Sweet and Spicy Roasted Acorn Squash Slices — 🧡🍂😋 This oven-roasted acorn squash recipe is made extra fabulous with a sweet and spicy orange-infused butter sauce. It’s topped with toasted sage leaves, pumpkin seeds, pomegranate arils, and a touch of orange zest for a festive touch. An EASY fall-flavored side dish that’s ready in 20 minutes! Perfect for weeknight dinners or put it on your Thanksgiving or Christmas menus!
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Sweet and Spicy Acorn Squash
If you want to be the family member that impresses everyone this sweet and spicy acorn squash recipe is just the holiday side dish to do the trick!
It’s a deceptively very easy-to-make side dish that always garners tons of compliments, and it’s ready in 20 minutes.
Every element of this side dish will turn even squash disbelievers into believers. That’s because the acorn squash itself is roasted to tender perfection while being complimented beautifully by the buttery sweet and spicy sauce.
Melted butter is doctored up with brown sugar, orange juice, cinnamon, ginger, smoked paprika, and chili powder to create a sweet, tangy, and slightly spicy flavor palate that is incredible when drizzled atop the acorn squash.
To really go above and beyond, you can toast some sage leaves, roast pumpkin seeds, and grab some pomegranate arils, all optional of course. But the festive garnishes really level up that presentation value!
Bonus that this easy holiday side dish recipe is naturally gluten-free. So, if you’re serving it to a group of gluten-free eaters, this is a great go-to easy gluten-free side dish recipe.
Ingredients in Sweet and Spicy Acorn Squash
All of the ingredients listed for this impressive vegetable side dish are inexpensive and easy to find at your local supermarket. It’s so awesome to be able to make such a stunning side dish without breaking the bank.
You’ll need the following items to make sweet and spicy acorn squash slices:
Acorn squash
- Acorn squash – look for a squash that feels heavy for its size and is free from any discoloration or bruises
- Unsalted butter
- Zest and juice from an orange
- Light brown sugar – all out of brown sugar? No worries! You can always make your own by combining one cup of white granulated sugar with one tablespoon of molasses. Also, if you’d like this side dish to be sweeter, simply add more brown sugar than what’s called for
- Juice and zest from an orange – use real freshly squeezed orange juice, not juice from a container. This actually ends up saving you money, since you’ll also need the zest of the orange as well. Why buy an orange AND a bottle of orange juice when you can get everything you need just from one fruit? Make sure to zest first, then squeeze. When zesting, only take off the topmost layer of orange and don’t go down into the white pith area because it’s bitter
- Cinnamon
- Smoked paprika
- Chili powder
- Salt
- Pepper
- Ground ginger
- Pomegranate arils, optional for serving – although optional, I highly recommend tossing these for a touch more naturally sweet flavor and nice texture. Tip: Most grocery stores sell pomegranate seeds already cleaned and bagged. For ease and time savings, use those! However, you can cut and clean a pomegranate and use those arils instead
- Sage leaves, optional for serving
Pumpkin or Acorn seeds (optional)
- Pumpkin seeds
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Smoked paprika
- Cayenne powder, optional
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Roasted Acorn Squash Slices
Learning how to cook acorn squash is surprisingly easy, and this fall/winter squash is guaranteed to become a favorite when you realize just how tasty it can be!
Here’s an overview of the process for making roasted acorn squash:
- Preheat your oven to 400F, line a baking sheet with nonstick foil for easier cleanup, and lightly spray the foil with cooking spray; set aside.
- Scrub, and slice two acorn squash horizontally on a cutting board. Then, scoop out the seeds and stringy bits. Save them to roast for later! Slice the acorn squash halves into 1/2-inch pieces.
- Melt the butter in the microwave, and whisk in 4 tablespoons of brown butter, orange zest, and orange juice. Once smooth, add the remaining ingredients except the pomegranate arils and sage leaves. Drizzle the mixture over the squash pieces arranged on a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
- Sprinkle the remaining sugar on top, and roast until fork tender. Make sure to check for doneness, and adjust as needed!
- Garnish with pomegranate arils and toasted sage leaves if desired. You can also add a sprinkle of cheese or walnuts for a slightly different taste.
Roast the seeds
1. Make sure the seeds are washed and dried.
2. Place them in a bowl, add all oil and seasonings, and toss them to combine.
3. Arrange the seeds in a single layer on a sheet pan, and bake for 3 to 5 minutes or just until lightly toasted. Be careful not to burn!
4. Sprinkle the seeds over the squash before serving.
Note: You can always just toast the seeds plain and in a dry skillet and keep them as a snack for later, too. You’ll want to salt them though before nibbling!
What to Serve with Acorn Squash Slices
Storage
This is a side dish I always prefer fresh. However, if you have leftovers, they’ll keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days. When it comes time to reheat it, just pop it in the microwave and reheat it in 15-second increments until it’s warmed through.
I also will set it out on the counter for an hour or two, and toss any extra spicy and sweet acorn squash into salads. I am all about a lot of different textures and flavors in my salads to keep them interesting.
Make sure not to reheat the pomegranate arils. Those will need to be enjoyed fresh or cold from the fridge, but not microwaved.
I don’t recommend freezing this oven roasted acorn squash!
Recipe FAQs
Technically you can indeed eat the skin of acorn squash after it’s been roasted because it softens dramatically. However, it still is pretty thick and fibrous. So, depending on your preference for thick and dense skins, you may or may not be fond of it.
I personally like the skin of delicata or kabocha squash better, but it’s up to you.
Yes! Instead of making oven roasted acorn squash, you can use other kinds of squash including the following:
– Delicata squash – no need to peel it, slice it into rounds like the acorn squash.
– Kabocha squash – no need to peel it, probably easiest to cube it.
– Butternut squash – peel it and cube it, although probably easiest to purchase a pre-cubed bag of butternut squash in the produce section of your grocery store.
– Pumpkin – there are tons of types of pumpkins, some are not intended for consumption or are intended to bake a pie with, but with proper selection you can make this recipe with pumpkin instead like I did for this Thai Pumpkin Coconut Curry recipe.
The sweet and spicy roasted acorn squash slices has a little kick to it, but it’s not intense at all.
The heat here is entirely created by the chili powder and cayenne pepper. Therefore, you can determine the level of heat by increasing or decreasing either (or both) of those bold ingredients.
I find that when I make this ingredient exactly as the recipe instructs, it yields squash that is sweet with just a hint of savory, spicy flavor that really helps to balance out the brown sugar and orange juice.
There’s always someone who asks if they can omit sugar from recipes. In this case, I recommend using the approximate 1/3 cup, because it will lightly caramelize which adds great flavor and color. Plus, squash can be a bit on the boring side, and the sugar helps jazz it up. However, you can experiment with less sugar and see what you think.
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Sweet and Spicy Roasted Acorn Squash Slices
Equipment
- 1 Baking Sheet
- 1 Microwave-Safe Bowl
Ingredients
Squash
- 2 acorn squash, scrubbed well, seeded, and sliced horizontally into 1/2-inch wide slices
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Zest and juice from 1 whole large orange
- 4 to 6 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed; divided
- 1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, or regular
- 1 teaspoon chili powder, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, or to taste
- Pomegranate arils, optional for serving
- 4 to 6 toasted or fried sage leaves, optional for serving
Pumpkin or Acorn Squash Seeds, optional for serving
- 4 tablespoons cleaned and dried seeds
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, or regular
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- Pinch cayenne pepper, optional and to taste
Instructions
- Squash – Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with nonstick foil for easier cleanup, and lightly spray the foil with cooking spray; set aside.
- Scrub and slice two acorn squash horizontally (you can do it vertically down the grooves of the squash but for presentation in this recipe I prefer horizontal), scoop out the seeds and either save them to roast if you don't opt for pumpkin seeds or discard them. Tip – Make sure the slices are 1/2-inch wide and not thicker so the squash cooks in the indicated timeframe.
- Place it on the prepared baking sheet, scattered about evenly; set aside.
- Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl or glass measuring cup.
- Add 4 tablespoons of the brown sugar, then zest the orange (taking care just to use the orange and not the white pith which is bitter) adding the zest to the butter, halve the orange and squeeze in the juice, and then add all remaining ingredients except the pom arils or sage leaves, and stir to combine.
- Slowly and carefully pour this mixture over the squash, sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until fork tender. Make sure to check a couple pieces for doneness. All squash will cook at slightly different rates so bake until yours is done if using another variety or even acorn since it varies.
- Optionally garnish with pom arils and toasted sage leaves. Toast them by simply adding them to a dry skillet (or with 1 tablespoon olive oil if you want to fry them rather than toast them) and cook them over high heat for a couple of minutes, watching them closely since they're prone to burning and keep shaking your skillet or moving them around with a soft spatula.
- Seeds, optional – Make sure either the acorn squash seeds or pumpkin seeds are cleaned and dried.
- Place the seeds in a small bowl, add all the other ingredients, toss to combine, and scatter them on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 3 to 5 minutes, or until just toasted. Watch them carefully since they're prone to burning.
- Evenly sprinkle them over the squash slices before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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