Stuffed Delicata Squash
Make the best Stuffed Delicata Squash recipe for an easy fall meal! In this dish, sweet roasted delicata squash is stuffed with lean chicken sausage and topped with seasoned ricotta cheese for an incredibly flavorful dish that's easy to make in just 35 minutes!
Ingredients
- 3 pounds delicata squash, 2 large squash, or 4 small squash
- 4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, divided
- 1 cup diced onions
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound loose chicken sausage
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Use a sharp knife to slice each squash in half lengthwise through the middle, from root to tip.
- Use a fork to scoop out the seeds from the middle of the squash.
- Brush the flesh of the squash with 2 teaspoons olive oil and season with ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper.
- Place the squash, cut-side up, on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
- While the squash is cooking, add the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil to a large skillet on the stove over medium-high heat.
- Add the onions, cook for 4-5 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
- Add the sausage to the skillet, and cook and crumble until browned, about 7-9 minutes, then season with the dried sage.
- Cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, then remove the sausage mixture from the heat and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, basil, parsley, oregano and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper.
- When the squash comes out of the oven, add the sausage to the middle of the squash, then dollop the herbed ricotta cheese on top.
- Place the squash back in the oven for 5 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Notes
- Delicata squash – this winter squash is smaller in size than other squash like butternut, or spaghetti squash. An average delicata squash is approximately 1 – 1 1/2 pounds. For this recipe you’ll want either two larger squash, that are around 1 1/2 pounds each, or four smaller squash that are less than 1 pound each.
- If using 4 smaller delicata squash to make this recipe, I recommend serving 2 halves (or 1 whole squash) per person. If using 2 larger delicata squash, I recommend serving 1 half per person.
- You do not need to peel the squash! The skin of delicata squash is so thin, it can be eaten, along with the flesh inside of the squash. This also makes the squash much easier to cut in half, than larger winter squash like spaghetti squash or butternut squash.
- Chicken sausage – for this recipe I used a sweet Italian chicken sausage. You’ll want a loose sausage that you can cook and crumble for this recipe. If you can’t find loose chicken sausage, you can buy links of chicken sausage, remove the sausage from the casing, then crumble and cook it. Or you can use turkey sausage or Italian pork sausage.
- To make this recipe vegetarian, replace the chicken sausage with 1 pound of diced portobello mushrooms. A vegetarian version of the stuffed delicata squash could even be served as a side dish at Thanksgiving, or a festive fall meal.
- To make this recipe dairy-free, replace the ricotta with a dairy-free ricotta alternative.
- This recipe is naturally gluten free, using the ingredients shown above.
- You can cook the stuffed delicata squash ahead of time and keep them warm in a Crock Pot after cooking. After the stuffed squash comes out of the oven, immediately transfer them to a Crock Pot, set to warm. Keep them in the Crock Pot on warm for up to 4 hours.
- If you don’t plan to eat all of the stuffed delicata squash in one setting, I recommend storing the ingredients separately in the refrigerator. For example, do not stuff and cook the stuffed squash for the additional 5 minutes. Instead, store the roasted squash, chicken sausage filling and herbed ricotta cheese separately in the fridge. When you’re ready to eat the leftovers, heat the oven to 425°F. Fill the roasted squash with the chicken sausage filling, then top with the ricotta cheese. Place in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until heated through.
- Each of the leftover ingredients will stay good, stored in airtight containers, in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition Facts
Calories 452kcal (23%)Carbohydrates 39g (13%)Protein 29g (58%)Fat 23g (35%)Saturated Fat 9g (45%)Polyunsaturated Fat 1gMonounsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 117mg (39%)Sodium 1340mg (56%)Potassium 1344mg (38%)Fiber 6g (24%)Sugar 11g (12%)Vitamin A 5343mg (107%)Vitamin C 47mg (57%)Calcium 254mg (25%)Iron 4mg (22%)
Did you make this recipe?Tag @WhitneyBond on Instagram and hashtag it #WBRecipes!