How to Peel, Chop and Roast Butternut Squash

A step-by-step tutorial to peel, chop, and roast your own butternut squash. Enjoy the caramelized cubes as a side dish, toss them into a salad, or puree them for a silky homemade butternut squash soup!

I may have been late to appreciate butternut squash, but this year I discovered how much I enjoy it. It changed my feelings about squash in general — now I also like spaghetti squash and even regular yellow squash. Roasted butternut squash is sweet, nutty, and versatile: it works as a warm side dish, a cool salad topper, or the base for a comforting soup.

You can buy pre-chopped butternut squash at many grocery stores. Sometimes those packages are reasonably priced compared to whole squash, but often they cost more and aren’t as fresh as cutting one yourself. If you have a few minutes, it’s worth doing the prep at home. The biggest challenge is cutting through the firm skin and dense flesh, but with a sharp knife and a simple method the task becomes straightforward.

For this method you need: a large cutting board, a very sharp chef’s knife, a good vegetable peeler, and a butternut squash. Bigger squashes yield more cubes for the effort, so I usually choose a larger one when I plan to roast.

Place the squash on a cutting board. This example weighed about 4 pounds.

Start at the bulbous end and trim roughly 1/4 inch from the bottom to create a flat base so the squash can stand upright securely. Trim about 1/4 inch from the stem end as well to level the top.

Use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin in long strokes. You can peel the squash while it lies on its side or standing upright if you prefer.

Next, cut the squash in half vertically from top to bottom. Having a stable base makes this step much easier to manage safely.

Scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp with a spoon or fork. Butternut squash typically contains fewer seeds than a pumpkin, but cleaning the cavity is the same process.

Once the halves are cleaned, cut each half again lengthwise so you have four thinner pieces. Stack two of these thinner pieces and cut them into long matchsticks, then cross-cut into even cubes—aim for roughly 1/2-inch cubes for consistent roasting.

Stacking halves and cutting matchsticks is a fast way to produce uniform cubes. Mine were about 1/2 inch and filled a baking sheet from a 4-pound squash.

If you plan to make soup, you can steam or roast these cubes; roasting brings out a deeper caramelized flavor. For roasting, toss the squash cubes with a high-heat oil—grapeseed oil works well—then season lightly with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Spread the cubes in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and roast at 450°F (about 232°C) for 20–25 minutes, or until they begin to firm and the edges brown and crisp. Smaller cubes will cook faster, so check earlier if yours are smaller than 1/2 inch. To get extra crispness without overcooking, turn the oven broiler on for the final two to three minutes while watching closely to avoid burning.

A favorite variation is to roast butternut squash as part of a mixed vegetable medley. Choose vegetables with similar cooking times—red onion, red pepper, and broccoli work well together when roasted the same way. The result is a colorful, flavorful side dish that pairs with many mains.

Questions:
How do you feel about squash? What’s your favorite type? Do you have a favorite butternut squash recipe to share?