The usual disclaimers:
- I am not a canning expert.
- Do your own research and make your own decisions about the safety of any recipes I share.
- This is not meant to be a canning tutorial. If you have not canned before or need help, there are wonderful videos available, as well as many good websites.
Butternut squash is one of those things I feel like I must have in my pantry. There’s so much I can do with it and we like it.
Yesterday after canning the lemonade concentrate, I canned 15 pints of butternut squash.
I peeled the squash, cut it into chunks, boiled it for 2 minutes, then filled the jars with the squash and then filled the jars with hot water.
My favorite way to serve this is to drain the jar, spread the chunks out on towels to drain completely, spritz with olive oil or grapeseed oil and season. I sometimes use brown sugar and cinnamon; I sometimes use savory spices – onion powder, salt, pepper, rosemary or Herbs de Provence. Since the squash is completely cooked already, I spread it in the air fryer and “air fry” it. The outside will get a bit toasty/crunchy and the inside is smooth and tender. The texture reminds me of mashed potatoes on the inside. We love Beef & Butternut Squash Stew. When using canned squash, since it’s already fully cooked, I add it at the last minute. This Butternut Squash Casserole is great in the winter when parsnips and kale are readily available. I may add this to an upcoming menu plan.
This is pretty much the same way you would can any winter squash, including pumpkin.
vivoaks says
I love, love, love butternut squash, along with other winter squashes. We grew hubbard squash when I was growing up and the taste is similar to butternut, but they are HUGE!!! I always bake my squash – cutting them in half; scooping out the seeds, then setting them cut side down on a jelly roll pan with a bit of water in the bottom. They are fully baked in an hour, at which point I scoop out the squash and run it through a mill to make it smooth. My daughter says it’s like baby food, but I love it!! When I heat it up, I add a pat of butter, some salt and pepper, and it’s to die for. I never have that much (this year’s was a contribution from a friend because the deer ate mine) so I freeze what I get. I think I’ve already eaten over half of what I had…. Love that stuff!!!
Susan says
I had butternut squash soup for dinner! I like all the winter squashes, and most of the summer ones, too, but winter ones are easier to get the seeds out and peelings off. Have you canned spaghetti squash? I was thinking about that the other day, because I could eat that all day, either with butter, salt and pepper or with spaghetti sauce. Yum!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I have not canned spaghetti squash but was thinking about that the other day because I have two here. I’ll start paying attention to recipes and see if I see one that looks good. It may be a bit too fragile to turn out good after going through the canning process.