Baked Butternut Squash in the Oven

Learn how to bake tender flavorful butternut squash halves in the oven the easy way! Whether you want to season your baked butternut squash with savory or sweet toppings, it's a Whole Lotta Yum!

You will love this butternut squash oven recipe!

Baked butternut squash halves in the oven turn out sweet and tender, plus they're a healthy comfort food dish that's perfect for fall. They have a rich, nutty taste that goes great whether you want to make it a savory or sweet dish.

• Perfect Texture: Get perfect fork-tender result every time.
• Learn our squash slicing hack! Cutting the raw squash is always the hardest part, learn our simple hack for making this step easier!
• Versatile: Our recipe gives you both sweet or savory seasoning ideas
• Super healthy!

It's also totally delicious roasted and then turned into our butternut squash soup with curry and coconut or pureed with butter and cream to make mashed butternut squash.

Ingredient notes

We're showing you how to make this with simple seasonings like butter (or oil), salt, and pepper, you can try our sweet version with a touch of maple and balsamic, or savory with garlic and herbs added!

The recipe calls for a total of 4 tablespoon of butter and olive oil. It is totally fine to cut this back in half or even more! We make the full-fat recipe when we're craving indulgent fall comfort food or for holidays, but come January, we might be adding all of the seasonings but just using a drizzle of oil!

• butternut squash
• butter
• olive oil extra virgin
• fine sea salt
• coarse ground black pepper

** Please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the exact quantities **

Supplies

• Rimmed baking pan like a large sheet pan or a 9x13 pan

How to Cook Butternut Squash in the Oven

A quick overview, you remove the seeds and membrane, cut it into halves, cubes, or slices, season it, and then bake.

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 2: Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise. With a spoon, scoop out the seeds and pulp from the inside.

Step 3: Lay the squash on a baking sheet and spread the squash halves with softened butter and a drizzle of olive oil.

Step 4: Sprinkle the top of each half with the salt and pepper.

Step 5: Place 1 tablespoon of butter inside each squash cavity. You can skip this for a lighter dish!

Step 6: Roast for 45-60 minutes, or until the squash flesh can easily be pierced with a fork. The baking time will vary depending on the size of the squash you're using.

Recipe Tips

• Butternut squash varies greatly in weight, length, and width. You can either buy one large squash to share with multiple people or you can buy multiple smaller ones.
• Slicing the raw squash halves is often the hardest part! A quick tip to make this easier is to first microwave your squash whole for 2-3 minutes to soften up the exterior. This makes it much easier to cut! Proceed with the rest of the recipe.

How to Serve

• Serve it as a side dish with roasted, air fried or grilled meats such as chicken, pork or beef.
• Purée: Use it in squash soup, to make baby food (make it without oil) or use it as a base for pasta sauce like combining it with Alfredo sauce.
• Salads: Add it warm to a salad like we did with our roasted beet salad or make a grain bowl like our vegan Mediterranean bowl.
• Side dish: Make mashed or pureed butternut squash with butter, cream, and seasonings to serve as a side dish.
• Main Dishes: Add to a casserole of use them in tacos or burritos
• Pasta Dishes: make a ravioli filling
• Breakfast: Puree the squash and use it in protein pancakes or smoothies.

Storage and reheating

• Store: Let the squash cool to room temperature. Transfer to an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.
• Freezing: Let it cool completely to room temp. Place cooled squash pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze until solid (about 1-2 hours). This prevents the pieces from sticking together. Once frozen, transfer the pieces to freezer-safe bags or containers, removing as much air as possible.
• Reheating: You can microwave the leftovers on medium meat for 2-3 minutes. To reheat in the oven, preheat your oven to 350 F. Place defrosted squash on the baking sheet and bake it for 15-20+ minutes or until it's heated through, flipping after halfway. how long to reheat it depends on whether you're cooking squash halves, slices, or cubes.

More Squash Recipes

• Honey roasted carnival squash
• Maple roasted butternut squash and Brussel sprouts
• Air fryer spaghetti squash
• Acorn squash in the microwave
• Instant Pot spaghetti squash

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