Roasted Vegetables (Green Beans and Butternut Squash) with Bacon and Pumpkin Seeds is an easy Thanksgiving side dish that will make a colorful and festive addition to any holiday menu. This gluten-free and dairy-free recipe is the ultimate Fall and Winter comfort food and a great way to add veggies to your dinner!
Thanksgiving roasted vegetables
This is an incredibly easy recipe that is sure to become a crowd-pleaser and a family favorite, especially during the holiday season! It's a colorful and vibrant recipe that showcases the two traditional Fall and Winter veggies that we most often associate with Thanksgiving: green beans and butternut squash. Both are sheet pan roasted in the oven and then combined together with chopped cooked bacon and toasted pumpkin seeds. That's it! These roasted vegetables fit really well with traditional holiday side dishes, such as green beans, potatoes, and stuffing. It’s one of the best vegetable sides to make for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, or any other holiday!
If you enjoy colorful holiday recipes, you will also love Fall roasted vegetables in these 2 recipes: butternut squash pasta salad with Brussels sprouts or this festive acorn squash stuffed with sausage, spinach, cranberries, and pecans.
Holiday recipe
What can be more attractive on a holiday table than a colorful, festive dish featuring seasonal ingredients? Roasted vegetables are a great side dish to serve for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and even New Year's Eve! It will surely please almost every taste because this dish blends both savory and sweet flavors in a perfect combination! They pair well with any holiday main course: Thanksgiving turkey, Christmas ham, prime rib, etc. And, yes, you can roast the green beans on the rimmed sheet pan in the oven - they taste even better that way than boiled or in a traditional green bean casserole.
Why make it
- Try something different for a Thanksgiving vegetable side. If you're looking for an alternative (or an addition) to traditional green beans, give this recipe a try! It still features all the classic holiday ingredients but in a different way.
- Gluten-free, dairy-free side dish. This is a pretty straightforward recipe. There is no cream, no cheese, and no gluten involved. Just sheet-pan oven-roasted butternut squash, green beans, bacon, and pumpkin seeds!
- Pairs well with any dinner. Make these Fall roasted veggies not only during the holidays but any time you like. They will go well with pretty much any main course - grilled chicken and steak, seafood, pork, sandwiches, etc. Easy enough to make it on a busy weeknight, yet the presentation is so appealing that you can serve it when you have company over.
- Beautiful presentation. If you're looking for the best roasted vegetables for Thanksgiving that will add color and vibrancy to your holiday table, you've found the right recipe! I hope you try this and let me know in the comments if you like it.
Main ingredients
- Butternut squash is a winter squash with a beautiful orange color that has a sweet and nutty flavor. It's rich in fiber and is an excellent source of vitamins A, B6, C, and E, as well as several minerals, including magnesium, manganese, and potassium.
- Green beans in this recipe are roasted in the oven instead of the usual boiling or baking. This helps them to retain their shape and not fall apart. It also keeps them slightly crunchy and prevents them from getting mushy. I love the texture of roasted green beans! And, I hope you will love it, too! Green beans and butternut squash together are really the best roasted vegetables for Thanksgiving!
- Pumpkin seeds add crunch and texture. I like to toast them briefly for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven at 350 F. Watch the seeds carefully to make sure they don't burn.
- Bacon - use chopped, cooked bacon. It's easy to cook the bacon on a foil-lined baking sheet in the oven at 350 F for about 20 or 30 minutes. Drain all grease from the bacon using paper towels.
How to roast the vegetables
1) Preheat the oven to 425 F. Prepare 2 rimmed baking sheets (you can line them with parchment paper).
2) Toss green beans together with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste in a large bowl, and then spread the veggies in a single layer on one of the baking sheets.
3) Toss butternut squash (cubed and peeled) together with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt, and pepper in the same, now empty, mixing bowl. Spread them in a single layer on the second baking sheet.
4) Roast both veggies for about 15 minutes, without moving the veggies until the green beans shrivel a bit and start getting golden-brown spots. At this point, the green beans should be ready, remove them from the oven.
5) Reduce heat to 400 F, flip the butternut squash cubes, and continue roasting the butternut squash for about 5 or 10 longer. Roasted butternut squash makes an excellent Thanksgiving vegetable side, especially when combined with green beans.
6) To assemble, combine sheet pan roasted veggies together with chopped cooked bacon and toasted pumpkin seeds.
Roasting tips
- To save time, roast both green beans and butternut squash at the same time on 2 separate baking sheets. Remember to take out the green beans earlier than the butternut squash.
- Spread out the veggies in a single layer without overcrowding so that they roast instead of steaming. If doubling the recipe, you might have to work in batches.
- Line the baking sheet with parchment paper to minimize cleanup.
Substitutions
- Don’t want to use pumpkin seeds? Use toasted pecans, walnuts, cashews, sliced almonds, or pine nuts. Or, use toasted sunflower seeds.
- What is a good substitution for regular bacon? Use prosciutto, duck bacon, or turkey bacon.
- Can't find butternut squash? Butternut squash tends to be a seasonal vegetable that can be hard to find outside of the Fall and Winter seasons. If you want to make this dish year-round, use cubed sweet potatoes instead - they will work just as great as the squash.
- Use pre-cut butternut squash that is sold in many grocery stores. That will save you a ton of time during the Thanksgiving holiday rush.
- Other roasted veggies that you can use are Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, or asparagus.
- Add-ins. You can add dried cranberries, cherries, raisins, or chopped dried figs.
Can you make it ahead?
Thanksgiving roasted vegetables are great for meal prep. Here are the steps that you can make ahead:
- You can roast the butternut squash and green beans a day or even 2 ahead. They keep well refrigerated for about 2 or 3 days.
- Cook bacon and then drain it really well of all grease, using paper towels. Chop it up.
- Toast the pumpkin seeds in advance.
- Combine all cooked ingredients together (except the pumpkin seeds) in a large serving bowl (covered with the lid) or in an airtight storage container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Keep pumpkin seeds separate (in a small plastic bag).
- When you are ready to serve, reheat the roasted green beans, butternut squash, and bacon briefly in the preheated oven (or in the microwave), and then add toasted pumpkin seeds.
Serve it warm or cold?
This dish is best served hot, warm, or at room temperature. Nobody likes cold bacon, so don't serve this refrigerator cold.
Storage and reheating tips
- Fridge. Store the leftover roasted vegetables in an airtight storage container for up to 3 days in the fridge. Keep pumpkin seeds separate (such as in a separate plastic bag) to prevent them from getting soggy. Add the seeds only when serving.
- Reheat in the oven. Reheat this dish in a shallow pan, such as a rimmed sheet pan or a sheet cake pan lined with parchment paper. Spread the ingredients on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan. Reheat for about 15 minutes in the preheated oven at 350 F. Then add toasted pumpkin seeds, when ready to serve.
- Or, simply, briefly reheat everything in the microwave oven.
Other holiday side dishes with roasted vegetables
If you want to discover other colorful and vibrant holiday vegetable side dishes for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year's Eve, check out these recipes:
- Roasted Butternut Squash and Brussels sprouts with Pecans and Cranberries
- Christmas Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Broccoli
- Roasted Butternut Squash with Spinach, Bacon, and Cheese
Other reader-favorite Thanksgiving side dishes
Here are some other popular Thanksgiving vegetable sides that you can try:
- Butternut Squash Pasta Salad with Brussels Sprouts, Pecans, and Cranberries
- Green Beans with Pine Nuts
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts Salad with Maple Butternut Squash, Pumpkin Seeds, and Cranberries
- Sausage Stuffed Butternut Squash with Spinach, Pecans, and Cranberries
- Stuffed Spaghetti Squash with spicy Italian Sausage, Spinach, Apples, Cheddar, and Pepper Jack Cheese
- Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash
Thanksgiving Roasted Veggies (Green Beans and Butternut Squash) with Bacon and Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients
Roasted Vegetables
- 12 oz green beans
- 12 oz butternut squash peeled and cubed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Other ingredients
- 6 slices bacon cooked and chopped
- ½ cup pumpkin seeds toasted
Instructions
Roast the vegetables
- Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Toss green beans together with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste in a large bowl, and then spread the veggies in a single layer on one of the baking sheets.
- Add butternut squash (cubed and peeled) together with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt, and pepper to the same, now empty, bowl, and toss to combine. Spread the veggies in a single layer on the second baking sheet.
- Roast for about 15 minutes, without moving the veggies, until the green beans shrivel a bit and start getting golden-brown spots. At this point, the green beans should be ready, remove them from the oven.
- Reduce heat to 400 F, flip the butternut squash cubes, and roast the butternut squash for about 5 or 10 more minutes.
Assembly
- Combine roasted veggies together with chopped cooked bacon and toasted pumpkin seeds. You can serve it as is, or drizzle the veggies with a simple dressing below.
Optional dressing
- In a small bowl or in a mason jar, combine together 2 tablespoons of olive oil, freshly squeezed juice of one whole lime, 2 tablespoons of honey, and 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard. Whisk with the fork until emulsified.
- Mix the dressing together with veggies or serve it on the side.
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.
Can I make this ahead?
Hi Pam! Yes, you can absolutely make this ahead of time! It’s best when prepared up to 6 hours in advance, but you can make it as early as 24 hours ahead. Just hold off on adding the seeds to keep them from getting soggy, and wait to add the dressing or drizzle until just before serving. I typically serve it warm or at room temperature.