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Stuffed Acorn Squash

October 3, 2015

Welcome the fall and winter with this mild and buttery acorn squash filled with a flavorful, herbed stuffing and topped with melty cheese!

Stuffed Acorn SquashThe air around here sure is getting crisper!

I have a bit of a hard time letting go of summer, but if I’m going to be honest, I really enjoy the fall where we live. There is nothing like living somewhere surrounded by so many trees that paint the sky with fall colors come October. And the cooler air gives me a great excuse to flip the oven on come dinner time for these sweet little stuffed squashes!

This is the time of year to start stockpiling those winter squashes.

They are so (so!) cheap, and make for a very nourishing but frugal meal. Stuffed squash is a weekly menu item in my house come September and October through a good majority of the winter. These little acorn squashes last weeks on the counter, or in a cool dry area for a good month or so! When I see the in season pricing, I load up!

Stuffed Acorn SquashAcorn squash is a nice one to start out with serving kids because the flesh is very mild in flavor and just picks up the taste of the butter you smear all over it! You can stuff it with your favorite cooked veggies and meat, top with fun, melty cheese, and it’s a perfect frugal, seasonal, family meal!

Stuffed Acorn SquashDon’t be intimidated by its fancy look – this is definitely do-able on a weeknight too!

Make the stir fry “stuffing” part the night before (or early morning), and just store it away – then just needs to be stuffed into the squash after the squash roasts – super quick hands on time. You can also have the kids scoop the seeds out of the squash while you do other things! Quick throw the squash in the oven when you get home from school or work and do homework with the kids, finish up emails, etc.

Print Recipe
5 from 2 votes

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Welcome the fall and winter with this mild and buttery acorn squash filled with a flavorful, herbed stuffing and topped with melty cheese!
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time1 hr
Total Time1 hr 10 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: stuffed acorn squash, stuffed acorn squash recipe
Servings: 2 servings
Author: Renee - www.raisinggenerationnourished.com

Ingredients

  • 1 medium acorn squash or 2 small halved and seeds scooped out
  • 1/2 lb grassfed ground beef
  • 1 small onion
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 5 cups chopped kale
  • 1 cup cooked long grain white rice cooked quinoa would work, or if you are grain free just leave the grain out or use cauliflower rice
  • 2 tsp dried thyme
  • Sea salt/pepper to taste
  • 1 cup raw cheese grated
  • 2-3 TB blanched almond flour if you are nut free you can use bread crumbs or just leave it out

Instructions

  • Place the halved acorn squashes flesh side up on a baking sheet, butter the flesh, and then salt and pepper the flesh. Roast in a 425 degree oven for 50 minutes.
  • While the squash is roasting, cook the filling (the filling only takes about 20 minutes to make so you can either make it ahead of time or make it a half hour into roasting the squash so they are done at the same time). Start by browning the ground beef. Make sure you season the beef with salt and pepper while it cooks. Set the beef aside. Leave the fat behind in the pan.
  • Melt a few TB of butter (or bacon grease makes this taste amazing!) in the pan and add the onion with a big pinch of sea salt. Saute for about 5 minutes.
  • Add the garlic, chopped kale and seasoning cook about 5 minutes until the kale is softened.
  • Stir in the cooked beef and cooked rice to combine.
  • Stuff the middle of the roasted squash with the cooked kale and beef filling. Really stuff it all in there. Sprinkle cheese over the top, then the almond flour. Put little pats of butter over the top of the almond flour topping to brown it up while it cooks.
  • Bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes to melt the cheese and brown the top.

For more real food dinner ideas follow my Dinner Ideas board on Pinterest!

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21 Comments

  • Reply Melissa @ Bless this Mess October 4, 2015 at 10:38 am

    These look awesome!!! Thanks for sharing!

  • Reply Jessica October 4, 2015 at 12:28 pm

    Amazing pictures. The boys will love these. 🙂 I’ll pick up some squash this week.

    • Reply Renee Kohley October 5, 2015 at 6:09 am

      Thank you Jessica! I think they will like it! I let the 2 big girls share a “shell” – they eat the whole thing between the 2 of them!

  • Reply Emily @ Recipes to Nourish October 4, 2015 at 7:45 pm

    That looks so good! It’s still so hot here, so squash hasn’t made it into our meals, but I’m looking forward to it! Acorn squash is my favorite!

    • Reply Renee Kohley October 5, 2015 at 6:10 am

      Send us a little ray of sun! Ha! It was in the 50’s here all weekend! Eek!

  • Reply Megan Stevens October 5, 2015 at 8:16 pm

    Mmmm, this looks amazing!! So much fun to eat it out of the “shell;” and I love the rice and cheese, comfort food!

  • Reply linda spiker October 6, 2015 at 10:12 am

    5 stars
    Beautiful and looks so comforting and ‘fallish’.

  • Reply karen October 6, 2015 at 10:18 am

    5 stars
    Love stuffed acorn squash. It’s a meal in a bowl! Yum!

  • Reply The Food Hunter October 6, 2015 at 10:50 am

    This looks amazing!!

  • Reply Susie October 6, 2015 at 10:55 am

    This looks so good! I love all squash and will be making this soon.

  • Reply May October 9, 2015 at 12:59 am

    This looks and sounds amazing, what a great idea!

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  • Reply Christina November 18, 2018 at 5:03 pm

    This….was A-MAZING!!! The only thing I did different was carmalize the onions and garlic.

    • Reply Renee Kohley November 24, 2018 at 7:01 pm

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it Christina!

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