What do you get when you take a basic acorn squash and fill it with sautéed apples, dried cranberries, sausage and bread that’s been drizzled with butter and baked until perfect? The PERFECT Thanksgiving side dish!
This stuffed acorn recipe has been on our blog since it’s inception in 2011. As most recipes on the internet do, they ebb and flow depending on the season. Every year, this stuffed acorn squash recipe starts gaining momentum right after Halloween and makes our Top 3 recipes every Thanksgiving!
This all began when I was making our traditional family stuffing recipe for Thanksgiving. The recipe makes a lot of stuffing and I knew it wouldn’t all fit in my turkey. I had a few acorn squash that weren’t being used so I decided to bake the acorn squash until they were tender, scrape it away from the sides a little bit and then mounded them with this glorious smelling stuffing.
It was an INSTANT hit and has been a family tradition ever since.
How to Make Stuffed Acorn Squash
This recipe begins a few days ahead of time with tearing whole wheat and white bread into bite size pieces in a large bowl. Each day break the bread down a little more into smaller pieces. Allowing the bread to ‘stale’ a few days is what helps it retain it’s shape and not become mushy.
- Once the bread is stale, cut the squash in half and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Brush it with a little olive oil and place it on a baking sheet cut side down lined with parchment paper. Bake until fork tender.
- Make the stuffing by sautéing the onions, celery and sausage until cooked. Add the spices, diced apples, cranberries and butter and sauté until the apples soften.
- Pour this over the bread and stir to combine.
- Scrape the sides of the acorn squash to loosen and mound with the stuffing.
- Bake until completely heated through.
There is a delicate and delicious balance in this stuffing. The bread soaks up all the flavors from the veggies, sausage and butter. Then the cranberries and apple offset the savory with a bit of sweetness. Then it is all stuffed inside a beautiful acorn squash and baked until golden!
This recipe has been the second most pinned recipe OF ALL TIME behind our Baked Ziti recipe with over 14 MILLION pins. I hope you give it a try as well!
TIPS:
- Stuffing requires stale bread. There are 2 ways to go about this. You can start a few days ahead of time and break the bread into little pieces and leave out to stale or you can break the bread up and put it in the oven for about 5-7 minutes, shake the pan and continue baking until stale.
- If you have the time, I encourage you to make the stuffing the day before, cover and refrigerate. The flavors get a chance to blend together. If you don’t have the time, no worries, it still comes out great.
- If you decide to do it all in one day I would reverse the recipe below and put the squash in the oven FIRST, then as it’s cooking you can make the stuffing.
- Try and find sausage that already has sage in it. If you can’t then I would grab fresh sage to cook with and omit the dried sage. You’ll get a lot more flavor that way.
- If you can’t find ground sausage and end up with links, be sure to remove the casing first before cooking.
Acorn Squash with Apple, Cranberry & Sausage Stuffing
Description
What do you get when you take a basic acorn squash and fill it with sautéed apples, dried cranberries, sausage and bread that’s been drizzled with butter and baked until perfect? The PERFECT Thanksgiving side dish!
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Whole Wheat Bread (preferably from the bakery, processed bread takes longer to dry)
- 1 Cup White Bread
- ½ Cup Onion, diced finely
- ½ Cup Celery, diced finely
- ½ lb. Ground Pork Sausage with sage (If you can’t find ground and/or it comes in a casing, remove the casing first)
- ½ teaspoon ea Dried Sage, Rosemary & Thyme
- 2 Tablespoons Freshly Chopped Parsley
- 1 Apple, cored and diced into small chunks
- ½ Cup Dried Cranberries
- 2 Tablespoons Butter, melted
- ¼– ½ Cup Chicken Broth
Instructions
For the Stuffing:
- In a large skillet, add about a Tablespoon of olive oil to the bottom of the pan and add the onions, celery and sausage. Continue breaking up the sausage into little crumbles as it cooks. Cook until the sausage is cooked through. Add the spices and stir.
- Add the apple, cranberries, bread, parsley, and butter.
- Drizzle with the chicken stock until you get a nice consistency. This could take as little as ¼ cup or as much as ½ a cup.
- Pour this over the stale bread and stir to combine, adding broth as needed.
Acorn Squash:
- Cut an acorn squash in half, scoop out the seeds.
- Add a little olive oil in the middle and use a pastry brush to coat the edges.
- Place the squash halves cut side down on a baking sheet and bake in an oven at 350° F for 15-20 minutes or until fork tender.
- When cool enough to handle, run a fork through the middle loosening the squash and top with the stuffing. Pile it on!
- Bake for another 15 minutes or until the squash is completely heated through.
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Easy and delicious. A huge family hit.
★★★★★
This was very good. I made it following the recipe except I didn’t have chicken broth so I used orange juice to moisten the mixture.I used fresh sage from my garden. It smelled so good baking. I will definitely make this again.
★★★★★
I’ve seen this recipe on the internet for years now and finally tried it. Totally epic. There were no words for how good this really is. The stuffing is the bomb by itself but there’s something magical that happens when the acorn squash is added. I can’t explain what it adds but it just takes this to a whole other level
★★★★★
This is a five star recipe. I added more dried cranberries, leeks and chopped pecans. it is simply OUTSTANDING!
★★★★★
You have taken a very boring vegetable and made it into something totally incredible. I love acorn squash but only put butter and brown sugar in it – boring. It’s the same thing every time. This takes some preplanned prep work, but once the bread is ready it comes together rather quickly. TOTALLY worth the time! I will look for more of your recipes now.
I’ve made this for 3 years running for my annual Friendsgiving and plan to do it again this year. It is amazing
★★★★★
HI Ashleigh!
It’s one thing for people to try our recipes and leave a nice comment, but it takes it to another level when our recipes become tradition in your family. Thank you so much!
My husband and I started Paleo this week and your recipe was our dinner last night. I changed a few things like we used Chorizo instead of regular sausage and I made Paleo bread instead of the listed bread. Turned out really great. I would eat this even if we weren’t doing Paleo. So glad we tried it.
★★★★★
Delish! Can’t wait to make again!
★★★★★
What type of apple did you use for this recipe? Can’t wait to make this – it sounds delicious.
I was wondering if you had any nutritional info on this scrumptious dish? Also how many does this serve? If I use butternut squash would that work as well?
I do not have the nutrition info and I haven’t tried the butternut squash but it sounds delish!
Incredible flavor. I went with the ‘slow method’ and it was well worth planning ahead. I already have bread drying to make again for Thanksgiving!
yay !!!!!!
just leave the stuffing prepare overnight but without the chicken broth? Or just cook it thru
Am excited hope looks as beautiful as ur pics
????
Can this be made the night before Thanksgiving and cooked right before? Wanting to make the night b4 and bake before our family’s Thanksgiving that’s during lunch time. Thanks again
absolutely Tiffany. Actually the stuffing gets better as it sits. Just don’t stuff it into the squash until right before you bake it!
How can I make this recipe ahead for Thanksgiving when my Turkey will be in my oven?
I don’t see it in the recipe above… how many acorn squash should we use?
I think I used 2 squashes but I can’t remember
I do not eat bread. Could you use rice for this?
I am so excited to make this, only vegan. I love acorn squash and I adore a good stuffing so all I can say is YUM! Thank you so much for shating your recipe with the world!
It is something I actually crave Anne! I can’t wait for fall to make this and I am more than happy to share it with you and others. It’s too good to keep to myself.
I just made this last night with one acorn squash and one carnival squash and it was incredible! I used Gimme Lean vegetarian sausage because, well, I’m a vegetarian, and it was awesome. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly as is and it was fantastic. I would definitely make this for company. Served with a side salad. The remaining two halves reheated well in the oven the next night and made for another excellent dinner!!! We will be making this regularly.
yay !!!! Glad to hear it Laura and I love when people leave comments on how they changed up one of my recipes for others to spark creativity in them! Thanks for commenting!
hi..i’m trying this recipe tonight for dinner, but was wondering…what else did you make with this dish? was there a side to it? just curious?
no Irma it was filling just like it is. But I think pork chops or pork tenderloin would go nicely, don’t you?
I made this dish tonight and it’s a keeper for sure. I’ve been on a quinoa kick these days, so I omitted the breadcrumbs and chicken stock all together (less sodium), and it still came out came out juicy and DEE-LISH! Very Thanksgiving-ish in the middle of May. My hubby and three kids (4, 3 and 16 months) ate this up too! Kids are calling it Butternut Boats! Thanks so much!
I’m glad you and your family enjoyed the Acorn Squash Annie. It has to be one of my FAVORITE dishes to make!!! And I love the name you came up with. Nothing makes me smile more on the inside when people take the time to comment on the dishes I have created. Thanks so much for making my day!
What a great recipe! I actually made it for Thanksgiving so I added more bread and served it in a pan. I added pears instead of apples, leeks instead of onion (I’m a huge fan of leeks) and some torn up kale it is amazing! I love the addition of the acorn squash!
Made this this morning. Amazing..so good. I used Turkey Italian Sausage and
only had wheat bread and it was fine.
Have you ever made this with Gluten free bread?
I haven’t Ken because my daughter (who is the gluten free kid in our house) wouldn’t eat it anyway, so I make it the way I like it! But I’m sure it would come out tasting great!
I just made these for dinner but I had to use substitutions because it sounded too delicious to wait until I had all of the exact ingredients. I used 1 cup of Italian Seasoned breadcrumbs instead of bread, raisins instead of cranberries, ground turkey with extra sage, a touch of ground mustard, a touch of ground cloves, all instead of breakfast sausage. Even with all of those substitutions it was still an INCREDIBLE meal! Thank you so much for sharing! I really like squash but didn’t know of a way to make a meal out of an acorn squash instead of just a boring side dish. This recipe is a keeper. I cannot wait to try it in its original form. 🙂
I made this last night and wow! It was amazing! A lil sneak peek to thanksgiving without all the calories and mess. I added less cranberries just because that’s our preference and used all whole wheat bread. I also omitted the butter and you couldn’t even tell- the fat from the sausage and olive oil was the perfect amount of richness. Thanks for a great recipe! This is a new fall staple 🙂
so glad!!
This looks delicious!! Does the recipe call for 1/2 tsp EACH of dried sage, rosemary, and thyme? Or is it a total of 1/2 tsp of a blend of all three spices?
I just made this (find it through Pinterest =P ), and it’s really tasty! You’ve made me into a homemade stuffing believer, and my boyfriend’s mom into an acorn squash lover all in one fell swoop =D.
awww! I’m so happy!! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment.
Is this recipe just for 1 acorn squash?
I was wondering the same thing, actually. The instructions read “cut an acorn squash in half” but in the text above you mention eating “4 halves”. Does the stuffing recipe make enough for two squash? or should I double the stuffing? I am excited to try this, it looks delicious!
Hi ladies! Sorry for the confusion. If I remember correctly, the stuffing makes enough for 2 full acorn squashes. And yes the spices call for 1/2 tsp EACH of the sage, rosemary and thyme. I hope you get a chance to try them, they really are amazing!
I would love to try your go stuffing recipie, care to share it?
This looks like a delicious recipe. One i am defiantly interested in trying. Going to add it to my list of things to try.
Thanks George! Let me know how it turns out