Winter Squash Recipes

Feb 11

I absolutely love winter squash! My favorites are the varieties with dense, rich, bright orange flesh; in my opinion, they’re the best. Many homesteaders (myself included) sing the praises of winter squash for its nutrition, storability, and versatility. It provides a high calorie yield with minimal effort, and as a bonus, it can be used as excellent livestock feed too.

That's all well and good, but how do you actually eat all that squash you grew? Many of us grew up with pumpkin pie as our only reference for a pumpkin dish, and the idea of eating 10-50 squash in a year can seem crazy! I am here to tell you that there is a whole wonderful winter squash world just waiting for you to explore.

Here are some of my all-time favorite recipes. I hope you give them a try and enjoy them as much as I do.

P.S. If you have a favorite winter squash recipe, send it my way. I’d love to try it!

Canning Squash Puree

Not really a recipe in the way the rest of these are, but it’s a great way to start and prep some of your winter squash for easier meals and baking down the road! I usually only can immature, wounded, or starting to get funky squash and let the rest sit on the shelf as long as possible!

DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte “Syrup”

Yes, I am a basic millennial white girl, and I LOVE a Pumpkin Spice Latte! I do not however love the overly sweet, fake pumpkin spice drinks in most shops (or the $$$ yikes!) so making my own is essential and really simple! I especially enjoy brewing up a cup of my favorite coffee alternative, adding a dose of cream, my home made psl syrup, and an egg yolk. Blending that all together, bliss!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut sugar, honey, or maple syrup.

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup pumpkin puree (home made or shop bought)

2 TBSP Vanilla Extract

1 TBSP Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/4 tsp Salt

Method:

In a medium saucepan, combine the water and sugar heating gently until completely dissolved. Add remaining ingredients and whisk or blend to combine. Optionally pass this thru a fine sieve to remove any clumps. Put your mixture into a clean glass jar with a tight fitting lid and refrigerate for up to a month. Make sure to shake it up good before each use!

French Pumpkin Soup :

The (ex)Expatriate's Kitchen: French Heirloom Pumpkin Soup is my absolute favorite (my only change is I don’t use parsley and I usually sub garlic for leeks), but I also like to switch it up and make a curry version by following the same recipe but switching the called for herbs for 3 teaspoons curry powder, 1 teaspoon ginger powder, and 1 can of coconut milk. This is a great basic soup template and you can really customize it to your hearts content! Try serving it with toasted cheesy bread and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Winter Squash Sheet Pan:

Sheet Pan meals are my jam! You can literally toss whatever you have onto a pan with a little oil, some salt and pepper, roast it at 425 for about 30-45 minutes, just until its a little crispy in places, and its amazing! One of my favorite things is to take some butternut (or any winter squash will do) cubes with some sausage or cured bacon, maybe some diced potatoes, and beets, toss it all together with a little bacon grease (or whatever oil you like) and bake it. So simple, so delicious.

Pumpkin Gnocchi:

An incredibly simple and delicious pasta, you can follow this beet gnocchi tutorial I made and simply swap winter squash puree in for the beets!

Sweet Breakfast Squash:

If you grew a smaller winter squash like acorn or delicata, those work especially well here! I also take wedges of my larger winter squash varieties and use in this recipe as well, so its really flexible.

Ingredients:

Winter Squash, halved and seeds removed or skinned and sliced about 1 inch thick.

Butter or coconut oil, melted.

Cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.

A little sugar, maple syrup, or honey to sweeten.

A Pinch of Salt (or just use salted butter)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400f. Prep your squash and rub down with melted oil. Sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon and just a pinch of salt if needed (optionally for a sweeter treat mix the cinnamon with some brown sugar). Bake for about 45 minutes, until fork tender. Let it cool down for about 10 minutes and serve with yogurt or ricotta. A scoop of granola also fits in nicely here if you’d like.

Hash:

A hash is a humble yet mighty dish made of finley diced or minced meats and vegetables. It is a great way to make use of odds and ends from the cellar, garden, or fridge. Here is a great sample hash recipe using butternut squash, apples, and sausages, but once you have the basic idea your options for customization are limitless! Butternut Squash and Apple Hash with Sausage

Master Muffin Mix:

Last but not least, my muffin recipe. This is super customizable (do you sense a theme…) and pumpkin puree is a fantastic addition!

Ingredients:

3 cups (375g) flour, I like to use fresh milled soft white wheat, or spelt, a whole wheat pastry flour and all purpose also work well but all purpose white flour you will need to add a bit more than whole wheat and fresh milled options.

1 1/4tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1-3 tsp optional spices to taste (pumpkin pie in this case)

1/2 cup melted oil of choice (butter and coconut oil are my two favorites here)

1 1/3 cup cultured dairy of choice (yogurt, whey, buttermilk, sour cream etc…)

to make this pumpkin muffins, sub 1/3 -2/3 cup of the dairy for an equal portion of pumpkin puree, do the same thing with banana or apple sauce too!

1 cup coconut sugar (or other brown sugar) (add more or less to taste)

1 tsp vanilla, optional

2 large eggs

1-2 cups add-ins - Chocolate chips, chopped nuts, poppy seeds, apples, blueberries etc…