This Maple Roasted Butternut Squash recipe is the perfect autumn side dish! Simply toss butternut squash cubes with maple syrup, cinnamon, and sea salt. Then roast the squash to create a delicious and aromatic dish. This irresistible and easy baked squash recipe is caramelized on the outside, tender and sweet inside. What a treat!
One of my favorite things about autumn is the appearance of winter squash on market shelves. Roasted butternut squash is a particular favorite vegetable in our family. It’s naturally sweet, low in calories, and full of vitamins A and C.
In this very simple baked squash recipe, I toss butternut squash cubes with extra virgin olive oil, maple syrup, and seasonings. Overall this creates a sweet, salty medley of flavors. The cinnamon and cayenne give this side dish a little spicy kick– just enough to make it interesting.
At first glance, this may seem like a lot of squash. But when you roast butternut squash, the pieces tend to shrink up quite a bit. In addition, this maple roasted butternut squash is so delicious, you’ll be glad you made a little extra.
If you’re only making dinner for two, you can easily halve the recipe if you wish. But I could honestly eat half the recipe by myself in one sitting. It’s that tasty and quite possibly the best butternut squash recipe!
As I have noted in the recipe below, you don’t need to pay a premium for pre-peeled and seeded butternut squash. While pre-cubed squash is convenient, it’s not that hard to prepare a butternut squash yourself. In fact, my How to Cook Butternut Squash tutorial offers a detailed introduction to the process, as well as more butternut squash recipe ideas.
This baked squash recipe is vegan, dairy free, gluten free, healthy and nutritious. Roasted butternut squash is perfect for fall holidays like Thanksgiving, Rosh Hashanah, and Sukkot. Best of all, it’s easy. Enjoy!
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Maple Roasted Butternut Squash
Ingredients
- 8 cups butternut squash (peeled and seeded) cut into 1-inch cubes, about 3 lbs of peeled cubes
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 pinches cayenne pepper (optional – adds a touch of heat)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If you are breaking down a whole butternut squash for this recipe rather than buying the prepared, peeled cubes, you will need a large squash (or two smaller squashes) totaling about 3 lbs. 3 oz. in weight to produce the correct amount of peeled cubes. For details on how to peel and prepare squash for roasting, see this post.
- Line each rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. This lining step is optional, but recommended– it will protect the baking sheet as the sugars caramelize, so it will be easier to clean. It will also make it easier to release the roasted butternut squash from the pan. Spread out the cubes on the baking sheets.Spread out the cubes in a single layer. Drizzle the squash on each baking sheet of squash with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of maple syrup (2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup total).
- Sprinkle each baking sheet evenly with 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne pepper (1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 2 pinches of cayenne pepper total).
- Toss the squash on the sheets with clean hands to coat evenly. Roast the sheets of squash for about 30 minutes, switching the baking sheets on their racks halfway through cooking, until the largest piece of squash is fork-tender all the way through. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and turn on the broiler. If you used parchment paper, slide the squash cubes off of the paper onto the baking sheet for this final step – parchment should not be placed under the broiler.
- Take turns placing each baking sheet under the broiler for 1-2 minutes longer to caramelize. The squash should be golden brown– careful, it will brown very fast. Don't let it burn! Serve warm.
NOTES
Nutrition
Yum!
This looks really good. Why not place the squash in a bowl and add the syrup to coat evenly then place on the sheets?
Because I hate doing dishes Rose Baker. This saves me from one more dirty dish. 🙂
I have put butternut squash in chili also and it is delicious believe it or not! LOL
looks and sounds delish
Looks delish!
how to do w/out sugar
Hi Terry, you can actually leave out the maple syrup if you are trying to cut sugar. The recipe doesn’t use much syrup so the sugar is pretty low, but feel free to cut it completely if you prefer. The butternut squash is sweet on its own, the syrup just enhances that a bit. Enjoy!
Yum
This sounds so yummy
Yummy!!!
that looks delicious!
Thank you, Shiksa Supreme! Question: will the same prep work for pumpkin seeds? All orange off, boil for 10 minutes, then salt and roast?
Yes Anne Marie Stabile! And they’ll be nice and crispy, much better after roasting.
Oooh…this would be so yummy! 😉
I love squash…
Great side dish. Speaking of butternut squash.. has anyone ever eaten pasta with butternut squash, fennel seeds and parmigiano? It´s one of my favorite pastas ever. Sometimes I feel like butternut squash and cinnamon is over done…
I used to make a butternut squash risotto – that was a nice twist. internet search gets plenty of hits.
So I just had this and it was sooooooo yummy. I added a sweet potato (if you don´t mind). I tossed it all in a bowl and then put it on the cookie sheet–seemed easier. I served it up with yellow lentils curry. I had to force myself to stop eating it. This is a keeper! Thanks!!!
Fabulous Ann! So happy you liked it! Yes sweet potato works great too.
I been making this for Thanksgiving for the past 3-4 years – everyone LOVES it!! Make lots because it will fly off the table!!!
That looks so good – can´t wait to try it
I made a very similar dish to this with sweet potatoes before and it was delish, you know I´ll be trying this one soon!
yummy
Sounds delicious, but why is it a vegan recipe if it Hasmonean meat anyway? It is also a carnivore recipe, let´s not be racist. LOL besides meats are vegetables….. Because we are taught in school that we are what we eat, pigs, cows, chickens are all vegetables because that is what they eat, so says science! Lol