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Stuffed Butternut Squash with Spinach, Bacon, and Cheese is a perfect recipe to make in the Fall and Winter. The stuffing is creamy and cheesy and pairs well with the sweet flavor of the butternut squash. This gluten-free recipe is a perfect addition to the holiday menu and is also great for an easy weeknight meal.
Stuffed Butternut Squash - easy side dish or main meal
This is an incredibly easy recipe that will for sure be a crowd pleaser! The butternut squash is first roasted in the oven for about 40 minutes. In the meantime, you will prepare the delicious filling made with cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, spinach, and bacon! After the butternut squash is roasted, stuff it with the cheesy filling and reheat it in the oven (or under the broiler) briefly. That's it! It's a simple recipe that a whole family will love! 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. You can serve it as a side dish or as a meal in itself!
Holiday recipe
What can be more attractive on a holiday table than a colorful, festive dish featuring seasonal ingredients? Butternut Squash stuffed with Cheese, Bacon, and Spinach is 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 combines both savory and sweet flavors in a perfect combination!
Main ingredients
- Butternut squash is the star of the show! It's a winter squash with a beautiful orange color that has a sweet and nutty flavor. Fun fact: Did you know that in Australia it's called butternut pumpkin?
- Cream cheese adds creaminess and great texture to the filling. Use softened cream cheese by heating it in the microwave oven briefly.
- Parmesan cheese - use shredded or grated parmesan. It's always best to shred or grate the cheese yourself!
- Spinach - I used fresh spinach, but frozen spinach can certainly be used! Make sure to thaw it and drain it from any liquid. I would even pat it dry with paper towels.
- Bacon - use chopped, cooked bacon. It's easy to cook the bacon on a foil-lined baking sheet in the oven at 350 F.
How to make stuffed butternut squash (step-by-step photos)
Prepare the butternut squash
Slice each one in half lengthwise. Keep fingers away from the knife to avoid injury. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and fleshy strands tangled with the seeds.
Drizzle the cut sides of butternut squashes with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Turn the squash over, and place it cut sides down on a baking sheet. Tip: you can line the baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up.
Roast it for 40 minutes
Then, roast the butternut squash in the preheated oven at 400 F for 40 minutes.
Prepare the cheese mixture
Next, combine cooked spinach with softened cream cheese and shredded Parmesan cheese. Mix everything well. Fold in chopped cooked bacon. Tip: save a few bacon pieces to arrange on top of the cheese mixture.
Stuff the squash
By this time, you have roasted the butternut squash for 40 minutes. Remove it from the oven and turn cooked squash halves cut sides up. Let it cool slightly.
Using a spoon, scoop out the flesh leaving about a 1-inch border along the sides. See photos for more clarity:
Divide the spinach, bacon, and cheese mixture among the 4 halves and stuff the squash until the mixture is leveled.
Top with the chopped cooked bacon.
Bake it some more and broil
Roast the stuffed butternut squash in the preheated oven at 400 F for 15 more minutes until the cheese mixture melts.
Optionally, broil for 3 or 5 minutes to get golden crust over cheese.
Substitutions
- You can use either butternut squash or acorn squash. When using acorn squash, keep in mind that they are smaller in size and bake faster in the oven (about 30 minutes in the preheated oven at 400 F).
- You can use Asiago cheese or Gruyere cheese instead of Parmesan.
- Other greens besides spinach that will work well in stuffed butternut squash are kale and arugula.
Storage and Reheating Tips
What I love about this recipe is that it stores well and reheats well!
- Fridge. Refrigerate the leftover stuffed butternut squash in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Reheat in the oven. Reheat it in the preheated oven at 350 F for about 30 minutes.
- Reheat in the microwave oven. You can also microwave the stuffed butternut squash. For best and fastest results, you can take the spinach, bacon, and cheese mixture out of the butternut squash, and reheat this mixture and the butternut squash separately. Then add back the cheese mixture into the butternut squash.
What to serve with stuffed butternut squash
Serve something equally simple and easy-to-make, such as these delicious holiday side dishes:
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Toasted Pecans, and Dried Cranberries
- Cheesy Baked Asparagus with Gruyere cheese, Garlic, and Bacon
- Green Beans with Pine Nuts
More butternut squash recipes you might like
- Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta with Sausage and Spinach - This easy and flavorful recipe is packed with veggies and will become your favorite Fall and Winter family weeknight dinner!
- Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter Sauce and Pecans - you can use store-bought ravioli and just use the recipe for the delicious sauce!
- Creamy Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Sausage, Thyme, and Sage is the ultimate Autumn comfort food.
Stuffed Butternut Squash
Ingredients
Butternut squash
- 2 butternut squash medium
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- black pepper freshly ground
Spinach, bacon, and cheese mixture
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 oz spinach fresh
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
- 6 strips bacon cooked and chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh thyme
Instructions
How to roast butternut squash
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Prepare the butternut squash. Slice each one in half lengthwise. Keep fingers away from the knife to avoid injury. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and fleshy strands tangled with the seeds.
- Place butternut squash cut sides up on a baking sheet. Drizzle the cut sides of butternut squashes with olive oil and rub the oil into the squash. Season generously with salt and pepper. Turn the squash over, and place it cut sides down on a baking sheet. Tip: you can line the baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up.
- Roast in the preheated oven at 400 F for 40 minutes.
Make spinach, bacon, and cheese mixture
- While the butternut squash is roasted, prepare the cheese mixture.
- In a medium skillet, heat olive oil on medium heat and add fresh spinach. Cook for about 5 minutes until the spinach wilts. If there is any liquid in the pan, drain it.
- Add cream cheese to a microwave-safe large-sized bowl. Soften cream cheese briefly in the microwave oven. Make sure the cheese does not actually melt, just softens.
- Add shredded Parmesan, cooked spinach, and half of the chopped cooked bacon to the same bowl. Mix everything well. Tip: save the remaining half of the bacon pieces to arrange on top of the cheese mixture.
How to stuff butternut squash
- By this time, you have roasted the butternut squash for 40 minutes. Remove it from the oven and turn cooked squash halves cut sides up.
- Let it cool slightly. Using a spoon, scoop out the flesh leaving about a 1-inch border along the sides. (For reference, I provide the step-by-step photos, including for this step, above the recipe card).
- Divide the spinach, bacon, and cheese mixture among the 4 halves and stuff the squash until the mixture is leveled. Top with the remaining chopped cooked bacon.
- Roast the stuffed butternut squash in the preheated oven at 400 F for 15 more minutes until the cheese mixture melts.
- Optionally, broil for 3 or 5 minutes to get golden crust over cheese. Watch closely and be very careful not to burn the squash and the cheese mixture. Tip: Broil on the second oven rack from the top - not on the very top rack so that it doesn't burn. Do watch carefully because all ovens are different. My squashes were fine broiled for 5 minutes on the second oven rack from the top.
- Top with freshly ground black pepper and 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.
Would this work with roasted cubed butternut squash as a casserole?
Karen, yes this would be delicious in a casserole. I would roast the cubed butternut squash first so that it gets crispy edges, and top everything with cheese at the very end so that cheese just melts and doesn't separate. Enjoy!
Made this for the 1st time and I have my husband and son eating something they never thought they would like. It is super filling, we have been eating it all week as the squash we picked were large. We got about 8 serving out of this! Can't wait to make it again!!! I will be making these for dinner guest for sure! Might even serve it on Thanksgiving!
Keri, your comment made my day! 🙂 I am so glad this recipe was a success! Thank you for taking the time to share such a positive and enthusiastic comment - I really appreciate it! 🙂
I don't see where the high carb count comes in. Everything in this is relatively low carb.
Joe, the carbs in this recipe come from the butternut squash. However, butternut squash is highly nutritious.
Here is a great article about carbs in butternut squash:
https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/butternut-squash-complex-carbohydrate-10233.html
Can you use frozen spinach?
Judy, yes, you can - it would work great here! Thawed and drained well of any water/liquid!
What do you do with the squash that you scooped out?
1)
Add the cooked squash you scooped out back into the cheese and spinach mixture.
2)
Or, add the squash that you scooped out to the bottom of the indentation in the butternut squash halves and then top with the cheese mixture.
Enjoy the recipe! 🙂
that was my question also.
Maureen, mix it in with the spinach and cheese mixture.
This looks AMAZING! If I serve it as an entree (because why not?!), what side options would you suggest?
Sara, if you want to keep your dinner Fall themed, here are some side dish suggestions:
1) Arugula Salad with Apples, Cranberries, and Pecans
2) Green Beans with Pine Nuts and Parmesan
3) Autumn Side Dish - Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Cinnamon Butternut Squash with Pecans and Cranberries
Is the calorie count for 1 half of the squash?
Nikki, the calorie count is for 1/2 of the stuffed half of butternut squash. I used 1 large butternut squash that I sliced in half and stuffed with this mixture. The whole recipe make 4 servings - so the calorie count is per each of 4 servings.
What do you do with the squash that you scooped out?
Add the squash that you scoop out to the bottom of the indentation in the butternut squash halves and then top with the cheese mixture. That's what I did. 🙂
What about mixing the squash that you scooped out with the cheese, spinach mixture??
Linda, yes, that would work well!
Are you just eating the filling or do you actually eat the squash?
You definitely eat the squash (without the hard skin). To make one serving, I would slice each butternut squash in half and serve it in a deep large bowl. Use a spoon to scoop out the cheese mixture and the soft butternut squash flesh. You want to get both the squash and the cheese mixture in the same bite - that's when the flavor is the best!
What do you do with the squash flesh you remove ?
Add the squash that you scoop out to the bottom of the indentation in the butternut squash halves and then top with the cheese mixture before putting everything back into the oven.
I am curious about what do you do with the squash that you scoop out?
You can mix it with the spinach and cheese mixture. Or, Add the squash that you scoop out to the bottom of the indentation in the butternut squash halves and then top with the cheese mixture. Then, return the squash to the oven.
Can you mix the squash you scrape out after cooking with the cheese/spinach mixture? Kind of like twice baked potato?
Yes, you can! Or, add the squash that you scoop out to the bottom of the indentation in the butternut squash halves and then top with the cheese mixture and bake in the oven.
Can you roast it with the squash cubed and missed with the cheese mixture? I have squash galore in my freezer from my garden, but it’s cubed?
Irma, yes, you can - it would be delicious! You can also use this recipe for cubed butternut squash:
Creamy Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta with Sausage and Spinach
Can this recipe be made ahead of time, by cooking squash, filling squash, and heating it up that way? Trying to have less work when guests arrive for dinner.
Jane, yes, this recipe keeps in the fridge and reheats well! When I originally made it, I ate it for 3 days straight. 🙂 From that experience, I found that it was easier to reheat the creamy mixture SEPARATED from the butternut squash. So, my advice is to roast butternut squash in advance, make the creamy mixture in advance, but combine these two right before serving and heat them up in the oven.
What do you do with the squash you scooped out? Save itbfor another recioe or mix it with the cheeses?
Lorraine, yes, you can mix the scooped out squash with the cheese and spinach mixture. Or, add the squash that you scoop out to the bottom of the indentation in the butternut squash halves and then top with the cheese mixture and bake in the oven.
Made it tonight with grilled pork tenderloin. So good! Plenty of leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
Forgot to give it stars
Becky, what a great combination - pork tenderloin and stuffed butternut squash! Love it!
I love the flavour anc the appearance of this recipe. So good. My one daughter was very impressed and wanted the recipe but my other daughter was totally turned off by the calorie calculation. What is considered serving size?
Beth, thank you for your kind words. 🙂 I put the number servings in this recipe as 4 - which are VERY GENEROUS servings - it's pretty much 1/2 of each butternut squash with the cheese stuffing per person. It's a lot, and it is a serving size more appropriate to turn this into a main course.
If this is served as an appetizer or a side, this recipe would make 8 servings instead of 4 - slice each COOKED AND STUFFED squash half in half again. In this case, that will reduce the number of calories in half per person.
The filling is really good and can be used in other winter squash. Couldn't find butternut squash and used 4 acorn squashes instead. Turned out really well! Thanks for the recipe.
This is a great recipe to use with acorn squash - glad you liked it! 🙂
Can you substitute spinach? Not a fave in my house. Thank you!
Rose, yes, you can use cooked kale or arugula.
I tried the recipe. Too much cheese . Creamed cheese and parmesan dont work well.with squash, in my opinion
Sharon, I am sorry to hear about that! Try using 1/2 amount of the cheese next time. Or, use shredded Mozzarella plus Parmesan instead.
This was delicious! I used one large butternut squash made this into as a main course.
Yes, if using a large butternut squash (which most are) - this works as a main dish.
How do you plate this.. just scoop out or slice?
You serve this as is, just like shown in the photos. And, eat this with a spoon, scooping out the melted cheese mixture + squash. I do see your point, however, because, usually, butternut squash is so large. In this case, yes, slice each half into the number of servings you wish to serve - and then serve it with the spoon - to scoop out the cheese mixture + butternut squash flesh.
Also, if you look at more photos, you will see that the one squash I used was the normal, "big" size, while another one was small. If you are able to find smaller butternut squashes (which I know could be difficult), that would be perfect and would make just the right size for each half to be served as a side dish as an individual serving.