The other day, I wrote about how awesome acorn squash is. You didn’t think I’d leave you high and dry without a stuffed squash recipe, DID YOU?
Didn’t think so.
This is quite possibly my new favorite fall recipe. It’s so filling, satisfying, and full of health-promoting ingredients! I’ll probably be making many more of these stuffed squashes throughout the fall & winter. I can’t wait. My stomach is growling just thinking about it. I don’t know about you, but I only eat healthy food that tastes incredibly amazing. Why waste your time eating boring food?!
Also, this is a fantastic option for a vegetarian or vegan Thanksgiving.
Ingredients (serves 2 as a meal):
- 1 large acorn squash
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Sea salt & pepper to taste
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1/2 yellow onion
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms (any variety)
- 1/2 package organic tempeh OR 1/2 cup chickpeas (your choice)
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1/3 cup pine nuts (substitute options: pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds)
- A few splashes of tamari (wheat-free soy sauce)
- A sprinkle of cayenne
- A sprinkling of sage on top
Pre-heat oven to 400. Cut your acorn squash in half length-wise and scoop out the seeds.
Brush the squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in a lightly oiled baking dish and pop into the oven. Bake for 1 hour.
While squash is baking, prepare the stuffing!
Cook quinoa.
Add onions, mushrooms, garlic and tempeh or chickpeas to a pan with either a tiny bit of oil or just a little water and a few splashes of tamari, and a sprinkling of cayenne. Cook until onions are translucent & all ingredients are starting to brown up a bit.
Add cooked quinoa to onion mixture in pan and mix thoroughly. Remove from heat and put into a large bowl.
Add raisins, basil and pine nuts to the quinoa mixture and stir well.
After 45 minutes, remove the squash from the oven and stuff with the stuffing. Cook another 15 minutes with stuffing inside.
When squash is very soft when pierced with a fork, and starts to turn a little golden brown around the edges, you’re ready to eat! Top with sage.
Option – if you eat cheese, you could add a little bit of goat cheese to the top.
When you eat, make sure to get some squash in each forkful (just the inside, yellow part). Oh, and you WILL have extra stuffing. Not a bad thing. :)
I LOVE FALL!
Joanne Tucker says
Hey Jenny,
I’ve been trying some of your recipes…I just printed this one out…Is there a “printable” version of the recipes you post? Just ‘cuz this one took 8 pages – not that handy when one’s actually cooking! If there IS a printable one, I’ve overlooked it. And if there’s not, well, here’s a suggestion for the ol’ suggestion box!
I know Jeanette enjoys your articles, too.
Have a good one, Aunt Joanie
jenny sansouci says
Hi Aunt Joanie! Yes – at the bottom of each article, right above the comment section, there is a button that says “Print Friendly.” You can click on that and it will remove the images and condense the article. Glad you are trying the recipes!!
Joanne Tucker says
AHHH!!! Guess I’m getting blind in my old age!!
Thanks, Jenny…And keep up the good work!
Aunt Joanie
Severn says
Making this tonight! Thanks for the recipe, always looking for yummy ways to cook squash this time of year!
Melinda Plummer says
Thanks for sharing this Jenny, I think I’ll try this for Thanksgiving, been looking for some healthy side-dishes for the holidays.
I’m also an IINer : ) feel free to stop by my blog, I mostly blog about life & matters of the heart. http://www.lifesourceintervention.com. I will be stopping by your site frequently to see what else you have that’s good to incorporate into my Thanksgiving menu.
~Happy Harvest~
rebecca says
hey j – If I substitute with a butternut squash, would that still work or is that too big? I only ask because I have one at home and dont know what to do with it! Let me know what you suggest.
Joanne Tucker says
Hi again, Jenny…I’m making this again, and, as you commented, there is leftover stuffing. Is the quinoa stuffing freeze-friendly? (Ha! Spell-check doesn’t recognize “quinoa”!)
jenny sansouci says
Hi! Sorry for the late reply, but yes, I’m sure you can probably freeze it! Worth a try…
emily bautista says
How many calories do you think are in this meal? Do you offer nutrient facts on your recipes? Thanks!
jenny sansouci says
Hi, Emily! I’d have no idea how to estimate calories, sorry! And no, I don’t offer nutrient facts. I’m not much of a calorie counter / nutrient counter, I just try to cook with whole foods and natural ingredients.
Tony M says
Hi, I went on to SparkPeople and figured out the Nutritional Data for this, and since Emily asked, I figured I would post it. I used Pumpkin Seeds instead of Pine Nuts, and I used Chick Peas.
Nutrition Facts
2 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 722.8
Total Fat 15.8 g
Saturated Fat 1.4 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.6 g
Monounsaturated Fat 5.6 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 78.9 mg
Potassium 486.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate 131.3 g
Dietary Fiber 14.6 g
Sugars 22.5 g
Protein 21.4 g
Enjoy, we are having this tonight!!!
roxanne says
If you figured out the calories and nutrition from the recipe, your figures might be off. There is extra stuffing that wouldn’t be eaten in the serving. I guess you would have to figure out how many servings of stuffing the recipe makes and then subtract calories, fat, carbs to adjust.
Ayanna says
Im a first time visitor and found your recipe while googling stuffed squash. Anywhos, this was simply amazing. Made it last night and it immediately made it to my Thanksgiving menu (I know I’m early). Thanks for sharing!!
Savannah says
Hi! This looks amazing & I can’t wait to try it! One question: In your article on Acorn Squash, it says to cook at 400 for 35 mins. In this recipe, it says 400 for 45 mins (and that’s before stuffing and cooking an additional 15 mins – 1hr total). Is there a reason for the extended cooking time for this recipe? Thanks!
jenny sansouci says
I hadn’t ever made acorn squash before when I wrote the original acorn squash article. so this one is more accurate. :)
Bambi says
This was great!!! Just made it for dinner i used pecans instead of the pine nuts (cause that’s what i had on hand;) ) This will be making the holidays menu for sure!! Loved it!
Laura says
Wow! I made this recipe tonight and it was delicious!!! I have 3 children, but only one of them is a foodie. He is 9 years old and he loved it! We tried it with the goat cheese and we really loved it! I am definitely going to make this again. Thank you!
Julieanne says
I’m currently eating this now and the quinoa tastes amazing! I used chickpeas, pine nuts, add a bit of cheese on top, but omitted the tamari sauce. I love the flavoring of a bit spicy but sweet from the raisins. I think I’m going to add this to my Thanksgiving menu.
Christina says
Hi! I was just looking online for a vegetarian acorn squash meal and this on popped up. I have 3 young boys and all are fairly picky – one loved it and the other 2 didn’t hate it! (that’s pretty good at our house) I think they might have liked it more if I used the chick peas instead of tempeh. I would like to print it, but the “Printer Friendly” button doesn’t seem to be working!
Please help!
Thank You! (also a fellow IIN grad :))
jenny sansouci says
Hi Christina! The Printer Friendly button is working on my end. Maybe try using a different browser and trying again. Good luck!
Meghan says
Tried this tonight, and it was amazing. I didn’t do the goat cheese, and really didn’t think it needed it, although I did add more salt after serving. And I have to also say, it made a ton of food! We couldn’t finish it, although it will make for awesome leftovers. A great dish for vegans, thanks!
Kayla Joy says
My husband and I are vegan and I made this tonight. It was sooooo good! Thank you for the amazing recipe!
Kate says
Hello! I would love to make this recipe for some friends coming over for dinner. You mentioned there is extra stuffing with the recipe provided. How many squashes will the stuffing recipe fill with all the extras? Not sure if I should double or triple the recipe. Any suggestions would be awesome. Thanks!
kelly says
I happened upon this recipe when I was looking to try something other than maple syrup on my acorn squash. This recipe is delicious!!! Thank you so much =) I hope you are still active on this blog because I am about to look at all of your stuff!