There’s a new squash in town that everyone’s talking about, and that’s the honeynut squash. A smaller and slightly sweeter descendant of the butternut squash, it’s quickly become one of my favorite fall vegetables. And it makes an incredible side dish for your Thanksgiving table. This season, I’m all about high-impact, low effort dishes, and this one is no exception. With just 5 minutes of prep time, you’ll have a delicious and downright pretty side for your Thanksgiving or holiday table.
Watch the Video
Get some tips on how I cut and prepare the squash in the recipe video below.
Prep the Squash
Mixing Bowl | Cutting Board | Glass Spice Jar | Chef’s Knife | Dish Towel
While I prefer honeynut squash for this dish, you can use butternut squash, acorn squash or really any sort of pumpkin or squash. To start, slice off the stem at the top of the squash. Then cut the honeynut squash in half from tail to top, and scoop out and discard the seeds and pulp. Place the squash halves cut side up in a roasting pan.
Drizzle the squash with avocado oil or an olive oil that can take higher heat (avoid extra-virgin olive oil), and then sprinkle over salt and pepper or your seasoning blend of choice.
Add a small 2-inch sprig of rosemary to the cavity of each squash. Next, separate some sage leaves from their stems and add two to each half of the squash. I like to kind of press on the herbs and rub them around the cut side of the squash to release more of the flavors into the oil and help the herbs to crisp up.
Cook the Squash
Baking Pan | Dish Towel | Plates (similar) | Spoon
I promised this would be easy, and I’m going to deliver on that by telling you that you can just set the oven to 400 degrees, put the squash in the oven once it’s preheated, and walk away for the next 40 minutes. You don’t have to stress about this anymore—when it comes out, it’s done!
Serve the Squash
You can serve the squash straight from the roasting pan or individually plate them. Then you and your guests can just scoop out the insides at the table. The texture is so smooth and velvety, and the flavor is just the concentrated flavor of fall to me. That is the real lesson: You don’t have to over-engineer your fall ingredients. They can be just so delicious when prepared simply.
Let me know what you think of this dish in the comments!
Simply Roasted Honeynut Squash
Ingredients:
- 4 honeynut squash, stem removed, cut in half, seeds removed
- 8 small sections of fresh rosemary
- 10-14 small leaves of fresh sage
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 °F. Lay each half of squash face up in a sheet pan. Rub lightly with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, then arrange some of the rosemary and sage leaves on each piece.
- Roast in the oven on convection setting for 30-45 minutes until tender all the way through. Serve as-is or scoop the flesh out of the skin and serve in a bowl. Enjoy warm.
This sounds great! I will try it for Christmas – we don’t have to do anything for Thanksgiving. Our son-in-law does everything for Thanksgiving. That’s his only one meal every year but it is fabulous!