Pureed butternut squash makes for a delicious, savory, and healthy side dish. This yummy recipe is gluten free, low carb, keto friendly, and delicious! It will quickly become a favorite in your household and have you saying, it's a WHOLE LOTTA YUM!
Squash is one of those foods I didn't give a chance until I became an adult, and man was I missing out! It is so versatile, affordable and delicious! Now that I am a mom, my baby LOVES this homemade pureed butternut squash recipe.
Now that I've opened my horizons up to the possibility of squash I am obsessed with recipes like this. Do you also love healthy squash recipes? Be sure to try our Honey roasted carnival squash and Maple roasted butternut squash and Brussel sprouts.
Why You'll Love This!
- With a prep time of just 20 minutes and a cook time of 1 hour, mashed butternut squash is one of the easiest sides you can make. Just leave it to cook, come back and quickly prepare your healthy and savory puree.
- This recipe is great because it tastes good and is already gluten free, keto friendly, low carb, and can easily be made vegan and dairy free with one easy substitute.
- The whole recipe needs just 5 ingredients!
Ingredient Notes
Be sure to adjust the quantities if you are using less than 2 lbs of butternut squash.
- Butter- If you prefer not to use butter, olive oil or vegan plant based margarine makes a great substitute.
- Almond Milk- Any milk, or milk substitute can be used in this recipe. Our top choices are unsweetened almond milk, or whole milk. But you can also opt for a heavy cream to make it keto friendly, oat milk, or other milk of choice.
- Seasoning - feel free to switch up the seasoning to a seasoning of your choosing. there are many fresh herbs that pair well with butternut squash. Much like mashed potatos, butternut squash is versatile. Cinnamon is one that we find especially delicious.
- Sweetener- If you prefer your pureed squash on the sweet side, you can add 1-2 tablespoon sweetener like honey, maple syrup, or monk fruit for sugar-free/low carb) + ¼ teaspoon cinnamon.
** Please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the exact quantities **
Diet Adaptions
- Vegan/Whole30/Dairy Free- You can omit the butter and opt to use olive oil or vegan plant based margarine for a vegan friendly adaption
- Gluten Free- This recipe is gluten free!
- Keto- This recipe is already keto friendly using butter and unsweetened almond milk. You can also use heavy cream in lieu of almond milk!
How to Make Mashed Butternut Squash
Prep Ingredients
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Wash the butternut squash, cut it lengthwise, and with a spoon remove the seeds and membrane. Place the squash halves cut side up on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush the squash with melted butter or olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake
Place baking sheet on center rack and bake for 1 hour or until the squash is very tender when pierced with a fork. While you CAN eat undercooked squash I certainly don't recommend it. It will lead to difficulties mashing it, and fully cooking the butternut squash brings out the desired flavor and texture.
Mix Ingredients
Once cooked, remove the pan from oven. Using a spoon, scoop out the softened squash and add it to a large mixing bowl. With an electric mixer, hand mixer, or potato masher, mix the butternut squash until it's smooth. Once the pureed butternut squash is smooth, mix in the milk or cream, and the rest of the melted butter. At this time you can also add more salt and pepper to taste. You can sprinkle your squash with cinnamon if desired, and garnish with chopped chives or other fresh herbs. Enjoy!
Recipe notes
- Squash, like other grown foods, are not all the same size. This recipe is for a 2lb squash. If your squash is smaller or you are using multiple smaller squash try reducing your cook time by 15 minutes. Use a fork to check for desired doneness.
- Generously glazing your squash with butter helps to put flavor into your squash, as well as helps it to have a creamy texture after cooking.
- Cooking your squash face up prevents getting a golden brown crisped layer on your squash. Often spaghetti squash is cooked face down, but that is not the case when making pureed butternut squash.
Common Questions
Pureed butternut squash makes for an excellent side served with turkey or chicken. (A keto friendly thanksgiving anyone?) Really you can have this butternut squash in the place of any meal you'd pair with mashed potatoes.
Pureed or mashed butternut squash can last for 7-10 days in the refrigerator if stored in an airtight container. Or you can freeze it for up to 6 months.
To puree butternut squash for a baby, cook the squash in the oven, scoop out squash into a bowl, and mix or mash the squash with seasoning and milk. Be sure to talk with your pediatrician about what is best for your baby. This blogger's baby was a big fan of our pureed butternut squash recipe!
More Squash Recipes
- Honey roasted carnival squash
- Maple roasted butternut squash and Brussel sprouts
- Air fryer butternut squash
- Pressure cooker spaghetti squash
Come connect with us on Instagram! Be sure to tag us (wholelotta.yum) when you make a recipe. You can also find us on Facebook, and Pinterest.
Pureed Butternut Squash
Ingredients
- 4 lb butternut squash
- ½ cup butter, divided
- ¼ cup almond milk
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Wash the butternut squash, cut it lengthwise, and with a spoon remove the seeds and membrane.
- Place the squash halves cut side up on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush the squash with melted butter or olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Bake for 1 hour or until the squash is very tender when pierced with a fork.
- Scoop out the softened squash and add it to a large mixing bowl.
- With an electric mixer, hand mixer, or potato masher, mix the butternut squash until it's smooth.
- Add in the milk or cream, plus the rest of the melted butter. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired. Garnish with chopped chives or other fresh herbs. Enjoy!
Notes
To make a sweet version, add 1-2 tablespoon sweetener (such as honey, maple syrup, or golden monk fruit) and ¼ teaspoon cinnamon.
This recipe will work for any variety of squash such as acorn, carnival, kabocha, or delicata squash.
Using a food processor or high speed blender is handy to get that smooth puree, but you can mash the butternut squash with a fork too.
Nutrition Information
Yield 10 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 155Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 24mgSodium 110mgCarbohydrates 19gNet Carbohydrates 13gFiber 6gSugar 4gProtein 2g
The nutrional information is just an estimate and was calculated by an automated calculator. If you're on a restricted health program please manually calculate this information using the brands of ingredients you have since brands can vary.
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