Healthy Butternut Squash Recipes

This easy roasted butternut squash and root vegetables recipe is incredibly versatile. Pile the squash and veggies onto grain bowls, add to sandwiches, toss in soup, serve as a side dish--you name it. Roasting vegetables in the oven gives you 20 minutes of hands-off cooking time to assemble the rest of your meal.

Skip the roasting in this butternut squash soup recipe and let your slow cooker do the work instead. Just load up all the ingredients into the crock pot, set it and forget it for an easy, healthy dinner or packable lunches.

This beautiful butternut squash salad with creamy burrata cheese and peppery arugula is perfect for fall entertaining. For the best flavor and texture, remove the burrata from the refrigerator about an hour before use and assemble the salad while the squash is still warm from roasting so the cheese will melt slightly. Feel free to use precut butternut squash to make this recipe easier. If you can find pomegranates, the arils add a bright pop of color and flavor to this healthy salad, but it's just as good--and almost as impressive-looking--without them.

Winter squash becomes tender and sweeter when roasted--a delicious side for a holiday dinner. Look for interesting squash like kabocha or hubbard at your farmers' market and try them in this recipe. Recipe adapted from Alice Waters.

Let this cute little vegetarian stuffed squash side dish steal the show at the dinner table! Butternut squash is stuffed with a sweet and savory filling that gets a crispy finish under the broiler. If you can't find small butternut squash, honeynut squash is a great alternative. Shaped much like a butternut squash (but smaller), the honeynut squash has a deep orange skin and sweet flesh.

Don't throw away your butternut squash seeds; roast them instead! Roasted butternut squash seeds make a great snack or salad topper. Enjoy them plain or jazzed up with one of the variations below. This recipe can be doubled or tripled depending on how many seeds you have, and you can also use this basic recipe for other types of squash seeds, such as acorn.

Take cauliflower gnocchi to the next level with these hearty, plant-based meal-prep bowls. Here we double up our Roasted Butternut Squash & Root Vegetables recipe (see Associated Recipes) and combine it with white beans, pesto and store-bought cauliflower gnocchi to make a week of healthy meal-prep lunches. You'll have leftover roasted veggies, so plan to use them as easy side dishes for dinner throughout the week or incorporate them into another recipe, like Creamy Roasted Vegetable Soup with Chicken or the Piled-High Greek Vegetable Pitas (see Associated Recipes).

This butternut squash and black bean chili is a satisfying vegetarian meal. Load up bowls of the butternut squash chili and top with Greek yogurt, cilantro and minced red onion. Or skip the yogurt and keep this healthy dinner vegan.

Chef Millie Peartree has been feeding the community in the Bronx, where she grew up, as a private chef, caterer and restaurant owner of Millie Peartree's Fish Fry & Soul Food for more than a decade. Her healthy-eating philosophy is all about making simple but flavorful protein-packed meals. Mango juice in the vinaigrette balances the spiced salmon and roasted vegetables on these grain bowls.

Carbonara, traditionally bathed in eggs, gets a vegan makeover using roasted and pureed butternut squash instead to make it ultra-creamy. A topping of ground almonds, garlic and sage gives it texture and an herby, savory flavor in place of the cheese and bacon.

This vegetable lasagna with white sauce has a velvety sauce with lots of veggies and plenty of cheesy goodness. The layers of butternut squash give the dish a sweet and creamy flavor and texture. This vegetarian lasagna packs comfort in every bite.

You've never had carbonara quite like this! Loaded with veggies, this spiralized veggie noodle recipe is a healthy copycat of a traditional carbonara recipe. Butternut squash gets spiralized into long, tender noodles for a lower-carb version of this creamy, cheesy pasta dish. Look for a squash with a large, straight neck to make the longest veggie noodles.

Butternut squash gets tender with slightly crispy edges when it's cooked in the air fryer. The simple seasonings here complement the subtle sweetness from the squash. Serve this quick and easy side dish with just about anything, from roast chicken to pork.

This elegant and smooth squash soup recipe gives you more than your daily quota for vitamin A in just one bowl.

Modeled on North African stews, this aromatic vegetarian main course can be served over brown rice or steamed spinach.

Who says spinach salads are only for spring? Use autumn's tender crop of fresh spinach and other seasonal vegetables to make this fall salad with roasted butternut squash, apples, cheddar and pecans. This colorful and healthy salad would be a wonderful addition to your Thanksgiving menu, but there's no reason to save it for holidays--serve it along with chicken or pork for a healthy weeknight dinner, or turn it into a main course by adding some chickpeas or chopped chicken or turkey.

Thai spices and creamy coconut milk distinguish this version from traditional butternut squash soup. Curry paste is a convenient way to add complex flavor, but if you want to make sure this soup is vegan or if you are allergic to shellfish, check the ingredient list carefully--some brands contain shellfish.

Hot roasted vegetables lightly wilt the arugula in this healthy dinner salad recipe. Keep prep time minimal with leftover chicken, precut butternut squash and trimmed Brussels sprouts.

Serve this healthy salad as a main course or as a starter for a special meal. To speed up prep, look for precut butternut squash in the refrigerated area of the produce section at your grocery store.

Just a touch of brown sugar sweetens this simple soup that gets its creaminess from pureed squash and fat-free evaporated milk.

Slices of butternut squash stand in for noodles in this veggie-packed lasagna with spinach, mushrooms and a creamy Parmesan cheese sauce. You can make the Parmesan cheese sauce with regular flour or swap in gluten-free flour to make this dish gluten-free. Look for a squash with a long, straight neck for the best results. Serve with a green salad for a vegetarian meal that you'd be happy to serve to company.

Currants add a surprising touch of sweetness to this simple sauté of chickpeas, spinach, squash and gnocchi. We prefer the texture of shelf-stable gnocchi, but if sodium is an issue for you, opt for frozen instead. Serve with a glass of chardonnay.

This delicious vegetarian lasagna recipe showcases seasonal vegetables. Butternut squash brings a sweet richness while spinach gives it a nutrition and flavor boost. As a bonus, this recipe makes an extra lasagna that you can freeze for an easy holiday-season meal.

Loaded with chicken, onion, butternut squash, apricots, chickpeas and couscous, this slow-cooker recipe is not only bursting with color and texture, but it's also packed with protein and a host of vitamins and even contains a dose of fiber.