This savory, rich easy sausage stuffed acorn squash is loaded with flavor in a simple, easy-to-prepare side dish that looks fabulous on your holiday table – loaded with sausage, breadcrumbs, and herbs for a classic side dish with a hearty flavor you'll love!

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Meaty Acorn Squash

If you love good, buttery sweet acorn squash, you can flip for this good baked version, loaded with sausage, breadcrumbs, and cheese – it's a savory side dish everyone will beg to have again and again!

We love acorn squash and we love stuffing, the two together are a solid combination!

How to Make Stuffed Acorn Squash:

Acorn squash – acorn squash is the solid size and shape for stuffing. It has an earthy flavor and meaty texture.
Olive oil – olive oil has a slight bitter taste and helps prevent the acorn squash and vegetables from sticking.
Kosher salt and Pepper – salt and pepper help to flavor the meat and all the vegetables. It's also helpful in drawing the richness out of the squash while it roasts.
Unsalted Butter butter adds a richness that only it can, don't skimp on the butter!
Onion – onion is sweet when heated and gives off a beautiful aroma and taste.
Bell pepper – bell pepper gives the filling another element and a little mild heat.
Rosemary, thyme, and sage – these aromatics have a savory flavor. They also will make your house smell good while they are baking!
Breakfast Sausage – breakfast sausage is rich and high in fat. We love to use it for stuffing because it keeps the filling moist.
Garlic – garlic has a pungent intense flavor that lifts this dish.
Butter crackers – butter crackers help hold the stuffing together and absorb some of the fat from the sausage.
Parmesan cheese – parmesan cheese has a salty bite and gives these stuffed acorn squash a rich and succulent flavor.
Parsley – fresh parsley gives these stuffed acorn squash a wonderful freshness

Once you've gathered your ingredients, we will use the following method:

Prep – Place the acorn squash cut side up in a baking dish, drizzle it with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes or until fork tender.

Brown vegetables While its roasting sauté the onion, bell pepper, rosemary, thyme, salt, and 1 tbsp of butter in a large skillet on medium low heat. Cook about 5 minutes until soft. Add the sausage and garlic. Brown the sausage and cook through.

Mix – Reserve 3 tbsp of crushed cracker crumbs and 2 tbsp of parmesan for topping and add the remaining crackers and cheese to the sausage mixture. Mix well and set aside off the heat.

Combine – Melt the butter and mix with the cracker crumbs and parmesan and set aside.

Bake – Evenly fill the acorn squash cavities with the stuffing and sprinkle with the cracker mixture over all the halves. Roast an additional 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Let cool slightly then garnish with parsley and enjoy!

Kitchen notes

Check out these tips and tricks for good solid stuffed acorn squash.

Make them ahead of time. You can pre-bake the squash to tender, pre make the stuffing, stuff, and pop in the fridge to bake before your meal. Bake until hot about 35 minutes.

These can be frozen. After baking these you can freeze them for up to 4 months. To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator (if frozen), and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until piping hot.

Make this in the oven with your main dish! The squash is short enough when halved, it can slide into the oven on a rack above your turkey or prime rib!

Check out these keto breadcrumbs. This recipe works perfectly with keto breadcrumbs – swap them out at a 1:1 ratio for a good low carb, gluten free swap! Using keto breadcrumbs eliminates a lot of carbs from this dish, and helps fill you up with more protein.

Here are our favorite keto breadcrumbs:

Pork Panko – pre-seasoned ground pork rinds that perfectly mimic panko breadcrumb texture
Ranch Nutcrumbs – nut-based breadcrumb alternative with a zippy ranch flavor
Italian Nutcrumbs – Italian herb flavored nutcrumbs

A few answers

Can we swap sausage for bacon?

This recipe is great with crumbled bacon instead of sausage for a bit of a crunchier, saltier kick.

Is acorn squash keto?

Acorn squash is high in carbs – so there are a couple tips to keep this dish in your macros.
Double the stuffing ingredients and halve the amount of squash you'll eat per person.
Think of it as more of a taste of squash with the filling, instead of a taste of filling with squash if you're not watching carbs.

How long will this keep?

Baked squash stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator can last up to four days. Frozen squash can be safely stored for up to four months.

Serve it with

Acorn squash is a fabulous side dish for hearty meats or as a meal in itself – check out some of our favorite dishes that pair perfectly with this stuffed squash!

If you're looking for a solid easy side dish to serve for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, you'll love this dish!

For more keto side dishes, click here.

Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash Recipe

Ingredients

2 medium acorn squash, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
½ cup diced onion
½ cup diced bell pepper, color of your choice
¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
? teaspoon dried thyme
? teaspoon ground sage
½ pound breakfast sausage
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup crushed butter crackers, divided
½ cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
Chopped fresh parsley, garnish, optional

Method

Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Place the acorn squash cut side up in a baking dish.
Drizzle the olive oil over the squash, season with the salt and pepper.
Place in the oven and roast for 40-50 minutes, until fork-tender.
While the squash is roasting, make the stuffing by sauteing the onion, bell pepper, rosemary, thyme, and sage in 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat.
Cook, stirring occasionally until the onion and peppers are softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the sausage and garlic, brown the sausage, breaking it up until cooked through.
Reserve 3 tablespoons of the crushed butter crackers for later, add the remaining crackers to the sausage mixture.
Reserve 2 tablespoons of the parmesan for later, add the remaining cheese to the sausage mixture.
Mix the stuffing until combined and take off the heat, set aside.
In a small microwaveable bowl melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter.
Mix the melted butter with the leftover crackers and parmesan, set aside.
Once the squash is done roasting, evenly distribute the stuffing into the cavity of each acorn squash half.
Sprinkle the cracker mixture over each of the squash halves.
Bake an additional 10 minutes to brown the topping.
Let cool slightly and serve with a parsley garnish, optional.