This Stuffed Roasted Butternut Squash is the best main you can bring to your holiday table this year!
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Why Butternut Squash is Perfect for Stuffing
Butternut squash is naturally sweet, creamy, and pairs beautifully with savoury, spiced fillings. It’s high in fibre, vitamins A and C, and offers a satisfying texture that works perfectly in vegan and vegetarian recipes.
Roasting enhances its flavour even more, creating a melt-in-the-mouth experience that’s hard to resist.
Stuffed Roasted Butternut Squash: The Ultimate Vegan Comfort Food
Whether you’re hosting a vegan Christmas, a festive gathering, or just craving something nourishing and comforting, this Stuffed Roasted Butternut Squash recipe delivers on every front.
Easy to customise, absolutely packed with nutrients, and stunning to serve — it’s a true celebration of plant-based cooking at its finest.
It's the perfect and healthy meal to bring together all guests with different dietary needs, as this Stuffed Roasted Butternut Squash is both vegan and gluten free!
But there's more!
Although it's not the quickest recipe to prepare, I'm aware, it can be made in advance (literally a few days before serving it!) and reheat it on the day, so you don't need to bury yourself with extra work before "show time", but you can just chill and enjoy a drink and a chat with your family and guests.
Let's immediately skip to the fun part and see how it all comes together!
Ingredients
Butternut Squash. For the best outcome, I'd suggest to get your hands on a rather uniform butternut squash. To be extra clear, one that doesn't have a huge bum bum and a very thin neck. Just try to select a squash the has roughly the same circumference on both ends and you'll be good to go!
Soya TVP (textured vegetable protein, aka vegan mince). You can substitute it with any vegan mince of your choice. I personally like to work with this particular ingredient as I consider it a “white canvas” that can be flavoured to my liking.
Wine. I choose white wine to go with this filling as it mainly does not stain and darken the filling. As this is a recipe suitable for vegans, you should pay attention while purchasing and look for a vegan friendly wine. You can also use beer to flavour it up, or no alcohol at all.
Nuts. They add an extra level of texture. I chose walnuts and pistachios as I think they go very well with the flavours of this recipe, but you can use any other nut or nut mix of your choice. I've tried this filling also with dry fruits like cranberries and it actually was really nice, too on the sweet side to my liking though, this is why I decided to leave them out of the "official" ingredient list. And of course you can totally omit the nuts if you have guests that are intolerant or allergic.
Spices & Seasonings
How to Make Stuffed Roasted Butternut Squash
Step 1 - Roast the Butternut Squash
Carefully cut the squash in two and remove the seeds from both halves with a spoon.
Place the squash on a baking tray (better if covered in baking paper), brush it with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and fresh sage.
Bake in a preheated oven (200°C) for around 45 minutes. As time can vary according to the size of the squash used, I highly suggest to try prick it with a fork or wooden skewer before removing from the oven. If the squash is fork tender it means it's ready. Otherwise increase the cooking time by a few more minutes.
Set the squash aside and leave to cool down completely.
As soon as the roasted butternut squash reaches room temperature (or it's lightly lukewarm), you can start to carefully scooping out its flesh, making sure to leave around 1 cm/half inch from both sides and bottom.
Keep the pulp as it will be added to the filling further on.
Step 2 - Prepare the Filling
Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 finely chopped red onion to a pan, and sauté until translucid.
Add the soya TVP (there's no need to soak it), sauté for a minute or two, then pour the white wine. Let the wine to evaporate (2-3 minutes on medium heat), then add all the the spices and seasonings.
Give the mixture a little stir before cover it with water. Simmer for 30 minutes.
Note: Do not worry if the water seems too much at this point. Remember, we haven't soaked the TVP before adding it to the recipe, and the granules will absorb all the liquids.
Add from 100 to 130 grams of pulp (you can add it all if you like, but be aware it will probably be too sweet). Also combine the nuts (both roughly chopped according to your own taste), mix well, turn off the heat and wait for the filling to cool down.
Step 3 - Stuff the Squash
Next scoop the filling into the two squash halves and gently press it to the bottom and sides.
Turn one half on the other, as per rebuilding the squash, and secure with a piece of kitchen string.
Step 4 - Bake
Before serving, bake the filled butternut squash for 30 minutes at 180°C (150°F), just enough to reheat it.
You can prepare the squash in advance minus the last bake and store in the fridge for up to 4 days before serving it.
Serving Suggestions
I suggest to accompany this wonderful main with a fragrant and flavourful white wine gravy (I'll include the recipe below) and at least a couple of sides of your choice.
In the next picture I served it with my Easy Skin-On Thyme Roasted Potatoes and Vegan Green Bean Casserole.
Looking for other main inspo?! Take a look at these (*ones are or can be made gluten free):
- Mushroom & Shallot Vegan Pies*
- Roasted Cauliflower Wellington*
- Turkey(less) Roast*
- Butternut Squash, Brussels and Cranberries Lasagna*
- Homemade Vegan Wellington
- Veggie Lasagna with Pesto and Mozzarella Sauce*
- Black Bean Meatballs with Cranberries*
Recipe
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