Sausage-Stuffed Acorn Squash

This easy weeknight dinner (or breakfast!) involves cooking stuffed acorn squash in the oven with a flavorful sausage and pecan filling.  This Sausage-Stuffed Acorn Squash recipe will soon turn into your family's favorite.

Every fall I love roasting acorn squash for this meal for my family.  My boys love it, Ben loves it, and I love it.  Win, win, win.  It's super simple to put together and it's surprisingly filling.

When planning for this meal, you need to find the perfect acorn squash.  Choose an acorn squash that is ripe but not too ripened.

How do I know when an acorn squash is ripe?

You can tell if an acorn squash is ripe by its color.  An acorn squash that is ripe is dark green in color, with some orange marks on the side where it was laying on the ground.  The rind is dry and firm to the touch.  Avoid squishy acorn squash.

When you bake an acorn squash, you want to slice a little off each of the ends so you have a flat surface for the squash to balance on the baking sheet.  After slicing the ends, cut the squash horizontally in half and scoop out the seeds.

How do you cook stuffed acorn squash in the oven?

I love roasted acorn squash in the oven.  It is so easy to cook stuffed acorn squash and it lends itself to nice fall flavors.  Take these few simple steps to cook acorn squash in the oven:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Slice acorn squash in half and scoops out seeds.
3. Place squash halves flesh side up on baking sheet.
4. Bake 40 minutes until fork tender.
5. Meanwhile, cook sausage filling on stove-top.
6. Remove acorn squash from oven and stuff with sausage filling.
7. Cook stuffed acorn squash in oven an additional 15 minutes.

Is acorn squash healthy?

Acorn squash is a nice healthy option.  It is rich in vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and antioxidant compounds. It is especially full of vitamin C!  This recipe calls for baking the acorn squash in the oven, which is one of the best ways to retain the vitamins while cooking rather than boiling it in water.

I know you will thoroughly enjoy this roasted stuffed acorn squash!  There are so many other fillings you can play with, I'd love to hear about your creations!

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Sausage-Stuffed Acorn Squash

This easy weeknight dinner (or breakfast!) involves cooking stuffed acorn squash in the oven with a flavorful sausage and pecan filling. This Sausage-Stuffed Acorn Squash recipe will soon turn into your family's favorite.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time1 hr

Total Time1 hr 10 mins

Course: Main Course

Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 3 medium sized acorn squash
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1 lb breakfast sausage (I prefer sage)
• 1 teaspoon ground sage (if not using sage breakfast sausage)
• 1 sleeve Ritz crackers crushed
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400°F.  Slice a little off each end of the acorn squash to create flat ends.  Cut each acorn squash horizontally in half.  Scoop and discard seeds and membranes.
  
• Place each squash half flesh-side up on a large rimmed baking sheet.  Rub a little olive oil over top of each squash half and sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste.  Bake for 40 minutes, until fork tender.
  
• Meanwhile, toast pecans on nonstick skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes, tossing frequently.  Remove from pan and set aside.
  
• In same skillet, brown the sausage.  Drain excess grease.  Add pecans back to the pan and stir in crushed Ritz crackers and half of the Parmesan cheese.
  
• Remove squash from the oven and fill each half evenly with sausage mixture.  Sprinkle rest of cheese over top.  Bake an additional 15 minutes.  Serve immediately.
  

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