Quinoa Stuffed Butternut Squash

I love recipes which can be both eaten for regular dinner during weeknights or for a special occassion. Like, Christmas for example. This amazing quinoa stuffed butternut squash is just an absolutely fabulous example of that food!

This reminds me that Christmas is nearly here! I wanted to make this stuffed butternut squash for Thanksgiving but since we don’t really celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia (I am talking behalf me and my Aussie boyfriend), I made something else – my legendary Shepherd’s pie with Lentils and sweet potato(have you tried it yet?!) But for Christmas, I put my creative side of me first and let some magic happen in my kitchen!

So what does make this quinoa stuffed butternut squash so outstanding? The soft inside and crispy outside butternut squash flesh is just so yummy that you can’t resist. After roasting the butternut squash becomes so tasty and sweet, like honey (in vegan talking, like a maple or agave syrup)!

Let’s talk about the stuffing now for a minute. I wanted to make something like salad because I try to keep this recipe healthy. I was thinking what stuffing would be a nice match with sweet butternut squash. Finally, I keep it very simple and affordable. Kale, quinoa, herbs, nuts, and a few pomegranate seeds – that’s all you need!

Using quinoa is just a great way how to keep this recipe gluten-free, vegan, and low in calories. I used quinoa tricolour.

Also, I used raw unsalted cashews and raw unsalted almondsbut you can easily use different nuts if you happen to have them at home. Macadamia, walnuts, pecans… You name it!

This stuffed butternut squash needs to be roasted 40-50 minutes. Make yourself sure you have enough time for it and that you don’t have to rush the whole process. The butternut squash tastes the best when it’s roasted slowly on a lower temperature rather than quickly on a high temperature!

Prepare this butternut squash for special occasions or for a regular dinner if you have more spare time for cooking. During the roasting time, you can kill time by doing other things so you don’t just have to wait in front of the oven 🙂

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Quinoa Stuffed Butternut Squash

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Mediterranean

Keyword: butternut squash, Christmas, herbs, quinoa, stuffed, Thanksgiving

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 medium to large butternut squash
• 1 tbsp olive oil + plus more for brushing
• 1 cup quinoa tricolour
• 1 onion peeled and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
• 1/4 cup raw unsalted cashews chopped
• 1/4 cup raw unsalted almonds chopped
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp dried chives
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp fresh rosemary chopped
• 1 cup kale shredded
• 1/2 medium pomegranate seeded
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 200 Celsius degrees.
• Rinse the butternut squash and cut it in half crossways. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Make a hole bigger in needed and scoop out some pumpkin flash, too. 
• Line a sheet of baking paper in a large baking tray. Place the butternut squash on the baking tray, cut side up and brush it with a little bit of olive oil. Place it in the oven and bake it for around 40-50 minutes when the squash becomes slightly brown and fork tender.
• Meanwhile, bring 2 1/2 cups water to boil and add quinoa. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until quinoa is tender and all liquid dissolves.
• Chop onion, garlic, cashews, and almonds. Heat olive oil in a saucepan and add onion and garlic. Sauteé for 3 minutes. Add chopped nuts and sauteé for another 2 minutes over medium heat.
• Add lemon juice, chives, rosemary, thyme, and shredded kale. Cook for 5 minutes or until kale just starts to become tender. Turn off the heat and stir into pomegranate seeds.
• Transfer quinoa into a large bowl and mix it well with cooked herb mixture. Place half of the quinoa salad in each of scooped baked butternut squash.
• Enjoy!

Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @writtenbyvegan or use hashtag #writtenbyvegan or share it with your friends and family! You can also rate this recipe below! 🙂

Klara Walterova

Klara is a professional freelance writer for hire. She offers web content, blog posting, ghostwriting and copywriting. She writes for a healthy lifestyle, wellness and travel websites. She focuses on veganism and the vegan diet. When she's not writing, she develops new tasty vegan recipes, travels the world or plays with her cats. Please contact her for her online writing services on her website writtenbyvegan.com or visit her Instagram profile @writtenbyvegan.