Turkey Stuffed Acorn Squash

ByEdytaNovember 5, 2022November 5, 2022

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Turkey Stuffed Acorn Squash – it’s a Fall on a plate; Turkey with Apples, Cranberries and dried Thyme stuffed in a sweet Acorn Squash makes for an irresistible combination of fall flavors.

Turkey Stuffed Acorn Squash – screams Fall on a plate

Who doesn’t love all the fall flavors? This the season: pumpkins, squashes, apple cider, turkey, etc. Even though I am trying to share my heritage on this blog, I cannot simply disregard this wonderful season and not share something that I developed and it’s out of this world – my Turkey Stuffed Acorn Squash.

A little while ago we drove to the east of Long Island to spend half a day on the farms, get a pumpkin, apples, and whatever else we could have found. Our aunt, who used to live around there and knows me and my unconditional love for fresh, good quality food, showed me where I can find the best quality produce.

The first stop was a huge farm stand. You could get there anything you wanted. I bought there everything. I mean everything: white cabbage, red cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, potatoes, tomatoes, brussels sprouts, different kinds of squashes…. etc. I cannot even remember what else was in my basket. But one of the squashes was the Acorn Squash.

Cooking with Acorn Squash

I’m very comfortable with Butternut Squash. I absolutely love it and cook it often. You can check one of my favorite butternut squash recipes: Truffled Butternut Squash and Mushroom Soup. or Roasted Butternut Squash Feta Pierogi. Acorn Squash is different, though, and requires different cooking methods.

Except for summer squashes, like zucchinis, winter squashes are not very popular in Poland. Maybe they are right now, but for sure I did not know them when I was growing up. And because I do love trying new things and pushing my comfortable buttons, I decided to tackle this amazing vegetable (or should I say fruit, as it technically is a fruit because of its seeds). I knew I could roast it and I knew I could stuff it. That’s how my Turkey Stuffed Acorn Squash was born.

One night I told my husband that I wanted to make this squash, stuffed with turkey. It didn’t resonate well with him. He told me that, “again, I am turning him into vegan”. The fact that it was filled with meat didn’t matter. What was important is that I was serving the WHOLE veggie for him and this was supposed to be a star of the night.

Even though he likes to complain about vegetables, I usually do what I have planned to do. So, I served it. He took the first bite. And there was a silence. And then he looked at me and said: “do never do that to me again…and that’s all I’m gonna say”. He was simply speechless. That’s how amazing my Turkey Stuffed Acorn Squash was.

How to Make Baked Stuffed Acorn Squash with Ground Turkey

Ever since this dinner, my husband kept telling me: “you need to put it on the blog”, “you need to put it on the blog”. And this weekend, he said it again, “please make this acorn squash dish and post it”. It’s AMAZING and the season is here.

So, here we come. It was our dinner last night and it was pretty spectacular.

It takes some time, just because the squash needs to roast, but it is very simple. Once you cut the squash and remove the seeds, it needs to be brushed with olive oil, seasoned, and baked for an hour.

How to Alter This Recipe for Stuffed Acorn Squash

If you need to alter this recipe here are a couple of options:

If you want to make this recipe Paleo-friendly, skip the breadcrumbs and cheese;
If you want to make this recipe vegetarian, replace turkey with quinoa or with lentils as I did in this recipe for Lentils Stuffed Acorn Squash.
If you want to make this recipe vegan, replace turkey with quinoa or lentils and omit the cheese.

This post was originally published on November 8, 2015, but because it is so popular and the season for squash is back I decided to update it and bring it back to life.

Turkey Stuffed Acorn Squash - it's a Fall on a plate; Turkey with Apples, Cranberries and dried Thyme stuffed in a sweet Acorn Squash makes foran irresistiblecombination of fall flavors.

4.90 from 19 votes

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Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 2

Calories: 474kcal

Ingredients

1 Acorn Squash large or 2 small ones , cut in the half
1 lbs ground turkey
1/2 Yellow onions large or one small one, chopped
1 celery stalk chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 apple peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon bread crumbs plain
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese grated
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon of garlic salt
3 tablespoon of olive oil
Salt and pepper for taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 F
Cut the bottom and the top of the squash to have flat surfaces on both sides
Cut the squash in the middle (vertically)
Using a spoon scoop out all the seeds
Brush both halves of the squash with olive oil, season with garlic salt, and pepper
Place the squash in the oven and roast for 50 min to 1 hour
In the meantime heat up another tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet
Add turkey, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the meat is cooked through
Remove the meat from the pan
Add some more olive oil
Add onions and dried thyme and cook until the onion is translucent (5 minutes)
Add celery, apple, and cranberries and cook for another 3-4 minutes
Return the meat to the pan
Add chicken stock, salt, and pepper and cook for another 3 minutes
Add breadcrumbs and cheese
Stir everything well and check for seasoning
Fill out the squash with the meat stuffing
Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Video

Notes

I used one big Acorn Squash and I ended up with a little bit of meat stuffing left out. If you have smaller squash you may want o use 2 small ones instead of one big squash.
If you need to alter this recipe here are a couple of options:
- If you want to make this recipe Paleo-friendly, skip the breadcrumbs and cheese;
- If you want to make this recipe vegetarian, replace turkey with quinoa or lentils;
- If you want to make this recipe vegan, replace turkey with quinoa or lentils and omit the cheese.