Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese
This twist on macaroni and cheese is salty, creamy, nutty and slightly sweet because of the roasted butternut squash and cheeses.
This is the perfect dish to go with your dinner or lunch, you can use freshly harvested butternut squash or even frozen squash any time of the year. Butternut squash is rich in important vitamins and can easily be hidden for those picky eaters.
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BUTTERNUT SQUASH MAC & CHEESE
My family and I are huge fans of macaroni and cheese, creamy and salty. Mmm… Two of our favorite cheeses to add to mac and cheese are gruyere and gouda.
My twist on making mac & cheese is adding roasted butternut squash. I love the taste of squash but my family really aren’t fans of it, so I try to hide it. Butternut squash is full of good healthy vitamins, minerals and disease fighting antioxidants.
If you’ve got picky eaters, you can easily blend it up within the cheese or just try and convince them it’s cheese.
This is a perfect seasonal dish that you can use fresh squash from your garden or the market, they even sell it in bags that are pre-cut fresh or frozen. Or look for pureed cans of butternut squash.
Besides roasting the butternut squash on a baking sheet, I make the rest of the dish in my dutch oven because it’s easy and less dirty dishes.
The fall is one of my favorite times of the year; besides all the obvious(nature and fashion), I love all the seasonal foods, pumpkin everything, I get to enjoy all the fruits of my labor(& farmers) and eat cool season crops again. Warm comfort foods.
Here’s a few of our favorite fall recipes:
- Pumpkin Choctaw Fault Cake
- Apple Pie
- Banana Zucchini Bread and Zucchini Bread
- 50+ Slow Cooker & Instant Pot Recipes Perfect for Fall & Winter
- Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash
Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese
Ingredients
- 1-2 cups butternut squash cut into 1 inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 16 oz box of pasta elbows, shells, rigatoni will all work
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 cup gruyere cheese shredded
- 1 cup gouda cheese shredded
- dash of ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 3 tablespoons butter
- salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and add your chopped butternut squash, drizzle olive oil over and carefully toss to coat. Sprinkle salt and pepper over. Roast in preheated oven for 30-45 minutes, until golden brown.
- While butternut squash is roasting, cook pasta according to package. Drain and set aside.
- On medium-low heat in the same pot you used for the pasta, add and melt your butter, milk, cheeses, paprika and nutmeg.
- After the cheese has melted, either add the drained pasta back into the dutch oven or a casserole dish and stir to combine. Then carefully toss your butternut squash into the dish. If you'd like to "hide it" stir a little more. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Bake in a preheated 375° oven for 20 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Enjoy!
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