Rice with Roasted Butternut Squash and Dried Cranberries

Today, I brought you another quick, easy, and delicious side dish for the big day tomorrow. If you seem to always make the same dishes every Thanksgiving, I suggest trying this delicious, flavorful, vegan, and gluten-free side dish. I am sure you will love this recipe because butternut squash, cranberries, and rice are great matches for turkey. And if you have an extra one… this Roasted Butternut Squash Mash is a great substitute for mashed potatoes!

I love to roast veggies because it doesn’t require a lot of work. If you don’t have much time, you can cook your rice and roast the butternut squash in advance too. When it is time to serve, you just need to sauté the spinach. So, it is a great recipe option to avoid spending hours in the kitchen during the holidays.

Before ending this post, I would like to give you some tips to roast your veggie:

1. Cut the butternut squash into roughly the same size. You want all the pieces to cook at the same time.
2. Put the chopped butternut squash in a single layer to the baking sheet like I did with the Roasted Root Vegetable with Thyme recipe to avoid they become mushy.
3. Toss every single piece with olive oil, but making sure the pieces are coated on all sides because if not the sides that are not coated will be very dry.

I wish you have a very happy and beautiful Thanksgiving with your loved ones!

If you ended up buying way too much butternut squash for the holidays, you should make my Roasted Butternut Squash Cauliflower Salad, Ground Beef Butternut Squash Meal Prep Bowls (Web Story), and Roasted Butternut Squash Recipe throughout the week with them!

Thanks a lot for reading. Want to browse all of my healthy recipe posts? Follow my Primavera Kitchen Board on Pinterest!!! I also have more great Pinterest Boards full of awesome recipes like Healthy Fall Recipes and Side Dishes for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

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4.34 from 6 votes

Rice with Roasted Butternut Squash and Dried Cranberries

This Rice with Roasted Butternut Squash and Dried Cranberries is a delicious gluten-free and vegan side dish that is great for the holidays. 

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 12 minutes

Total: 22 minutes

Servings: 4 people

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Ingredients

• ▢ 3 cups butternut squash diced
• ▢ 2 tbsp + 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ 1 tsp dry parsley
• ▢ Salt and ground black pepper
• ▢ ½ cup onions diced
• ▢ 1 garlic clove minced
• ▢ 4 cups spinach
• ▢ 4 cups cooked rice
• ▢ ½ cup cranberries
• ▢ Green onions for garnishing

US CustomaryMetric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large bowl, add squash, 2 tbsp olive oil, dry parsley, salt, and pepper until squash is evenly coated.
• Spread on a baking sheet and bake until squash is roasted and tender, about 30-40 minutes.
• Heat 1 tbsp in a pan over medium heat.
• Add the onion and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent, about 6-8 minutes.
• Add spinach and cook for about 2-3 minutes.
• In the same pan, where is the spinach mixture, add the roasted squash, cooked rice, and cranberries.
• Stir everything very well and garnish with fresh green onions.

Tips

• You can buy pre-diced butternut squash. If you have trouble cutting yours, you can microwave the squash before cutting it open.
• Try to find dried cranberries with no added sugar.
• You can add some nuts or seeds are an extra crunchy texture. 
• To store: You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
• To reheat: Reheat leftovers in the microwave.
• To freeze: Freeze any leftovers in a freezer-safe airtight bag for up to 3 months. Thaw before reheating.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1/4 Calories: 295kcal (15%) Carbohydrates: 52g (17%) Protein: 5g (10%) Fat: 9g (14%) Saturated Fat: 1g (6%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g Monounsaturated Fat: 6g Sodium: 64mg (3%) Potassium: 580mg (17%) Fiber: 4g (17%) Sugar: 4g (4%)

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.

© Author: Olivia Ribas

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