Mashed Butternut Squash is rich, creamy twist on the classic mashed potato side dish! Butternut squash is tossed with olive oil and herbs and roasted until tender and caramelized. Then, mashed together with butter and heavy cream until perfectly creamy. Each bite of this Mashed Butternut Squash is loaded full of deliciousness and warmth!

How to Break Down a Butternut Squash

Butternut squash can be an intimidating ingredient just because it requires a little work to break it down. But it’s so worth it!

There’s a couple ways you can peel your butternut squash:

• Use a good quality vegetable peeler – I recommend getting one half completely peeled then switching to the other half.
• Use a sharp knife – make sure your knife is sharp and you are careful with your fingers! I like to cut my butternut squash in half, and then the halves in half when using this method to have more control over the squash.
• Roast the squash with the skin on – the skin should peel right off when the squash is done! The only thing about this method is that you would have to cool the squash to be able to handle it.

After you get your butternut squash peeled, you can then cut it in half, the halves in half and continue to break it down into cubes. You will need to scoop the seeds out of the “bulb” section of the butternut squash.

If it comes down to it, you can even purchase pre-peeled and cubed butternut squash! Most grocery stores have a grab-and-go section that has these items ready to rock and roll.

To Roast or Steam the Butternut Squash

When it comes down to it, I’m all on board about roasting the butternut squash! It just adds so much flavor. Plus, I was originally going to steam the squash, but my best friend reminded me of how much better it would be roasted. And she was right!

If you prefer to steam/boil your butternut squash, you cand do that too! You won’t have as much flavor you would get from roasting and the color may not be as vibrant. 

Serving this Mashed Butternut Squash as a side dish on your holiday table not only adds a burst of flavor, but a vibrant color as well! It’s a beautiful orange and you can’t help but want to dig into it! I love this as a fun spin on the classic mashed potato side dish – or serve both and give your guests options! 🙂

This is also a delicicous side dish to serve along side any family meal or weeknight dinner.

Looking for other side dishes? Look here!

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Thanks for following and cooking along with me!