Learn how to cook acorn squash in two ways: Sweet and savory. Both are super easy and make for a fantastic side dish!
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Sweet or savory, we have you covered!
How long it takes: Just over an hour
Equipment you’ll need: sharp knife, cutting board, baking sheet
Servings: 2
One of the greatest things about fall is SQUASH. I love it all — spaghetti, acorn, butternut, delicata. Delicata squash is my favorite and I love that you can eat the skin of it. I wrote a post about outlining how to make delicata squash if you want to learn more.
Updated – I now have a complete guide on how to cook spaghetti squash as well! I cover five different methods and tell you which is my favorite!
Also, as an aside, did you know you can make butternut squash in the slow cooker? It’s a total game-changer for soups and butternut squash mash.
More Squash
More Squash: If you love squash like we do, make sure to also check out my complete tutorials on butternut squash, kabocha squash, and delicata squash!
We also love stuffing squash! Try pizza stuffed spaghetti squash or chicken fajita stuffed spaghetti squash.
I know cooking a squash can be somewhat intimidating but it’s really so easy! I cover one method in this post, but with two variations: Sweet and savory. I’ll let you in on a secret, the sweet variation is my favorite. Especially for eating just the way it is. If you’re looking to stuff the acorn squash, try making it the savory way to get a great base and layer of flavor before adding whatever stuffing you have in mind. Try our stuffed acorn squash – it’s full of great flavor!
Important to note here, is that these are not fancy techniques. We’re covering the basics. Once you get the basics down, you can spice things up a little. We’ll talk about that in a bit, though.
So here we go.
Overview of How to Prepare Acorn Squash
- WASH the squash.
- Slice in half stem to end. (Read my long version for tips!)
- Scoop out the seeds.
- Season the squash (choose one of two ways below or go nuts!).
- Bake for 50-60 minutes at 400°F or until fork tender.
Detailed Instructions & Tips
First things first! WASH YOUR SQUASH. I know people don’t always wash the peel or skin of a fruit or vegetable when they don’t eat that part.
Think about this. When you cut the squash in half, the knife goes through the (dirty) skin and into the flesh part that you’re going to eat. So now it’s dirty, like the skin.
Plus you’re handling the whole thing so your hands are getting dirty in the process and then you’re touching the part you eat. JUST WASH IT. Watermelons, oranges, squash, whatever. Wash them. Preferably with a vegetable brush (I like this one). So it’s true, I don’t typically eat the skin of an acorn squash, but I ALWAYS wash it. They grow in the dirt and dirt is gritty. The last thing you want is grit in your food.
Next up, slice your squash. This can be tricky because those suckers are HARD.
Cooking Tip
Here’s my tip for slicing squash: Microwave for about 3 minutes and then let it cool enough for it to handle, and slice. This softens the skin, making it easier to cut. Yes, it adds a few minutes to your prep time, but if you’re saving your fingers, it’s probably worth it. You can also carefully cut off the stem end, and then set it on that end so you have a flat, steady surface when you cut the squash in half.
Next: Scoop out the seeds.
Tip!
Make your life SO easy and try scraping out the seeds with a grapefruit spoon. It works great!Okay, now you have your squash ready to season. If you’re allergic to doing dishes like I am, you’ll want to line a sheet pan with parchment paper for easy clean up. I like these parchment paper sheets because they don’t curl up.
I want you to know how to cook acorn squash two different ways – these are the basic building blocks. Sweet and Savory.
Sweet Acorn Squash
Melted butter + brown sugar (or coconut sugar or maple syrup)
Savory Acorn Squash
Olive oil + salt + pepper
For both methods, you’ll rub the inside with the the oil or melted butter and then sprinkle on either sugar or salt and pepper. All that’s left to do after that is baking and eating!
You can! I personally prefer not to, as I find it slightly tough (compared to a delicata squash, for example). However, when roasted, it does soften some and is completely edible. The cooked flesh also peels away from the skin easy with a fork, so if you choose not to eat the skin, it’s easy not to.
Acorn squash are generally smaller and more round (shaped like an acorn), with a dark green skin. Butternut squash are longer, with a thinner portion and a rounder portion at the end. They have a light beige peel. Both are delicious!
Squash lasts for quite awhile (months, even!) at room temperature. If it has soft mushy spots or is slimy and mushy when you cut it open, those are good indicators that it has gone bad.
Once you’ve mastered this basic skill of how to cook acorn squash, here are a few ways to spice it up — acorn squash is such a versatile ingredient, so make it your own!
- Sweet: Add a 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon to each half
- Sweet: Add 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon + 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg to each half
- Sweet: Swap out brown sugar for maple syrup (even amounts)
- Savory: Add 1/4 teaspoon chili powder to each half
- Savory: Add 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika to each half
- Savory: Give it an Italian twist — add 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/4 teaspoon basil, and 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
- Sweet and Spicy: Follow the sweet directions but add 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne to each half
Keep roasted squash in a covered container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Reheat leftovers for 45-90 seconds in the microwave until warm. You can also use the oven (400°F for about 10 minutes or until warm), or the air fryer (380°F for about 5 minutes, or until heated through).
Acorn Squash Recipe
Ingredients
Savory version:
- 1 acorn squash
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/8 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
- pepper to taste
Sweet version:
- 1 acorn squash
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar or coconut sugar (more to taste)
Instructions
- Place oven rack right below the middle position in your oven. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Wash peel of squash and cut squash in half from the stem to the bottom (see note). Don’t try to cut through the stem, when you get to the stem, just crack the squash in half and it will separate.
- Scrape out seeds and stringy bits – I use a grapefruit spoon for this!
- Prepare squash — for savory, rub inside with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. For sweet, rub inside with melted butter and sprinkle with brown or coconut sugar. Place on prepared baking sheet.
- Place in preheated oven and roast for 50-60 minutes or until very tender to the poke of a fork.
- Enjoy immediately or store covered in fridge for 3-4 days.
Notes
- Microwaving the whole squash for 3-5 minutes and then letting cool can make slicing it in half easier.
- Nutrition Information is for the savory version.
- Keep roasted squash in a covered container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Reheat leftovers for 45-90 seconds in the microwave until warm. You can also use the oven (400°F for about 10 minutes or until warm), or the air fryer (380°F for about 5 minutes, or until heated through).
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
I place the halves in an 8”x8” pan filled with 1/2” of water then bake
I bet that works well, too :)
We do that also but towards the end we turn right side up, add butter and brown pepper and bake again for awhile
Great idea too!
Okay Rachel, I thank you that you told me to wash the squash. A girl after my own heart but how do I forget to do this being a senior at all? Guess I should know better huh? Thanks
:) I’m glad the tips were helpful!
This looks pretty delicious and easy dear. Going to try this for sure. Thanks for the recipe!
I hope you love it!
Great recipes. I am curious to know if roasting the seeds is an option? The 2 squash we purchased were filled with what my dear old grandpa referred to as “A blue million of them.” and we love roasted pumpkin seeds.
I think you can do that! Try this recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/54873/roasted-winter-squash-seeds/. I think they’re really similar to pumpkin seeds. :)
I used Honey butter cinnamon and brown sugar (chef Shamy brand) and Sweet cinnamon sprinkle on one half and sweet apple sprinkle (pampered chef) . Your 3 minute microwave tip made it soft enough that the oven time was much shorter. Thank you for getting me started because I had no idea what to do with my acorn squash and yours was the first recipe I looked at.
Sounds absolutely delicious! I’m glad this was helpful for you! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Yes, I found that my acorn squash was completely cooked at 2.5 minutes on high power in a 1200 watt microwave. I’ll try throwing it in the oven for about 15 or 20 mins, to get some of the roasting effect. But next time, I would set a *much* shorter microwave time, or skip it altogether, unless I had difficulty cutting the squash. And I’d recommend people remember to pierce the skin with a fork several times first, of course, to avoid a microwave catastrophe, haha.
Thanks for your thoughts and tips!
My mother, rest her blessed soul, used to do almost a twice baked Acorn and Hubbard. Taking one baked squash harvest all the meat and smash with butter place into the cut halves of the other. Bake one uncovered. I think she sprinkled bacon bits and parmesan on top.
Dang it. I meant to say bake one hour..
Sounds so tasty!
I liked both of these recipes. I like that I can eat acorn squash for breakfast (I like the sweet one for breakfast). I’m now trying this for the 2nd time and It will be a mainstay in my diet.
I’m so glad to hear you like these recipes! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
I was trying to fund out if you can frt it just to brown ut like beef, then boil it like regular squash, then add it as a veggie in a crockpot soup. Is baking it the only recipe you have.If what I want can be done, does the skin stay on like a regular squash & therefore can it then be eaten? Am I using the right platform, or venue to ask questions, or should I ask these questuons via a different system?
Hi Daniel, I’m not super sure what you’re asking. I’ve never boiled squash, but you could easily bake it this way and then spoon it away from the skin to use the flesh for soup. That would be the best way to get the acorn squash for soup.
Thank you for the recipe. I just popped two acorn squash in the oven; one sweet, one savory. My husband and I look forward to trying them out.
I hope you loved them!! How did they turn out?
I used the sweet version and added some red pepper flakes to add a heat layer to the sweet. Delicious
I love that addition!