Stuffed Butternut Squash

Hearty Stuffed Butternut Squash for fall! This side or main dish stuffs roasted butternut squash with a delicious tempeh sausage, wild rice, and mushroom filling. Bring it to Thanksgiving or make it for dinner!

Prep Time40

Cook Time1 30

Total Time2 10

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: large servings

Calories: 612kcal

Author: Nora Taylor

Ingredients

Butternut Squash

3 medium butternut squash 2-2.5 lbs each
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt + black pepper

Sausage and Wild Rice Mushroom Filling

3/4 cup wild rice
1 1/2 cups water for cooking the rice
16 ounces tempeh
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon red chili flakes
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
4 cups loosely packed chopped kale
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Garlic Tahini Sauce

1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup water plus more as needed
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup optional
2 cloves garlic minced
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Roast the Butternut Squash

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Carefully slice each squash in half lengthwise and use a spoon to scoop the seeds and stringy flesh out.
Place the squash cut side up on a large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and rub into the squash with your fingers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then turn the squash over cut side down on the pan.
Roast in the oven for about 45-55 minutes, until it's fork tender. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Prepare the Filling

While the squash is roasting, prepare the filling. In a small-medium saucepan, combine the rice and water. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and simmer, covered, for 40-45 minutes. Fluff with a fork and set aside.
In a medium pan with a lid, crumble the tempeh small and add 1/2 cup of water. Steam, covered for about 5 minutes until nearly all the water has evaporated.
Now add the olive oil, garlic, fennel seeds, basil, oregano, chili flakes and soy sauce to the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently for 5 minutes.
Add the sliced mushrooms and kale to the pan and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms and kale have softened. Remove from heat and stir in the dried cranberries and cooked rice.

Stuff the Squash and Bake

Once the squash is roasted, remove it from the oven and carefully turn the squash over. Let it cool for a few minutes, then scoop out some of the flesh, leaving a 3/4-inch border along the sides. Dice the squash you removed into small pieces and mix 3 cups with the sausage rice filling (save the rest of the cooked squash for another purpose, or use it all if you prefer).
Divide the sausage rice squash filling among the hollowed out squashes and fill them to the top, molding them tall in the middle. Return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.

Make the Garlic Tahini Sauce and Serve

In a medium bowl, add all sauce ingredients and whisk well until smooth. If the sauce is too thick, add more water until it's creamy and pourable. If your tahini is thick and clumpy, use a food processor or blender to make the sauce smooth. *Make sure to taste your tahini first - if it's really bitter, start over with new tahini.
Drizzle the garlic tahini sauce over the stuffed squash and serve immediately.

Notes

Make Ahead - You could make the tahini sauce in advance, pre-bake the squash, hollow them out and prepare the filling ahead of time, perhaps a day or two in advance. When the time comes to serve, simply fill the squashes and bake until warm. Serve with sauce for drizzling.
This will work with acorn squash as well, though acorn squash will need less time to bake.
Gluten-free - Use gluten-free tamari instead of soy sauce and gluten-free tempeh.
If you don’t prefer tempeh, you can use a 12-16 ounce package of store-bought vegan sausages instead, chopped up. Omit the spices and soy sauce following the tempeh in the ingredients if you do this, and just add salt or soy sauce to taste.

Nutrition