My, my where can I even begin… oh I know! This recipe for Vegan Kale, Quinoa, and Pomegranate Stuffed Butternut Squash!
Ooo that’s a mouthful! But it’s so perfect and bursting with a flavor that you are NOT going to expect!
It’s amazing that this squash is SO nutritious and honestly quite a clean food!
Best of all, it LOOKS fancy, but is SO EASY to pull off. You are going to want to make this for every fall dinner for well…forever.
The taste!
Can we just stop for a bit and talk about the taste?
It’s like the MOST PERFECT combination of rich, smooth, buttery squash with bursting, juicy pomegranates, crunchy, roasted walnuts, and hearty, healthy quinoa.
OH MY WORD.
Perfection overload… almost!
…And to boot, this entire recipe of FOUR stuffed squashes uses only a tablespoon of oil which really, you can leave out if you want.
So let’s preheat the oven to 450 degrees and make some yummylicious squash!
The method is super easy and almost like twice-baked potatoes: roast them, scoop out the insides, mix with stuff, refill, roast a few more minutes and YUM!
This recipe calls for 2 equal sized butternut squashes. You can easily halve this recipe if you want to make just one. 2 squashes is definitely a lot and the PERFECT amount for a holiday dinner!
One is great for an everyday dinner 🙂
ACTUALLY, you can easily use an acorn squash for this recipe, or even spaghetti squash. That would be fun 🙂
Just wash up your squashes, cut them in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds and “guts”.
Arrange your butternut squashes on a lined baking sheet (mine was a wee bit cramped, but it worked!) and coat the cut sides with a tablespoon or less of a good oil like olive or avocado.
Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a teaspoon of fresh chopped rosemary. Building that flavor right form the start is going to make this a decadent dish!
Into the oven it goes for about 40 minutes. During this time, we’ll put together the filling!
In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups of vegetable broth quinoa, and the zest and juice of 1/2 an orange (reserve the other half for later).
Also add in 1 tsp. of salt and 1 tsp. of fresh chopped rosemary and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer on low for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, stir your quinoa and ad in your chopped kale. Recover and remove from heat, letting sit for about 5-10 more minutes to absorb the remainder of the liquid and to steam the kale.
Now your beautiful, delicious, fragrantly roasted butternut squash is ready to come out of the oven! Let it cool slightly, then scoop out the insides with a spoon and into a bowl. leave about an inch of squash around the edge of the skins.
Also ya’ll, the skin is going to be SO good an caramelized you’ll eat up every last nutritious bit of it.
Swear.
Use your spoon to cut up the squash in your bowl a little bit for stuffing-friendly pieces 🙂
Add the squash and your pomegranate to the pot with your kale and quinoa!
You, of course, don’t have to go all cube-mosaic with it, but it seemed like the fun and appropriate thing to do at the time!
What do you think?
Add in your garlic, chopped walnuts, allspice, the rest of your orange zest and juice, garlic powder, and another teaspoon of fresh chopped rosemary!
Mix it all up!
Be sure to taste your mixture.
Does it need a touch of salt?
Is there enough of a garlic-y flavor?
How are those pomegranates doin’?
If all flavors check out, stuff your squashes with your mixture. Top with a 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and return to the oven for about 20 minutes to become unified as one recipe!
When your butternut squashes come out of the oven, top with your remaining pomegranate and rosemary, and watch your dinner guests wow over this amazingly delicious and nutritious dish!
June LOVED this, as did I and our friends. Max, well, he’s not a squash guy but he ate a good portion of it 🙂
Ready to give this recipe a try in your kitchen? It’s really quite simple and would make a fantastic side dish at your holiday table this year!
Hopefully you loved seeing the photo instructions in this recipe as much as we loved taking them!
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Thank you, enjoy!
Vegan Kale, Quinoa, and Pomegranate Stuffed Butternut Squash
Ingredients
- 2 medium butternut squashes
- 1 seeded pomegranate about 1 1/4 cups
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa any variety
- 4 cups fresh kale chopped
- 1 medium orange juice and zest
- 2 cups vegetable broth/stock
- 1 cup walnuts chopped
- 1 tbsp good oil like olive or avocado
- 3 cloves fresh garlic minced
- 3 tsps fresh rosemary chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
-
Wash up your squashes, cut them in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds and “guts”.
-
Arrange your butternut squashes on a lined baking sheet and coat the cut sides with a tablespoon or less of a good oil like olive or avocado.
Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a teaspoon of fresh chopped rosemary. Building that flavor right form the start is going to make this a decadent dish!
-
Roast in your preheated oven for about 40 minutes. During this time, we’ll put together the filling.
In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups of vegetable broth with the zest and juice of 1/2 an orange (reserve the other half for later).
Also add in 1 tsp. of salt and 1 tsp. of fresh chopped rosemary and bring to a boil. Add in 1 cup of quinoa.
Reduce heat, cover, and simmer on low for 10 minutes.
-
After 10 minutes, stir your quinoa and ad in your chopped kale. Recover and remove from heat, letting sit for about 5-10 more minutes to absorb the remainder of the liquid and to steam the kale.
-
Now your beautiful, delicious, fragrantly roasted butternut squash is ready to come out of the oven.
Let it cool slightly, then scoop out the insides with a spoon and into a bowl. leave about an inch of squash around the edge of the skins.
-
Use your spoon to cut up the squash in your bowl a little bit for stuffing-friendly pieces.
Add the squash and your pomegranate to the pot with your kale and quinoa.
-
Also add in your garlic, chopped walnuts, allspice, the rest of your orange zest and juice, garlic powder, and a final teaspoon of fresh chopped rosemary!
-
Mix it all up and taste test.
You shouldn't need more salt, but let your tastes be your guide.
-
Stuff your squashes with your mixture and top with a 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts.
Return to the oven for about 20 minutes to unify and become one!
-
Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
-
Top with remaining 1/4 cup of pomegranate and another teaspoon of rosemary - and watch your dinner guests wow over this amazingly delicious and nutritious dish!
Recipe Notes
This recipe can also work with acorn, spaghetti, or any other "stuffable" squash.
This recipe calls for 2 equal sized butternut squashes. You can easily halve the recipe if you want to make just one.
This looks so pretty! ❤️ Sounds delicious too! I’ll definitely have to give it a try. Have pinned for later xx
Thank you! I would love to see a photo if you make it! I know you’ll love it <3