Butternut squash for beginners

In this beginner's guide to butternut squash you will find all your questions about this squash answered. You will also find links to lots of delicious butternut squash recipes.

What is a butternut squash?

As you can see on the picture above, it is a pear shaped very light orange coloured squash, that usually weighs between 2 to 4 pounds. You can find it throughout autumn and winter seasons.

And below are some pictures of tiny butternut squashes that are growing in the garden throughout summer. As you can see, they are green when they are not ripe. They need a lot of space to grow in the garden (so I haven't been able to grow butternuts on my parisian balcony). You harvest them during autumn.

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Do I need to peel butternut squash before roasting or steaming?

Butternut squash is very hard to cut and peel when it is raw. Good news is, you don't need to peel it before roasting or steaming. Once cooked, the butternut squash will be much easier to peel. Well, that's if you want to peel it because you don't have to. Why? Because you can eat the skin. Yes the skin is edible! So it's pretty much a personal choice, whether or not to peel it.

How to cook butternut squash (2 different ways)

Using an oven

This method is the easiest and quickest one. As I am someone who really doesn't like to slave in my kitchen, this is my favorite one.

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C)
2. Rince out the squash under cold water
3. Cut off the top end.
4. Using a very sharp knife cut the squash in two halves.
5. Using a spoon (as you can see on the first picture below), remove the seeds. You can add a little bit of olive oil on the cut sides (personnally I rarely do it). Some people also add salt but as I use my cooked butternut squash in some desserts recipes I don't do that.
6. Place the squash halves cut side down (as seen on the second picture below) on a baking tray.
7. Bake for 40 minutes or until squash is tender. To check if the squash is cooked, prick a knife into it through the skin : it should be soft.

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Using a steamer

You can also choose to cook it in a steamer.

1. Rince the squash under cold water
2. Cut off the top end.
3. Using a very sharp knife cut the squash in two halves.
4. Using a spoon (as you can see on the first picture above), remove the seeds
5. Cut it into cubes. For this, you can either remove the skin before cooking it, or after (it will come off very easily once the squash is cooked), or even just leave it and eat it. That is really up to you.
6. Put all the cubes in your steamer basket add the water according to the specific instructions of your steamer and let the squash cook for about 30 minutes or until squash is tender.

Butternut squash recipes

You can check out the following recipes :

• For a sweet grain free breakfast : try the Butternut Squash Breakfast Bowl (AIP, paleo, vegan)
• Butternut squash salad (whole30, paleo, vegan)
• Butternut squash and chickpeas salad (gluten free)
• Pumpkin and spinach quiche (AIP, paleo, vegan)
• For a delicious dessert : try the Fudgy chocolate cake (gluten free, nut free, vegan) or Pumpkin muffins (Coconut free, AIP, paleo, vegan)