Sausage and Apple Stuffed Squash is perfect for a Thanksgiving side dish. Cozy and hearty enough for a stand-alone meal too.
Sausage stuffed acorn squash boats with apples and chickpeas are protein-packed and presentation perfect. You will also love this fall harvest salad recipe.
A fall-inspired stuffed squash recipe with the perfect blend of sweet and savoury ingredients. Perfect for cozy dinners and holiday gatherings.
As you may have guessed, I am a fall food lover. Don’t get me wrong, I love the warm summer weather and all the grilled foods. When it comes to cold weather, comfort food rocks. Stuffed squash is at the top of our list.
Looking for a company-worthy side dish for Thanksgiving or Christmas? Roasted Squash Slices only require 4 ingredients. Great for beginner and novice chefs. Presentation perfect.
Recipes like Slow Cooker Spicy Kale Soup are just the thing. Perfect for warming up with. Homemade soup is so good. Easy Chana Masala is made in under 30 minutes. Faster than pizza delivery.
Apple season is delicious. We enjoy ALL the wonderful recipes, and especially the aromas they create while baking and cooking.
Check out this great post 19 Delicious Ways To Use Apples. You will want to go apple picking for sure. Baked apple pudding is a family favourite.
Speaking of the holidays, leftover turkey is just what you need for this delicious turkey wrap. Perfect for lunch or dinner.
Stuffed Squash Ingredients
- acorn squash
- sausage meat
- canned chickpeas
- apples
- carrots
- maple balsamic
- salt and pepper
Pumpkin season is my favourite of all. The weird thing is that my mom hardly ever cooked winter squash recipes. Yes, we had pumpkin pie, but honestly, that was about it. There are so many delicious and easy squash recipes.
- Chorizo Chili with Roasted Tomatoes and Squash is a hearty and delicious meal perfect for comfort food season.
- Puy Lentil Pasta Sauce is a great pasta topping. Try it on spaghetti squash too.
- Easy Roasted Pumpkin Soup is made in the blender. It tastes like you cooked it all day long.
- Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts are the perfect celebration of fall. Baked donuts are THE BEST.
- Pumpkin Latte is a MUST. I could drink this all year long.
- Check out this post: 30+ Pumpkin Dishes
If you are looking for a delicious Fall dessert, look no further than Fried Apple Tarts. The perfect Thanksgiving treat. Old fashioned fried apples make the perfect filling. Just like eating mini apple pies.
Easy Sausage and Apple Stuffed Squash
This stuffed squash recipe is easy to prepare. There are two parts, baking the squash and making the filling (or stuffing). Full instructions are in the recipe card.
Step One: Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds (you can save the seeds to roast later) and bake the squash in the oven for about 30 minutes.
Be sure to line your baking sheet with a *(affiliate) silicone mat or parchment paper for easier cleanup.
Step Two: While baking the squash, prepare the filling in a pan on the stovetop.
Once the squash is baked, remove it from the oven and place on serving plates. Stuff the baked squash halves with the filling and enjoy
Suggestions / Recipe Tips
There are lots of great varieties of squash. I have some listed below. I used acorn squash, but feel free to try others. They are all delicious.
We love spicy food, so hot Italian sausage was my choice. Any kind will work. Turkey sausage would be a great choice. I like to remove the casing before cooking. You can also find bulk sausage meat in the grocery store or your local butcher shop.
Looking to make it vegan? No problem, this recipe also includes chickpeas. You could always add some cooked red lentils to replace the meat.
Maple balsamic is so flavourful. You can use regular balsamic mixed with a little maple syrup.
Any variety of apple will work in this recipe. Some of my favourites are Cortland and Honey Crisp.
Store leftovers either wrapped in foil or a sealed container in the fridge for 3-2 days. Reheat in the oven.
It is ok to eat the skin of acorn squash since it is quite delicate once it is cooked.
Winter Squash Varieties
Did you know there are 11 varieties of winter squash? I will be on the lookout at the markets this fall to find ALL of them. How many of these have you tried?
Acorn Squash (like in this recipe). Small in size weighing between one and two pounds. It has an orange-yellow flesh and thick, dark green and orange skin. Mild sweet nutty flavour. Very versatile and can be cooked many ways
Banana Squash: Large, elongated squash, two to three feet in length. It can weigh up to 40 pounds. It has smooth orange, pink, or blue skin and brilliant orange flesh. Rich sweet and earthy. Perfect for roasting, soups and stews.
Buttercup Squash: Squat and round dark green rind that has green-gray lines with firm orange flesh. Sweet and creamy, great for baking, steaming and using in curries.
Butternut Squash: Pear-shaped squash has a smooth with a cream-colored exterior and bright orange flesh. The sweetest of all the winter squash. Great for just about everything.
Delicata Squash: Known as sweet potato squash, it is a small cylindrical squash with thin cream-colored skin and green stripes, and orange-yellow flesh. Similar to the taste of sweet potatoes. Makes a great stuffed squash.
Hubbard Squash: One of the largest varieties of winter squash with a hard, firm exterior that can range in color from deep green to gray or blue. Similar to the taste of pumpkin. Great for pumpkin pies.
Kabocha Squash: Squat and round, and similar to buttercup squash. Dull finish with dark green skin (sometimes has small lumps) and bright yellow-orange flesh. Sweet and nutty, and can be used from soups to pies.
Pumpkin: We all know this famous variety. No explanation needed.
Spaghetti Squash: Cylindrical shape with a firm exterior that ranges in color from pale cream to bright yellow. When cooked the flesh develops strands that resemble spaghetti. Chewy and very mild. Roasting is best.
Sweet Dumpling Squash: Small yellow squash, with bright orange to dark green markings. Sweet taste that is similar to corn. Great for stuffing and roasting.
Turban Squash: Large and decorative squash with an irregular turban shape. Dull-looking, bumpy exterior in colours from mottled green to orange and yellow. Mild and nutty. Mostly used as decoration (makes a great soup tureen), but can be used like other varieties.
When it comes to fall and winter, there are endless recipes to incorporate seasonal squash varieties. This stuffed acorn squash with sausage is simple to make. The presentation is pretty cool too. You can feed a family of 6 with this budget-friendly recipe.
Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash
Ingredients
- 3 acorn squash
- 1 pound sausage meat (your choice)
- 19 ounces chickpeas (1 can)
- 3 cups apples (peeled and diced)
- ½ cup onion (diced)
- 1 cup carrots (grated)
- 2 teaspoons maple balsamic vinegar
- salt & pepper (to taste)
Instructions
To Bake the Squash:
- Preheat oven to 400º F and line a baking sheet with parchment or foil.
- Cut squash in ½ lengthwise, and scoop out the insides.
- Place cut side down, and bake until done (approx. 30 minutes). Prepare filling while squash is baking.
To Make the Filling:
- Remove casing from sausage and cut into small pieces (you can even use a potato masher after you cut it up).
- Heat a non-stick frying pan to medium-high, add the meat and cook (for about 15 minutes).
- While this is cooking, peel and dice the apple, dice the onion, grate the carrot and rinse and drain the chickpeas.
- Once the meat is cooked, remove the pan from the heat. Place the meat into a bowl (discarding the excess fat).
- Place the pan back on medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5-7 minutes.
- Add the meat and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the apples and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the carrots and chickpeas and cook for 2 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper, and the maple balsamic. Mix well, remove from heat.
- Remove squash from oven. Place on individual serving plates and season with salt and pepper.
- Stuff each ½ with the sausage and apple mixture and serve.
Stephanie
So yummy! I love acorn squash and this is a great new way for me to try it 🙂
Homemade & Yummy
Squash is such a great vegetable…you an use it in so many ways.
Karyl | Karyl's Kulinary Krusade
What a great idea, and what a beautiful, warming dish! I love chickpeas and Italian sausage. I don’t really do acorn squash on its own, but I would definitely give it a try this way. Pinned, and making soon!
Homemade & Yummy
Hope you give it try. It is easy and delicious.
Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food
Food in edible bowls is the BOMB. My problem is that every time I buy an acorn squash, my hubster DEMANDS curried squash soup. Thank you for this recipe, because I’m going to show him your pictures and tell him, “this time, honey, I’m making THESE.”
Homemade & Yummy
HAHAH….well let me know what he thinks of this.
Elizabeth | The Recipe Revival
Wow! This is such a great meal! I love all the big chunks of sausage and carrots 🙂
Homemade & Yummy
This is a great dinner….all in one meal deal!!
Debs
Lovely recipe. I’m a snow lover, but we don’t get any here in the UK. I grew up in Montreal, so used to the snowy winters and miss them terribly. But either way, comforting stuffed squash is always welcome. Lovely recipe.
Homemade & Yummy
Well my husband grew up in Montreal…and he still hates the snow.
Julia
Gloria, this squash looks phenomenal! So delicious, healthy and yummy! And yes, food cooked inside other food always tastes better than two foods cooked separately!
Homemade & Yummy
I know, even with the sausage it is still a really healthy and nutritious meal.
Jolina
Apples and sausages and squash. That’s a party in your mouth right there! It looks amazing.
Homemade & Yummy
Yup…it is plain old fun and delicious food right here.
Amy
This sounds absolutely delicious and I love that you used hot italian sausages in it. I really feel like the warm flavors of squash pair amazingly with spicy, rich sausages. My go-to squash recipe is a risotto with squash and sausage that is so yummy and comforting! But I definitely need to give this a try!
Homemade & Yummy
This is the perfect “sweet with heat” recipe.
Veena Azmanov
We have lots of acorn squash at the grocer this week and I made a few stuffed ones too. I love the flavors you have going in this recipe. I bet the Italian sausage dripping into the squash must taste delish.. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
Homemade & Yummy
It really is sooo good. Easy and delicious is the way to go for sure. Hope you give it a try.
Sam | Ahead of Thyme
This would look perfect on my Thanksgiving table! Yum!
Homemade & Yummy
Hope you give it a try. ENJOY!!
Chris
Oh wow, this is the definition of comfort food! Can’t go wrong with a sausage and apple combo. Photos look DELISH!!!
Homemade & Yummy
Thanks so much. This is so easy….and pretty to look at too.
Pam
That is definitely a meal in itself. I love the colors and the flavor combinations look awesome.
Homemade & Yummy
Yes it sure is a great and easy meal…and cool to look at too.
Ginny McMeans
I love seeing new recipes for ways to eat squash and especially acorn squash. The flavor combination sounds really delicious.
Homemade & Yummy
It is a great “sweet with heat” flavour profile.
Lisa | Garlic + Zest
I love stuffed vegetables and so does my husband. It’s a great way to present a meal, but also a fun way to add more veggies to the plate!
Homemade & Yummy
This is the whole meal deal right here. Easy to make and fun to eat.
Liz
I’ve been loving stuffed squash lately! It’s such a perfect fall dish! I bet this one smells amazing!
Homemade & Yummy
I love cooking squash this way.