Stuffed Acorn Squash
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A Stuffed Acorn Squash recipe you have to try! This stuffed squash is so easy to make – try it with sausage or keep it vegetarian!
This post was originally shared in 2017 but has since been updated.
If you’re looking for a dish that’s both hearty and healthy, this Stuffed Acorn Squash is perfect!
Acorn squash gets roasted to perfection and tossed with protein packed turkey, mushrooms, apples, and melty cheddar cheese for the perfect salty and sweet combo made in under an hour.
This dish is easy to make with simple, affordable ingredients and can be customized in a ton of different ways depending on what you have on hand!
(This recipe would be amazing on Thanksgiving as an alternative to turkey. If you’re still planning your Thanksgiving menu – check out these Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes!)
liz’s tips for stufedd acorn squash
- If you’re wondering how to pick an acorn squash – it’s very simple! Acorn squash should be firm to the touch, like a potato. You’ll want to look for one that is medium in size because the larger the squash, the more seeds. Make sure the squash isn’t mushy and look for ones that don’t have many holes or dents.
Ingredients
substitutions
Acorn Squash: You should be able to find acorn squash in stores from October-March! I haven’t tried making this recipe with spaghetti squash but I’m sure it would be delicious! Check out this recipe for Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash Boats to see how to cook the squash. I would follow the directions in that post and just sub in this filling instead of the chicken/broccoli filling. If you have butternut squash, try Ground Beef Butternut Skillet.
Olive Oil: If you don’t have olive oil you can use avocado oil or melted butter.
Meat: You can make acorn stuffed squash with Italian sausage, ground beef, ground pork, or ground chicken instead of turkey in this recipe if you’d like. We also have a Beef Stuffed Acorn Squash recipe.
Mushrooms: If you don’t like baby bella mushrooms, omit them. Any mushrooms will work in this recipe, or you could also add in some chopped onions in their place, but I would halve the amount.
Apples: You can omit apples if you don’t like them. Any apple variety will work, but Honeycrisp apples are my favorite because they’re tart and sweet!
Chicken Stock: Chicken broth, chicken stock, and bone broth can all be used interchangeably. You can also use vegetable or beef broth.
Herbs: Fresh herbs will definitely give the most flavor. If you don’t have fresh rosemary, sub with 1 tablespoon dried rosemary. You can also sub with thyme or sage.
Cheese: Cheddar, mozzarella, or gruyere are all delicious! Freshly grated cheese will melt better.
Whole30/Paleo: To make this Turkey Mushroom Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash paleo or whole30, just leave off the cheese!
Vegetarian – I haven’t tried making this vegetarian, but I think it would be delicious if you subbed in chickpeas and a mix of quinoa or rice as the filling.
How to cut squash for this Baked Stuffed Acorn Squash
- On a cutting board, 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. Having a sharp knife is helpful for any hard squash varieties.
- 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 halves until they are smooth and not stringy. You want to keep as much of the flesh as possible for roasting. Discard the seeds or rinse them off and roast in the oven with some salt and pepper for a great snack!
How to make Stuffed Acorn Squash:
- Cut, prep + roast the squash halves on a parchment lined baking sheet. Roast the cut side facing down on your lined cookie sheet.
- While the acorn squash halves cook, cook your turkey, apple, mushroom filling.
- When the acorn squash is finished roasting, scoop out the filling to create ‘boats’ and add to the turkey mixture.
- Stir the filling together so it’s evenly mixed.
- Stuff the acorn squash
- Top the stuffed squash with cheese and bake on the parchment lined baking sheet!
What to serve with this recipe
This stuffed acorn squash is a complete meal! Feel free to serve it with extra veggies on the side like:
What does acorn squash pair well with? Acorn squash is slightly sweet so it pairs well with savory things like fresh herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme), onions, garlic, Italian sausage, bacon, and other meats. Turkey stuffed acorn squash is a great balance of protein and vegetables. We love this pairing the best.
Storage options
Refrigerator: Stuffed acorn squash leftovers will last for 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
Freezing: I would not recommend freezing the stuffed acorn squash, as it will get soggy
Make Ahead: If you want to make the filling/stuff the acorn squash ahead of time, you can also do that and bake when you’re ready to eat!
Reheating: You can reheat this recipe in the microwave, oven, or toaster oven. If you want the cheese to be crispy, I would recommend putting it back in the toaster oven or oven. Otherwise, the microwave is fine!
FAQs
Yes, you can eat the skin of acorn squash. It’s a little bit tough and can be hard to digest, but you can absolutely eat it! I prefer not to eat acorn squash skin, but it is edible. It’s tougher than a potato’s skin and almost has a waxy feel to it.
Other healthy dinner recipes to try:
If you love ground turkey, check out these Healthy Ground Turkey Recipes! Otherwise, check out these other Healthy Recipes for Dinner:
Stuffed Acorn Squash
Ingredients
- 2 whole acorn squash cut in half
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb ground turkey or ground beef
- 1 ½ cups diced baby bella mushrooms
- 1 cup peeled and diced honeycrisp apples
- ½ cup low sodium chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, gruyere or mozzarella all work great!)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and prepare a parchment lined baking sheet. Spray the parchment paper with olive oil to prevent squash from sticking.
- Slice the acorn squash in half vertically. Scoop out the seeds and place the squash flat on sheet, cut-side face down.
- Bake the squash for 20 minutes, until it is tender when pierced with a fork.
- While the squash cooks, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan. Brown the turkey in the olive oil for 10 minutes until almost cooked through.
- While the turkey is cooking, chop the mushrooms, apples and herbs.
- Add the chopped mushrooms, apples, chicken stock, and spices to the pan with the cooked turkey. Sauté for an additional 5 minutes.
- When the squash is cooked, remove from the oven and scoop out most of the flesh, leaving a little bit of filling in the acorn squash.
- Add the squash filling to the turkey/mushroom/apple mixture in the pan and stir until completely mixed in.
- Scoop the turkey/squash mixture back into the hollowed out squash and top with cheese.
- Bake them at 450 degrees F for 5-10 minutes until cheese melts. Optional: broil for 2-3 minutes so the cheese gets crispy.
Video
Notes
- Meat– You can use ground beef, ground pork, sausage or ground chicken instead of turkey in this recipe if you’d like. We also have a Beef Stuffed Acorn Squash recipe.
- Whole30/Paleo – simply omit the cheese
- Mushrooms – If you don’t like mushrooms, omit them. You could also add in some chopped onions in their place, but I would halve the amount.
- Herbs – If you don’t have fresh rosemary, sub with 1 tablespoon dried rosemary. You can also sub with thyme.
- Cheese – Cheddar, mozzarella or gruyere are all delicious!
- Vegetarian – I haven’t tried making this vegetarian, but I think it would be delicious if you subbed in chickpeas and a mix of quinoa or rice as the filling.
- WW Freestyle – The only points in this recipe come from the olive oil and cheese. Feel free to sub/adjust to have a lower point meal. Points calculated using 99% fat free turkey
I loved this recipe! I made it for me and my husband and it was so easy and filling! Definitely a must try if you haven’t already!
Thanks Soph!! So glad you both liked it 💙💙
This was SO good! I’ve only ever had acorn squash with butter and brown sugar so this was definitely a very different direction. So satisfying. My husband who “doesn’t like squash” was even a fan. Thanks for this Liz!
So happy. to hear you liked it, Jillian!
Wow, wow, wow, so so easy so simple. So yummy. Can’t wait to make make again. Amazing.
So happy you like it, Jess! Thank you!
Made this last night and it was great – both my husband and I really liked it. I was surprised by how easily the recipe came together – we could definitely make this on a weeknight after work. The apple and herbs gave the acorn squash a really nice fall flavor – we will definitely make it again!
So glad you liked it, Colleen! Thank you so much!
It was really good! I used one huge acorn squash that pretty much equaled two. I substituted Italian hot chicken sausage. I used fresh onion and garlic instead of powder. Used canned mushrooms as I didn’t have fresh. Used shredded three cheese and added half cup of quinoa.
I made this recipe for my family, and it was a hit, it was easy to make and ver flavourful. Instructions were easy to follow, i will definitely be making this again.
Thank you so much, Terralynne! I really appreciate it!
Another winner! I loved this recipe—easy to make, delicious and all the flavors came together so nicely. Next time I make, I need to remember to roast the squash a bit longer before stuffing it but overall, I loved this recipe!
So happy you liked it, Ashley! Thank you so much!
Yummy! Made some tweaks and was a big hit with the hubby! Not sure the stock was needed, only added a splash. Added chopped onion, dried thyme and a touch of ground sage. Didnt needed added salt.
Thanks, Liz! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! That sounds great!
I’ve made this twice now and love it! The chicken stock adds such a good flavor. I grate white cheddar gruyere cheese on top and it’s a great flavor combo.
So happy you enjoyed them, Megan! Thank you!
This was delicious! My grocery store only had golden acorn squash, but I actually may like them better. I used chicken sausage some ground chicken mixed in instead of ground turkey and it was very tasty!
Thanks, Jeanette! I’m glad you liked it and that chicken sausage combo sounds great!
Such a great fall meal! Made for meal prep and it was super easy and fun, great way to combine a bunch of fall flavors and healthy vegetables. I added apples, mushrooms, onions, shredded carrots, and kale and it was delicious. Will definitely be making again due to the ease and customizability of the recipe. Thank you!
Thanks, Eva! Love that you were able to customize it 🙂
This was delicious and so filling! Will definitely be making it again!
So glad you liked it, Jennifer! thank you!
Made this last night. Used ground chicken ( d/t a turkey allergy in the familt). It was really yummy and easy to fix! I love recipes that don’t take forever to make. Will be making this often this fall and winter.
So happy you liked it! Thank you Christine!
Can I say how awesome this recipe was! Easy to follow and yes a little preparation but worth it. Also, I did not have ground turkey so I used pork and it came out great as well. The same with dried figs. I didn’t have so I used raisins. Overall, I give it 5 stars and will do it again.
So happy you liked it, Magdaleny!! Thank you!
OMG this recipe was so easy and delicious ! Definitely
one of my favorite!!! Can’t wait to make it again! ❤️
So happy you liked the recipe, Justyna!!
I made this last week and again this week. Love it! However, I highly recommend roasting the squash seeds, It’s simple and delicious…I found the best squash seed roasting instructions on line…
So happy you liked the recipe, Lisa! Thank you!
This was such a cozy fall recipe. The flavors combined so well. I ended up using a spaghetti squash instead since I had one on hand and it worked perfectly. I’m not a huge fan of mushrooms but know they are super nutritious so finding ways to mix them in like this are perfect.
Glad the spaghetti squash worked out! I haven’t tried that. This recipe is definitely a great way to sneak in veggies!
Loved this one! My mom who normally doesn’t like squash of any kind (?!) even loved it- I doubled the recipe and I’m glad I did because 4 of us ate an entire squash each. I added some spinach that I needed to use, and it was just a perfect fall meal, the mixture of apple with it is a great touch. I had some leftover of the stuffing that didn’t make it into the squashes that I ate with rice the next day for lunch. So good!
Thanks, Bridget! Love the addition of spinach – great way to add more veggies!
Made this for our family of six and everyone raved about it! A perfect fall dish with great depth of flavors. The kids also thought it was fun to have their own “bowl”. This one is going in my recipe file.
Love that, Heidi!! They are fun to eat 🙂 Thank you so much for trying them!
This was such a good fall recipe! I picked up some acorn squash at the store on a whim and found this recipe on Pinterest . The meal ended up looking great and tasting even better! It was quite easy to put together as well. I omitted the mushrooms because I’m not a huge mushroom fan and didn’t have any on hand. I will 100% be going back to this recipe and cooking it for friends and family.
So glad you liked the recipe, Kristen! You can easily leave out the mushrooms or even add in other veggies like broccoli.
Super simple and filling fall recipe! Made our house smell amazing and we had plenty of leftovers to enjoy.
Love to hear that, Tiffany! Thank you 🙂
Made this today, and WOW this was so good. I did change up the recipe a little. I used ground turkey 99% fat free and turkey sausage. I also added some chopped leaks. So easy to make and quick too!
So glad you enjoyed it, Janina! Thank you!!
This recipe is amazing! I had never tried an acorn squash before, but the pictures just looked so good and it just got a little chilly here, so I was in the mood for some fall flavors! Next time, I do want to try a different cheese as all I had was cheddar and I think using mozzarella would take it over the top! I highly recommend!
So glad you liked it!! It’s so good with any cheese on top but we love mozzarella or even gouda/gruyere 🙂
SO, SO, SO YUMMY! I made this for my meal prep for the week and I am so excited for lunch everyday! I will definitely make this again!
So glad you liked it, Amanda! Than you so much!
love this! i have been eyeing this recipe for over a year and i finally just made it. never really been a fan of apples but trying to branch out my pallet. it is delicious. if any body is wondering about the vegetarian version it comes out great! i also added a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon just to make it extra fall tasting. it looks amazing and i feel like a little chef in the making. thanks for sharing such an appealing recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it, Shama! This makes me so happy to hear!
Can I use water in place of the Chicken Stock? I have all of the ingredients on hand except for that and obviously I’m not sending my husband out to the store for just the stock right now due to the pandemic! Any other suggestions for substitution of the stock?? Thank you!!
Yes! If you have veggie or beef stock that will work too 🙂