Hasselback Butternut Squash with Brown Butter & Candied Pecans
You had me at brown butter, but these Hasselback butternut squash are a great side dish to incorporate into your fall menus and the good news we have you covered. And if dairy ant your thing, you can easily replace the butter in this recipe with coconut or avocado oil. See good food for everyone!
First off, it’s hard to slice into a butternut squash, right?! It takes strength, balance, and leverage. Not an easy task for all and the risk of your knife slipping and chopping off a finger. The struggle is real guys!
There have been times where my knife gets stuck, and I’m literally banging the squash down with my knife on the chopping board to try cut through or remove my blade. Help!
There has to be an easier way of doing this, I thought to myself. So I googled and found an array of different ideas. Thank you google!
How to easily breakdown a squash
This recipe is for butternut squash, but this trick can be used for slicing into any seasonal squash that is difficult to slice into. The kabocha squash and acorn squash are a few of my seasonal favorites besides the butternut.
Why is slicing into a squash so hard?
I think one of the difficulties with slicing into these is that they are super hard and dense. But they oddly shaped too, making it challenging to balance on your cutting board and getting enough leverage to slice into.
So what’s a tick into easily cutting into a squash
It’s quite simple, microwave for 4-6 minutes. I know pretty simple, right?! But seriously it works, just microwaving for a few minutes softens the skin a little and makes it easier to slice into. I know that I will not be slicing into any squash without microwaving first, and I had to share it with you.
If microwaves aren’t your sort of thing, then you could always try baking it whole in the oven for a little to soften it up. Let me know if it works if you give it a try! Okay, let talk about this dish!
Seasonal fall side dishes with butternut squash
I love trying new things with the bounty of seasonal produce. When you think of butternut squash, you think of butternut squash soup. Nothing wrong with butternut squash soup, I freaking love it! Just made some delicious butternut squash & pear soup the other night, oh so good. But I wanted to do more with this great ingredient.
You can Hasselback anything, why not a butternut squash?
Then this recipe was born, everything is better with brown butter, and those maple-glazed candied pecans are like crack. I top those sweet little nuts on so many dishes, green salads, that butternut squash & pear soup that I mentioned, to grabbing a handful when you have a sweet tooth craving.
You can get the maple-glazed candied pecans recipe over here!
Butternut squash side game strong
This side dish is perfect with make during the holidays if you want to change up some of the traditional marshmallow sweet potatoes with something different.
Roast the butternut squash until its nice and caramelized. Arrange the squash on a platter (my personal favorite is this one from Crate & Barrel) top with any extra brown butter, add extra fresh thyme, glazed candied pecans, and a little more salt. There you have it! I hope you enjoy it!
HASSELBACK BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH BROWN BUTTER & GLAZED PECANS
Ingredients
- 1/2 stick Salted Butter browned
- 1 Butternut Squash
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a small saute pan on medium heat, brown butter. Keep a close eye on it so it doesn't bubble over or burn. You want a rich caramel color.
- If you are dairy-free, don't use the brown milk solids and use the ghee from the butter. OR replace the butter with coconut or avocado oil.
- Microwave the whole butternut squash for about 4 minutes. This makes it softer and much easier to slice and peel.
- Let the squash cool down a little to handle. Slice in half, peel, clean out the seeds and give it a rinse.
- Laying the squash down flat on your cutting board, make thin sliced down the squash, making sure not to slice through.
- On a parchment-lined baking sheet lay squash down flat. Pour brown butter on top, sprinkle with fresh thyme, placing some inbetween the slices and sprinkle with salt.
- Pop in the oven and roast about 45 minutes or until it is cooked through and caramelized. Basting the squash periodically with the brown butter throughout the cooking process.
- Arrange on a platter and garnish with fresh thyme and maple glazed pecans.
- Link to the maple glazed pecan recipe within this post.
LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS IF YOU ENJOYED THIS RECIPE!
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Hasselback Butternut Squash with Brown Butter & Candied Pecans