Fall Squash Tips and Recipes

Check out these delicious recipes for your little ones from our friends at Fresh Baby Bites!

Fall is a delicious time of year, especially for the little ones! At Fresh Baby Bites, we've been making fresh baby and toddler food since 2010. This time of year, we love incorporating winter squash into our menu.

Butternut squash, pumpkin, and red kuri squash are a few of our favorites. Did you know that like all members of the gourd family (which includes pumpkin, melon, and cucumber), winter squash is technically a fruit because it contains seeds?

We've spent lots of time in our test kitchen experimenting with the best way to cook winter squash. Peeling, halving, not peeling, cubing, steaming, we’ve tried them all! But we’ve found the best way and are letting you in on the secret to cooking winter squash.

The secret to quick and easy winter squash: roasting it whole. Yup, with the skin on and all! After cooking, it’s easy to peel and scoop out the seeds. We’ve got some great recipes for the whole family, including instructions for roasting your squash at home.

Cooking your squash.
To cook your winter squash at home. First, preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash the squash well and place the entire squash (skin and all!) on a baking sheet. Roast until the skin is papery and a fork can inserted into 2 or 3 different spots reveals very tender flesh, about 1 hour. Depending on the size, it make take more or less. Set aside until cool enough to handle and peel away the skin, easily scooping out the seeds with a spoon.

Serving it up.
At home, I like to roast a few and make meals for the entire family. Here we’ve included one for each member!

Simply squash.
Once your squash is cooked, you can easily serve it as is, or spoon into casseroles, winter salads and stews. Try eating it.

Whip it up!
Purée in a food processor until smooth, just a few minutes. Separate some for a puree for baby. Add a dash of cinnamon and it’s a delicious meal for your wee one.

Squash Polenta.
Perfect for breakfast for the whole family, I started serving this to my daughter around 9 months. Both with a dab of butter, mine with a little honey or coconut palm sugar. You’ll need 1 cup of squash puree from above, processed in the food processor. See the full recipe here.

Squash Mac and Cheese!
Use 1 cup of reserved squash to mix in with pasta for a delicious meal for your toddler. Cook your desired pasta variety according to the directions on the package. Drain and add a teaspoon of olive oil to the pot. Then mix in 1 cup of squash, some grated cheese, and a dash of dried basil or fresh herbs.

Happy eating – Cristina, Expert Blender