How to Bake Butternut Squash

Do you need to bake a butternut squash but aren't sure how? This short and easy guide will show you exactly how to roast squash without any unnecessary details!

Choosing a good one

You'll need to asses the skin on the butternut squash. If there is any green whatsoever, it's not ripe. The skin should be hard, one solid color, and matte--not glossy anywhere.

Also keep in mind that a few dings and dents are ok; that's normal.

Cutting and seeding

Get your oven preheated to 400 degrees, and the middle or middle-low rack positioned.

You need a very sharp chef's knife with about an 8 inch blade to handle the large fruit. Butternut squash has a hard rind, and if your knife is dull, it can be difficult to slice through. You can actually slip and injure yourself.

Cut from the top where the step was down vertically through to the bottom, and lay each half face up on a baking sheet.

Scoop the seeds out with a spoon, as you would when carving a pumpkin.

Baking

Some people like to use olive oil over butter, and while you can do that, butternut squash is so much more delicious when roasted with butter.

The butter caramelizes and browns deliciously, and it wells up in the cavities of the squash making a sort of browned butter squash drizzle that you can use. It's amazing.

Poke the squash halves all over the tops that face upwards using a fork. This not only helps steam to escape, but it lets some of the butter melt and drip down inside the meat. Yummy.

Use about 1 tablespoons of softened butter for each half and spread it all over the top of the squash, over the holes that you poked and inside lining the cavities where the seeds were scooped out.

Then, place one additional pad of butter inside each cavity, and salt and pepper liberally. For roasted squash coarse ground pepper and kosher salt work really well because they add texture that compliments the little caramelized edges that will form.

Bake the squash halves for about one hour, checking at 45 minutes just in case. Some smaller squashes may take less time. Larger squashes may take up to an hour and twenty minutes.

How to know it's done

The butternut squash is done baking when it's fork tender. This means literally that it's tender enough to easily stick a fork in without much resistance. This is more tender than knife tender, so make sure you use a fork.

You'll also notice the beautiful browning and sweet caramelization that has happened on the edges and surface of the squash. That is where the best flavor is at, and it's what makes roasted butternut squash so incredibly delicious.

Recipes that use squash:

• Butternut Squash Bacon Mac and Cheese with Pretzel Breadcrumbs
• Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter Fried Sage, Walnuts and Bacon
• Creamy Squash and Sausage Pasta