Air Fryer Butternut Squash Steaks with Roasted Garlic

These butternut squash steaks make a hearty main dish for fall dinners, and they are perfect for your Thanksgiving table and at Christmas. Thick steaks are so easy to make from the neck of any butternut squash. These steaks were roasted in the air fryer with sage-butter, and topped with a smear of roasted garlic that was mashed into a paste.

Butternut squash steaks roast up tender and delicious whether you pan roast, oven roast, or air fry them. Options for toppings are almost infinite, including sauces, herbed butter, or roasted garlic.

Jump to Recipe

Want to make this recipe perfectly the first time? I want to help with that. So, check out this Table of Contents to see which sections of this post will help you the most.

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
• 🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
• 🔪 Recommended Equipment
• 🛒 Picking the Best Butternut Squash for Steaks
• 👩‍🍳 Making Butternut Squash Steaks
• 📝 Instructions Overview
• 🎯 Why This Recipe Works
• ⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
• 👩‍🍳 Tips for Success
• 💡Ideas for Possible Variations
• 🥬 Make it Vegan
• 🤩 More Butternut Squash Love
• Air Fryer Butternut Squash Steaks with Garlic

Making thick steaks from vegetables is a wonderful way to make a vegetarian or vegan dish that everyone at the table will want. I've made cauliflower steaks with a warm lentil salad for at least a decade, and these garlic-roasted cabbage steaks are a hit at any table. But making steaks from butternut squash was new to me until I made this recipe.

This was inspired by a recipe I saw in Food & Wine magazine, and I was surprised at how easy it was. It's perfect with mashed potatoes or colcannon (Irish mashed potatoes) and a green bean casserole. Or make these 15-minute air fryer mushrooms for a side dish.

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

• It's gluten-free and vegan.
• Perfect for weeknight dinners or a special holiday dinner, like Thanksgiving and Christmas.
• Very uncomplicated with only 4 ingredients.
• Make ahead, and rewarm when ready to serve.
• Serve with a drizzle of balsamic glaze or a vegetarian gravy.

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🛒 Picking the Best Butternut Squash for Steaks

These are the main characteristics to look for when selecting the perfect butternut squash to make these steaks.

• The best squash to purchase for any recipe is one that's a creamy tan color and free of bruises and cuts.
• When comparing butternut squash at your market, lift up a few of them. You want one that feels heavier than the other for its size. This indicates a good moisture content.
• To make steaks, choose a butternut squash that has a long thick neck. The steaks are made exclusively from the neck. Reserve base for other uses.

👩‍🍳 Making Butternut Squash Steaks

• Start with a large butternut squash, 2.5 - 3 pounds at the minimum. The larger the squash, the larger the neck, and the more steaks you'll be able to make.
• Slice off the stem on top of the squash and peel at least the neck using a vegetable peeler. Butternut squash steaks only use the neck, so you'll reserve the rounded base for another use.
• You can also peel the entire butternut squash, as peeling can be easier when working with the entire squash.
• Slice the neck of the squash from the rounded base. Reserve the base in an airtight container. It may be easier to store the base if you slice it in half lengthwise. If you do this, scoop out the seeds and pulp using a large spoon before storing it in the refrigerator.
• Steak method #1: Stand the neck on its end and slice it into 1-inch thick steaks, or a little thinner, that are rectangular. You should be able to get about 5 steaks.
• Steak method #2: Lay the neck on its side and slice it into 1-inch steak rounds or a little thinner. You should be able to get about 5 steaks.

📝 Instructions Overview

Detailed instructions for making these butternut squash steaks topped with roasted garlic paste are in the Recipe Card below, but here's an overview!

Step 1

Roast the garlic. Slice the top ¼" from the garlic bulb, and place in foil. Drizzle oil over the top and close the top of the foil. Roast until soft, or longer for a deeper garlic flavor.

When the garlic bulb is cool enough to handle, gently press out individual garlic cloves. Most cloves have their tops cut off, so they should pop out very easily. But you'll need to cut open any cloves that are still wrapped.

Sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and mash into a paste using a fork. Mash in fresh sage or dried.

Step 2

Make butternut squash steaks. Slice off the stem of the squash, and peel the neck of the squash using a vegetable peeler or sharp knife.

Cut off the neck and reserve the bottom part of the butternut for another use. Either stand the neck of the squash on end and slice downward to form ¾ - 1-inch slices, or lay the squash on its side and slice round slices.

For a 2.5 - 3 pound butternut squash, I can typically get 5 steaks.

Step 3

Air fry. Baste the steaks with oil and lightly season. Air fry until tender and lightly caramelized, flipping them at the halfway point.

Step 4

Finish. Smear a little roasted garlic paste on each steak, sprinkle with minced fresh sage, and serve warm.

🎯 Why This Recipe Works

• The neck of butternut squash is solid, perfect for creating round or rectangular steaks.
• One of the advantages of an air fryer is how fast it cooks and caramelizes vegetables.
• Roasted garlic adds a deep savory flavor to the natural sweetness of butternut and a balsamic glaze drizzled over the steaks sharpens the flavors with a kick of umami.
• It's a beautiful dish to serve at your holiday table. And if you're feeding a crowd over the holidays, get these meal prep tips that will save you time.

⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time

• Make the butternut squash steaks up to 3 days ahead, and rewarm in the oven or air fryer. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container such as a plastic container with a tightly fitting lid.
• Roast the garlic and make the paste up to 1 week ahead. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container, such as a jar. Rewarm in the microwave oven for 10 seconds.

👩‍🍳 Tips for Success

• Slice the butternut squash steaks to an even thickness so they air fry at the same rate. To ensure this, you can use a tape measure to mark off the steaks before cutting.
• If you want a deeper caramelization of the squash, add 2 - 3 minutes to the air frying time.

💡Ideas for Possible Variations

• If you don't have an air fryer, pan-roast the butternut steaks on the stovetop using an oven-safe skillet until golden brown. Slide into a 400˚F oven for 15-20 minutes or until tender.
• Drizzle with garlic butter. Or sauté some fresh, chopped sage in butter, and drizzle it all over the steaks. Compound butters work great for this too!
• Use other fresh herbs in place of the sage leaves, such as oregano and thyme.

🥬 Make it Vegan

Use vegan butter (plant-based butter) or extra virgin olive oil in place of unsalted butter in the recipe.

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