One of my favorite things to do in winter. Yum!

My husband and love Acorn squash. We make it a heartier dish by adding a handful of chopped walnuts to the center under the sugar and butter.

I tried making this a few years ago without much success. Your recipe sounds better than the one I tried. Thanks!

I've never understood why people put sugary stuff on their squash. Especially acorn, which is one of the sweeter varieties of this wonderful, versatile vegetable. I simply bake it with salt, pepper and a slab of butter in the middle. Or, if I want to serve it later, I scoop out the flesh after baking, put it in a microwave-safe dish, place pats of butter over it, and put it in the frig to be warmed in the microwave when needed. I always do this at Thanksgiving when oven space is at a premium. Please - I implore you! Try squash just once without the maple syrup or brown sugar. I'm sure you'll agree that its sweet enough without the added calories.

Hi Xarley - great idea, chopped walnuts. I've also seen versions with chopped pecans as well.

Hi Beth - You're welcome. This recipe is pretty easy, you just need to make sure to cook the squash long enough.

Hi Dart - I eat acorn squash all the time without sugar; it depends on the level of sweetness I'm in the mood for. Personally I usually like it better with the maple syrup and brown sugar. To each her own, eh?

Just a note about the cutting of the squash which I have been making for a million years with syrup and without!! Insert paring knife twice on the line where you will eventually cut squash and then microwave maybe 30 seconds to a minute.....simple to split afterwards. Love the site.

OK, I've scoured the net and can't find the answer... Should you eat the squash rind? I recently made Acorn Squash roasted in the oven but we weren't too sure if you were supposed to eat the rind also, or just the flesh inside... help! :-)

I made this for two thanksgiving dinners I had this year and it was INCREDIBLE both times. Thought it was fantastic and I even converted two non-squash eaters!!

If I want to make plain acorn squash, do I need to alter the instructions apart from eliminating step 3? Also, what is the reasoning behind cutting the acorn squash lengthwise - does it not work to cut it horizontally? I am planning on serving the plain squash as a gluten-free "bread bowl" and putting chili inside, so you can scoop out some cooling, sweet squash with each bite of spiciness. Yummers!

Thanks for the 2 great tips - about adding 1/4 inch of water to the bottom of the baking sheet so the skins don't burn and also on scoring and then microwaving for 30 seconds to faciliate easier cutting.

To make a healthier squash, we use Orange juice instead of butter. Helps to soften and moisten the squash w/o the fat.

I am so thankful for this site. It has helped me so much with my failing memory these days. LoL! I love acorn squash and appreciate the new ideas to fix it. Gotta try it with maple syrup...sounds yummy!

This is SO yummy I am so glad that this is on the web!!!!

Excellent! I've never made acorn squash before, and it turned out just like the picture. It was so delicious I will be bringing it to Thanksgiving this year! Thank you for having such an inspirational website!

Hopefully someone can help me. I'm planning on making this for thanksgiving but I have never had it before, neither has the rest of my family. So, when the squash is cut in half, how do you serve it to a large group of people? Slice it, scoop it out, what? Obviously I will make a few squashes but I have no clue how to dish it out.

Thanks!!!

DJ,

When I serve acorn squash, I usually serve 1/2 to 1/4 (one 1/2 cut in half makes a nice wedge) of a squash to each person, depending on the size of the squash and how much other food is being served. If you have a lot of other food on Thanksgiving (as we always do), then you could cut each squash half into thirds, so that you would get 6 nice wedges from each whole squash. I think the wedges make a nice presentation.

Hope this helps!

Enjoy,
Rachelle

Yum! This recipe with the suggestions have been quite helpful in baking my first acorn squash. I'm thinking of adding apples and pecans. Can't wait. The orange juice suggestion instead of butter sounded lovely!

Hello!
The squash is also easy to cut if you leave it in the oven while preheating, maybe 10 minutes. I don't have a microwave, so this is what I do.

I made the recipe as suggested in the original and it was great. One tip I learned off another site that worked well was before you cut the squash in half, cut a little slice off one side so that you have a flat side to stabilize it on while cutting in half. Also I would say 1/6 of a squash is the perfect quantity per person at Thanksgiving. We don't eat the skins.

I have used orange juice and honey in the filling rather then butter and maple syrup, both ways are excellent though! This is one of my favorite winter veggies.

This is the way I've prepared acorn squash all my life, and while I came here tonight looking for a new technique, the memories (and of course, your prose) drove me to make it this way again. For me, this is comfort food.

A friend suggested that a less labor intensive way to prepare/cook the squash would be to bake them whole the day before my dinner party and not cut them in half until I'm ready to warm them and add final seasoning just before serving. I'm planning to fill each one with a scoop of Hoppin' John...for new Year's luck. I can't find a recipe though that suggests preparing them ahead of time this way and wonder if anyone else has tried this.

A great meal with acorn squash is to cut the top off, and just enough off the bottom so it stands on it's own. Scoop out the insides and fill with a puree soup or my favorite is a french canadien pea soup, and put the top back on. Bake in the oven for approx. 1hr depending on the size of the acorn..you get the soup and can eat the delicious bowl. (I try to stay away from soups made of other squashes to make this one more pronounced) enjoy

I had never prepared acorn squash until this past weekend. Thanks so much for providing yet another simple (and tasty) recipe!

I'm a new member and this is only my second time at having acorn squash. My first time was a couple of years ago at the in laws and I liked it so much I kept going for more! It made my mother in law happy because everybody else was fussy and skipping the squash. This is my second time and again I love it! I love it even more! What an exciting discovery! I am so into this! I'm the only one so far in my family to like it and it's a good thing since I get more for myself! Not for long though since I have a 9 month baby who loves butternut squash in the jar. I just had leftovers for lunch (a whole half of squash as a side dish with a goat cheese omelette). It was excellent and I was more excited about the leftover squash than the omelette! Someone asked if you should eat the skin... I totally do! Couldn't imagine not eating it! It's adding just enough texture with the rest of the soft sweet flesh. Will do this again and again and again!