Stuffed Acorn Squash with Meat Sauce

Name: Stuffed Acorn Squash with Meat Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 2 acorn squash; 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided; 1/2 yellow onion, diced; 1 lb lean ground beef; 24 oz. jar tomato basil sauce; Salt; Pepper

By: Sammi Haber Brondo | NYC Dietitian

There’s something so perfect about this meal: it’s warm and comforting. It’s hearty and nourishing. It’s sweet and savory at the same time. And it’s super easy to prepare. Okay… a few things are perfect about this meal.

I’ve been trying to add more protein to my diet over the past few months. While I always ate mostly pescatarian-style for taste and ethical reasons, I realized a few months ago that I started to crave more solid sources of protein. Adding more turkey and even lean beef into my diet made me feel much more full and gave me more energy. This is definitely not the case for everyone or a rule of thumb! But, it’s what worked for me. It also didn’t hurt that Jordan is a huge carnivore, so making this change made my life-while-cooking SO much easier.

And so, I started thinking of creative ways to cook more meat. Here’s the thing: I used to hate cooking meat.It was intimidating. What if I undercooked it? How the heck do I flavor it? What do I even do with it?! Over time, I found that using ground meat was easiest for me. You can literally make it into anything you want - meatballs, burgers, meat sauce, etc. And, if you eat a vegetarian or vegan diet, you can swap the meat in almost any recipe for any plant-based alternative “meat” crumble.

(The other thing that finally helped me conquer my fear of cooking meat was getting this thermometer. It’s a small step that makes a huge difference. Insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat. For beef, it should read at least 145 F).

Anyway, this recipe simply makes the ground beef into a sauce. It’s then stuffed into a perfectly roasted and golden squash. The combo is SO delicious. You get sweet, warm, caramelized squash, plus, a hearty, savory meat sauce in every bite. It’s the ultimate in satisfying. I love this with a side of roasted veggies to complete the meal. I paired it with roasted broccoli here and simply roasted the broccoli in the oven with the squash - couldn’t be easier!

Some notes:

You can use pretty much anything as the “meat” of the meat sauce. Ground beef, ground turkey and ground chicken will all work. Or, if you’d prefer a vegetarian version, try making this with plant-based alternative “meat” crumbles. Chickpeas would also work too! Just skip step #—, since chickpeas don’t need to be cooked.
If you can’t find acorn squash, this will also work well with delicata squash or spaghetti squash. I actually wanted to make it with delicata squash but couldn’t find any - bummer!
If you feel like taking things up just a notch, try adding different veggies into the sauce. Chopped mushrooms, carrots and celery would all work well.
I used a store bought tomato basil sauce for this recipe. Any tomato sauce will work. If you’re using a plain sauce without adding herbs or flavors, make sure to add herbs while cooking when you add the sauce, like oregano, basil or Italian seasoning.
For leftovers, store roasted acorn squash and meat sauce separately in airtight containers in the fridge. Leftovers will last about 3-4 days.

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