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!
If we’re lucky enough to find it already cut into cubes, approximately how many cups would you use for this recipe?
Easy way to have butternut squash. Just cut in half, rub olive oil on exposed areas, put butter, brown sugar and a cinnamon in cavity, after you scrape out the seeds..Bake at 375 til done, about 1 hr. Makes a great lunch, side dish..taste like desert.. I do this for Thanksgiving dinner, as they look so festive at the table.
Just used a modified version of this to make baby food for my little guy. Roasted in halves. No olive oil, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, suggested amounts of cinnamon and cayenne pepper, apple juice to thin in the food processor. I think it’s delicious and he gobbled it up! At 10 months, he loves spicy food!
I love that he loves spicy food! Thanks for the comment. :)
Thank you for the recipe! I made it for lunch and it was absolutely delicious! My husband loved it as well. I feel I will be making it very often :)
Glad you and your husband liked it! Thanks for letting me know :)
Easy-peasy way to peel butternut squash: slice it into rounds as thick or thin as you wish, then lie each round flat and slice in half. Then it’s as easy to peel as a pineapple – just slice it around the edge to remove the peel.
Great advice, thank you!
Costco has is for super cheap. 2lbs for less than 4 bucks.
Trying this tomorrow! Instead of cutting and risking my fingers I bought a 2lb tray of cubed butternut squash from Costco!
Love that idea! Peeling is such a pain.
Bought an already diced butternut squash at Costco this weekend. I’m going to try this recipe tonight. Can’t wait to try, sounds scrumptious!
Enjoy!
Hi there!!
I’m making this tonight but I just realized I don’t have any cayenne pepper. Can I substitute chili powder or red pepper flakes or maybe hot sauce? Thanks :)
Sure! Any of those would be good–all a bit different, but worth a try!
We just ate dinner and they were amazing!!! I subbed sriracha hot sauce for the cayenne but added one more tablespoon of syrup cause I was worried they would be too spicy for the munchkins. My kids ate them up and my husband liked them too!! I absolutely loved them I will for sure be making these again!! Thanks for your help!!
:) :) :)
found this recipe on interest and making it for dinner tonight. I did switch the maple syrup for honey since that’s what I had on hand.
I bet it was great with honey! Did you like it?