Beef Stuffed Acorn Squash is an easy, healthy dinner recipe the whole family will love. Packed with veggies & fall flavor, it’s delicious & simple to make. This post is sponsored by my friends at La Tourangelle Oils.
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If you’re looking for the ultimate fall meal, this Beef Stuffed Acorn Squash is it my friends! Ground beef, veggies, roasted acorn squash, melty cheddar cheese… yea, it’s kinda a dream come true.
This recipe has a few more steps than most of our recipes, but I promise you – it’s worth spending a few more minutes in the kitchen for this deliciousness, and I’ve got step by step instructions to show you just how easy it is to make!
This Turkey Stuffed Acorn Squash recipe has been so popular on the site over the years that I thought you guys would like to see another variation of one of my favorite meals.
I personally love making stuffed squash dishes in the fall for a few reasons: they’re easy, they feel super cozy, they’re great for meal prepping, and are an awesome way to get in lots of veggies in a fun fall way.
They’re also just downright delicious, and this recipe is especially filled with fall and earthy flavors thanks to the oil I cooked it with!
Ingredients for Stuffed Acorn Squash:
To make this recipe you’ll need minimal ingredients, many of which you already have at home. Here’s what you’ll need:
- La Tourangelle Walnut Oil
- ground beef (we like ButcherBox. Click here to get free ground beef!)
- dried figs
- chicken stock
- salt, pepper
- pecans
- mushrooms
- acorn squash
- cheddar cheese (optional)
- onions and garlic
You’ll also need a baking sheet, silpat liner, or parchment paper.
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded box.
Once you have everything in place.. you’re ready to cook! There are also multiple substituions listed below!
This La Tourangelle Roasted Walnut Oil is one of my favorite oils to cook with. It has a rich, nutty flavor that pairs well in so many dishes, and it’s loaded with omega-3s.
I love it in dishes like this for adding more depth of flavor, but it is also so delicious as a drizzle on veggies or as a dressing on salad (it goes great with balsamic vinegar on this Strawberry Avocado Goat Cheese Salad!).
How to cut and prepare acorn squash:
To cut acorn squash:
- slice from the stem towards the pointed edge of the squash directly down the middle. Acorn squashes have ridges in them, so if you can find a ridge to guide the knife through it will be easier to cut
- Once the acorn squash is cut in half, scoop out the seeds. You can just use a regular spoon. Make sure you scrape the inside of the squash until it is smooth and not stringy. Discard the seeds.
- Your acorn squash is now ready to roast! We have step by step instructions showing how to cut spaghetti squash in this post. It’s a similar process for acorn squash!
How to make Stuffed Acorn Squash:
- Cut + prep your acorn squash.
- Place squash flat on a sheet greased with walnut oil. Bake the squash for 20 minutes, until it is tender when pierced with a fork.
- While your squash is roasting, prep your beef + veggie filling.
- Scoop most of the squash out of the center + add to your beef filling mixture
- Fill the empty acorn squash shells with filling. Sprinkle with copious amounts of super sharp cheddar cheese (yum!)
- Return the stuffed acorn squash to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes until cheese melts.
After that, all that’s left to do is DIG IN! We’ve made these almost once a week since I came up with the recipe.. Tyler keeps requesting them, and I’m personally more than happy to eat them once a week.
They’re a fall staple for sure! I hope you love them as much as we do!
Substitutions for this Stuffed Acorn Squash Recipe:
Protein: You can make this with ground chicken or turkey for a leaner meal
Mushrooms: If you don’t like mushrooms you can omit them
Dried Fruit: If you don’t have figs dried cranberries or raisins would be delicious. You can also omit them from the recipe.
To make nut free: omit pecans and use one of La Tourangelle’s other delicious oils like this one
To make dairy free: omit the cheese
To make paleo/whole30: omit the cheese
Time Saving Tips for Stuffed Acorn Squash
Cook the acorn squash before. The squash takes the longest out of all of the steps. You can bake the squash the night before you want to have them for dinner and cook the filling so that you’re 30 minutes ahead of the game come dinner time!
Cook the filling ahead of time. The filling in this recipe requires the most prep work because of the chopping. You can cook it the night before you’d like to make the squash to save time (and get all those dishes out of the way!)
My favorite thing to do is prep everything per the directions up until step six. Then I just wrap the acorn squash in an oven safe dish and put them in the fridge for the next day so I can just take them out and bake for 12-15 minutes until the cheese is melty and they’re warm throughout!
Love ground beef? Check out this list of 25+ Healthy Ground Beef Recipes!
Other healthy dinner recipes we love:
Looking for other easy meals? Check out these 40+ Healthy Dinner Recipes. Click here to grab our free healthy 30 minute dinners cookbook.
Beef Stuffed Acorn Squash
Ingredients
- 2 acorn squash halved
- 1 tablespoon La Tourangelle Walnut Oil
- 1/2 cup onion diced finely
- 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 1/2 cups baby bella mushrooms chopped
- 1/4 cup dried figs chopped
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh sage chopped
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup pecans chopped
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat baking sheet. Grease baking sheet lightly with walnut oil to prevent squash from sticking.
- Slice acorn squash in half, scoop out seeds and place flat on sheet greased with walnut oil. Bake the squash for 20 minutes, until it is tender when pierced with a fork.
- While the squash cooks – heat La Tourangelle Walnut Oil in large pan. Sauté onions and garlic until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add in ground beef and cook for an additional 10 minutes until browned.
- Once meat is browned, add in chopped mushrooms, dried figs, chicken stock, pecans, herbs, pepper and salt to the pan with the beef. Sauté for an additional 5 minutes.
- When the squash is done, remove from the oven + scoop out most of the cooked center, leaving the mostly empty squash ‘boat’ on the baking sheet.
- Add the squash filling to the beef/veggie/mushroom mixture in the pan + stir until completely mixed in. Scoop the beef/squash mixture back into the empty squash + top with cheese.
- Bake them at 450 for 5-10 minutes until cheese melts, and then broil for 2-3 minutes so the cheesy gets crispy.
Notes
- Mushrooms: If you don’t like mushrooms you can omit them
- Dried Fruit: If you don’t have figs dried cranberries or raisins would be delicious
- To make nut free: omit pecans and use one of La Tourangelle’s other delicious oils like this one
- To make dairy free: omit the cheese
- To make paleo/whole30: omit the cheese
- Squash: If you don’t have acorn squash, this recipe would work well with spaghetti squash
Lauren says
Made this last night and enjoying the leftovers today. It is absolutely delicious! Love the crunchy bites of the pecans and the touch of sweetness from the figs. I’m on whole 30 right now so I left out the cheese.
The Clean Eating Couple says
I’m so glad you liked it, Lauren! The pecans and the figs are SO delicious with the ground beef! Love that you made it Whole30 🙂
Jessica says
This recipe is delicious! It’s really so versatile and can be adapted to the ingredients you’d like to include or keep out.
The Clean Eating Couple says
I’m so glad you like it, Jessica!! Totally agree – it’s so versatile and easy to customize!
Ann says
We have made these twice and each time they are so good!! I leave the cheese off because we are doing a whole30 but you don’t even need it. One of our new favorite dinners
The Clean Eating Couple says
That makes me so happy to hear, Ann!! We have been loving them too – and you’re totally right, you don’t even need the cheese!!
Carly says
This is one of the best meals I’ve made in awhile. It has so much flavor! I made it with ground turkey and loved it.
The Clean Eating Couple says
I’m so glad you liked it, Carly!! It’s one of my favorites too! 🙂
Laura says
My family loved this recipe. I had to sub a couple things because I didn’t have what was required but most of it remained the same. This recipe is a keeper!
The Clean Eating Couple says
I’m so glad you liked it, Laura! The recipe is pretty versatile so even with substitutes it always comes out yummy!
Sylvia says
Absolutely delicious! We’ve made this four times this fall/winter, including once for company. We use either raisins or dried apricots instead of dried figs and both work well… one of these days we’ll try the figs. A wonderful introduction to acorn squash, for me!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thank you so much, Sylvia! I love the apricot addition – that sounds great!
Tinatin says
We made this dish with a few alterations with walnuts, raisins and parmesan cheese. It was delicious! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!
The Clean Eating Couple says
so happy you liked it Tinatin! Thanks for trying!
Carmen says
First time making acorn squash and it was delicious!! Didn’t use mushrooms because I didn’t have handy and switched to dried cranberries! So good!!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thanks, Carmen! Glad you enjoyed it! Dried cranberries are such a great substitute!
Lorelei J Miller says
Love this recipe. We skip the cheese and don’t miss it at all. If I’m feeling lazy I don’t fill the acorn squash with the meat mixture. I simply scoop out a portion of the roasted squash onto each plate and top with beef. I also add 1-2 sticks of chopped celery to the mix.
The Clean Eating Couple says
So happy you like this recipe, Lorelei! Thank you!
Aimee says
The perfect fall dish! So warm and comforting!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thank you so much, Aimee!
saundra says
this is a great recipe just tried it to night and love it can’t wait to come up with additional variations
saundra says
This is awesome made it last night didn’t have figs so i melted my fig jam into the beef mixture it was amazing ……….this is a new recipe in our empty nest rotation
Diana says
Made this for dinner and it turned out delicious! There were a few tweaks I made based on what I already had on hand: I used organic avocado oil, dates instead of figs, walnuts instead of pecans and shredded mozzerela cheese instead of sharp cheddar. My acorn squash needed another 5 minutes for it to be done and probably could’ve used a little bit longer than that still. Really happy how it turned out and eager to see how the leftovers do when reheated!