This decadent Roasted Delicata Squash side dish features a browned butter sauce flavored with maple syrup, roasted garlic, and toasted pepitas. With just 9 simple ingredients and done in less than an hour, you can have a restaurant-quality side dish perfect for a weeknight meal or entertaining guests.
Oh delicata squash, you are one of our favorite seasonal ingredients of the fall season. Why? Well it’s so easy to roast, you can eat the skin so no peeling is involved! Plus it has a sweet flavor that caramelizes nicely when roasted, and pairs perfectly with maple and browned butter.
We love this easy side dish to keep in our back pockets when we want to cook up something gourmet with less than 10 ingredients. This is truly a vegetable recipe that everyone will be obsessed with. The sweetness of the maple syrup with the nuttiness of the browned butter are truly the perfect match.
In under an hour, you can have this baked delicata squash and pair it with a protein of choice too. If you need some more side dish inspiration, they happen to be one of our favorite things to make. Try our moist cornbread, roasted green beans, or potatoes au gratin.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- 9 ingredient Fall side dish. This side dish is perfect for the autumn season and is so simple to make with just a handful of ingredients that are easy to find.
- Make on a weeknight or use for weekend entertaining. With less than an hour of time you can impress your family and friends on a busy weeknight or for a weekend dinner party. This recipe is just so versatile.
- Customize with other seasonal ingredients. You can make this recipe with other types of squash. Feel free to also add spices like cinnamon or nutmeg, and fold in fresh greens like arugula.
What is Delicata Squash?
Delicata squash, which surprisingly is also called sweet potato squash, is a slender and oblong squash generally 5–9 inches long and 3 inches around. It has a rich yellow flesh that tastes like a cross between sweet potatoes and butternut squash encased in a pale yellow and green-striped skin. They are in season from late summer through late fall.
Most often, delicata squash it’s cooked and served with the skin intact. The reason for this is two-fold. Peeling the skin is awfully difficult and time consuming. And, the skin is thin enough that it softens during cooking, making it enjoyable to eat.
If you’re averse to eating the skin, I recommend slicing the delicata in half lengthwise, removing the seeds, and roasting as halves. Drizzle the roasted halves with the browned butter sauce and eat the squash by scooping out the flesh.
Ingredients
- Delicata squash: look for delicata squash near the butternut, spaghetti and acorn squash in the grocery store. If you can’t find it, acorn squash is a suitable substitute.
- Garlic: you’ll need two cloves of garlic that still have their papery skins intact. The garlic gets roasted with squash then mashed into a paste for the dressing.
- Olive Oil: use a quality extra-virgin olive oil for the best flavor.
- Raw pepitas: be sure to use raw, unsalted pepitas for this recipe since you’ll be toasting and seasoning them during cooking.
- Unsalted butter: you can also use salted, just pull back on the added salt a bit.
- Pure maple syrup: make sure you’re using pure maple syrup for the best flavor and correct consistency.
- Ground coriander: this adds a floral, earthy flavor that pairs beautifully with the butter, maple syrup and pepitas.
- Apple cider vinegar: just a splash is needed to balance out the bold flavors.
- Chopped parsley: for a dose of freshness! Use flat leaf italian parsley instead of curly.
- Flaky sea salt: for a salty, crunchy finish.
How to Make Roasted Delicata Squash
The full recipe, with measurements and timings, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Wash the winter squash well! Since you won’t be removing the skin, it’s important to clean the skin well before slicing.
- Halve the squash lengthwise.
- Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds and discard.
- Cut the halves into ½ inch-thick slices.
- Arrange the slices in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, cover and roast.
- Remove the foil and roast until both sides are golden brown.
- Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette by browning the butter and pumpkin seeds together in a skillet. Stir in maple syrup, coriander, smashed roasted garlic, and vinegar.
- Spoon browned butter sauce over squash and serve with parsley and flaky sea salt.
Pro Tips
These are our expert tips for cooking perfect delicata squash every single time.
- Size of the squash matters. For even cooking, try to choose delicata that are similar in size and shape. Otherwise, you risk over- or under-cooked squash slices.
- Steam then roast the squash for best results. I start roasting the delicata slices covered, then finish roasting them uncovered so they can brown. This simple step allows the vegetable to steam before roasting.
Steaming makes the cooking process faster, and allows us to cook the squash at a higher temperature. High temperature is important for achieving browning (aka flavor) and the quick steam shortens the cook time, which helps to avoid dehydrating and shrinking the squash. - Increase the oven temperature halfway through roasting. This trick helps mitigate some of the issues we run into when roasting squash with a high moisture content. To help the browning along, I increase the oven temperature slightly for the last 20 minutes of roasting.
You may wonder why steam at all if the moisture causes issues. Aside from jumpstarting the cooking process, steaming also softens the skins. And if you’ve had or cooked delicata squash before, you know you can eat the thin skin, and we want to make it as texturally pleasing as possible!
Variations on Baked Delicata Squash
- Use slivered almonds or pecans instead of pepitas.
- Add sliced apple (Granny smith or Honeycrisp) to the finished dish.
- Swap half of the squash for halved Brussels sprouts.
- Try this with Acorn squash!
Storage
Feel free to store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave or the oven for a few minutes until warmed through.
We don’t recommend freezing leftovers as it will compromise the texture of the cooked squash.
FAQs
Yes, you can! It softens when cooked, making it totally edible.
You can put the whole squash into the oven while it’s preheating to soften the skin slightly. Once slightly warm, it will be easier to slice.
Yes, it has anti-inflammatory properties and also helps with regulating insulin. It’s a healthy choice!
More Fall Side Dishes
Roasted Delicata Squash with Brown Butter
Description
Ingredients
- 2 delicata squash (1.5 pounds each), ends trimmed, halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced crosswise into ½ inch-thick slices
- 2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup raw pepitas
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- ¾ teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- Flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425°F (218ºC) with rack set in lowest position.
- On a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle squash and garlic with oil; toss to coat and season with salt and pepper. Arrange squash in a single layer, cover tightly with foil, and roast until squash is just starting to soften, 12–15 minutes.
- Remove foil, increase oven temperature to 450ºC (232ºC) and continue to roast squash until side touching the pan is golden brown, about 10–12 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and using a thin spatula, flip squash. Return to oven and continue to roast squash until side touching the sheet is golden brown, about 10–12 minutes more.
- Meanwhile, melt butter and pepitas in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until butter and pepitas are golden brown and fragrant, 4–5 minutes. Immediately remove from heat and stir in maple syrup and coriander (mixture will bubble). Let cool 1 minute. Meanwhile, remove skins from roasted garlic and smash into a paste. Stir mashed garlic and vinegar into brown butter mixture; season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Transfer squash to a serving platter and drizzle with vinaigrette and pepitas; sprinkle parsley and sea salt over top.
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