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dairy free stuffed squash

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Stuffed Butterkin Squash

September 21, 2021

A cross between a butternut squash and pumpkin, this little stuffed butterkin squash is sure to be a kid favorite!

Stuffed Butterkin Squash

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Fall hikes and meal routines

We’re getting into the season of layers here in Michigan! We start out in hoodies and by the end of the hike the kids have peeled off all the layers to enjoy the golden warmth of the fall sun! We have a Sunday routine of hiking every weekend, and in the fall that routine also includes a roasted chicken for Sunday dinner. One of my favorite things to do with the leftover chicken is make an easy filling for a stuffed squash, and this week, we make it very weekday friendly – meaning super simple! So I thought you might like to see how to do it!

Stuffed Butterkin Squash

Stuffed squash basics!

While a stuffed squash looks fancy, I promise you this is a busy mom’s dream dinner. Comforting and satisfying without the fuss and time of usual comfort dinners, makes for the perfect weekday meal. Really, a stuffed squash is just a roasted squash filled with a protein/veggie stir fry, and topped with cheese or crispy topping. Its dinner all in one, hitting all of the protein, fat, and carbohydrate needs for growing kids. Win-win! You can truly use any squash, and once you try it, you’ll see why there are 3 other stuffed squash recipes on my blog, and one in my cookbook, Nourished Beginnings!

Stuffed Butterkin Squash

Ok, sounds good! But what in the world is a butterkin squash?!

We discovered these cutie little squashes a couple years ago, and it has become a family favorite. The butterkin squash is a cross-breed of butternut squash, and pumpkin – get it? Butter-kin! In my taste palate opinion, while it has more of the shape of a pumpkin, it tastes more like a butternut squash – buttery smooth, and sweet. It has a really kid-friendly texture and honey sweet taste. If you don’t have access to a butterkin squash, you can make this stuffed squash with a butternut squash, pumpkin, or acorn squash – all equally delicious!

Stuffed Butterkin Squash

The Method :: Roasting the butterkin squash

I promise the cutting part is not intimidating, so long as you have a proper knife! I will also promise you that while it is much faster to just plop any squash in the Instant Pot to pressure cook away, the flavor and texture that you will get from properly roasting a squash is second to none – the kids are going to inhale this! Using a sharp knife, slice around the width of the butterkin squash, so that you have the top and bottom, equal transverse halves. Scoop the seeds out, and put them into an oven safe baking dish or cast iron skillet. You can have the kids spread the butter all over the flesh of the squash, and then sprinkle it with salt and pepper. You’ll roast the squash for 50 minutes, which gives you plenty of time to make the filling – in fact you will probably have time to clean up and do other things as well!

Stuffed Butterkin Squash

The Method :: The stuffed squash filling

The sky is the limit here! This week called for the simplest of the simple. I just needed basic. Some weeks I like to get fancy with more veggie variety, but I just didn’t have it in me this week, and truthfully those kind of dinners are sometimes the best. I had a lot of spinach to use up, and mushrooms just jive so well with that, so I went with it. Use whatever you have in your veggie bin – this filling is a great way to use up leftover veggies from the week and clear the fridge out. You’ll cook the veggies in butter until fragrant and golden, and then add the chicken, garlic, and spinach. This filling really only takes 15 minutes to cook, and it can be done ahead of time too! I like to use a few splashes of broth for flavor and moisture since leftover chicken can be dry. The result of the broth cooked down with the mushrooms, onions, and garlic leaves a very flavorful filling for your sweet squash!

Stuffed Butterkin Squash
Stuffed Butterkin Squash

The Method :: Stuffing the squash, and finishing the topping

Once your filling is cooked, and the squash is done roasting, all you have to do is load up the squash with the filling – don’t be shy! Pack it in! And then you can sprinkle the topping on. Again, on this day I needed simple. I used the Ian’s Gluten Free Panko Breadcrumbs mixed with freshly grated parm, and called it good. You can do all cheese if you want, or there are some notes in the recipe card for a topping idea that is both grain and dairy free if you need that. Once you sprinkle your topping, get it up under your oven broiler for a few minutes, and you’re ready to eat!

Stuffed Butterkin Squash

Leftovers?!

If there happens to be any leftovers (a rarity in my house these days!), they truly make *THE* best breakfast the next day topped with a fried egg. Seriously heaven. It could also make a great leftover lunch too. If you think far enough ahead, you could technically roast off 2 full squashes and double the filling if you want more leftover (or have a bigger family!)

Stuffed Butterkin Squash

Stuffed Butterkin Squash

Ingredients

  • 1 medium butterkin squash cut in half across the width, seeds scooped out
  • 2 tbsp butter divided
  • Sea salt/pepper to taste
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 4 ounces mushrooms sliced
  • 1 clove of garlic minced
  • 2-3 cups leftover cooked chicken shredded or finely chopped (you could also brown up ½ pound of chicken beforehand)
  • 3-4 cups baby spinach or baby kale chopped small
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • 2-4 tbsp bone broth stock, or water for cooking in
  • ¼ cup GF Panko bread crumbs see notes below for grain free option
  • ¼ cup parmesan cheese see Notes below for dairy free option
  • Sea salt/pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.
  • Place the halved butterkin squashes flesh side up in a baking dish, and spread 1 tbsp of butter over the flesh of the squash. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast at 425 degrees for 50 minutes. While the squash roasts, you can make the filling.
  • To make the filling, melt 1 tbsp of butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and mushrooms with a pinch of salt and cook over medium high heat for 5 minutes until fragrant and golden.
  • Add the garlic and the chicken, stir to combine, and cook for 1 minute.
  • Add the spinach, thyme, and splashes of bone broth and cook until the spinach wilts and the broth cooks off – this takes a few minutes.
  • When the squashes are done roasting, turn the oven off, and take the baking dish with the squash out. Scoop the chicken/spinach skillet mixture into each half of the butterkin squash, patting the filling down into the middle.
  • Whisk the GF Panko breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese together in a small bowl and sprinkle over each squash half.
  • Put the stuffed squashes under the oven broiler on “HI” for 3-5 minutes watching carefully for a beautiful golden color. Every oven broiler can run differently so take a peek after a couple minutes in case yours runs hotter.

Notes

  • I like to use leftover chicken from my weekly roasted whole chicken. It makes meals like this so fast and cost effective to stretch that one roasted chicken dinner into 2!
  • If you don’t have leftover chicken, you can brown up about ½ pound of chicken or beef.
  • If you are dairy free and/or grain free, you can swap the gluten free panko crumbs for 3 tbsp almond flour mixed with 1-2 tsp olive oil.
  • This is such a simple veggie mixture for this stuffing. If you have different veggies on hand, go ahead and swap! Stuffed squashes are a great way to empty the leftover veggies in the fridge from the week.
Stuffed Butterkin Squash

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Dinner Ideas Feeding Babies Healthy Kids and Teens Nourishing Staples Real Food 101 Real Food Tips

Creamy Paleo Stuffed Butternut Squash :: Gluten & Dairy Free!

December 30, 2020

Healthy comfort food for your dinner rotation! Stuffed Butternut Squash packed with flavor, and creamy without the dairy or gluten!

Creamy Paleo Stuffed Butternut Squash :: Gluten & Dairy Free!

Product links in this post are affiliate links. It does not cost you anything, and helps maintain the free information on this site, as well as answer the questions of “what brand do you use?” Please know I never personally recommend any product I wouldn’t use on my own family.

Happy new year!

How about a new dinner idea for your menu rotation this winter? We’ve been enjoying these stuffed butternut squashes all fall long, and my girls have devoured enough of them that I thought it about time to share the recipe with you!

Creamy Paleo Stuffed Butternut Squash :: Gluten & Dairy Free!

Fancy presentation, easy peasy prep!

I know the idea of a stuffed squash seems time consuming, but it really is very little hands-on time. The oven does most of the work for you, and you can get so much done while dinner is in the oven! You could even roast the squash on a prep day if you do that, so that it is ready to go during the week. This also makes the perfect weekend comfort dinner when you do have a bit more time at home!

Creamy Paleo Stuffed Butternut Squash :: Gluten & Dairy Free!

The Method :: The Roasted Squash

A simple slice down the length of the butternut squash is all the cutting you need to do for this squash dinner. No peeling or dicing – my kind of dinner prep! After you scoop the seeds out, rub some olive oil over the flesh and sprinkle salt and pepper and you’ll be hands free while the squash caramelizes and sweetens in the oven.

Creamy Paleo Stuffed Butternut Squash :: Gluten & Dairy Free!

The Method :: The Filling

While your squash is roasting, the filling can be made in about 15 minutes. That gives you plenty of time to clean up the kitchen, help with homework, or tend to kiddos while the squash finishes roasting! To make the filling you’ll sweeten your aromatics before adding some grassfed ground beef. The nutritional yeast adds a cheesy flavor to the cream sauce without cheese! Heaven! Once the veggies and beef are cooked, you’ll coat them in potato starch so that the coconut milk will thicken once it hits the pan. You can swap an starchy flour you like here from tapioca to arrowroot. I leave the broccoli to add until the end so it doesn’t get too mushy. If you prefer your broccoli very soft you could add it earlier. The creamy filling is just so decadent and flavorful!

Creamy Paleo Stuffed Butternut Squash :: Gluten & Dairy Free!

The Method :: Assembling and Roasting the Stuffed Squash

Once your squash is finished roasting, you’ll easily be able to scoop little spoonful’s of the soft squash into your skillet filling. This does 2 things – it makes a perfect little well for the skillet filling to stuff into the squash, and secondly it stirs into the skillet filling, making it even creamier and buttery in taste! After stirring the squash into the filling, you can “stuff” the squash! A little sprinkle of the almond flour based topping and the stuffed squash is ready for the oven!

Creamy Paleo Stuffed Butternut Squash :: Gluten & Dairy Free!

An Important Note on Squash Size and Doubling!

Most of the time when I am grocery shopping, I pick out the short, fat little butternut squashes. I would consider them to be “small” butternut squashes. The recipe as written uses a small butternut squash, and feeds my family of 5 for one meal. If you need more servings, this recipe doubles very easily. You could use 2 small butternut squashes, or one large. I feel like the large butternut squashes take longer to roast, so when I do want more leftover, I tend to just make 2 small butternut squashes in a large, 9×13 baking pan, so they cook faster. And let me tell you, the leftovers are *ahhh-mazing* for breakfast the next day, dear momma!

Creamy Paleo Stuffed Butternut Squash :: Gluten & Dairy Free!

Can I Use Dairy or Cheese If I Tolerate It?

Absolutely! I know many, like myself, find too much dairy to be inflammatory, so typically this time of year, my body is ready for a little dairy break after the holidays. If you tolerate cheese, that makes such a yummy topping for the stuffed squash. We did that a couple times this fall with some Manchego, a sheep’s milk cheese that my dairy sensitive daughter and I tolerate very well. You could also sub real milk or cream for the coconut milk if you have access to that.

Creamy Paleo Stuffed Butternut Squash :: Gluten & Dairy Free!
Creamy Paleo Stuffed Butternut Squash :: Gluten & Dairy Free!
Print Recipe
5 from 2 votes

Creamy Paleo Stuffed Butternut Squash

Ingredients

For the Roasted Squash

  • 2 tsp olive oil butter is ok here if you tolerate that
  • 1 small butternut squash halved and seeded
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper

For the Filling

For the topping

Instructions

For the Roasted Squash

  • Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.
  • Rub the olive oil over the 2 halves of squash, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in a baking dish for 40 minutes at 425 degrees until soft. You can make the filling while the squash roasts.

For the filling

  • Warm the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat, and add the onion and pepper. Sprinkle some sea salt and cook over medium high heat for 5-7 minutes until fragrant and soft.
  • Add the garlic and cook for a minute
  • Add the ground beef, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and coconut aminos and cook until the beef is browned. Stir and break up the meat into small pieces as it cooks.
  • Once the beef is browned, stir the nutritional yeast and potato starch into the mixture, and combine until everything is coated well. Pour the coconut milk and broccoli into the pan and stir until the coconut milk thickens, a couple of minutes. The broccoli will still have some bite to it, but it will cook more in the oven – if you add too early it will get too mushy.

Assemble the stuffed squash

  • Once the squash is done roasting, scoop some of the flesh into the filling mixture in the skillet and stir to combine. Make enough room in the squash to be able to “stuff” it, leaving some squash around the sides and bottom.
  • Once the squash has been stirred into the filling mixture, scoop the ground beef mixture into the squash to stuff it.
  • Mix the topping ingredients with a fork in a small dish, and sprinkle over the top of the squash. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 12-14 minutes, until the topping is golden.

Notes

  • If you need more servings, this recipe doubles very easily. You could use 2 small butternut squashes, or one large. I feel like the large butternut squashes take longer to roast, so when I do want more leftover, I tend to just make 2 small butternut squashes in a large, 9×13 baking pan, so they cook faster.
  • If you tolerate cheese, that makes a delicious topping too!
Creamy Paleo Stuffed Butternut Squash :: Gluten & Dairy Free!

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