This Roasted Acorn Squash with Cranberry Walnut Quinoa Stuffing is a crowd favorite, it is also Vegan and Gluten Free!
Ok you guys, are you ready for another squash recipe? I mean really it is November, the month of me consuming squash and pumpkin everything! 🙂 This Roasted Acorn Squash with Cranberry Walnut Quinoa Stuffing is really easy to make. It’s Vegan and Gluten Free so everyone can enjoy this at the Thanksgiving table this year.
I don’t know about you, but ever since I went Gluten Free about 2 years ago it’s been really hard to try and explain why I can’t eat anything with Gluten in it at family get togethers. I feel like the oddball. It’s not because I’m dieting or anything. But if I consume Gluten, then I have digestive issues. This is not something that I really want to bring up while everyone’s at the dinner table. I hear ‘Hey Sara why don’t you try this piece of pie that I made’, and me thinking well let me tell you what will happen to my digestive system if I eat that piece of pie…that leaves me to politely turn someone down and potentially end up offending them. It’s hard, because I haven’t always been Gluten Free, so I think people just don’t get it.
I don’t have celiac disease, but I do have a Gluten sensitivity. I found this out a few years ago, when I wasn’t feeling all that great. I was always having stomach problems even though I ate fairly healthy. So I went on a 3 week cleanse. It was pretty strict, no caffeine (except Green Tea), Gluten, sugar, or starchy foods like potatoes. I could only have fresh juices, smoothies, chicken, fish, rice, and veggies. At first it was super hard, but let me tell you, after the 1st week I felt amazing! For the first time in years I had energy, and wasn’t feeling bloated like I had a basketball in my stomach.
When you come off of a cleanse, you have to slowly introduce foods that you took away back into your diet one at a time to see how your body reacts. Well I started to add in bread and Glutenous things and guess what, I started feeling sick and bloated again. Dairy also did the same thing for me. I haven’t totally cut out Dairy from my diet, but it is very limited.
Ok, so let’s get back to this Squash recipe!
I love Acorn Squash. I originally made this recipe when I first started my blog, but the pictures were horrible. You see when I first started this blog a year and a half ago, I didn’t have a ‘real’ Camera and was using my iPhone to take pictures with. Yikes! Ok lesson learned, I was finally able to save up for a ‘real’ Camera, one that didn’t break the bank. So since then I’ve been updating some of my old posts.
When I originally made this stuffed Squash recipe, I only used mushrooms and onions for the stuffing. I decided to spruce it up a bit and make it festive for Thanksgiving. 🙂
I love Quinoa, so I decided hey why not use a Quinoa filler for this! Then I got to thinking ok I need something a little festive for this time of year, digging through my cupboards I found some dried Cranberries that I usually have on hand for putting in salads. Then I was thinking ok I need some sort of a nutty flavor, I couldn’t decide between the sliced almonds or the walnuts I had on hand…ok walnuts it is! You could certainly substitute with almonds though.
If you want more of an in depth step by step on how I made this stuffing, please check out my blog post on the Cranberry Walnut Quinoa Stuffing. This is my new favorite go to stuffing recipe! Seriously you can eat it as a side dish by itself, or use it as a stuffing like I did with this Acorn Squash! It’s so versatile, I love it!
The stuffing recipe makes a big batch, so it’s perfect for feeding a crowd. Or you can do what I did, make the whole batch of stuffing, and then mix it up in different dishes through out the week. (Hint Hint: more stuffed recipes to come so stay tuned!) 🙂
If you try this let me know what you think by leaving a comment below, it’s super helpful to me and other readers!
Cheers!
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PrintRoasted Acorn Squash with Cranberry Walnut Quinoa Stuffing
This Roasted Acorn Squash with Cranberry Walnut Quinoa Stuffing is a crowd favorite, it is also Vegan and Gluten Free!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Main dish
- Cuisine: Vegetarian, Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 3 medium acorn squash
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup white Quinoa
- 1/2 cup red Quinoa
- 2 cups Vegetable Broth
- 1/2 Sweet Onion chopped
- 1/2 Red Pepper chopped
- 2 cloves minced Garlic
- 1 8oz package Baby Bella Mushrooms chopped
- 3/4 cup chopped Walnuts
- 3/4 cup dried Cranberries
- 2 Tbs ground Sage
- 1 Tbs dried Thyme
- Pinch of Red Pepper Flakes
- Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Trim off each end of the squash.
- Stand the squash upright and halve lengthwise.
- Scoop out the pulp and the seeds and discard.
- Brush each squash half with 1 Tbs olive oil, and then sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper.
- Arrange cut sides down on a parchment paper covered baking sheet.
- Roast the squash until the flesh is tender and the edges are golden brown, approximately 25-35 minutes.
- While the squash roasts,
- In medium saucepan add Quinoa and Vegetable Broth.
- Bring to boil then cover and reduce heat to low, cooking for 15-20 minutes.
- While the Quinoa is cooking prepare the rest.
- In large saute pan over medium heat add 2 Tbs Olive Oil, Onion, Red Pepper, and Garlic.
- Saute 5-8 minutes until softened.
- Add Mushrooms, Sage, Thyme, Red Pepper Flakes, Salt, and Pepper.
- Sauce 5 minutes longer until mushrooms are softened. Remove from heat.
- Add in Quinoa, Walnuts, and Cranberries.
- Remove cooked squash from oven and flip over so cut side is up.
- Fill the roasted squash halves with the mushroom mixture and bake again for another 10 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Keywords: Roasted Acorn Squash with Cranberry Walnut Quinoa Stuffing, roasted acorn squash, roasted acorn squash with quinoa stuffing, gluten free, side dish, vegetarian
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We are doing a friendsgiving this weekend and I am definitely making this!
That sounds like a great get together!
Can this recipe be frozen ?
Hi Carol, I will provide instructions and tips on dishes that I have frozen myself but unfortunately, I do not freeze all of my recipes so I cannot always answer this question. Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
TO MUCH THYME! I cut the measurement in half , I still thought it was much. Aside from
That I like the recipes.
That’s the beauty of recipes, you can always change the seasonings to your liking. Glad you liked it!
Soo yummy! Been making this a bunch; it’s been a great dish even for my non-vegetarian friends! PSA: also delicious with a little goat cheese on top!
So glad you liked it Katharine!
What would you suggest using in place of the mushrooms? I am allergic so I can’t have them in my stuffing but an 8oz package would create quite a void if just left out of the recipe.