This Sausage & Mushroom Stuffed Acorn Squash is going to become your new favourite Thanksgiving main – it’s the perfect comfort food!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Acorn squash – replace the acorn squash with any other squash like butternut squash, spaghetti squash or kabocha squash.
- Butter – olive oil or a neutral oil can be used in place of butter. Feel free to use a plant-based butter alternative as well.
- Brown sugar – honey, maple syrup or agave are great brown sugar alternatives. White refined sugar won't give the same taste that brown sugar does so try to avoid that.
- Rosemary – sage, basil, oregano or marjoram can be used.
- Thyme – oregano, basil, Italian seasoning or marjoram can be used in place of thyme.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
Stuffing
- Olive oil – use a neutral oil to substitute olive oil in this recipe like canola oil.
- Shallots – use any variation of onion to replace the shallots.
- Garlic – use fresh or jarred minced garlic. In a pinch, use garlic powder.
- Portobello mushrooms – brown cremini mushrooms are a great alternative to portobello mushrooms. Leave them out or double the button or cremini mushrooms.
- Button mushrooms – see substitution notes above.
- Cremini mushrooms – see substitution notes above.
- Beef broth – chicken or vegetable broth can be used in place of beef broth.
- Red wine – leave this out entirely if you prefer not to use any.
- Wild rice – long grain white rice is a great option as well as mushroom rice.
- Parmesan cheese – grated asiago cheese is a great alternative.
- Sage – rosemary, basil, oregano or marjoram can be used.
- Thyme – oregano, basil, Italian seasoning or marjoram can be used in place of thyme.
- Kale – collard greens, spinach or another dark leafy green can be used to replace kale.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
Turkey sausage
- Ground turkey – ground chicken or pork would also be good here.
- Dijon mustard – use honey dijon mustard, plain yellow mustard or another dijon mustard variation of your choice.
- Garlic – use fresh or jarred minced garlic. In a pinch, use garlic powder.
- Fennel seeds – anise, cumin or licorice root can be used in place of fennel seeds.
- Sage – rosemary, basil, oregano or marjoram can be used.
- Thyme – oregano, basil, Italian seasoning or marjoram can be used in place of thyme.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
How to make stuffed acorn squash
- Cut and bake the squash.
- Make the rice.
- Cook the turkey sausage.
- Add the rest of the stuffing ingredients.
- Stuff the squash.
- Cook and then serve!
What to serve with stuffed acorn squash
This stuffed acorn squash is a complete meal in its own – you’ve got veggies, grains and protein. That being said, if you’re looking for things to serve on the side, you can’t go wrong with some nice crusty bread, a side salad or even some roasted veggies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Acorn squash pairs great with sausage, rice and a variety of veggies. For this recipe, I stuffed the acorn squash with a homemade sausage and mushroom filling, in addition to wild rice. The secret to the best flavours is to make your own turkey sausage! It’s super easy and healthier than your traditional store-bought sausage.
Nope! There’s no need to cover your stuffed acorn squash while it’s baking. First, you’ll need to cook the acorn squash on its own for about 30 minutes. Then, after you’ve added in your filling, you’ll cook it for another 5 minutes – no covering required.
Technically, you can eat the skin of acorn squash, but it doesn’t have the best texture. I’d recommend just eating the stuffing and the fleshy part of the acorn squash.
Storing and reheating
This stuffed acorn recipe as a whole is a great meal prep option! Store your leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days. To reheat, place the stuffed acorn squash halves into the oven for 15 to 20 minutes at 350° Fahrenheit.
You can also cut down on prep time by pre-cooking your acorn squash filling. Once you've pre-cooked the sausage and kale, store it in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. When you’re ready to use it, just pull it out of the fridge, add it to your squash and cook as normal!
Freezing this recipe
If you plan on freezing this stir fry, I suggesting cooking the vegetables for less time so they don’t get mushy when you defrost and reheat them. This way, the dish should last in the freezer for 2 to 3 weeks in freezer-safe containers or Ziploc bags. Let it defrost in the fridge overnight then reheat as normal.
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Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls to store the leftovers from this recipe.
- I get all my ground meats from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen!
Sausage & Mushroom Stuffed Acorn Squash
Ingredients
- 4 acorn squash seeds scooped out and cut in quarters
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- tsp rosemary sage and thyme (dried or fresh…about 1-2each)
- Salt & pepper to taste
Stuffing
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- turkey sausage see below
- 2 shallots diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Portobello mushrooms diced
- 1 cup Button mushrooms diced
- 1 cup cremini mushrooms diced
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 1 tbsp red wine
- 1 cup cooked wild rice
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp fresh chopped sage
- 1 tsp fresh chopped thyme
- 1 cup chopped kale
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Turkey sausage
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 2 tsp chopped fresh sage
- 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut acorn squash in half, then cut halves in half (you should come out with four quarters per squash and eight quarters total).
- Brush squash with melted butter and brown sugar then sprinkle rosemary, sage, thyme, salt and pepper overtop. Bake in the oven for 30 min.
- Meanwhile, make rice according to package directions in a rice cooker and chop up mushrooms. Mix together all ingredients for turkey sausage.
- Heat olive oil in a large pan on med-high heat, then add turkey sausage mixture, breaking up into 1 inch pieces. Add shallots and garlic, sauteing for 3-4 min. Add mushrooms and saute another 3-4 min. Add beef broth, red wine and balsamic vinegar and simmer for 10 min until mushroom juices are mostly absorbed.
- Add wild rice and parmesan cheese, cooking for another 2 min. Remove from heat and stir in sage, thyme, kale, salt and pepper.
- Squash should be done cooking in the oven at this point so remove them and then stuff with the turkey sausage and rice mixture. There may be some leftover – you can freeze it to use for another time!
- Bake squash with stuffing in the oven for 5 min, then serve!
Comments & Reviews
Nancy DeZarn says
Whole family LOVED it. Flavors were amazing. It did not take 30 minutes though. That would be my only critique because it was the bomb.
Heather says
Hi, I’m not a fan of mushrooms, but I love acorn squash. Do you have any suggestions for a mushroom substitute in this recipe? Thanks!
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Heather! I would sub in bell peppers if you don’t like mushrooms 🙂