Is this stuffed acorn squash pretty or what? I’m really excited to share this recipe with you. Roasted acorn squash halves topped with herbed quinoa make a delicious holiday-worthy main dish. It’s the perfect option if you’re serving vegetarian and gluten-free eaters.
This recipe is simple enough to put together on a relaxed weeknight, too. Pour yourself a glass of wine and let’s make some stuffed squash!
This recipe requires a few steps, but none of them are difficult. You can make the quinoa mixture while the squash is in the oven. Then, stuff the squash and bake until the quinoa turns golden and develops delicious little crispy bits on top.
The filling steals the show in this recipe. It features cranberry-studded quinoa and two kinds of cheese, one creamy and one melty. Chopped parsley and green onion offer lots of irresistible fresh flavor, and toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) contribute some savory crunch.
How to Make Stuffed Acorn Squash
I treat my acorn squash the same as I do spaghetti squash—rubbed lightly with olive oil and baked cut-side down so the edges develop some delicious caramelization. Acorn squash bakes up even faster, in as little as 35 minutes.
Then, I stuffed the squash with a modified version of my stuffed sweet potatoes in Love Real Food (page 144). This time, I stirred dried cranberries into the hot quinoa to give them a chance to plump up. I also added some Parmesan for structure and extra flavor, and baked the squash again after stuffing it.
I love how the herbed quinoa mixture turns golden in the oven and develops an almost panko-like, crisp texture on top. It’s so good and contrasts beautifully with the tender squash beneath.
Watch How to Make Stuffed Acorn Squash
Chickpeas are Optional
I purposefully omitted the chickpeas from the original stuffing recipe. As written, you should have exactly enough filling to stuff four medium squash halves.
If you’re using particularly large acorn squash or wanting to up the protein content of this meal, you can stir one can of chickpeas (rinsed and drained) into the quinoa mixture as described in the recipe notes.
You can easily make this recipe dairy free or vegan—check the recipe notes for suggestions!
Serving Suggestions
My favorite green salad would be the perfect complement to this stuffed squash. It features fresh apple, which pairs beautifully with acorn squash, and a few of the same ingredients—toasted pepitas, dried cranberries and goat cheese. If you make both recipes at once, you’ll use up one standard four-ounce package of goat cheese.
Another beautiful salad option would be my pomegranate and pear green salad with ginger dressing.
Looking for more holiday-worthy vegetarian main dishes and sides? Check out my Thanksgiving recipe roundup for more ideas.
Please let me know how this recipe turns out for you in the comments! I hope it’s a big hit at your dinner table.
Vegetarian Stuffed Acorn Squash
- Author:
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
This vegetarian stuffed acorn squash recipe is beautiful and delicious! The cheesy quinoa filling develops an irresistible crispy top in the oven. Make it for your holiday dinner or serve it on a relaxed weeknight at home. Recipe yields 4 stuffed squash halves.
Ingredients
- 2 medium acorn squash
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, divided
- ½ cup quinoa, rinsed
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup raw pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds)
- ¼ cup chopped green onion
- ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish
- 1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup crumbled goat cheese or feta
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up.
- To prepare the squash, use a sharp chef’s knife to slice through it from the tip to the stem. I find it easiest to pierce the squash in the center along a depression line, then cut through the tip, and finish by slicing through the top portion just next to the stem. Use a large spoon to scoop out the seeds and stringy bits inside, and discard those pieces.
- Place the squash halves cut side up on the parchment-lined pan. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over the squash, and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Rub the oil into the cut sides of the squash, then turn them over so the cut sides are against the pan. Bake until the squash flesh is easily pierced through by a fork, about 30 to 45 minutes. Leave the oven on.
- Meanwhile, cook the quinoa: In a medium saucepan, combine the rinsed quinoa and water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer. Simmer, uncovered, until all of the water is absorbed, 12 to 18 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the cranberries. Cover, and let the mixture steam for 5 minutes. Uncover and fluff the quinoa with a fork.
- In a medium skillet, toast the pepitas over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the pepitas are turning golden on the edges and making little popping noises, about 4 to 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Pour the fluffed quinoa mixture into a medium mixing bowl. Add the toasted pepitas, chopped green onion, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, and the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Stir until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Taste and add additional salt, if necessary.
- If the mixture is very hot, let it cool for a few minutes before adding the Parmesan cheese and goat cheese. Gently stir the mixture to combine.
- Turn the cooked squash halves over so the cut sides are facing up. Divide the mixture evenly between the squash halves with a large spoon. Return the squash to the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the cheesy quinoa is turning golden on top.
- Sprinkle the stuffed squash with the remaining 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, and serve warm.
Notes
Squash filling adapted from the stuffed sweet potatoes in my cookbook, Love Real Food (page 144).
Change it up: You can add more protein to this dish by stirring 1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained (or 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas), into the quinoa mixture. You may have some of the mixture leftover—it’s a great quinoa salad on its own.
Make it dairy free/vegan: Omit both varieties of cheese. You might want to add chickpeas (see above) to fill out the stuffing mixture. Top the baked squash with dollops of vegan sour cream, and you could even finish it off with a sprinkle of vegan Parmesan.
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Amanda
Is there anyway to make as a freezer meal?! I have never tried to freeze squash before.
Kate
Hi Amanda, I’m not sure this one would freeze the best. Sorry!
Laz
Kate, you did it again! This recipe is delicious! Best wishes to you and Cookie :)
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you! :)
LP
Hi Kate! I just love all your recipes … I’m not a vegetarian but trying to eat less meat and more veg. For this recipe, could I sub farro or barley for the quinoa? If so, would I need to modify the stuffing prep in any way?
Kate
Hi! That could work. You would need to adjust cooking time for the grain, but then everything else should work just fine. Let me know what you think!
Marcy Simon
I made this vegetarian quinoa stuffed acorn squash for the first time tonight. It is absolutely delicious and so easy! Great meal for fall or anytime. My husband is not a vegetarian and doesn’t usually like the same things that I do, but we both agree this is a keeper!!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m happy you loved it, Marcy! Thank you for your review.
Rebecca Christianson
Hi! I’m new to vegetarian cooking…my soon to be sister in law is vegetarian. I am thinking of making this for our family Christmas. I am wondering if it would transfer to a 9×13 casserole dish? I’m thinking making the squash part then scooping it out and into the dish with the stuffing on top. Like a stuffed squash casserole or something?
★★★★
Kate
Hi Rebecca! It is an idea, although I’m not sure how everything will holdup. The bowl tends to keep everything together. Let me know if you try it!
jennifer
Can I freeze extra filling for another day? Thanks! It’s in the oven and I can’t wait !
Kate
Hi! I haven’t tried it, but not sure how well these ingredients will hold-up frozen. If you try it, let me know!
Jennifer Jordan
If I have leftover stuffing, I freeze it for another week. All good.
★★★★★
Vicky
Just made the stuffed acorn squash and they look amazing! It also tasted awesome!!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for your review, Vicky!
Toni
I LOVE this recipe! I added celery, used 1 cup parmesan, doubled the green onions and garlic. This recipe is so easy to make and is delicious!
★★★★★
Kate
Sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing, Toni.
Anne Williams
Delicious!!
★★★★★
Tara Mason
Hi Kate I love your recipes and I love dogs!! (I have two, Miss Lily and Poppy). I was just reviewing some recipes and then started to think about your Cookie. I hope she/he is feeling okay. We love our dogs so much and it’s hard when they are sick. Just a stranger thinking of you and your pup.
Kate
Thank you, Tara! She seems to be responding well so we are hopeful.
Nicole
The quinoa salad was sooo good, and the stuffed squash looked gorgeous. This was a great way to use up a couple of acorn squash in the pantry, and I’ll definitely be making the quinoa salad as a stand alone in future. I didn’t have parsley and substituted a few tablespoons of fresh basil, and it was delicious.
★★★★★
KJ
This was absolutely SCRUMPTIOUS! My resident carnivore gobbled it up & said “I will definitely eat this again!” Thank you!
★★★★★
Mariana
Are you using grated parmesan cheese from a bottle or freshly grated Parmesan cheese?
Kate
Hi! I like to grate mine. I hope that helps!
Lauren
This recipe is fantastic! Such a filling, nutritious fall meal. I am thinking of making this as a Thanksgiving side… Would a smaller squash variety work? I was thinking of delicata.
★★★★★
Mary D
Followed the recipe as explained. Clear winner with my family. I plan to make this again, on Thanksgiving.
★★★★★
Mary Sullivan
This is so good! The flavor is amazing and a little surprising. The cheeses give it such a new layer of flavor. I’m so glad I tried this recipe. My husband really liked it, too. It is delicious!
★★★★★
Christine
This is absolutely delicious. Thank you for making a perfect fall comfort meal!
Kate
You’re welcome, Christine!
Susan Piliero
This is a great recipe. I substituted farro for the quinoa since I had some leftover on hand, and the results were delicious.
★★★★★
Agnes
Absolutely delicious! Will be making it again. I wish these were easier to warm up as leftovers.
★★★★★
Suzy
I really loved this recipe! I’ve made it twice now. The second time I added some dried porcini to the water while cooking the quinoa and later added some fried mushrooms to the stuffing mixture. Gave a nice extra touch. Thanks for your wonderful recipes
★★★★★
Zoie Z
This recipe is one of my fall favorites. Simple & so delicious!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m happy you enjoyed it!
Kathleen Borgeson
Delicious! I love stuffed vegetables but this was my first try at a vegetarian version. Will definitely be making this again! Thank you for all of the delicious recipes.
★★★★★
Judy Payne
SUPER! We had it for an early thanksgiving dinner. I skipped the cranberries for I couldn’t find any without sugar. And added some toasted, chopped walnuts.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Judy! So glad you enjoyed it. Happy Thanksgiving!
Katherine
This recipe was fabulous!! Made it tonight, but I used 1/2 veggie stock instead of all water for the quinoa, and (accidentally) used sunflower seeds instead of pepitas, and it was still absolutely delicious! Definitely adding this to my go to recipes for the fall and winter!
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great to hear, Katherine! I appreciate your review.
Gina
So amazing! Thank you so much for the recipe ☺️ huge hit whenever I make it
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Gina!
Jennifer Hwang-Pang
Delicious! Made it for this Thanksgiving and my son loves it! This would be a stable food in our house now!! Thanks for sharing this delicious but yet easy to make dish! Happy Thanksgiving!
★★★★★
Kate
A great dish to have at the holidays! Thank you for taking the time to review, Jennifer.
Janice Gee
So delicious…what with a distanced Thanksgiving, I decided to make this as part of a tailgating dinner after a Cold Turkey run/walk. We stood apart 6 ft in the clear, nippy air and thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Definitely on a keeper’s list.
★★★★★
Margaret
Made this for our vegetarian Thanksgiving and my friends loved it! Not only was it super tasty, but the presentation and colors were beautiful. They made for a great centerpiece. Thanks so much for sharing this, Kate.
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Margaret! I’m glad the presentation and flavor was perfect.
Sharon
My hubby and I made this for dinner and it was delicious, we are definitely adding it to our rotation. We added chickpeas, substituted pecans as we did not have pumpkin seeds, used red quinoa as that was what we had in our pantry. Hubby added some carrots and peas he had frozen..
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great! Thank you for your review, Sharon.
Carrie
This was so tasty! I’m not a fan of quinoa so I used quick cooking barley instead and it worked well.
★★★★★
Cindy
We loved this recipe. I made a few modifications- sautéed some onions and cooked them in the quinoa. I added some diced apples and tart dried cherries ( instead of cranberries. I used pecan pieces in lieu of pipits and went a bit lighter on the cheese. A very adaptable recipe, I’d say….and delicious! thank you
★★★★★
jo
yummy! had to make a few substitutions, but turned out delicious! thank you
★★★★★
Alicia Whitaker
I made this tonight, 12/12/20, and it was delicious! I used brown basmati rice, small chunks of red and yellow bell pepper, onion, green onion, added golden raisins and dried cherries simmered in water with star anise and cinnamon stick, garlic powder, pepper, lemon juice, herbs de Provence … I warmed this up together in a pan then stuffed the tender cooked acorn halves, topped with Gouda cheese and green onion. So delicious! I had leftover cornbread and made a green salad with tomatoes and tangerine pieces with raspberry balsamic vinegar. Yum!
★★★★★
Szyl
I was craving squash but didn’t want just the usual roasted style tonight. Found your recipe and made it, and it rocked! I subbed the feta with a dollop of cream cheese, and the cranberries with diced apple on the final product because of what lived in my pantry – I’ll definitely be making this one again
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing, Szyl! I’m happy to hear you will make this one again.
judi
I don’t have pepitas. What substitute would you suggest to give that crunch? Maybe nuts?
Kate
Hi! Sure, you can use nuts. Toasted slice almonds or chopped almonds may be nice.
Laura
What would you substitute for dried cranberries if you cant find unsweetened ones?
Kate
You can use sweetened, if you can’t find any others. It will just be on the sweeter side!
Debbie
I made this with the chick peas and added a little cooked spinach. Wow it was amazing!!! It tasted like stuffing! It was the best stuffed squash I have had to date. Great job!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Debbie! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
Bea
Yet another amazingly delicious recipe!
I followed the recipe exactly and this is so tasty. The earthiness of the squash with the bright flavors in the quinoa mixture is very refreshing.
I love this recipe so much that I make the quinoa mixture by itself and have it at least once a week.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Bea! I’m excited you loved it.
Aileen
I made this Christmas day when my eldest daughter and granddaughter were here and it was delicious, thank you. My youngest daughter and her family are coming today. (My husband and I are vegetarian, my youngest daughter allergic to dairy and quinoa). I was wondering about substituting rice or farro or barley for this recipe?
★★★★★
Kate
Hi! Sorry for my delay, you can just need to follow the instructions for the grain. Rice or farro would be my suggestion!
Aileen
Thank you so much. I made this last week for my eldest daughter and family and it was delicious. A definite go to recipe for the future. My youngest daughter has terrible stomach aches from quinoa. I did make it yesterday for her and her family substituting brown rice and it turned out great.
★★★★★
Thomas
I’ve made this a few times now. Not sure why there seems to be a shortage of pepitas now, but I’ve found that roasted pine nuts work just as well. Love this recipe
Mae
Oh my gosh!! Thank you!! Unbelievable!!!
I cut back on the cheese because that’s what I do… if that’s what you do, save it for another recipe- I had to add after cooking. Just made it even more beautiful to serve. I subbed chopped pistachios for the pepitas.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you loved it!
Carrie
This is so tasty and has become my favorite way to serve acorn squash. I’m not a quinoa fan so I use barley in it’s place and we love it.
★★★★★
Jill Lyon
fantastic!!! added sauted mushrooms and onions. perfect. thank you
Ken
We had this with your Honey Mustard Brussel Sprout Slaw recipe. Both are outstanding and will be made again. I came across this recipe from the link in the Brussels sprout recipe. As a disclaimer, I loosely followed this recipe due to what we had on hand.
Instead of using acorn squash here, I used butternut squash. We had a butternut squash that I wasn’t sure what to do with so I thought of a way to use it for this.
First off, I scooped out the seeds, peeled, and cubed the butternut squash. I mixed the cubes with olive oil and salt and roasted them in a 9×13 glass baking dish the same as the acorn squash is roasted in this recipe. They held up fine and were not too soft.
After the butternut squash cubes were roasted I spread the quinoa mix on top of the squash and put it back in the oven to crisp it up a bit.
My daughter is vegan so I modified it for her. What I did differently with this recipe was to use the vegan parmesan that you have the recipe for here on this website. I had to supplement the milled hemp seed with milled flax seed because I ran out of the hemp seed. It was probably about a 50/50 mix of the two. Also, instead of putting goat cheese on before it went back in the oven, my wife and I just added it at the table. We could have put it on top of some of the quinoa before it went back in the oven but were not sure how much our daughter would eat.
The next time we make this we will use acorn squash but it also worked fine on top of the cubed butternut.
★★★★★
Mindy
I just had this for dinner! The little sweet bits of cranberry and the tang of the lemon… oh so good! I used a whole lemon and no pepitas. I think in the future I might double or triple the stuffing, acorn squash optional!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing, Mindy! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
Mackenzie
This recipe exceeded my expectations. I will absolutely be making it again soon. Follow the recipe exactly and you will not be disappointed! Thank you for sharing :)
★★★★★
Kate
Hooray! Thank you for sharing you loved it, Mackenzie. I appreciate your review.
Gary Williams
This was very good! My wife is an acorn squash skeptic and even she said it was delicious. Will definitely make again.
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great to hear, Gary!
Maria
My whole family loves this, delicious!
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great, Maria! Thank you for your review.
Casey
Awesome! So cheesy and perfect.
★★★★★
Nicole
I’ve been cooking a lot of Cookie+Kate recipes lately ever since buying the book, pretty much every day here lately, haha. But I’ve had my eye on this one for a while and was worried about making it due to my husband’s picky eating habits. I told him I was going to make this and he dreaded(he really tried not to say anything but I could tell). I fixed it tonight and the first thing he said was “I have to say I’m surprised. I really thought I was going to hate this but I actually like it!” Those words made me so happy because this is right up my alley! He finished his squash half, too! Thank you for the recipe, it was delicious
★★★★★
Kate
I love it! Thank you for sharing, Nicole.
Valerie
I had an acorn squash, so I Googled what to do with it and found this awesome recipe! I didn’t have all of the things, so I took some creative license. But even so, it was delicious. Which means this is a really great recipe that can handle improvisation. I used plain Greek yogurt instead of the cheeses, and pecans instead of the pepitas. Still so delicious and very filling.
The hands-off prep time worked out great. I started the grains and the squash cooking, and then went and did my workout. Everything was ready to put together by the time I finished.
Delicious, simple and so nutritious too! Thanks for the fantastic dinner idea!
★★★★★
tcmbos
So yummy! I didn’t have pepitas, green onions, or parsley, so I used walnuts, caramelized onions, and a little sage and rosemary. To make it vegan I used violife feta and parm. My husband loved it too. I’ll definitely make this again!
Kate
I love that you were able to get creative with what you had on hand!
Mel
this is amazing! so rich, the mouth feel is great, a true explosion of flavours. Thank you, really! :) Hope you and Cookie are doing well.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for your review, Mel!