Stuffed Acorn Squash features roasted, caramelized acorn squash filled with seasoned wild rice, tender sweet potatoes, green apples, and more. It’s comfort food at its best!
Pair Acorn Stuffed Squash with a simple Winter Fruit Salad or easy Pear Salad.
What To Expect From This Recipe
I’m excited to share this recipe—it’s one of my all-time favorites, along with these snickerdoodles! Stuffed Acorn Squash mixes seasoned wild rice with sweet cranberries and apple for a dish with great textures and bold flavors.
Although it takes time to prepare—cooking the wild rice, roasting the squash, and making the filling—many parts can be done ahead. This makes it perfect for guests or special meals. Below, find easy tips to make making Stuffed Acorn Squash so easy!
Wild Rice
Use a wild rice blend like Lundberg® Wild Rice Blend, which you’ll find near other rice in most stores. Wild rice is dense, so a blend keeps it lighter.
Cook the rice in chicken or vegetable stock with some seasonings and a bit of butter. Since wild rice takes a while to cook, start with it first. A strong stock, like Swanson’s® chicken stock, adds great flavor.
The rice will be salty enough, so you don’t need to season the filling. Any extra liquid will cook off when mixed into the filling, adding extra flavor.
Quick Tip
To make vegetarian (or vegan) Stuffed Acorn Squash, use vegetarian stock instead of chicken stock.
Acorn Squash
Roasting squash is easy and tasty—you might not even get to the filling!
The edges turn golden and caramelized. Here are some tips:
- Use medium-sized squashes that are similar in size for even roasting.
- Cut the squash with a sharp knife on a sturdy board. Don’t microwave it first; it can make the squash mushy.
- Roast on a parchment-lined pan to avoid burning.
- Check if the squash is done by poking it with a fork. If it goes in easily, it’s ready.
Quick Tip
After roasting the squash, don’t turn off the oven! We return the Stuffed Acorn Squash to the oven to bake again!
Stuffed Acorn Squash: Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes can be hard to chop raw and take a while to cook. To speed things up, use the microwave:
- Poke a few holes in the sweet potato with a fork.
- Microwave an 8-ounce (1/2 pound) potato on high for about 5 minutes. Larger or multiple potatoes will need more time. Continue in 1-minute bursts until soft.
- Check if it’s done by poking it with a fork. It should be easy to pierce.
- Cut the potato in half, peel the skin off, and dice into small pieces.
If you prefer not to microwave, bake the sweet potatoes until soft, then peel and dice them finely. Avoid big pieces in the Stuffed Acorn Squash.
Stuffed Acorn Squash Filling
Once the wild rice, sweet potato, and squashes are ready, mix these ingredients into the filling:
- Yellow onion: Dice small to blend in well and avoid raw chunks.
- Celery: Adds crunch. Dice finely; cut stems in half before slicing thinly.
- Dried sweetened cranberries: Adds sweetness. Sweetened is best; dried tart cherries work too.
- Apple: Any apple works, but Granny Smith adds tartness. For sweetness, choose Honeycrisp or Fuji. Peel if you prefer (I don’t).
Stuffed Acorn Squash Filling, Continued
- Pepitas: Roasted pepitas add a sweet, nutty flavor. Buy them pre-roasted and salted or make your own. Check the bulk section or salad toppings.
- Pecans: Use chopped pecans and cut them smaller if needed.
- Flat-leaf Italian parsley: Use flat-leaf parsley for better flavor; curly parsley is mainly for decoration.
Stuffed Acorn Squash FAQs
Yes, you can eat the skin as it softens from roasting, but I usually don’t. I prefer to enjoy the squash flesh and filling, scraping right up to the skin.
Not for this recipe; it helps hold it all together!
If the flesh looks dull or smells off, it’s likely spoiled. Also, if the seeds are slimy or gray, the squash is probably bad.
Storage
Make Ahead And Storage
Stuffed Acorn Squash is easy to prep ahead:
- Wild rice: Cook 1-2 days in advance. Refrigerate, fluff before using, and drain excess liquid.
- Filling ingredients: Prep parsley, sweet potato, celery, pecans, pepitas, and onion separately. Store in the fridge (nuts at room temperature). Don’t prep the filling too early to avoid browning apples and softening nuts/pepitas.
To assemble: Mix prepped ingredients, roast the squash, and bake!
Leftovers store okay for about a day; they become mushy after that. Halve the recipe if you won’t eat all four squash within the first or second day.
More Hearty Vegetarian Recipes
- Butternut Squash Salad with a maple-Dijon vinaigrette
- Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie with loads of veggies
- Vegetarian Chili with the best seasoning blend
- Butternut Squash Tacos with black beans
- Vegetarian Tikka Masala with a quick snap pea topping
Stuffed Acorn Squash
Equipment
- large sheet pan,
- Parchment paper
- Medium pot nonstick
- Large pan
Ingredients
Wild Rice—See Note 1
- 1-3/4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock, see note 2
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt reduce amount if using table salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1-1/2 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
- 1/2 cup wild rice blend like Lundberg
Filling
- 1 large sweet potato 11 ounces
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup celery diced, about 3 stalks
- 1 cup finely diced yellow onion 1 small onion
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic 2 cloves
- 1 cup Granny Smith apple diced, 1 small apple
- 1/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries
- 1/4 cup roasted and salted pepitas
- 1/4 cup diced pecans
- 1/4 cup finely diced flat-leaf parsley
- Crumbled goat cheese optional, but recommended
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Thoroughly rinse wild rice blend in a fine-mesh sieve with cold water until water runs clear. Add stock, mustard, butter, parsley, salt, pepper, and dried thyme to a nonstick medium pot; bring to a boil. Once boiling, add rinsed rice. Cover and reduce heat to low (just above the lowest low setting). Simmer 50–65 minutes, or until rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed (stir occasionally, returning lid as soon as stirring is done). Add 2–4 extra tablespoons broth if rice has absorbed all the liquid and is still not tender. Check to see if rice is done at 50 minutes and every 5–10 minutes after that. Once rice is tender, remove from heat, leaving the lid on, and let stand at room temperature 10–15 minutes.
- Use a sharp knife to cut squash in half. (I cut down the indents on the sides, cut through the tip, then pull apart to get 2 halves.) Use a large spoon to scrape out all the seeds and stringy bits and discard. Place squash halves right side up on the prepared tray. Evenly drizzle 1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil over all the exposed squash flesh and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Use your hand to rub everything in, then place the squash so the cut sides face down on the parchment paper. Bake until squash is tender (flesh is easily pierced with a fork), about 35–45 minutes. Set squash aside, but don’t turn off the oven.
- Wash and scrub sweet potato(es). Pierce several times with a fork. Place on a microwave-safe plate and microwave until fork-tender, about 5–8 minutes, rotating halfway through. Remove from microwave and cut in half lengthwise. Set aside to cool slightly, then peel off the skins (they should come off easily). Once cool enough to handle, dice into very small pieces; measure to get exactly 1 cup (131g) and set aside.
- Add butter and olive oil to a large pan over medium-high heat. Once butter is melted, add finely diced onion and celery (see note 3). Sauté, stirring frequently, until onion begins to turn golden, about 5–7 minutes. Add garlic and stir another 1 minute. Add diced sweet potatoes, diced apple, and cranberries. Sauté another 2 minutes. Add rice and any remaining liquid in the pot; stir until liquid evaporates. Remove from heat. Add pepitas, pecans, and parsley. Mix to combine. Taste and add additional seasoning if needed.
- Flip the squash over so cut side faces up. Divide filling evenly among the 4 squashes; really pack it in; you should use all the filling (it’s okay if they’re over-filled a bit!). Return to oven and bake 15–20 more minutes or until just turning golden on top.
- Carefully remove from oven. Optionally add a drizzle of olive oil over everything, and if desired, sprinkle goat cheese on top. Enjoy while hot!
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
what temp do you roast the squash at?
400 degrees F! It’s tricky to miss in the first step, so thanks for asking 🙂