Our Most-Pinned October Recipe Is So Irresistible, Reviewers Say It's Gone Before You Know It

Great meals start with simple ingredients, but that doesn’t always make cooking as easy as it sounds.

Finding dinner ideas or side dishes that are both delicious and easy to recreate can be a challenge. If you’re craving a simple, seasonal dish, I highly recommend our most-saved recipe from last October: roasted butternut squash.

This recipe has earned thousands of saves and is perfect for when fall arrives in full force. It truly lets the squash’s natural flavor shine, which is exactly why it’s such a go-to recipe during its peak season.

How to Roast Butternut Squash

This recipe calls for just three ingredients, plus a bit of oil to bring it all together. You’ll need squash, garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Of course, you can always play around with additional spices to suit your taste, like cinnamon, rosemary, paprika, or even a drizzle of honey or agave.

Start by peeling the squash and slicing it in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds from the bulb, then cut the squash into 1-inch cubes. Toss with oil and seasonings, then spread them out on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 25 to 35 minutes, until the squash is tender and lightly caramelized.

If the skin of your squash is too tough to peel, simply poke a few holes in it and microwave for a minute or two. This will soften the skin, making it much easier to peel.

How to Choose the Perfect Squash

To create the best dish possible, you need the best squash. Since the recipe only uses a handful of ingredients, the quality of your squash plays a major role. Here are some helpful tips to pick the perfect squash:

• Similar to watermelons, if you give a squash a knock and it sounds hollow, it is ready and ripe. If there is a dull sound that comes back, it might be under or overripe, and it would be best to avoid that squash.
• A ripe butternut squash should feel heavy for its size. If you don’t know what a squash should weigh, pick up several and see which one feels the heaviest.
• Avoid squashes with deep cuts or bruises. The skin of a squash is on the tougher side, so some minor scrapes or blemishes won’t impact the vegetable.
• Look for squashes with a tan exterior. Unripe squashes could be green or yellow and aren’t ready to cook yet. Hard, dry stems are also an indicator of a ripe squash, so if they feel soft or show molding, look for another squash.

Community Praise and Tips

This recipe has become a community favorite, earning rave reviews from home cooks with over a thousand 5-star ratings. For example:

• “This recipe ROCKED! I made it as a side dish for steaks and it was a hit!” says reviewer nburton5. “I was recently asked by my mom to just make this as a main course for dinner. It was just THAT good.” 
• “Delicious recipe. My only suggestion would be to pierce the skin of the squash and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes,” says reviewer busynana. “Peels very easily with a potato peeler using this method.”
• “Not sure I'd roast butternut squash any other way after making this basic, non-fussy recipe,” says reviewer naples34102. “Winning recipes almost always begin with fresh ingredients and a little seasoning to enhance and complement. This is a winner. Easy to prepare, quick to roast, easy to serve and eat, pretty on the plate, and delicious. I simply added a little fresh chopped parsley to pretty it up.”