Filled with brussels sprouts, butternut squash, cheese and bacon, this Butternut Squash Ravioli Bake is an indulgent yet easy recipe perfect for cozy nights on the couch.
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Ingredients in butternut squash ravioli bake
Butternut squash sauce.
You forever have my heart through all the dark evenings of late fall. Here's everything you need to make this ravioli bake:
- turkey bacon or pork bacon
- olive oil
- brussels sprouts
- onion and garlic
fresh or dried sage - 2 (600g) packages ravioli
- mozzarella cheese
- butternut squash
- milk
- parmesan cheese
How to make butternut squash ravioli bake
If you're looking for an astounding spend-your-evening-on-the-couch meal, this Butternut Squash Ravioli Bake has got your back! And butternut squash sauce! Have I mentioned my obsession with it?
Okay, maybe I have more than a few times. But it is SO TOTALLY WORTH MAKING. Here's how to make it:
- Boil 1-inch butternut squash cubes in water for 15 minutes until tender, then puree.
- Meanwhile, cook bacon, brussels sprouts, onion, garlic and sage in a large skillet.
- Next you'll make the butternut squash sauce. In a medium-sized saucepan, add butternut squash puree and milk. Bring to a boil at medium heat, then lower heat and stir in parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
- Add ravioli to a greased 9×13 baking dish. Top with bacon and brussels sprouts mixture, then cover with butternut squash sauce and top with mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for 30 min, then serve and enjoy!
Ingredient substitutions and notes
You could make your own ravioli of course, but I usually cheat and buy the frozen kind. There are a ton of substitutions and notes I could make about the ingredients used, so thought I would file the most useful thoughts here. You can leave a comment if you have anything to add!
Butternut squash sauce – One way to really cut down on the cook time of this recipe is to use canned pumpkin instead of cooking and pureeing butternut squash. You will still get a similar flavour without any of the legwork, plus – did you know canned pumpkin contains mostly pureed squash? Some food for thought! You can also buy pre-made butternut squash sauce in jars now! I found some on Amazon that looks good – it will save you so much time and give you the same flavour!
Vegetables – Feel free to use whatever veggies you like in this recipe! Throwing in some spinach instead of the brussels sprouts may be easier, or you might just want to go with the butternut squash puree alone as the main vegetable component. Do what's easiest for you!
Bacon – You can use turkey bacon or pork bacon in this recipe, or just leave the bacon out altogether for a vegetarian dish (just make sure to use vegetarian parmesan cheese as I hear the rind is not always vegetarian-friendly the way other cheeses are).
Ravioli – I typically buy the frozen Oliveri broccoli and cheese ravioli, but feel free to buy whatever is cheapest. I did splurge on this fresh ravioli one time with buffalo mozzarella and basil filling – it was nearly double the price of the frozen stuff but SO SO good. So you can always fancify this ravioli bake even more.
Cheeses – I use parmesan cheese in the butternut squash sauce – you can always sub in pecorino romano or asiago cheese instead but you do need some cheese to make the sauce creamy. Finally, you'll top your ravioli bake with mozzarella to make it a real pasta bake. However, you could leave the cheese off the top if necessary.
Making ravioli bake in advance
You can totally make this recipe in advance, whether you make the whole thing all at once or you break the components down into manageable prep work. I usually buy a whole butternut squash and either roast it in the oven with some garlic and onions, or boil it til softened then puree it into the most velvety, creamy mixture, and then I freeze it for future meals. You can also make the squash sauce up to 3 days in advance and store it in the fridge.
You can also make the turkey bacon up to 2 days in advance, as well as the veggie mixture.
Finally, you can assemble all the components of the ravioli bake and store it in the fridge up to 2 days before baking it fresh in the oven. This might be your best bet if you're serving a large crowd and want to prep ahead. Do what feels right for you!
Other ways to use butternut squash sauce
There are SO many ways to use butternut squash sauce. Whether you make my homemade version or you buy a jar, you can use it in more than just ravioli bake! Here are some ideas:
- Mac and cheese
- Butternut squash soup
- Risotto
- Fresh pasta
- Over chicken
More butternut squash recipes
If you're looking for more butternut squash recipes, I've got some more tasty ideas below:
- Butternut squash ravioli (the filling is butternut squash and it's homemade!)
- Butternut squash mac and cheese
- Roasted butternut squash 3 ways
Storing and reheating
The leftovers of this recipe store beautifully! It is a very large recipe that serves 10 people, so be wary of the portion sizes and be sure to store the leftovers. You can store them in individual servings in glass containers or just refrigerate the entire casserole dish if you have room in the fridge.
To reheat, sprinkle some water overtop and then microwave for 2-3 minutes covered with a damp paper towel. This will completely revive your pasta without drying it out and will have it tasting like new! You can also sprinkle water overtop and place the casserole dish in a 350 F oven for 15 minutes to reheat the leftovers.
Freezing this recipe
You can freeze this recipe to enjoy more servings later! I recommend freezing individual servings in foil containers so you can reheat in a 375 F oven right from frozen for 30-40 minutes. It's that easy – just pull out of the freezer and reheat in the oven for the ultimate comfort food!
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning this pasta bake into your weekly lunches
- These foil containers are great for storing leftovers and reheating direct from frozen in the oven
- You can also buy pre-made butternut squash sauce in jars now! It will save you so much time
Meal prep challenge
If you'd like some more help with meal planning, then you'll love my free 5-day meal prep challenge! It's basically a free course that will teach you how to meal prep and cook healthy meals at home with some printable materials.
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Butternut Squash Ravioli Bake
Ingredients
- 8 slices turkey bacon or pork bacon
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups brussels sprouts sliced in half
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh sage or 1/2 tsp dried
- 2 (600g) packages store bought ravioli any filling will work
- 2-3 cups butternut squash sauce homemade (recipe below) or store bought - see link for storebought sauce in meal prep tools heading above recipe card
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
Butternut Squash Sauce
- 3 cups butternut squash puree about 1 large butternut squash
- 3/4 cup milk
- 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Peel butternut squash and chop into 1 inch pieces. Bring cubes to a boil in a large pot of water, cooking for 10-15 min until tender. Drain and let cool, then puree. You can do this step ahead of time, cooking a whole squash and freezing the puree.
- Preheat oven to 375 F. In a large frying pan, cook turkey bacon for 2-3 min each side. Remove from heat and once cool, chop into small pieces.
- Add olive oil to the same frying pan, then add brussels sprouts, onion, garlic and sage, sauteeing for 4-5 min on med-high heat until veggies are tender-crisp.
- Meanwhile at the same time, In a medium-sized saucepan, add butternut squash puree and milk. Bring to a boil at medium heat, then lower heat to med-low. Add parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, stirring to combine well.
- Add ravioli to a greased 9x13 oven safe dish. Add bacon and brussels mixture. Cover everything with butternut squash sauce, then top with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 30 min, then serve immediately.
Nutrition
Sues says
Yes, yes yes! Way to take butternut squash ravioli (already delicious!) and make it 80425 times better. Not only is this gorgeous, but I can tell it’s packed with flavor, too!
Kristyn says
I recently started eating butternut squash – not sure what took me so long. This ravioli looks wonderful! Yum!
Taylor Stinson says
Thank you Kristyn 🙂 Butternut squash is seriously one of my faves!
James says
I’m always looking for yummy ways to sneak sprouts into my meals. This sounds delicious!
Carrie says
This looks amazing! How many ounces of raviolis did your two packages equal? Thanks!
Danielle says
Could frozen diced butternut squash be used?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Danielle – I don’t think the texture would be the same but I imagine it would work 🙂