Butter Roasted Delicata Squash comes together with about 10 minutes of prep, with no peeling needed for the edible skin. Oven roasted in butter, the squash develops a nutty flavor with a tender skin, and creamy texture. Finished with sweet orange honey glaze that’s drizzled over the roasted squash, this flavorful side dish is on the table in about 35 minutes.
A Tasty Side Dish for Squash Season
For a tasty side dish, put this roasted delicata squash on your list! It’s flavorful, creamy, tender and such a delight to enjoy during squash season. It’s tasty on a salad, like this maple roasted delicata squash wild rice salad, as a side dish or as a snack. It’s super tasty chilled right from the refrigerator!
What you’ll love about this recipe is that it’s easy to prepare with just four simple ingredients and optional fresh herbs. It’s finished in a fresh orange honey glaze that adds a touch of sweetness with a citrusy punch.
This Recipe Is:
- tender and flavorful
- simple to pull together
- made with 4 basic ingredients
If you make homemade side dishes and like to cook with winter squash, you’ll enjoy this naturally sweet recipe.
About the Ingredients
- Delicata Squash: a winter squash with a mildly sweet, nutty flavor similar to butternut squash. Its flesh is creamy when roasted, and its thin skin is edible too. No need to peel!
- Unsalted Butter: aids in browning and also brings out the nutty flavors in the squash. It coats the squash, too, sealing in moisture so that the squash doesn’t dry out as it roasts.
- Honey: adds sweetness and interest to the roasted squash.
- Orange Juice: adds a bright citrus flavor. Use fresh squeezed.
- Fresh Rosemary: just a sprinkle of finely chopped rosemary adds so much freshness to this dish. It’s not overpowering; rather, it adds subtle interest. It can be subbed with fresh thyme.
- Fine Sea Salt and Ground Black Pepper: salt ties the flavors together while black pepper lightly balances the sweet flavors of squash and honey.
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How to Make Butter Roasted Delicata Squash
Step by Step
Pro Tip: use a large chef’s knife to cut your delicata squash into thick slices, about 3/4 inch each, applying even pressure from tip to handle. Cut as evenly as you can for even roasting.
Pro Tips
- Choosing Delicata: look for medium yellow delicata squash with green striations and of similar size so that they roast evenly. They should be firm, without woody patches or soft spots. The straighter the squash, the easier they are to cut evenly.
- Cutting Delicata: you can cut delicata in half lengthwise and then crosswise into 3/4 inch pieces or, cut into rings. Cutting into rings is a bit more high maintenance because scraping individual squash rings of their seeds takes more time. Either works, but it just depends on the presentation you prefer and/or time you have.
- Fat of Choice: I roasted the delicata with my first choice, olive oil, and then butter for comparison and found butter to have better overall squash coverage and flavor. The butter-roasted squash skin was more tender, and the flesh more flavorful than with oil alone.
- Share With: a delightful pairing with so may dishes, we love this dish with mushroom stuffed cabbage rolls, spinach ricotta pie, and fennel white bean mushroom gratin.
Butter Roasted Delicata Squash with Orange Honey Glaze
Servings:6 servings
Calories:145kcal
Butter Roasted Delicata Squash comes together with just about 10 minutes of prep, with no peeling needed for the edible skin. Oven roasted in butter, the squash develops a nutty flavor with a tender skin, and creamy texture. Finished with sweet orange honey glaze that's drizzled over the roasted squash, this flavorful side dish is on the table in about 35 minutes. *For smaller portions this recipe halves easily.
Ingredients
- 2 Delicata Squash about 2 3/4 pounds (1.25 kilograms)
- 3 tablespoons Unsalted Butter melted, warm to touch
- 1/2 teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
- Fresh Ground Pepper
- 2 tablespoons Fresh Squeezed Orange Juiced from about 1 large orange
- 2 tablespoons Honey
- 1 teaspoon Fresh Rosemary optional, finely chopped
Instructions
- Line two sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside. Arrange two racks in the oven, one in the center and the other in the bottom third. Preheat oven to 425 Fahrenheit (246 Celsius).
- Take extra care to scrub your delicata squash, riding it of dirt, paying attention to the grooves. Dry throughly.
- Use a large chef's knife to slice the stem and end off: a. for half pieces: stand the squash on end and cut through the center from tip to bottom. Place flesh side down and slice crosswise into 3/4 inch (1.9 centimeters) thick pieces. OR b. for rounds: slice into 3/4 inch (1.9 centimeters) thick rounds. Use a spoon and scrape the seeds out of each round.
- Transfer the cut squash to a large mixing bowl and toss thoroughly with melted butter, salt and a few grinds of fresh ground pepper (set your bowl aside to use again). Transfer the squash to the two sheet pans, spacing the squash so that it's not crowded or overlapping. Roast the squash for 23-28 minutes, flipping the squash and rotating the pans top to bottom, front to back halfway through roasting (I do this at 12 mintues). Keep an eye on the squash during the last 5 minutes of roasting due to oven variations. The squash is done when fragrant, tender, and browned in patches.
- While the squash roasts, make the glaze: a few minutes before the squash is out of the oven, gently heat the orange, honey, and rosemary in a small sauce pot (I use a stainless steel 1 cup measuring cup for this job) over low heat and whisk just until the honey is just melted. Alternatively, you can mix the honey, orange, and rosemary in a microwave safe spouted measuring cup. Heat for 10-20 seconds, just until the honey is melted and is easily mixed into the orange juice. Set aside.
- Once out of the oven, transfer the squash to the large mixing bowl and drizzle the orange honey glaze over the squash. Use the bowl to gently toss the squash and glaze to mix, or very gently, use a silicone spatula to mix (the squash is tender and breaks easily). Transfer to a serving platter and share warm.
- Store in a lidded container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheat in a 350 Fahrenheit (280 Celsius) oven for about 8 min.
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
Serving: 1 serving | Calories: 145kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 203mg | Potassium: 744mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 3029IU | Vitamin C: 28mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 1mg
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