How to Roast Acorn Squash
Cook time: 35 minutes (once oven is preheated)
This post is about how to cook acorn squash by using one of my favorite techniques – roasting. To roast is just to cook with dry heat, which helps us get some nice browning with minimal effort. Roasting is a great way to cook cruciferous vegetables (think cauliflower and Brussels sprouts), root vegetables (think carrots and potatoes), and winter squash. If you weren’t thinking it already, when you think winter squash think acorn squash.
All you need to successfully learn how to cook acorn squash by roasting is: an acorn squash, a good knife, a bit of oil, and oven (duh!) and a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. I like to line the baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean up. I believe that if you cook every day, you should really do your own dishes. “I cooked, you clean” really only applies to holiday meals and dinner parties – because those meals can be a lot of work.
Servings/Suggestions
Roasted acorn squash is great on its own. I would recommend sprinkling on a bit of salt if you plan to eat this as a standalone side or meal for one. A sauce (think pesto) or a glaze (think miso) would also be great. But those are future recipes and this technique will be used the starting point for, say, miso maple glazed acorn squash.
Roasted acorn squash would also go well in a salad. That may be a future post as well.
Ingredients
1 acorn squash
grapeseed oil
salt or sriracha (optional)
Directions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Rinse and dry the acorn squash.
Step 2
Cut the squash in half through the stem. Then use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and the fibrous strands.
Step 3
Place the acorn squash cut side down on your cutting board. Slice off the stem. Then cut into half-rings, about 1” thick. You should end up with 8 slices.
Step 4
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Pour a very small amount of grapeseed oil on the foil, and spread it around with your fingertips. Rub the first piece of squash in the oil and repeat with the remaining pieces of acorn squash. By having the squash cooking on a thin layer of oil, it will be much easier to flip the squash halfway through cooking.
Step 5
Once the oven has preheated, place the acorn squash in the oven and roast for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, flip each piece of squash. Cook for 15 more minutes.
Step 6
After 30 minutes have elapsed, check the biggest piece of squash and make sure it is tender. If it is, you are done. If you want to cook it a bit more, cook for 3 to 5 additional minutes.
If you are eating the squash as it, just salt and enjoy.
How to Roast Acorn Squash
ingredients:
- 1 acorn squash
- grapeseed oil
- salt or sriracha (optional)
instructions:
How to cook How to Roast Acorn Squash
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Rinse and dry the acorn squash.
- Cut the squash in half through the stem. Then use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and the fibrous strands.
- Place the acorn squash cut side down on your cutting board. Slice off the stem. Then cut into half-rings, about 1” thick. You should end up with 8 slices.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Pour a very small amount of grapeseed oil on the foil, and spread it around with your fingertips. Rub the first piece of squash in the oil and repeat with the remaining pieces of acorn squash. By having the squash cooking on a thin layer of oil, it will be much easier to flip the squash halfway through cooking.
- Once the oven has preheated, place the acorn squash in the oven and roast for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, flip each piece of squash. Cook for 15 more minutes.
- After 30 minutes have elapsed, check the biggest piece of squash and make sure it is tender. If it is, you are done. If you want to cook it a bit more, cook for 3 to 5 additional minutes. If you are eating the squash as it, just salt and enjoy.