This Sausage-Stuffed Acorn Squash features seasonal vegetables, Italian Sausage, and sweet apples. It’s comforting, filling, 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 meals because this Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash cozy and delicious.
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 wholesome 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.
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
Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash
This Sausage-Stuffed Acorn Squash features seasonal vegetables, Italian Sausage, and sweet apples. It’s comforting, filling, and the perfect recipe to enjoy the abundance of 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
- 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!
Great dish! Have made a bunch of times!
Happy you liked it 😉