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    $5 Dinners | Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals

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    How to Cut and Freeze a Large Butternut Squash (Video)

    September 15, 2010 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 17 Comments

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    Remember that giant butternut squash I bought at the farmer’s market a month ago?! For just $3.50!

    Well, I finally got around to cutting it up…feel free to watch 🙂

     

    Steam-bake it. Then puree the flesh. Here are a few things you can do with the butternut squash puree.

    • Make homemade baby food.
    • Hide in the cheese sauce of homemade mac and cheese.
    • Use in Cinnamon Butternut Squash Muffins.
    • Make “pumpkin pie” replacing the pumpkin with pureed squash. If doing this, drain some of the water off the squash before pureeing so that your “pumpkin” isn’t too runny. Runny “pumpkin” pie, not so much!

    Peel, Dice and then freeze. Butternut Squash can be frozen “raw.” Dice into larger chunks and smaller pieces.

    • Add the smaller pieces to risotto, rice pilaf, brown rice, orzo, quinoa.
    • Roast the larger frozen, raw butternut squash pieces – Maple Roasted Butternut Squash – or use the larger chunks in soups, stews or slow cooker recipes.

    How to Cut and Freeze a Large Butternut Squash on $5 Dinners

    Got any favorite butternut squash recipes to share?!?

    See more $5 Dinners Cooking Tutorials here

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    Filed Under: Batch Cooking, Freezer Recipes and Freezer Meal Plans, How To Cook, Recipes from the Garden, Savings Tagged With: butternut squash, Cooking Tutorial Freezing

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    Comments

    1. Lili says

      September 15, 2010 at 9:32 am

      I like the “freezing it raw” option, quick and easy! Thanks!

      Reply
    2. Claire says

      September 15, 2010 at 12:14 pm

      Have you ever noticed that weird residue that you get all over everything when you work with butternut squash? It gets on your hands, your knife, your cutting board. One time my sister tried to boil the squash first to make it easier to peel and it got all over her pot and she had to scrub the stupid thing so many times to finally get it off! The residue doesn’t go away if you give the squash a good scrubbing first either. When I get it on my hands I have to use a scrub brush to scour it off my hands and even that doesn’t work very well.

      Do you have issues with this?

      Reply
      • alicia says

        May 26, 2013 at 9:04 pm

        i’ve heard that this only happens if you are using unripe squash or squash straight from the vine, and that it doesn’t happen so much if you leave the squash to ripen for a week or two in the kitchen before cutting it up.

        Reply
    3. Katie @ goodLife {eats} says

      September 15, 2010 at 5:35 pm

      I love butternut squash. Can’t wait to start using it more again with fall coming. Erin you have to try this recipe: Pasta with Butternut Parmesan Sauce. It is so good!

      Reply
    4. Alexis R says

      September 15, 2010 at 6:33 pm

      Just received a butternut squash in my CSA basket and cannot wait to try the muffins out!

      Reply
    5. ATL Cook says

      September 16, 2010 at 1:21 am

      Being type 2 diabetic, I am always looking for ways to reduce grams of carbs. For squash, I bake the halves in the oven with sugar free pancake syrup and cinnamon sugar. Mrs Butterworth’s sugar free is 8g carbs for 1/4 cup. Love Cary’s sugar free but it is 12g carbs for 1/4 cup. It is maple flavored though and I do keep some for cooking.

      I am starting to see squash for sale; sold by the pound. But, I will buy mine at Trader Joe’s were they are sold by the each. Love all of them. I make my own cinnamon sugar with lots and lots of cinnamon and just a little Splenda.

      Once, I had spaghetti squash prepared a most unusual way that I duplicate at home. The cooked and scrapped squash was served with butter and thyme flavored honey. What a shock as this was the vegetable of the day. I was expecting some kind of broccoli and cauliflower medley! Bonefish Grill; with restaurants in Macon, ATL, and Savannah, GA.

      Reply
    6. Beth says

      September 16, 2010 at 5:09 am

      I boil the squash to the point where I can mash it. I serve it under spaghetti sauce instead of spaghetti noodles and top with parmesan cheese. It’s a hit at our house. Peel and julienne for baked fries topped with chili powder and a bit of salt. I’ve also used it in casseroles and I’m thrilled I got enough from my garden this year to have all winter.

      Reply
    7. jane says

      September 16, 2010 at 8:59 am

      we cut them in half scoop out the seeds leaving the outer skin on, pleace them in a 9×13 pan with about a 1/2-1″ of water in the pan and dot with butter and brown sugar and cinnamon, nutmeg, etc bake at 350 for 1 hour then to serve eacch person scoops out what they want and we discard the outer skin
      i usually have baked potatoes and pork chops or meatloaf, so it all bakes for 1 hour

      Reply
      • Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says

        September 16, 2010 at 2:44 pm

        @jane,

        Sounds like a well-rounded meal…and timed perfectly too! That’s my favorite way to make butternut squash too 🙂

        Reply
    8. AllieZirkle says

      September 16, 2010 at 11:36 am

      I have the best tip for squash. Cook it in the crock pot, whole

      🙂 easy peasy! talk about a genuine time saver. no cutting, peeling, struggling…

      Rinse the squash, place into the crock pot with a bit of water (1/2-1C). Turn on High for 2 hours. Remove from crockpot a fully cooked squash! Let sit for a few minutes. Slice in half, scoop out the strings and seeds, do what you want with it. I puree 1/2 as baby food and dice the other half to toss into risotto, rice pilaf, brown rice, orzo, quinoa… Also, the pieces and puree freeze great and thaw beautifully.

      Allie

      Reply
      • Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says

        September 16, 2010 at 2:43 pm

        @AllieZirkle,

        Fantastic idea Allie! Would love for you to write a post about it 🙂

        Sounds like a great alternative to my “steam-baking”!

        Thanks!

        Reply
    9. Diane says

      September 29, 2010 at 11:29 am

      Would love to have butternut squash ravioli… Any chance you can post a how-to on this? (Thanks for info on cutting butternut squash… didn’t know what to do the last time I tried to make it and struggled… excited to go out and buy one!)

      Reply
    10. NerdK says

      October 4, 2011 at 1:21 am

      We like butternut squash with thyme and maybe a dash or curry and garlic. These flavors mix well in squash soups, too. Simple, savory alternative to brown sugar and butter.

      Reply
    11. Karen Gadberry says

      August 5, 2012 at 10:48 am

      Is it possible to freeze butternut in the half shell?
      Cut in half and scoop seeds and then freeze?

      Also when I cook mine I cut it in half scoop seeds and then cover with cling wrap or the like.
      Put in the microwave and cook for 6 minutes or until it pierces easily.
      Then remove the wrap and season as you like. Serve in the shell!
      I do with ever time I fix the squash with any meal I prepare.
      Same way with spaghetti squash.

      Reply
    12. Carmen says

      April 29, 2014 at 12:30 am

      How long does the squash last in the freezer?

      Reply
    13. Diane Dahlin says

      October 21, 2014 at 2:50 pm

      Hello!
      Can you tell me the name of the peeler you used for the butternut squash??
      I’ve had a hard time finding one that will work with the tough skin.
      Thanks!!

      Diane

      Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. How to cut and use, freeze or store your Butternut Squash « Carlita's Bowl says:
      November 4, 2012 at 1:40 pm

      […] How to cut and use, freeze or store your Butternut Squash […]

      Reply

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    I’m Erin Chase…

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