Stuffed Delicata Squash

Stuffed delicata squash is a healthy, filling and delicious meal. And it's so easy.

Why should you stuff Delicata Squash?

Delicata is tender enough to easily slice

A sharp chef's knife easily slices delicata in half lengthwise. I slice off the ends first - but not much. Then, up-end the squash so it stands on one of the now-flat ends, and slice it down its length, as close to the middle as possible.

They make perfect boats

Once you scrape out the seeds and pulp with a spoon, you have perfect boats for stuffing. And for bonus points, the skin is thin enough to be eaten. That means you don't have to peel this beautiful squash. 

Delicata goes with a lot of flavors

It's mild squash flavor is perfect for mix and matching with all kinds of savory flavors, cheese, and spices.

Like this recipe, filled with sautéed baby spinach, quinoa, apples, Serrano chili, shallots and tofu. Yes, tofu.

And my husband, Carnivorous Maximus, had no clue there was tofu involved until the moment he reads this.

When he asked what I was making yesterday, I was a little vague. "Oh some stuffed delicata squash for the blog", was my uninformative response. At the end of the meal, he volunteered that it was "pretty good" - high praise for a vegetarian dish. So, see my serving suggests below if you want to get your meat eaters to rave about this dish.

Stuffed Delicata Squash can be made ahead

The squash can be roasted ahead of time, and rewarmed in the oven or microwave when you're ready to use it. However, don't keep it in the refrigerator for more than a 2 days, as it can be come soggy.

Make the quinoa ahead, or use frozen quinoa already cooked that just needs steamed.

Sauté the Serrano pepper through black pepper ahead, cool, and store in the refrigerator.

When you're ready to make the dish, warm the delicata back up, and return the sautéed vegetables to the skillet. Once they're re-heated, continue with the rest of the recipe while the squash re-heats.

How to Make This Recipe Faster

1. Get the squash roasting. I often roast it in my toaster oven, since it preheats faster.
2. Start the quinoa cooking on the stove.
3. Set out all of the ingredients and kitchen tools you need to make the stuffing.
4. Drain the tofu between paper towels on a plate while you prep the Serrano, shallots and apples. I wrap the tofu in a few paper towels, place it on a plate, and weight it down with a small pot.
5. Measure out the raisins, sage, cinnamon, and black pepper, and place in a bowl. Chop the tofu, and add it to the bowl. Measure the remaining ingredients and set aside.
6. Start the Serrano, shallots and apples cooking on the stovetop. While they soften, make a big tossed salad to go with the dish. Warm up some bread if that's what you like too. Note: when I serve cornbread with this as pictured, I make the batter first, and bake it in the oven for 10 minutes before adding the delicata squash to the oven for roasting.
7. Follow the rest of the below recipe.

Want more vegetarian and vegan dish ideas? I can help you. I have three newsletters for different topics: 1) Weekly Recipes, 2) Vegetarian Meal Plans, and 3) Monthly Vegetarian Tips for helping you to move to a more vegetarian diet. Choose which newsletters are most relevant to your lifestyle, and unsubscribe at any time. The last thing any of us needs, is more emails that don't help us in some way.

For the Meat-Eaters at the Table

Although this stuffed delicata squash is seriously packed with flavor without any meat, feel free to add some chorizo, bacon, spicy sausage, or shedded pork or chicken for the meat lovers at the table. 

Make it Vegan

Eliminate the cheese or substitute a vegan cheese.

Side Dish Ideas

Served as an entree, all you need is a big green salad and some cornbread to make it a total meal. 

However, if you want to serve this dish as a side, you can nix the tofu and quinoa to make it simpler, and keep everything else the same as in the recipe.

Print Recipe

4.6 from 15 votes

Stuffed Delicata Squash

Delicate squash boats filled with sautéed spinach, apples, and raisins is a delicious vegetarian main dish everyone will love. The stuffing is made while the squash roasts so that the total time to make this recipe is 25 minutes.

Prep Time25 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time25 mins

Course: Vegetarian Main Dish, Vegetarian Side

Cuisine: American

Keyword: delicata squash, spinach, Thanksgiving, winter squash

Servings: 4

Calories: 394.4kcal

Author: The Wimpy Vegetarian

Equipment

a sturdy baking sheet

chef's knife

skillet

tongs

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked white quinoa
• 2 delicata squash
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
• ⅛ + ¼ teaspoon chipotle chili powder divided
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt divided
• ½ Serrano chili seeded, and finely chopped (about 2 teaspoons)
• 2 large shallots thinly sliced (about ¼ cup)
• 1 ½ apples cored, and diced (about 1 ½ cup or more)
• ⅔ cup chopped very firm tofu, drained
• ½ cup golden raisins
• 1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 - 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 bags pre-washed baby spinach
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese
• Toasted pumpkin seeds garnish

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400˚F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cook the quinoa if you don't have any on hand.
• Slice off the ends of the delicata squash, and slice in half, lengthwise. Using a spoon, scrape out the pulp and seeds so that you have 4 squash 'boats'. Place on a baking sheet facing up, and lightly oil with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and sprinkle with ⅛ teaspoon of chipotle chili powder and ¼ teaspoon salt. Roast for 25 - 30 minutes, or until tender.
• Add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat, and sauté the Serrano chili, shallots, and apple until everything is softened, about 10 minutes. Add the tofu, raisins, sage, cinnamon, the remaining salt, and pepper, and continue to cook for 5 minutes while stirring with a wooden spoon.
• Add the lemon juice and spinach leaves. Using tongs, move the spinach around, gently tossing it with the other ingredients in the pan. In less than 5 minutes, the spinach should be wilted. Add the quinoa and cheese, and toss.
• When the delicata squash is tender, spoon the filling into each scooped out cavity. If the filling has cooled, slide the filled squash back into the oven for a few minutes to reheat.
• Serve with a sprinkle of chopped parsley and roasted pumpkin seeds. The squash can be served whole or sliced into 3" wide crescents.

Notes

How to Make This Recipe Faster

1. Get the squash roasting. I often roast it in my toaster oven, since it preheats faster.
2. Start the quinoa cooking on the stove.
3. Set out all of the ingredients and kitchen tools you need to make the stuffing.
4. Drain the tofu between paper towels on a plate while you prep the Serrano, shallots and apples. I wrap the tofu in a few paper towels, place it on a plate, and weight it down with a small pot.
5. Measure out the raisins, sage, cinnamon, and black pepper, and place in a bowl. Chop the tofu, and add it to the bowl. Measure the remaining ingredients and set aside.
6. Start the Serrano, shallots and apples cooking on the stovetop. While they soften, make a big tossed salad to go with the dish. Warm up some bread if that's what you like too. Note: when I serve cornbread with this as pictured, I make the batter first, and bake it in the oven for 10 minutes before adding the delicata squash to the oven for roasting.
7. Follow the rest of the below recipe.

The actual time to prepare this dish is less than 40 minutes, as much of the prepping of the the filling can be done while the squash is roasting in the oven.

Calories were calculated using VeryWell Fit nutrition calculator.

Make it Vegan: eliminate the cheese or use a vegan cheese.

For the Flexitarian Table: Although this dish is packed with flavor without any meat, your meat-loving companions at the table might enjoy chorizo, bacon, spicy sausage, or shedded pork or chicken in the stuffing. 

Nutrition

Sodium: 551mg | Calcium: 229mg | Vitamin C: 40.3mg | Vitamin A: 3246.7IU | Sugar: 24.9g | Fiber: 8.1g | Potassium: 1165.7mg | Cholesterol: 5.5mg | Calories: 394.4kcal | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Fat: 15.7g | Protein: 11.6g | Carbohydrates: 58.3g | Iron: 3.5mg

If you're looking for more delicata squash recipes, here's my Winter Squash and Pepper Quinoa Pilaf from years ago. I'll get around to re-photographing it one day. It's a simple one-dish meal of roasted delicata squash, late season peppers, and caramelized red onions, all tossed in orange scented quinoa. So good! Make it vegan by swapping out the honey for agave nectar.

For more winter squash ideas, check out my Healthy Winter Squash board on Pinterest!

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