Roasted stuffed butternut, with cheese, corn, spinach and bacon is a deliciously different way of preparing butternut and makes the perfect accompaniment to your Sunday roast. You could even serve this as a light meal on its own!
This recipe for roasted stuffed butternut is an absolute treat!
It doesn't take too long to prep, and once the butternut has been roasted and filled it only takes 15 minutes in the oven to warm the filling and crisp the bacon.
This is not only the perfect side dish to serve with your Thanksgiving or Christmas feast, but also makes a delicious side dish to serve with a family meal.
I think it would go particularly well with this easy oven-baked gammon or Moroccan lamb tagine.
The filling itself is made with sweet corn and cream cheese, which are blitzed together before being mixed with tender baby spinach leaves and pieces of bacon. The sweetness of the corn complements the nutty taste of the butternut squash perfectly, while the spinach and bacon add a more savoury note. The creaminess of the cheese brings everything together and makes this dish one of the tastiest sides I've tried in a long time.
This recipe elevates a plain roasted butternut from the mundane to the magnificent. I hope you enjoy it!
What you will need
Equipment
The most important piece of equipment for this recipe is a really sharp knife. A whole butternut is quite difficult to cut through so the sharper the knife the better. To protect your work surface you'll also need a chopping board. I find that putting a damp tea towel under the chopping board helps to prevent it from slipping.
You will also need a saucepan for wilting the spinach and a mixing bowl for mixing the filling.
The corn and cream cheese are blitzed together in a small food processor or blender.
Finally, you will need a baking tray, and optionally a roll of tin foil or baking parchment. to line the tray. I like to line my baking trays because it makes cleaning up so much easier.
Ingredients
**You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this stuffed butternut on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**
The butternut that I used was quite large (1.3 kg or about 4 pounds), and I've based the amount of filling on that. You can adjust the quantities of the filling to the size of the butternut that you use. My butternut and filling was more than sufficient for 6 people.
- Butternut - this is cut in half and roasted until soft before it is stuffed. Try to buy a butternut with a wide top - you get a lot more butternut for your money that way.
- Sweetcorn - I used a small can of whole-kernel corn in liquid, which I drained. You could use defrosted frozen sweetcorn instead.
- Cream cheese - I used Philadelphia for this recipe, but you could use the supermarket 'own' brand too.
- Bacon - back bacon is preferable because it has less fat, but you could get away with using streaky bacon instead.
- Spinach - I used baby spinach. You could substitute this with Swiss chard, but I would recommend cutting the stem out before wilting it as the stem of Swiss chard can be quite bitter.
- Salt to taste
- Thyme - I thought I had fresh thyme growing in the garden and when I went out to pick some I found the frost had caught it. So I used dried thyme instead. If you are lucky enough to have fresh thyme you will need three times the amount stated in the recipe.
- Oil - just a small amount of oil to brush on the butternut before roasting it.
What to do
In a nutshell, here are the steps. Read below for images and more details.
- Roast the butternut for 40 minutes
- While the butternut is roasting, prepare the stuffing.
- Stuff the butternut and bake for 15 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Butternut
Wash the outside of the butternut, then cut it in half top to bottom and remove the seeds and stringy bits. It's not necessary to peel the butternut.
Place the cleaned butternut onto a baking tray lined with tin foil or parchment paper. Brush with sunflower oil (or other vegetable oil) and sprinkle the cut surface lightly with salt.
Turn the butternut over and place them in a hot oven (200C / 400F) for 30 to 40 minutes - depending on the size of the butternut.
The butternut will be cooked when the skin is blistered and a fork can easily pierce the skin.
Scoop the inside of the butternut out, leaving approximately half an inch of butternut all around. Reserve the removed butternut for another meal.
Notes:
- The removed butternut can be mixed with a knob of butter and half a teaspoon of cinnamon and served hot as a side dish at another meal.
- Cooking time for the butternut will depend largely on the size of your butternut.
Make the stuffing
Rinse the spinach and place the wet spinach into a pan over low to moderate heat. There is no need to add any water, the moisture from the rinsing water will be sufficient.
Stir the spinach until it is completely wilted. This will only take 2 to 3 minutes. Drain any excess moisture (if there is any).
Place the sweetcorn kernels and the cream cheese into a blender or small food processor.
Blend until they are well mixed. Do not over-blend - you still want a little texture in the corn.
Place the wilted spinach, the blended corn and cheese, the thyme and half of the chopped bacon into a mixing bowl. Reserve the remaining bacon for topping.
Mix until the filling is well combined.
There is no need to fry the bacon. The bacon will cook in the time that the butternuts are in the oven. If you want a crispier bacon you could fry the bacon in a little sunflower oil first. I don't bother with this step.
Divide the filling between the butternuts and cover with the remaining bacon. At this point, you could sprinkle with extra grated cheese. I find there is enough cheese flavour in the cream cheese so I don't bother.
Replace the butternut in the oven and leave for 15 minutes until the filling is heated through and the bacon is crispy.
Serve hot as a side dish with a roast, or as a light main meal.
Because the butternut isn't peeled before being cooked you may find the skin is unappetising. I normally add a small side plate on the table to hold the uneaten skin.
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FAQ
No, this dish isn't suitable for freezing.
Leftovers can be kept in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat either in the oven (on a baking tray for 10 minutes), or in the microwave.
Butternut squash contains slightly more vitamins A and C compared to pumpkin and twice as much iron. It's also a good source of magnesium, vitamin E and potassium.
Yes, you can certainly peel the butternut before the initial roasting. If you do this I would estimate that the cooking time should be reduced to about 25 minutes. However, if you do roast the butternut without the skin you should take care not to overcook it or you will find it difficult to turn the butternut to stuff it.
You can also peel the butternut after it has been roasted, but once again, depending on how soft the butternut is, it may be difficult to turn over and stuff.
It's much easier to leave the skin on, stuff the butternut and let everyone remove the skin onto a plate at the table.
Save for later
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📋The recipe
Roasted stuffed butternut
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
- Sharp Knife
- Chopping Board
- Mixing bowl
- Saucepan
- Blender
- Baking tray
- Baking parchment
Ingredients
- 1 large Butternut 1.3 kg (3 to 4 pounds)
- 7 ounce / 198 gram can sweetcorn kernels drained
- 3½ ounces /100 grams cream cheese
- 5 ounces / 150 grams baby spinach leaves to taste
- 4½ ounces / 130 grams bacon chopped
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon salt or to your own taste
- 1 teaspoon sunflower oil for brushing on the butterrnut
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F
- Wash the outside of the butternut, then cut it in half top to bottom and remove the seeds and stringy bits. It's not necessary to peel the butternut.1 large Butternut
- Place the cleaned butternut onto a baking tray lined with tin foil or parchment paper. Brush with sunflower oil (or other vegetable oil) and sprinkle the cut surface lightly with salt.1 teaspoon sunflower oil, ½ teaspoon salt
- Turn the butternut over and place them in a hot oven (200C / 400F) for 30 to 40 minutes - depending on the size of the butternut.
- The butternut will be cooked when the skin is blistered and a fork can easily pierce the skin.
- Scoop the inside of the butternut out, leaving approximately half an inch of butternut all around. Reserve the removed butternut for another meal.
Filling
- Rinse the spinach and place the wet spinach into a pan over low to moderate heat. There is no need to add any water, the moisture from the rinsing water will be sufficient.5 ounces / 150 grams baby spinach leaves
- Stir the spinach until it is completely wilted. This will only take 2 to 3 minutes. Drain any excess moisture (if there is any).
- Place the sweetcorn kernels and the cream cheese into a blender or small food processor.7 ounce / 198 gram can sweetcorn kernels, 3½ ounces /100 grams cream cheese
- Blend until they are well mixed. Do not over-blend - you still want a little texture in the corn.
- Place the wilted spinach, the blended corn and cheese and half of the chopped bacon and the thyme into a mixing bowl. Reserve the remaining bacon for topping.4½ ounces / 130 grams bacon, ½ teaspoon dried thyme
Assemble and bake
- Divide the filling between the butternuts and cover with the remaining bacon. At this point, you could sprinkle with extra grated cheese. I find there is enough cheese flavour in the cream cheese so I don't bother.
- Replace the butternut in the oven and leave for 15 minutes until the filling is heated through and the bacon is crispy.
- Serve hot as a side dish with a roast, or as a light main meal.
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
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