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Ever wondered how to make Butternut Squash Ravioli from scratch? This recipe delineates every single detail of the ravioli-making process. The homemade Butternut Squash ravioli is served with the Brown Butter Sauce and Pecans.
Butternut squash ravioli is a must-have dish in your Fall repertoire. What can be better than enjoying a pasta recipe packed with Autumn flavors, such as butternut squash, brown sugar, and pecans! Pasta and butternut squash always make a lovely pair, such as in this butternut squash and spinach tortellini. If you haven't tried this combination yet, it is time now!
This festive pasta recipe is a perfect addition to your Fall or Winter menu! The sauce features roasted butternut squash, brown butter, balsamic vinegar, thyme, and chopped toasted pecans! If you are a lover of homemade ravioli, especially with seasonal flavors, be sure to also check out my pumpkin ravioli from scratch.
Do keep in mind that making your own ravioli from scratch is a time-consuming endeavor, especially if that's your first time using fresh pasta. The ravioli-making process does get faster with time and practice but the very first time might take longer than you expect. Plan your time accordingly.
Butternut Squash Ravioli
- Delightful Autumn and Winter comfort food. Butternut squash ravioli is a true Fall and Winter treat. The butternut squash is in season from early Fall through the Winter. Its smell and color add instant Autumn vibes to any dish!
- Holiday recipe. Butternut squash ravioli dressed with brown butter sauce and pecans will add color and uniqueness to your holiday table on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve.
- The amazing sauce takes butternut squash ravioli to the next level! What makes this recipe stand out is a very special sauce. The sauce itself features chunks of roasted butternut squash, as well as brown butter, balsamic vinegar, freshly squeezed lemon juice, toasted pecans, and fresh thyme!
Substitutions and Variations
- Nuts. This recipe uses pecans, but you can also use toasted pine nuts, walnuts, or even toasted pumpkin seeds. For an extra flavor, use candied pecans or candied walnuts.
- Homemade ravioli vs. store-bought ravioli. While you can make butternut squash ravioli from scratch as shown in this recipe below, you can also use store-bought pre-made ravioli. The stores these days have an amazing selection of beautiful ravioli.
- Homemade pasta dough vs. wonton wrappers. You don't have to make your own fresh pasta dough to make ravioli. Use wonton wrappers instead. Stuff the butternut squash filling between wonton wrappers, squeeze the ends well. Then, boil for about 3-4 minutes. Wonton wrappers can be found in the produce section of many grocery stores.
- Don't have butternut squash? Use mashed pumpkin instead of butternut squash puree as the filling. The results will be just as tasty as if you used butternut squash. Here is a whole tutorial on how to make pumpkin ravioli.
Can you use store-bought ravioli?
Absolutely! Making your own ravioli is a time-intensive process. If you don't have time to make homemade ravioli, go ahead and buy store-made butternut squash ravioli. If you can't find butternut squash-filled ravioli in the store, that is not a problem, either! You can buy any type of cheese-filled ravioli instead and serve them in the butternut squash sauce in this recipe!
The beauty of this particular recipe is that the sauce itself is packed with roasted butternut squash chunks. Use cheese-filled ravioli (store-bought or homemade) with this butternut squash sauce and you won't miss the butternut squash filling!
How to Make Butternut Squash Puree
- Preheat oven to 400 Fahrenheit.
- Cut the butternut squash into 2 halves, scrape out the seeds out of each half.
- Brush the baking sheet with oil and place the squash on the baking sheet cut side down.
- Bake for about 30 minutes. Then, remove the butternut squash from the oven and let it cool. Flip the squash so that the cut side faces up - that will speed up the cooling.
- Once the butternut squash is cooled, peel it. The skin will come off really easily.
- Place butternut squash in the food processor (or blender), working in batches, if necessary. Process it until very smooth and almost creamy.
- Season with salt and pepper.
Use 2 cups or less of butternut squash puree for this recipe and refrigerate/freeze the rest in an airtight container.
Helpful Tips when making fresh pasta
It's always helpful to be reminded that making your own ravioli is a time-consuming process especially if you've never made fresh pasta before or just made it once or twice in the past. Make sure you have enough time to complete this project. The ravioli-making process does get more efficient with practice. Here are some helpful tips when making fresh pasta dough:
- Add extra flour to the dough, if needed, to reach the proper texture. Knead the dough until well-textured and firm. The dough should not be too wet or too sticky. It should only stick to itself, but not to your hands. It should not be too dry, either.
- Use water to seal the edges of the ravioli.
- Do not set homemade ravioli on top of each other or in a pile in a bowl. They will stick together and you will have a mess. Instead, place homemade ravioli on a flat surface, such as a parchment-lined baking sheet or flat plate.
- Sprinkle flour into the ravioli mold (tray) before adding the pasta dough each time. When ravioli is made, you can just shake off extra flour.
- Do not attempt to overstuff ravioli with the butternut squash filling. It's OK if you end up with some or a lot of filling left.
How Long to Boil Fresh Ravioli?
Fact of life: fresh pasta cooks fast. Typically, boil fresh ravioli for 5 to 10 minutes. Here is how to do it.
- Bring a pot of water with salt to boil.
- Reduce to a gentle boil to keep fresh ravioli from coming apart.
- Add ravioli and cook for 5 to 10 minutes in gently boiling water.
- Gently drain.
Can you freeze freshly made ravioli?
Absolutely! Place homemade ravioli on a flat plate or a baking sheet in the freezer to freeze. After the ravioli are frozen, place them gently in a plastic bag or a freezer-safe plastic container and keep frozen until needed. Fresh ravioli keeps well refrigerated for 2 to 3 months.
When you are ready to cook frozen ravioli, bring a pot of salted water to a gentle boil, add ravioli, and cook for about 5 minutes. Gently drain.
How to serve butternut squash ravioli
Just like any main course pasta dish, butternut squash ravioli should be served hot or warm. You can even go an extra mile and serve this ravioli on warmed plates which will keep the pasta and the sauce warm longer.
What to serve with butternut squash ravioli?
If you are in the mood for a meatless dinner, serve butternut squash ravioli as is with a side of a simple salad.
If you are really in a Fall mood and want more seasonal sides or salads, try these festive and colorful side dishes:
- Butternut Squash and Spinach Salad with Pecans, Cranberries, Pomegranate Seeds and Poppy Seed Honey-Lime Dressing - this is a great choice for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Eve, or any other Fall and Winter holiday menu!
- Roasted Butternut Squash and Brussels Sprouts with Pecans and Cranberries. This recipe is one of the best holiday side dishes you'll ever try! This recipe is packed with vegetables and nuts.
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash Salad with Pumpkin Seeds - healthy and delicious, side dish featuring lots of vegetables.
- Apple Cranberry Spinach Salad with Cashews and Balsamic Vinaigrette - With lots of good for you ingredients, this recipe is packed with fiber, and features cashews and cranberries.
Other Homemade Ravioli Recipes
If you love the idea of making your own ravioli and experiment with various fillings and sauces, I've got 3 more recipes for you to explore!
- Spinach Ravioli with Ricotta Cheese Filling, in Tomato Cream Sauce
- Goat Cheese Ravioli with Creamy Mushroom Parmesan Sauce
- Pumpkin Ravioli with Browned Butter Sauce and Pecans
Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter and Pecan Sauce
Ingredients
Fresh ravioli dough
- 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup hot water
- ½ teaspoon salt
Butternut squash filling
- 2 cups butternut squash puree
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese grated
- salt and pepper
Roasted Butternut Squash and Browned Butter Pecan Sauce
- 2 cups butternut squash cubed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh thyme divided
- salt and pepper
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ cup pecans toasted
Instructions
How to make fresh pasta dough
- In a large bowl, mix flour with salt. In a separate bowl, stir water with egg until well mixed.
- To a large bowl with a flour mixture, add egg-water mixture and mix until well incorporated. Knead the dough until well-textured and firm. The dough should not be too wet or too sticky. It should only stick to itself, but not to your hands. It should not be too dry, either. Make the dough into a ball or disk, wrap with plastic wrap. Let the dough stand for 1 hour at room temperature before using. This allows gluten to work.
How to make butternut squash filling
- If your butternut squash puree is too watery, drain using a paper towel and a mesh strainer to get rid of any unnecessary liquid.
- Mix butternut squash puree with brown sugar, nutmeg, and grated Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
How to roll fresh pasta dough and make ravioli
- Roll the dough. Unwrap a batch of ravioli dough from plastic, divide into 2 equal parts. Flour working area. Roll out each part of pasta dough very thinly, on a floured surface, using a roller. Make sure to flour the upper portion of pasta dough and the roller to avoid sticking. Lift the rolled dough several times during rolling to make sure it doesn’t stick to the counter, and flour working surface with more flour, if necessary.
- Prepare the ravioli mold. Flour the ravioli mold. After you have rolled the 2 portions of dough very thinly, place the first layer of dough on the ravioli mold, so that it covers all 12 holes.
- Add filling. Place a small portion of ravioli filling into each indentation, making sure not to overfill. The filling should be at the same level or lower as the flat part of the mold. Place second layer of pasta dough on top of filled ravioli.Using a roller pin, roll across the mold and along the edges to separate ravioli. As you roll the pin, it also removes all air from ravioli, which is very important for ravioli success. By now you should have extra dough hanging off the outside 4 edges of ravioli mold – carefully separate it. Continue rolling the pin along the inside edges of 12 raviolis to separate them from one another: you could also use your fingers to press across the edges to separate ravioli. Flip ravioli mold to release ravioli.
- Cook ravioli. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Boil ravioli for 5 minutes, drain and set aside – to be used with sauce below.
- Or freeze ravioli. Or, alternatively, if you’re not using ravioli right away, place them on a plate or baking sheet in the freezer to freeze. After they are frozen, place them in a plastic bag and keep frozen until needed.
How to make sauce
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Toss cubed butternut squash with olive oil, fresh thyme, salt, and pepper. Spread on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet in one layer.
- Roast in the preheated oven at 400 F for 30 minutes. Remove from oven.
- While the butternut squash is being roasted, add butter to a medium size skillet and cook on medium heat for about 4 or 5 minutes until it browns. Make sure the butter does not smoke or burn. Remove from heat. Let it cool for 5 minutes. Add balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. Stir.
- Add cooked butternut squash ravioli to the butter sauce. Top with roasted butternut squash and chopped toasted pecans. Top with extra fresh thyme.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Julia, do you peel the squash for the cubes?
Thanks
Darcy, yes, I always peel the squash - its skin is too hard.
Hi Julia,
This recipe looks amazing! Thinking I would skip making homemade ravioli and buy it frozen. So you are saying a package of minimum 12 ravioli per recipe?
Jane, yes, that's a good quantity of ravioli for this recipe - 12 store-bought ravioli would work great!
I do like butternut squash and I can get it freshly made locally. But that sauce sounds very interesting. How far ahead can the sauce be made and how long can it be saved in the fridge. I'm thinking it may be a nice gift for a person I know who lives alone.
It's very nice of you to cook food for your friend! 🙂 There are 2 options to make this ahead:
1)
Make roasted butternut squash cubes a day in advance and make the browned butter sauce the day you're ready to serve.
2)
Make roasted butternut squash cubes and browned butter sauce a day in advance but keep them separate. Combine them together by reheating them the day you're ready to serve and then top the sauce with pecans right before serving (to keep them crunchy).
How many ravioli should this recipe make in total? I assume more than 12?
Leah, I think it depends on which tool you use. With my ravioli mold, it was 12 ravioli. I am sure it could be more if you use a different tool.
I can’t wait to try it! Could I substitute Ghee for the butter?
Yes, you can use ghee instead of butter!
I used Trader Joe’s ravioli and it turned out delish! Such an amazing mix of flavors. I’m going to try it with sage next time as I love sage in the autumn
Susanne, your comment made my day! I am glad you liked the combination of flavors! 🙂
Made this for our vegetarian Thanksgiving yesterday and it was a hit with everyone! Labor-intensive, yes, but I only made half of ravioli myself and bought pre-made ravioli just in case, and everything was gone by the end of dinner! Excellent recipe!
Glad you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! And, thank you for stopping by and taking the time to share this positive feedback - I appreciate it!
Not my first time making squash ravioli. That turned out well, but I felt the balsamic was to overpowering for the delicate favor of the ravioli. Prefer a simple brown butter sage sauce with the roasted nuts.
Gayla, thank you so much for the feedback! Your version (brown butter sage sauce with roasted nuts) sounds so good - I'll have to try that!
I've made ravioli from scratch and they were delicious! Planning to make another batch for this Thanksgiving. Do they freeze well? What about the sauce?
You can freeze ravioli - they will freeze well! So will roasted butternut squash. But, I wouldn't freeze the sauce.
Hi, I am very interested in making this dish. I was wondering if shrimp would be good to add to it?
Yes, it would be delicious to add shrimp! What a great idea! I will try that myself sometime.
This looks really delicious! I wonder if it can be made with pumpkin instead? Thank you in advance!
Yes, you can absolutely use pumpkin puree!
Made ravioli from scratch, thought the whole recipe was way too labor intensive, but nice flavor!
Glad you liked the recipe! Yes, making ravioli is a labor of love!
I bought cheese ravioli and only made sauce from this recipe - it was delicious! Roasted butternut squash paired fantastically with balsamic vinegar and browned butter. Served a nice bottle of wine, too.
Glad you used the sauce from this recipe with store-bought ravioli and enjoyed it! Thank you for the comment!
My daughter and I made this yesterday from scratch. We had never made homemade pasta before! This definitely took time we used a rolling pin and a mini muffin pan to make the ravioli. We just laid out the dough on top of the muffin pan and pushed down into the cup gently and filled the indents and laid dough over and cut the raviolis out. This was so amazing!!!! I can not believe how good these were!! We had some leftover raviolis and put them in the freezer! But this is absolutely incredible!!!!
Monica, I am so glad you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! I admire your creativity in using a mini muffin pan to make these. Thank you for stopping by and sharing such a positive comment - I really appreciate it! 🙂
What a clever idea. I wanted to try this but don't want to invest in the ~old. Nif I find I love making theravioli, I can invest in the pan.
I bought a bag of organic ravioli and had butternut squash. Was looking for something good with those two ingredients. This recipe fit the bill. Thank you so much!
Glad you liked it! Yes, this recipe is perfect for store-bought ravioli!
Made this ravioli and served as the first course followed by the second course, grilled chicken. Great recipe, thank you!
So glad you liked it!