How To Roast Butternut Squash

Now that it’s winter squash season, it’s time to learn how to roast butternut squash perfectly in the oven! Whether you are baking butternut squash halves to use in another recipe or as butternut squash cubes to serve as a comforting side dish, it’s one of the easiest methods you can do.

Every fall I go apple picking at a local apple orchard. During this time they’re also hosting their fall festival where it’s winter squash galore inside their shop.

That also marks the beginning of butternut squash season as it’s my favorite fall vegetable. Now to start brainstorming on which recipes to make first.

But before I get into specific butternut squash recipes, we need to talk about how to actually prepare butternut squash.

Have you ever come across a recipe where it calls for cooked butternut squash but doesn’t tell you how to actually cook it?

I was making my butternut squash lasagna when I realized I should do a quick tutorial on how to roast butternut squash and how to roast butternut squash seeds (also coming soon).

After all, you found my how to cut cabbage tutorial very helpful, so I wrote one about winter squash complete with step-by-step photos.

In fact, roasting butternut squash is very similar to making my stuffed butternut squash but without the filling.

And it’s not only for butternut squash! You can use this easy technique for other winter squash such as acorn or spaghetti.

And honestly you don’t even need to use it up in a secondary recipe. Roast your squash with some olive oil and seasonings then eat it as an easy fall side dish alongside some turkey tenderloin or even stuffed Cornish hen for your Thanksgiving for two.

What is butternut squash?

Butternut squash is a variety of winter squash with a sweet, nutty flavor that’s shaped similar to a bottle with a long neck and round bottom.

When you cook it, you eat the orange flesh on the inside but not the tan skin on the outside.

The flavor is very similar to eating canned pumpkin and can often be swapped with each other when making small pumpkin pie or pumpkin mac and cheese.

Ingredients For Roasted Butternut Squash

To make baked butternut squash, you only need a few ingredients:

• Butternut squash: Any size or shape will do but the larger the squash, the longer the bake time. You can also use this same method with other winter squash such as acorn.
• Olive oil: Because you aren’t using many ingredients, I highly recommend using a good quality olive oil. But if budget is an issue, you can also use vegetable oil. It’ll have less flavor, but you can easily make up for that with spices.
• Salt: You need salt to bring out the sweetness of the squash. I highly recommend using kosher or sea salt, but you can use table salt as well.
• Other seasonings: Depending on how you’re serving your squash, you can also add other spices such as onion powder, garlic powder, or even fajita seasoning.

Do I need to peel butternut squash before roasting?

The skin on butternut squash isn’t edible, which begs the question – do you have to peel it?

The answer is – it depends.

If you’re roasting winter squash halves, you don’t need to peel as you’ll be scooping out the orange flesh when cooked.

However if you’re roasting cubes, you do need to peel ahead of time to make preparation easier.

How To Roast Butternut Squash Halves

There are two ways you can make oven roasted butternut squash: either as halves or as cubes. The concept is the same but with slightly different preparation.

First I’m going to focus on butternut squash halves:

Cut off the ends of your squash then cut it vertically down the middle. You will need a strong, sturdy knife for this.

If you’re having trouble cutting through, prick your squash all over with a fork then microwave for 2-3 minutes or until soft enough to cut.

Scoop out the seeds and save them for roasting.

Brush each half (cut side up) with olive oil then sprinkle with salt and other desired seasonings.

Bake at 400F for 30-45 minutes or until soft and fork-tender. Time will vary depending on how big your squash is. If it’s huge, you may even need to go longer.

Cool completely then either eat as is or use as directed in another recipe.

How To Roast Butternut Squash Cubes

Roasting buttersquash cubes is very similar to roasting halves with a few additional steps:

Peel the squash as the skin is inedible. It’s much easier to do this with whole squash before cutting it.

Cut squash in half vertically.

Scoop out the seeds and save for another use, such as roasting.

Dice each half into roughly 1-inch cubes. It’s ok if they’re not perfectly squared since you have to cut where the seeds were. Do your best making them roughly the same size for even cooking.



Toss with olive oil, salt, and other seasonings as desired.

Bake at 400F for 30-45 minutes or until soft and fork-tender.

Whichever method you choose, leftover baked squash can be refrigerated for up to 4 days. This is very useful for meal planning since winter squash can take awhile to prep.

Butternut Squash Recipes

So you have a pan of oven roasted butternut squash. Now what?

If you’re looking to do more than simply eat it with a fork, here are some deliciously comforting butternut squash recipes:

• Butternut Squash Alfredo
• Butternut Squash Crumble
• Butternut Squash Noodles by Foxes Love Lemons
• Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup by Foxes Love Lemons
• Butternut Squash Enchiladas by Two Peas and Their Pod