10 Favorite Ways to Cook Acorn Squash (2024)

Much, much larger than an acorn.

Acorn squash probably stays up at night wondering why butternut squash gets all the love. After all, versatile acorn squash has a mild flavor that plays well with sweet and savory ingredients, it has a decorative edge built right in when you cut it in rings, and you can eat it, skin and all, without peeling it first.

To give acorn squash its much deserved spotlight, here are 10 of our favorite ways to enjoy this winter squash.

10 Favorite Acorn Squash Recipes

1. Apple-Stuffed Acorn Squash

Apples, onions, and cheese make a sweet and savory filling for acorn squash halves. It's easy to follow the basic recipe and make changes to suit your taste — some reviewers left out the cheese, some added bacon, some reduced the brown sugar. You do your squash your way.

2. Parmesan Roasted Acorn Squash

"LOVED IT," says home cook Debutante. "This recipe changed the way I thought about squash. Up until now, my only experience had been with the old-school butter and brown sugar approach — way too sickeningly sweet. This savoury recipe is utterly delicious and ultra-simple to make." You can follow the lead of several reviewers and add Italian seasoning to the coating mixture.

VIDEO: Parmesan Roasted Acorn Squash

3. Instant Pot Acorn Squash Stuffed with Italian Sausage

Use your multi-cooker every step of the way for this stick-to-your-ribs meal. No Instant Pot? No problem! Here's how home cook Nancy dealt with it: "Awesome, loved it. Didn't have a instant pot. Baked the squash in the oven first then added the sausage mixture and returned to the oven to heat marinara sauce and melt the cheese."

4. Moroccan-Style Stuffed Acorn Squash

Layers of flavor and texture are a highlight of this dish that serves as either a hearty side or main course. Couscous, garbanzo beans, raisins, celery, and carrots get spiced with cumin and stuffed inside acorn halves brushed with butter and brown sugar. Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, and brush with olive oil instead of butter to make this a vegetarian or vegan dish.

5. Butternut and Acorn Squash Soup

You can make this with the squash combo recommended in the recipe, or with all acorn squash. Some reviewers found the soup delicious but a bit too rich. Try cutting back on the cream cheese a bit and see how you like it.

6. Wild Rice Stuffed Acorn Squash

This hearty, vegetarian main dish is stuffed with wild rice, mushrooms, corn bread, and sage. Home cook Kathleen Woods Rubino says, "Delicious! I'm a vegetarian, and I had this as my main course for Thanksgiving. It was amazing."

7. Roasted Acorn Squash Salad

Serve this colorful salad at any autumn or winter meal. You can substitute fresh pomegranate seeds for the dried cranberries to get little bursts of flavor throughout. "Delicious when following the recipe exactly," says chocolate muse. "Its also good with spinach instead of arugula, and with butternut squash with seasonings doubled. I especially like how you can make the squash and dressing ahead of time."

8. Cheesy Acorn Squash

A savory mix of mushrooms, onions, and celery is topped off with cheese and baked in acorn squash halves to make a cozy meal or side even meat-eaters love. RANCHGIRL_59714 raves, "Oh my, oh WOW, and HOLY COW! Made this last night, and my BF ate an ENTIRE SQUASH!!! He loved it so much he didn't hardly touch the main dish, which was one of his faves."

9. Curried Stuffed Acorn Squash

Recipe creator Jenny B says, "Accidental recipes are the best and this one is no exception! This is a fancy vegetarian-lover's way to spice up squash without losing the smooth, subtle squash flavor."

10. Fall-Infused Mashed Potatoes

Roasted acorn squash is mashed together with boiled potatoes to create a fall or winter side dish that goes way beyond ordinary mashed potatoes. Home cook Tricia left a review that pretty much summed up what everyone else had to say: "This was a fun, autumn spin on a traditional classic. I didn't alter the recipe at all and I'm happy with the end result. Super delicious!"

Browse our entire collection of acorn squash recipes.

You might also like...

• The Home Cook's Guide to Acorn Squash
• How to Cook the Most Popular Fall and Winter Squash
• How to Choose, Prepare, and Cook Butternut Squash
• Inventive Ways to Enjoy Butternut Squash