Stuffed Acorn Squash – (With a plant based version)

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This acorn squash recipe is the perfect seasonal meal for the late summer/early fall because it uses lots of seasonal ingredients. It makes fantastic leftovers, and the secret ingredient sauce packs lots of flavor. It’s also easy to make for large groups, and any extra filling leftover is a delicious chef’s snack as all of the filling ingredients are cooked in advance.

It can also be made plant-based by making some simple substitutions!

Take a Whisk Kitchen

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 10 acorn squash halves
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 5 Acorn squash
  • 1 cup white or brown rice
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 4 tbsp butter (or vegan butter) melted
  • 1 tbsp chicken (or vegetable) bouillon powder
  • 2 3/4 cups water
  • 2 cups ketchup
  • 1/4 cup sriracha
  • 5 carrots chopped small
  • 1 medium zucchini chopped small
  • 6 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 small onion chopped small
  • 2 ears corn kernels or 1 1/2 cups of frozen corn
  • 1 lb bacon (or 1 cup of cooked lentils) chopped small
  • 2/3 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 1/3 cup grated parmesan (or vegan parmesan) plus more for topping

Method
 

Prepping the squash
  1. Preheat oven to 400F.
  2. Wash the squash and microwave it for 3 minutes to make cutting through it easier.
  3. Slice the squash in half and use a spoon to scoop out and discard the seeds.
  4. Coat the acorn squash lightly with olive oil and salt.
  5. Place acorn squash with the flat side down (skin side up) on a sheet tray and bake for 40 minutes, or until tender and starting to brown.
Prepping the quinoa rice
  1. Add the rice, quinoa, melted butter, bouillon powder, and water to a rice cooker and set the machine to cook it (or prepare on the stove the same way you would normally prepare rice).
Prepping the bacon (skip these steps if using cooked lentils)
  1. Chop the bacon into small pieces and begin to cook over medium heat until fat has rendered and the bacon is cooked through.
  2. Drain the bacon fat into a bowl and save for later. Put the bacon into a large mixing bowl.
Prepping the rest of the filling
  1. Chop the carrots, zucchini, garlic, and onion. Then add to a skillet with the corn kernels and 1/8 cup of the reserved bacon fat (if using lentils instead, sub in 1/8 cup of olive oil).
  2. Cook on the stove over medium high heat until onions are translucent and the vegetables begin to soften. Add mixture to the mixing bowl with the bacon.
  3. To the mixing bowl, add the ketcup, sriracha, parmesan, nutritional yeast, and quinoa rice. Mix well.
Finishing the stuffed squash
  1. When the acorn squash are done in the oven, flip them over and add filling to the insides. Then, top with grated parmesan.
  2. Place back in the oven at 400F for 10 minutes, and then turn the temperature up to a broil until the cheese on top is golden and starting to crisp.

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