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!
I bought the precut @ Costco tonight – organic for less than $4 – so worth it – this recipe rocked!
Awesome–that pre-cut is the way to go! Glad you liked the recipe :)
haha butternut squash is the WORST to cut. Seriously. I was already planning on roasting some tonight, will add the cinnamon and cayenne like your recipe! I haven’t done that before w/the maple, sounds yum!!
I bet this makes an AMAZING soup :)
There’s almost nothing I love more than roasted butternut squash in the fall. I don’t even mind cutting it to be honest. I’d much rather do that than wash my dishes :)
I just bought some butternut squash, I’ve never cooked it or eaten it either. I will be extra careful when I peel it and chop it! I was going to make soup but now I want to try this!
Simple and yummy! I hate cutting squash, too! But we gotta do what we gotta do, huh?! :)
I love butternut sqush! And I just bought some fresh maple syrup…yum!
It’s recipes like this that are my absolute favorite… easy, flavorful and include butternut squash ;)
So true! I have heard people recommend baking it for about 10 minutes to soften it before peeling, chopping, etc., but I’ve never tried it. But it has to be better than losing a finger, right? Not sure whether it prevents the weird filmy feeling though :)
I’m going to try that next time!
Whole Foods sometimes sells pre-cut butternut squash. I found that out AFTER spending an hour struggling with a squash myself last fall :) This recipe looks awesome!