grade lots of assignments and lesson plan, too 🙁
Question: Have you ever had acorn squash in a savory dish?
Be well,
I love acorn squash! Just like you, I usually had it with maple syrup. I cannot wait to try this dinner.
Savory stuffed squash is amazing…and it’s been way too long since I’ve made it — thanks for the reminder on how delicious it is! Hope you’re having a great weekend, and yay for your upcoming trip to the Foodbuzz festival!
I’m so glad you liked this savory version! Yes, it would be amazing with brown sugar and butter, but something about sausage and stuffing is just so delicious with the flesh of the squash. Beautiful picture too!! Makes me think I need to add this to this weeks menu plan!
I LOVE savory acorn squash, especially this one http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/recipe-acorn-squash-stuffed-with-bread-cheese-and-bacon-132068 . It’s a scaled-down version of Dorie Greenspan’s stuffed pumpkin, and great with whatever bread and cheese you have on hand (and the cream isn’t at all necessary).
I have made several things in the past few days using butternut squash but I have never had acorn squash. This looks like the perfect recipe to try it!
Have fun carving pumpkins today! Boo to the lesson planning and grading assignments 🙁
I too, think sweet when it comes to acorn squash. In fact, I think about sweet dishes when it comes to any kind of squash (minus spaghetti)! We carved pumpkins this weekend too hope you had fun!
I have 2 acorn in my potato drawer that I need to do something with!!! Your menu for the week looks greats, looking foeward to the spicy peanut noodles~
Oo these look really great! Like you, I’ve only ever had acorn squash with butter and maple syrup. I’d love to try this recipe, though. Thanks for sharing it!
I made this tonight. It was a big hit…absolutely delicious!
I made this tonight and just omitted the bread crumbs and cheese. It was delicious!
Mary, I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
mmm… I really need to make this 🙂
I am making this for dinner tonight (with a few variations), I will let you know how it goes!
I hope you enjoy it! Definitely a recipe we loved! 🙂
Anyone who has not tried this recipe yet NEEDS to make it!! It was absolutely delish!! Definitely going to be one of our new favourites! I made two major substitutions-instead of panko bread crumbs I used gluten free bread crumbs, and I also used jalapeno cheddar smokies instead of regular sausage. This was seriously so good! Thank you for the recipe!!
Looks great! Can this be made without the egg?
Absolutely!
These are delicious! I substitute almond meal for the panko and omit the cheese to make this recipe paleo friendly! Yummy!
Pam: Glad you enjoyed these! 🙂
I am doing a round-up of Thanksgiving Stuffing recipes on my Friday Five – Thanksgiving Stuffing addition and I featured your recipe as a little spin on the concept over at Feed Your Soul Too. – http://www.feedyoursoul2.com/2013/11/friday-five-thanksgiving-stuffing-addition.html
Made this tonight using the single acorn squash that grew in my garden over the summer and it was aMAZing. I will never use any other stuffed acorn squash recipe again! It was exactly what I was hoping for! Thanks!
Ashley, I’m so glad you also loved this recipe. It has everything going on – the meat + apple and sage…ahh. Love it! 🙂 Thanks much!
Made this tonight with a few tweaks (subbed celery for carrots because we had none and cooked a little differently). It was delicious, and my only complaint is burning my tongue from my impatience. Wonderful recipe, and I’ll be making it again!
XX,
S. Roderick
http://www.currenthabits.com
Haha, that’s too funny! Hope the tongue is okay 😛 Thanks, Shae (love the name!) 🙂
Thanks for posting this recipe! I’ve been looking for a savory stuffing for acorn squash for some time. The only change I’d make is to the roasting of the squash. Mine came out overdone and a bit limp. I would cut the roasting time to 30 minutes since they will continue to roast in the second round. Thanks again!
Made this tonight for dinner. Though time consuming, it was a relatively easy. Delicious combination of flavors. I added garlic to the stuffing and used fresh sage because I had it. Thank you for a fabulous, healthy recipe. Will definitely make it again.
I subbed the turkey sausage with chorizo sausage, regular breadcrumbs and used a pear instead of an apple….it was delicious!!! The chorizo gave it a little kick!
Wow, this was amazing. I was not able to go home for thanksgiving due to weather so I made this and it tasted like an entire holiday meal in just one dish. Very simple and straightforward. Will definitely make this for my family the next holiday meal.
Kenna, what a great comment. Made my day, thank you! 🙂
Well your recipe deserves the upmost quality of comments. Look forward to more recipes to give a try from you.
This was the best stuffed squash I have ever had — my husband commented on the complexity of flavors compared to recipes I have tried in the past. I never would have thought to add the egg, but it really makes a difference in the texture of the stuffing. Definitely will be making this again!
So glad you loved it, Deb!!
Plan on making this tonight! I love stuffed Squash ! Even tho it’s a vegetable and protein, I’m serving to my husband who is very hungry after a day of construction ! What would would think for a side dish ??
My brother and I just finished eating this for dinner tonight, and it was soooo good! I used onion powder and celery seed instead of the real things, though, because we both don’t like onions and I hate celery. 😛 Other than that, followed the recipe to a T! It has great flavor, very easy to make, and very fall-ish. Found it on Pinterest, and it’s definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing it!
This was very good and filling. Very easy to make ahead and finish when ready to enjoy.
Oh my goodness. I never comment on recipes but just finished this up for dinner and it was AMAZING. Will definitely make this again and share. Thanks so much for a phenomenal recipe!
Kerry, that’s awesome! Thanks for commenting – really appreciate it 🙂 I definitely need to make this again! STAT!
Also one to never really comment on a recipe but THIS IS AWESOME! Changed nothing, WOULDN’T change anything made a squash lover out of husband and kids and a few grandkids. Matter of fact serving this with a salad and onion Dill bread to company this evening.
Awesome thank you for a new addition to my fall menu
Robyn, thank you!!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed! It remains a favorite of mine, for sure. Perfect for fall 🙂
Hi Nicole
Loved your acorn squash recipe SO MUCH that I was hoping you’d have one a bit different for butternut squash.
Just FYI the acorn squash has been a HUGE hit for virtually every occasion plus with this family and friends.
Thanks, Robyn! I’m so glad the recipe has been such a hit with your family and friends! I don’t have anything similar for butternut squash, but that’s a great idea! I wish the holes in butternut squash allowed for more stuffing!!
Made these and they were great! A great change from the standard butter/brown sugar recipe! It was so yummy!
So glad you enjoyed them, Ruth! <3
I’m going to try this one! My brother brought a lot of acorn squash and I’ve been looking for recipes to use it for. Thank you so much for sharing!
Oh, wow! These look really good and I’m thinking of trying this recipe this week. Right at the moment, I just want to reach through my screen and shove two of those in my mouth. Great recipe, Nicole! I love it so much!
I love acorn squash and would like to try to cook it this way.Thanks!
Looks yummy and healthy at the same time! Id like to have this for dinner with my husband and kids, I hope its not too hard to prepare as I have experiences before preparing squash and its not super easy to make. Id like to add some more garlic for my own version.