This roasted butternut squash is both spicy and sweet and is 100% perfect! It’s an easy and healthy side dish that the whole family will love.
Why You’ll Love this Butternut Squash Recipe
- Fall Vibes: Squash is one of my favorite fall treats. I love it roasted and tossed on top of a salad or as a side dish. This version is a fun mix of sweet and spicy that perfectly captures the flavors of fall. Roasted butternut squash goes perfectly alongside pork tenderloin with apples and onions.
- Spicy Sweet: The combination of spicy and sweet is irresistible. I’ve put this squash in a farro salad with bacon and it’s unbelievable. (Also – if you like spicy sweet, you have to try these spiced pecans!)
- Great on a special day or a normal day: This would also be a great side dish for Thanksgiving if you’re looking to do something a little different. But it’s also great on an average weeknight.
Prepping Butternut Squash
Let’s be real here for a minute.
Peeling and dicing butternut squash may just be the worst kitchen task ever. It takes forever, your hands get that weird film on them, and you can consider yourself very lucky if you finish the task with all ten fingers intact. (HINT: You can buy it already prepped from Costco!)
Cooking Tip
I have a full tutorial on how to cook butternut squash that includes step-by-step photos of how to peel and cut if you need some guidance!
A few more roasted butternut squash basics
- If you’re looking for a whole butternut squash recipe (for a mash or soup), you can easily cook butternut squash in the slow cooker!
- Learning how to roast squash is so easy — you can learn some more basics here such as how to roast acorn squash and how to cook delicata squash, or how to cook kabocha squash.
More Roasted Vegetables
If you are obsessed with roasting vegetables like I am, I have a lot of great recipes for you to try, or you can check out my entire collection of roasted vegetables!
- Roasted Carrots with Thyme and Nutmeg
- Roasted Mushrooms with Balsamic, Thyme and Dijon
- Roasted Delicata Squash
- Maple Cayenne Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Roasted Green Beans with Parmesan and Basil
Spicy Sweet Roasted Butternut Squash
Ingredients
- one large butternut squash
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F. Peel and cube butternut squash. (Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any personal injuries or anxiety attacks.)
- Place butternut squash cubes onto a large, rimmed sheet tray.
- In a small bowl, mix together olive oil, syrup, cinnamon, cayenne and salt. Pour olive oil mixture over cubed squash and toss with your hands to coat. Spread out squash so that it is in an even layer.
- Bake for 15-30 minutes, stirring halfway through. Cooking time will depend on how crowded your squash is and how big your cubes are. You want the squash to be fork tender (stick a fork in and it comes right back out), but not mushy.
- Enjoy as a side dish or on a leafy green salad.
Notes
- The size of the squash will determine how many servings there are.
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!
Thought I’d share a VERY helpful hack. Place whole peeled butternut squash in microwave for about 4 minutes. Your squash should be soft enough to cut into cubes without slicing off your fingers. If not soft enough add a minute or 2 more.
Thanks for sharing!
Nice one & I’ll try it! I have a kabocha that I just got at the farmer’s market. This should be really good!
That will be delicious! Let me know how it turns out!
You offer the tip on buying a bag of frozen prepared squash from Costco. But there is no mention of how many cups to use.
Sorry about that! It’s a very forgiving recipe. 4-6 cups cubed squash is about the equivalent of a large squash.
Yummy!
Excited to have this recipe in my back pocket for when I need a heaty side! :)
I stumbled across this recipe when I was making trying to find a substitute for plantains and am loving the results! The squash, with all the fixings came out like a mix between the sweetness of a ripe plantain and the dryness of a green one. Kinda perfect! I couldn’t have asked for a better recipe/substitute!
Maybe the Kabosha squash is easier to peel? –but I lost no fingers (or blood) in the making of this dish.
*Didn’t have maple syrup so used honey instead.
Thanks for the simple, delicious recipe!
So happy you liked it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a commment!
Peeled the squash with a peeler (husband completed this step)…turned out great. Paired well as a side to our Jambalaya….strange I know but tasty
Sounds delicious!!
this is a super simple squash recipe – just give yourself a little extra time to cut and peel – no big deal !! so good, and you can season it however you like.
Absolutely! I’m glad you liked it, Eileen!
These were delicious! I am a wuss when it comes to spice so next time I will probably cut back on the spice a little. I didn’t have any cinnamon so I had to use all spice so that might have changed the taste a bit
Oooh yeah allspice would definitely change the flavor but I bet it was tasty and unique! Thanks for the comment!
I will be trying this recipe tomorrow for Sunday dinner.
NOTE: If you peel the butternut squash first with a wide peeler, then cut the ends off, it is easy to then cut the squash diagonally before cutting into cubes.
Good tip! I hope you love the squash!
You can pierce it and then briefly cook it in the microwave which will make it easier to cut up.
Yes, that works great!