Name: Mashed Butternut Squash
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 2 (2-lb.) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1" cubes; 4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil; Kosher salt; Freshly ground black pepper; 4 tbsp. butter; Cayenne pepper, for garnish (optional)

Mashed Butternut Squash from Delish.com is smooth, creamy, and everything you want in a delicious vegetarian side for dinner.

Mashed Butternut Squash

(2-lb.) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1" cubes

olive oil

Kosher salt

black pepper

butter

Cayenne pepper, for garnish (optional)

But which would you actually rather have?

Preheat oven to 400°. On a large baking sheet, toss butternut squash with oil and season with salt and pepper.&nbsp;

Roast until squash is extremely tender, tossing halfway through, 30 to 40 minutes.

Place squash and butter into the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth.&nbsp;

Serve with a pinch of cayenne pepper, if using.&nbsp;

We served this with pork loin and air fried potatoes. I haven’t been the biggest fan of butternut squash before because of the sweetness, but this was surprisingly really great. It didn’t have much of a sweet flavor to it unless you compare it to mashed potatoes... maybe. They are definitely worth a try and I think this would pair really well with broccoli and cheese.

https://streaming.hearstdigitalstudios.com/527be0d5-2214-44b7-a8a6-57d1193d8712/video_rover_16x9_1080p_hd_1628536949_35506.mp4

Mashed Butternut Squash Is Giving Potatoes A Run For Their Money

- For all of us who love mashed potatoes, they're not just for Thanksgiving, they're for all year round. But have you ever thought about mashed butternut squash? Not only are they cute, they're deliciously golden orange on the inside. They get super creamy when they're cooked all the way through, and they mash perfectly. Full of fiber and vitamin A, butternut squash has a fairly low glycemic index, which makes it a very nice carb to add into your diet. If we're counting the salt, the pepper, and the optional cayenne in this recipe, you only need six ingredients to make perfectly smooth mashed butternut squash. To make this recipe that serves about six to eight people, you'll need two, two pound butternut squashes. Or if you have smaller boys like I do, four of them, to yield about four pounds of total butternut squash. First things first, we're going to preheat our oven to 400 degrees. You're going to get a large baking sheet, and then you're going to take your cleaned butternut squash and peel them. On your cutting board you're going to hold the butternut squash firmly with one hand, and you're going to chop off the ends with the other. Hold it very firmly, because at this point it's still very round. It can roll around. You can really cut yourself with your knife if you're not careful. Next you're going to peel off the hard fibrous peel. You can eat it, I don't recommend it. Option one, use a vegetable peeler. Go until all the white pith is gone, and then you're left with that creamy orange skin. Really make sure you're getting all the white skin off because that is going to be fibrous, and it won't lead to a very mashable butternut squash. After you have it fully peeled, chop the long neck portion away from the bulbous bottom portion, scoop out the seeds from the bottom portion. Save those seeds, roast them, eat them later. And then go ahead and just cube them up into your desired shapes. I like to go about an inch thick all around. Option two use a sharp knife. I like to segment that neck portion from the bottom portion from the get-go, that way you can slice it down the sides and get all the skin off and see just how far you need to cut in order to get all of the white bits off. If your neck is extremely long, I like to chop it into two or even three bits so that you have a more stable piece of butternut squash to work with. You really don't want this thing rolling around because you're handling it with a sharp knife and you, you want to be careful with that. Both methods work fine, whatever you're comfortable with and whatever you have the tools for, do. On two large baking sheets, you're going to divide your cubed, butternut squash. You're going to drizzle them with about two tablespoons of olive oil each, and you're going to give them a nice, good toss. Season with salt and pepper generously as you desire. Give them another good toss, make sure everything's evenly combined and coated, and then slip them into your oven and let them roast until they're nice and tender. Now, we're going for maximum tenderness here, Okay? No just knife tender or just fork tender where you still feel resistance. We want no resistance at all, sliding into that piece of butternut squash. Depending on the strength of your oven and the accuracy of your oven temperature, plus the size to which you cut your squashes. It can take anywhere from 30 to 40 to even 50 minutes. So just keep an eye on it. Give them all a flip after the first 20 minutes and see how much longer you need to go to get that tender creamy texture. To get the most flavor out of your butternut squash and to get that toasty flavor in there, I recommend you even them out into a single layer on the sheet tray so they can develop a little more browning. Because browning means flavor. You don't want them too brown though, because that means crusty bits, which is perfect for roasted butternut squash, but not when you want to mash it into a creamy consistency. Once your squash is completely tender, we're going to let it cool off a little bit before we transfer it to the bowl of a food processor. And if you don't have one, you can also use an immersion blender, or a high-speed blender as well. If you want to go super low tech, a potato masher will do too. It just won't get you that exact creamy, uniform mouthfeel. But if you're a fan of textured things, this is perfect. We're going to slip in that butter right in there, let it melt into the still warm butternut squash as it purees itself into a smooth, smooth mash. Ooh, and then you plate it, and you can top it with a little pinch of cayenne for a kick, if you want. Personally, for me, what's not to love? It's still smooth and creamy and it's golden orangy. Beautiful. It's nicely nutritious, but not without its fatty creaminess that comes from the butter and the olive oil and perfectly seasoned, and simply so. This recipe is also infinitely adaptable to your personal taste. If you want to toss it in a different spice mix, go right ahead. A little bit of thyme, a little bit of Rosemary, mm. Smoked paprika, ground cumin, coriander. All of those will do just great. Smells vaguely sweet from the caramelized butternut squash and vaguely buttery from the butter. (Upbeat music) It is nice and fluffy, but also dense with that nice carby, carby slightly stick to the roof of your mouth feeling. That nice little sprinkle of cayenne, just the right amount of punch. And that's all there is to making mashed butternut squash. The next time you want some mashed potatoes, why not try some butternut squash? If you give this recipe a try, we want to know what spices you put on your butternut squash mash. And until next time, stay smooth. (Upbeat music)

Mashed Butternut Squash

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total: 50 minutes

Servings: 6

Ingredients

Instructions

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