Stuffed Roasted Butternut Squash
The perfect vegan centerpiece main dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any holiday. Stuffed with super flavorful wild rice, cranberries, walnuts, and sage filling. Can be made up to 3 days ahead of time and warmed up before serving. Gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, dairy free.
The perfect vegan centerpiece main dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any holiday. Stuffed with super flavorful wild rice, cranberries, walnuts, and sage filling. Can be made up to 3 days ahead of time and warmed up before serving. Gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, dairy free.
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 butternut squash
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 carrots ( peeled and chopped)
- 2 stalks of celery ( chopped)
- 1 yellow onion ( chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic ( minced)
- 1/2 cup wild rice
- 1/2 cup white rice ((i used basmati))
- 1/2 cup walnuts ( chopped)
- 1 teaspoon fresh sage ( chopped)
- 1 recipe quick onion gravy ((optional for serving))
- Carbohydrate 37.5686779052577 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 1.2486301940285 g
- Fiber 5.03131008876253 g
- Protein 4.02806313458328 g
- Saturated Fat 0.184139581865794 g
- Serving Size 1 1 (depending on the size of your squash) (275g)
- Sodium 146.449010871674 mg
- Sugar 32.5373678164952 g
- Trans Fat 0.11133650081813 g
- Calories 161 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat your oven to 350F (180C).
- To make the butternut squash: Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out and discard the seeds, then put both halves on a baking tray, cut side up. Drizzle the olive oil on top of each squash and rub around to coat. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes until the squash is cooked and fork tender. The timing may vary a bit depending on the size of your squash. Be careful not to overcook the squash as it will still bake more when assembled and heated later on.
- Once baked, remove the squash from the oven. Let it cool enough so that you can handle it. Scoop out the flesh in the center of both squash halves, leaving about a 1-inch border all around. I like to score a line with the tip of my spoon 1-inch from the edges before I start scooping so I have a guide to follow. Set aside the scooped out squash flesh and chop it up.
- To make the stuffing: In the meantime when the squash is baking, you can prepare the stuffing. In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. When hot sauté the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic until the veggies soften and begin to brown. Add the wild rice and veggie broth to the pan, give it a stir, then cover and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes. Now add the white rice to the pan, cover, and continue to cook another 8 to 10 minutes until the rice has cooked and fully absorbed the broth.
- Add in the walnuts, dried cranberries, sage, thyme, salt, and pepper. When ready, add in the scooped out and chopped squash flesh. Stir well to combine.
- To stuff the squash: Pack in as much of the stuffing into both sides of the squash as you can. You will likely have leftovers, but I like to pack it in nice and firmly and make both sides heaping full. Pick up one squash half and flip it on top of the other. Use kitchen string to tie up the squash in 3 or 4 places holding it together. At this point you can choose to let it cool, cover with foil and store in the fridge for up to 3 days until ready to bake. Or you can bake it right away.
- When you are ready to bake, lightly brush the top with more olive oil. Bake for 20 to 35 minutes until hot all the way through. Season the top with cracked pepper, and a sprinkle of chopped sage. The slices are tender and will easily fall apart, to help hold them together use a wide spatula, and carefully transfer them to the plate. Serve hot with Quick Onion Gravy.
Golden-brown squash walls cradle a steaming, savory core of wild rice, toasted walnuts, and tart cranberries, held together by kitchen string and sliced into neat rounds. Do not swap the wild rice for pure white varieties without adjusting the liquid ratio; wild rice requires structural integrity and specific moisture absorption that quick-cooking grains lack. Scoring a one-inch border with a spoon before scooping prevents the walls from puncturing during the excavation phase. Roasting the halved squash cut-side up at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for sixty to seventy-five minutes concentrates the sugars while leaving enough structural firmness to withstand the secondary baking phase. If the squash feels mushy at the initial fork-tender check, pull it immediately from the oven because trapped heat will continue softening the flesh on the counter. When tying the two halves back together with kitchen string, space the twine evenly across three or four points to distribute the weight of the dense filling. Assembled squash can sit in the refrigerator for up to three days before receiving its final thirty-minute heat through in the oven.
