Sausage Stuffed Butternut Squash
Light yet hearty, Sausage Stuffed Butternut Squash is a complete meal with Italian sausage, wild rice, and more cooked in the squash shells. This recipe is perfect for dinner tonight, but is also wonderful for a dinner party or even as a holiday side dish.
Italian sausage is a favorite flavorful protein to cook with. If you love it too, give our Sausage Stuffed Peppers and Tortellini with Sausage a try.
Why this recipe works
When you look at the list of ingredients, you might think, huh, how is all that going to taste together. But let me tell you, it all comes together in an explosion of delicious sweet and savory flavor.
Sausage stuffed butternut squash is a relatively healthy and nutritious meal. The wild rice is a great alternative to regular long grain rice. The combination of the Italian sausage, wild rice, and butternut squash creates a hearty and satisfying filing but yet won’t leave you with that heavy feeling that often accompanies hearty meals.
This recipe is not spicy despite using both curry powder and cayenne pepper. Both work to increase the depth of flavor and contrast the sweetness for a balance between sweet and savory.
Recipe Ingredients Sausage Stuffed Butternut Squash
- Butternut Squash — Look for two of equal size so they roast at the same rate.
- Italian Sausage — we used sweet to blend nicely with the other ingredients.
- Seasonings — Fresh parsley, fresh thyme, and fresh sage; granulated garlic, cinnamon, cayenne powder, curry powder, salt, and pepper.
- Filling — cooked wild rice, sweetened dried cranberries, button mushrooms, and an onion.
- Maple syrup — this adds a bit of sweetness to the squash.
- Olive oil — to prevent the squash from burning or becoming overly browned.
How to make Sausage Stuffed Butternut Squash
Step 1 — Preheat the oven to 400°F. Using a very sharp knife, slice the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and pulp and discard it. Do not peel butternut squash.
Step 2 — Brush the squash generously with olive oil then the maple syrup. Place on a cast iron baking sheet (or other large baking sheet) lined with either foil or parchment paper. This is an optional step, it just helps with clean up as the syrup can harden on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Bake until softened, can be 30 to 45 minutes, depending on how thick they are.
Step 3 — Slice open the sausage links lengthwise and crumble into a large skillet on medium high heat. Add the diced onion. Cook until mostly done, about 4 minutes.
Step 4 — Add the diced mushrooms to the sausage and onions and continue to cook until the vegetables have softened and the meat has cooked through. Drain any renderings.
Step 5 — Reduce to medium heat. Stir in the all the seasonings and herbs.
Step 6 — Mix in the dried cranberries and cooked wild rice. Stir well and allow it all to warm through.
Step 7 — Once the butternut squash has roasted, it should be only be lightly browned, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool slightly, enough to touch and cut. Remove the squash meat keeping the skins intact. Dice the roasted squash and mix it to the meat mixture.
Step 8 — Taste the mixture, add any more salt and pepper as needed. Spoon the sausage filling into the hallowed shells of the squash halves.
Step 9 — Return to the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. Once done, serve immediately and enjoy these stuffed roasted butternut squash halves.
Adaptations and variations
Meat — Swap out the Italian sausage for country pork sausage (which we love in this recipe too) or kielbasa. Go lighter by using chicken sausage or turkey sausage. Increase the heat and use hot or spicy sausage instead of the sweet.
Rice — Cooked brown rice or white rice in place of wild rice is a tasty substitution. If being gluten free isn’t an issue, you could also use small pasta like orzo.
Vegetables — Baby spinach and kale are great additions to the sausage mixture. Swap the button mushrooms for cremini (baby bellas).
Seasonings — Smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, and ground chipotle pepper (instead of cayenne) are all tasty options. We used fresh herbs but dried herbs can be used instead. Swap the granulated garlic for minced garlic.
Pro Tip:
To yield 1 1/2 cups of cooked wild rice, you’ll need to cook approximately 3/4 cup of dried wild rice.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, use your favorite to make this stuffed squash recipe. Acorn squash and spaghetti squash are two favorites.
Apples! Peel, core, and dice your favorite apple. For sweeter, use pink lady and for more tart, use granny Smith.
We’ve not used it but sprinkling some on top should work perfectly.
We recommend storing any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge. However, we suggest you remove the filling from the squash shells, store the filling, and toss the shells of the roasted butternut squash in the trash.
Reheating in the shells is not recommended. The best way to warm up the sausage filling is to either toss it in a skillet for a few minutes or simply microwave it.
Our favorite tools to make Sausage Stuffed Butternut Squash!
Buy Now → 
BuzzyWaxx Original Blend – Cast Iron and Carbon Steel Seasoning
Buy Now →
Sausage Stuffed Butternut Squash
Equipment
- 12-inch cast iron skillet
- Cast iron baking sheet or 15-inch cast iron skillet
Ingredients
Squash
- 2 butternut squash halved, de-seeded
- 1 tsp olive oil brushed over squash
- 1 tsp maple syrup brushed over squash
- ¼ tsp salt +/- to taste
- ¼ tsp pepper +/- to taste
Stuffing
- 1 lb sweet Italian sausage casings removed
- 1 onion small, diced
- 8 oz button mushrooms diced
- ½ tsp curry powder
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- ¼ tsp granulated garlic
- ½ tsp salt +/- to taste
- ¼ tsp black pepper +/- to taste
- 1 tbsp fresh sage minced
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme minced
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped
- 1½ cups wild rice cooked
- ½ cup craisins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Using a very sharp knife, slice the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and pulp and discard it. Do not peel butternut squash.
- Brush the squash generously with olive oil then the maple syrup. Place on a cast iron baking sheet lined with either foil or parchment paper. Add salt and pepper.
- Bake until softened, can be 30 to 45 minutes, depending on how squash thickness.
- Slice open the sausage links lengthwise and crumble into a large skillet on medium high heat. Add the diced onion. Cook until mostly done, about 4 minutes.
- Add the diced mushrooms and continue to cook until the vegetables have softened and the meat has cooked through. Drain any renderings.
- Reduce to medium heat. Stir in the all the seasonings and herbs. .
- Mix in the dried cranberries and cooked wild rice. Stir well and allow it all to warm through.
- Once the butternut squash has roasted, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool slightly, enough to touch and cut. Remove the squash meat keeping the skins intact. Dice the roasted squash and mix it to the meat mixture.
- Taste the mixture, add any more salt and pepper as needed. Spoon the sausage filling into the hallowed shells of the squash halves.
- Return to the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. Once done, serve immediately and enjoy these stuffed roasted butternut squash halves.
Notes
Nutrition
Dutch Oven Daddy is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Thank you sir…my mouth is watering…yummmmm
You’re welcome! Glad you found the recipe. Happy cooking 🙂
Butternut squash is something that grows well in my garden. I am always on the look out for great recipes to use them.
That’s a great idea! We have stuffed peppers pretty often for dinner over here, and I have never thought about stuffed butternut squash. So yummy!
This was such a unique and unexpected recipe that does not disappoint! Was quick, elegant and delicious; easily, a new favorite recipe!
I love butternut squash recipes! The presentation is wonderful.
Just when we thought we had no ideas for our butternut squash! Wow! This was so good. Love the savory and sweet of the sausage and the dried cranberries!
Love the combination of butternut squash and sausage. This was easy to make and filling too! The family loved it!
Enjoyed this for dinner last night and it was a savory success! Light yet hearty, and hands down delicious; easily, a new favorite recipe!
So delicious and healthy to have. Trying to get my son into eating more healthier meals like this one. The sausage and rice were definitely flavorful. I saved mine to bring to work the next day and my co-workers said it smelled good in the breakroom! Told them it’s all MINE. Haha!
This Sausage Stuffed Butternut Squash recipe caught my eye – what a clever and delicious way to combine flavors and create a complete meal! I love the idea of using the butternut squash shells as a natural cooking vessel for the Italian sausage, wild rice, and other ingredients.
This is so good! We made these tonight and it turned out perfect. The ultimate comfort food.
This might be my new favorite way to make butternut squash!! It was super satisfying, hearty, and surprisingly easy to make too!
Love this take on stuffed butternut squash! The saltiness from the sausage and the creaminess from the butternut squash were made to go together. It’s a beautiful presentation, too. Made it for company and they were impressed!
This butternut squash is so delicious. I made this yesterday and it turns out perfect. I loved it.
the flavors, combination and presentation, everything is super. I made it last night for our dinner and we have become a fan of your recipes.
I am loving the combination of flavors and textures in this sausage stuffed butternut squash. It sounds and looks incredible.
This stuffed butternut was delicious! The sausage and butternut flavors really worked well together. I will be saving this to make again!
My family was iffy on the butternut squash but VERY excited for the sausage and mushrooms, so I decided to give this a try! Everyone loved it, would definitely make again.
There’s so many fabulous flavors and textures in this sausage stuffed butternut squash. It sounds absolutely amazing.
I made this butternut squash for dinner last night and it was delicious! The sausage added such flavor!