Sausage and Apple Stuffed Butternut Squash

All the goodness of fall wrapped into one dish! This Sausage and Apple Stuffed Butternut Squash is full of earthy fall flavors that is reminiscent of the most delicious Thanksgiving Stuffing. Each butternut squash boat will become your new favorite party in your mouth! Paleo and Whole30 approved.

I have a new fall favorite recipe for you all today! Everything I love about “fall foods” in one: sausage, apples, celery, onion, butternut squash, fresh sage, and dried cranberries. Each stuffed butternut squash is it’s own healthy dinner package!

As I look forward to my favorite culinary holiday (Thanksgiving), I crave the taste of my favorite classics! These butternut squash boats have all the ingredients of my favorite stuffing (here is my cauliflower rice variation), and I kind of wanted these flavors for dinner.

After getting giddy with excitement over the cutest butternut squash being sold at Trader Joe’s, the creative part of my brain was wondering how to use these for dinner. Stuffing them was a must. The idea of the “stuffing” was born…..

And I know you guys are going to LOVE these!!!!

How to make Sausage and Apple Stuffed Butternut Squash

To start, we’ll need to roast our butternut squash. After slicing in half, I scooped out the seeds and sprinkled with some sea salt and avocado oil. Place the butternut squash flesh side down on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Roast the squash for 35-40 minutes (depending on the size of your squash).

While the squash is roasting, we’ll make the filling! We’ll start with the sausage, then add in the rest of the goodies 🙂

Once the squash is done roasting and is fork tender, we’ll scoop out some of the flesh. Leave some of that squash in there to enjoy with the filling. Place the filling inside each butternut squash boat and roast until nice and toasty!!

Pairs well even with the Thanksgiving Turkey! Or if you’re just craving that Thanksgiving meal like me, this is a great easy weeknight dinner.

Enjoy friends!

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Sausage and Apple Stuffed Butternut Squash

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Servings 4

5 from 1 vote

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Ingredients

• 2-3 Butternut Squash
• 1-2 tbsp avocado oil or olive oil
• pinch sea salt + more to taste
• 16 oz Ground Sausage* Pork, turkey or chicken
• 1 medium yellow onion diced
• 1 large honeycrisp apple diced
• 8 oz mushrooms finely diced
• 3 stalks celery diced
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh sage

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Prepare the butternut squash by cutting in half (vertically), then scoop out the seeds. Bruch some oil on the squash and sprinkle with sea salt. Place flesh side down on the parchment paper. Transfer to the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the outside is for tender. Remove from oven. Set the oven temperature to broil.

2. While squash is baking, make the filling. Heat a large skillet to medium high heat. Once hot, add in 1 tbsp of oil. Cook the sausage until no longer pink (about 5-7 minutes), remove the sausage to the side. Reserve 1 tbsp of the grease and keep the skillet hot.

3. Now toss in the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add in apples, mushrooms, and celery. Continue to cook until veggies are softened, another 5-7 minutes. Now stir in dried cranberries, fresh sage, and the sausage. Remove from heat.

4. Scoop out some of the butternut squash to create more of a divet to add in the filling, but ensure you leave around 1 inch along the sides to keep the squash stable. You can save the extra squash pieces and serve with the dinner, or use for something else. Evenly distribute the filling among the squash.

5. Transfer the squash back to the oven once the broiler is ready. Broil until nice and toasty 4-5 minutes. Remove and serve hot with additional sage and salt and pepper to taste!

Recipe Notes

*Use a sugar free sausage for a Whole30 or Paleo compliant meal.