This Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash features seasonal vegetables, Italian Sausage, and sweet apples. It’s comforting, nutritious, and the perfect recipe to enjoy the abundance of fall.
If you’re looking for more fall favorites to add to your dinner rotation, try my Taco Stuffed Acorn Squash, Sausage and Kale Stuffed Acorn Squash, and Easy Roasted Acorn Squash Recipe.
Acorn squash is a great base for healthy meals because it’s low-calorie and you can easily adapt it to fit your dietary preferences. Not only is this Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash cozy and delicious.
Ingredients
- Acorn squash — 2 small acorn squash cut in half with the seeds set aside.
- Olive oil — I prefer extra virgin olive oil; you could also use avocado oil.
- Italian sausage — For Whole30, opt for sugar and nitrate-free sausage. If you don’t have pork sausage, you can use turkey sausage too.
- Onion — Chopped red onion or yellow onions adds flavor and color to the dish.
- Bell pepper — I use green bell peppers but you can use any color you prefer.
- Garlic — You can either mince fresh cloves garlic or use a jar of garlic.
- Apple — I use Honey Crisp apples, but any variety of red apple will work.
- Thyme — Fresh thyme adds a light, fragrant element.
- Kale — 1 cup of kale thoroughly washed and chopped.
- Dried cranberries — For Whole30, use dried cranberries fruit-sweetened.
- Seasoning — Sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
- Parsley — Finish the dish with a garnish of fresh parsley or any other fresh herbs you prefer.
Instructions
Prepare the acorn squash:
- Before you begin, preheat the oven to 425° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut each acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds using a metal spoon.
Roast the acorn squash:
- Coat the acorn squash with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Place on a baking sheet, skin side down, and bake for 50-60 minutes until they’re fork tender. The roasting time will vary depending on the size of your acorn squash.
Cook the sausage and aromatics:
- While the squash cooks, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the sausage and cook for 5-6 minutes until brown. As it cooks, use a wooden spoon to break apart any large pieces.
- Remove the sausage from the pan and set it aside, leaving the fat in the skillet.
- Add the onions and bell pepper to the same skillet and cook for 3-5 minutes until they’re soft. Then, add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
Prepare the filling:
- To the same skillet, add the diced apple and thyme. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the chopped kale and cranberry and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Return the sausage to the skillet and stir well to combine. Then, cook the sausage mixture for 1-2 minutes, allowing the flavors to blend.
Stuff and broil the acorn squash:
- Preheat your oven’s broiler.
- Then, evenly stuff each squash half with the sausage-apple filling.
- Place the squash on a baking sheet and broil for about 5 minutes.
- Garnish with a sprinkle of fresh parsley and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- If you microwave the acorn squash for a minute or two, it will soften and become much easier to cut.
- For a quick and nutritious snack, save the seeds from your acorn squash and roast them like pumpkin seeds.
- You can easily multiply this recipe to fit your needs. A serving size is one-half of an acorn squash per person.
- When you’re roasting acorn squash, look for a little caramelization around the edges. This is an easy way to add extra flavor.
- In this sausage and apple stuffed acorn squash recipe, I use nitrate-free sausage, which is better for you.
- To Store: Once your leftover acorn squash has cooled, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- To Reheat: Reheat in a microwave or in the oven at 350°F until heated through.
- Tender chicken or pork: This dish is a full meal on its own, but it also pairs wonderfully with my grilled chicken thighs or easy oven pork chops.
- A seasonal salad: A fresh, fall-inspired salad, like my shaved Brussels sprouts salad is the perfect side dish to serve with sausage stuffed acorn squash.
- Roasted vegetables: Savory roasted vegetables, such as roasted cauliflower or cabbage steaks provide a nice balance to the sweetness in this recipe.
- Add grains: To make this dish even more satisfying, add a whole grain to the filling, such as wild rice or quinoa.
- Top with cheese: A salty, melty cheese would be so yummy on top. Try a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan cheese or crumbled goat cheese.
- Switch up the squash: Enjoy all the winter squash while it’s in season and make a variation of this recipe with your favorite squash variety such as delicata squash. See my stuffed butternut squash with Italian sausage recipe for inspiration!
- Nut: top this recipe with your favorite nut such as pecans, almonds or walnut.
More Delicious Squash Recipes
Easy Bolognese Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
1 hr 15 mins
Mashed Butternut Squash
1 hr 10 mins
Chicken Zucchini Boats
50 mins
Spaghetti Squash Casserole Recipe
1 hr 15 mins
Want more seasonal recipes? Try these 40 Easy Fall Dinner Recipes!
Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash
This Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash features seasonal vegetables, Italian Sausage, and sweet apples. It’s comforting, nutritious, and the perfect recipe for fall.
Ingredients
For Acorn
- 2 small acorn squash cut in half and set seeds aside
- 1 tbsp olive oil plus sea salt and black pepper, for roasting
- salt and black pepper to taste
For the Stuffing
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ lb Italian sausage
- 1 cup red onion chopped
- 1 cup green bell pepper chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 medium apple diced I used Honey Crispy apple.
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves chopped
- 1 cup kale chopped
- ¼ cup dried cranberries fruit
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- fresh parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Pour olive oil over the acorn squash and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Bake in oven for 50-60 minutes, until skin is soft and fork-tender (Roasting time will vary depending on the size of your squash).
- While squash roasts, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add sausage and cook for 5-6 minutes until brown, using a wooden spoon to break apart coarse pieces. Then, set the sausage aside, but leave the fat in the skillet.
- In the same skillet, add onions and green bell pepper. Cook until they’re soft, 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add diced apple, thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 1 minute. Add chopped kale and cranberry. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Bring back the sausage and stir well to combine. Cook for 1-2 minutes to blend flavors.
- Preheat your broiler and divide apple-sausage filling among squashes.
- Once filled, place the baking sheet under the broiler and broil for 5 minutes or so. Garnish with fresh minced parsley and enjoy!
Notes
- If you are having trouble cutting the acorn squash, you can microwave the squash for a bit to help soften it.
- Save the seeds from the acorn squash and roast them like pumpkin seeds.
- Easily multiply this recipe and plan ½ of an acorn squash per person.
- Add flavor with a little caramelization on the roasted squash.
- To store: Place leftover stuffed acorn squash in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- To reheat: Reheat in the microwave or oven at 350°F until heated through.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/4, Calories: 422kcal, Carbohydrates: 48g, Protein: 12g, Fat: 25g, Cholesterol: 43mg, Sodium: 1014mg, Potassium: 1193mg, Fiber: 8g, Sugar: 14g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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My heart is melting. I am try the recipe in my weeekends.
I’m sure you’ll like it a lot 😉
what would be a good substitute for the kale?
Spinach and Green collard.
that looks amazing. If you were using fresh cranberries how much would you use?
I probably would use 1/2 cup. But you can use more if you prefer.
Can I use an equal amount of ground turkey in place of the sausage??
Yes you absolutely can 😉
1/4 of the recipe? Does this mean one half of the 2 squash used in the recipe?
Yes it’s one half of the 2 squash used in the recipe.
This recipe was delicious. Perfect sweet & savory combo. I plan to make it again and again!
Happy you liked it.
Amazing!! What perfect fall favors! To save time, I chose not to stuff the squash but instead cut the squash in rings to cook them faster. I also used ground chicken to make it a bit lighter. It turned out wonderfully. I love the sweet bits of apple and cranberries combined with the savory sausage. Delicious!
So happy you liked this recipe. It’s one of my fave fall recipes too!
Our favorite fall recipe!
This makes me so happy to hear!
Made this tonight for a dinner party. I have never made acorn squash before. I did not use onion and I used red bell pepper in place of green. Everything else was to the recipe. They were AMAZING! Everyone loved them so much. It made plenty of filling so we are going to have leftovers with roasted sweet potatoes.
That’s perfect! this is one of my fave recipes for this time of the year!