Steamed Butternut Squash ♥ How to Steam Butternut Squash in a Collapsible Steamer Basket

How to steam butternut squash in a collapsible steamer basket. This is such a totally simple, totally clean and pure tasting way to cook winter squash. Here I'll show you how to steam pretty cubes of butternut squash (including the easy way to cut up the squash), it's one of the great joys of early fall!

Fresh & Seasonal. Great for Meal Prep. Easy Weeknight Supper. Low Fat. Weight Watchers Friendly & Freestyle Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real. Naturally Gluten Free. Whole30 Friendly.

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Cooking Butternut Squash

It's a reflex, right, to roast butternut squash? No doubt, roasting butternut squash has earned its place in our kitchens, especially in winter.

But keep an open mind for just a minute, would you please? Because in the early fall? When butternut squash are so abundant? But it's still really too warm for roasting vegetables? Steamed butternut squash tastes so fresh and light and, well, perfect for this stage in the season.

Why Steam Butternut Squash? Steaming vs Roasting

Because the taste is so clean and pure, so very squashy, a golden canvas on which to paint your own favorite flavors.

It's not that steaming is better than roasting or roasting is better than steaming. It's that both techniques belong in a vegetable cook's repertoire.

With steaming, you get pure squash flavor; with roasting you get darker, denser caramelized flavor.
Steaming produces lighter, cleaner butternut squash; roasting yields something deep and sweet.

Learn How to Cut Up a Butternut Squash

Way back in the first years of A Veggie Venture, butternut squash stayed on my backburner. So there I was, a self-respecting Veggie Evangelist and I ignored one of the mainstays of vegetables, winter squash and particularly butternut squash.

Why? There's no question what held me back: I like ten fingers! All ten of them! I was unwilling to sacrifice a single finger to a squash, no-siree!

Here's the trick – and it takes all of six minutes to cut a butternut squash into cubes, definitely a good investment of time for how gorgeous steamed winter squash turns out. Better yet? I checked: yep, all fingers present and accounted for. Here's how you cut an unwieldy butternut squash into cubes. Do it once and you'll never look back.

IN WORDS First slice off the stem end and the blossom end, this will give you flat surfaces to steady your work. Then cut off the "neck" of a butternut squash, those are the pale brown ones with a round bulb on one end and a long neck – with a sharp knife, this is not hard at all. Then use a vegetable peeler or the knife to slice off the thick skin – some cooks prefer a vegetable peeler, I use a smaller knife vs a big chef's knife. Do keep the neck's flat end of the neck steady on a cutting board, slicing top to bottom. Then cut the neck into rounds about an inch thick, then stack a couple of rounds at a time to cut into cubes. That's it!

IN STEP-BY-STEP PHOTOS How to Cut, Peel & Cube a Butternut Squash and Keep All Ten Fingers, This is one of A Veggie Venture's top pages, it really helps people understand the mechanics of cutting up a butternut squash.

MORE Butternut Squash Resources

How to roast a whole butternut squash
How to roast butternut squash halves
How to make "pumpkin" purée with kabocha squash, it's DIY pumpkin!

How to Roast Vegetables 15 Tips & a Master Recipe for all Vegetables

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Just updated. First published way back in 2007!

STEAMED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 40 minutes
Serves 4

1 very large butternut squash (neck only) or 1 medium butternut squash (whole squash) or 2 small butternut squash (whole squashes)

1 tablespoon butter
Salt & pepper

Wash squash well, peel and cut the neck of the squash (for a very large squash) or the entire squash (for medium or small squashes) into cubes, here's how to cut, peel & cube a butternut squash and keep all ten fingers. You want about a pound of cubes.

Set about an inch of water to boil in a large pot or Dutch oven, just enough to not touch the bottom of the steamer basket, not so little that the pot will run dry. Arrange the cubes evenly in a collapsible steamer basket. Lower the basket into the pot, cover and let steam, adjusting heat to maintain a fast boil below the steamer basket. The squash will be cooked after about 30 minutes – since timing can vary depending on the size of the cubes and the age of the squash and the heat of the steamer, check for doneness after about 15 or 20 minutes, then gauge from there.

Drain the water, drop the cooked squash back into the pot with butter, salt and pepper. Toss gently, the edges are soft.

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
The "neck" is the sweetest, easiest-to-cut part of a butternut squash, that's the long, cylindrical piece on the stem end. If you start with a large four-pound butternut squash, the neck alone will yield about one pound of squash cubes. But if you want to use the whole squash, choose a medium-size squash and use the whole thing or two small squashes, also the entire thing.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving: 76 Calories; 3g Tot Fat; 2g Sat Fat; 8mg Cholesterol; 25mg Sodium; 13g Carb; 2g Fiber; NetCarb 11; 2g Sugar; 1g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS WW Old Points 1 & WW PointsPlus 2 & SmartPoints 3 & Freestyle 0 & myWW green 0 & blue 0 & purple 0

RECIPE INSPIRATION Adapted from the wonderful resource for vegetable lovers, Vegetable Love by the late Barbara Kafka.

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MORE FAVORITE BUTTERNUT SQUASH RECIPES

~ My Favorite Winter Squash Recipes ~

~ Sweet Potato & Butternut Squash Tagine ~
~ Savory Bread Pudding with Butternut Squash, Chard & Cheddar ~
~ Roasted Butternut Squash with Maple Glaze ~
~ more winter squash recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Squash Puff ~
~ Roasted Butternut Squash & Apple ~
~ Chicken & Wild Rice Soup ~
~ more winter squash ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column

COOKING IN SEASON: SEPTEMBER & EARLY OCTOBER ACROSS THE YEARS

Slow-Roasted Tomatoes (< an annual obsession) Pasta with Slow-Roasted Tomatoes Broccoli with Orange & Curry Cauliflower Tomato Medley Eggplant Parmigiana Mini Tomato Pesto Torte Potato Okra Curry (< hello, Meatless Monday) Slow-Roasted Tomato Salsa “Surprise Inside” Spice Parsnip Cupcakes Steamed Butternut Squash in a Collapsible Steamer Basket Foodie Fight (Slooow) Baked Potatoes (< this week's favorite!) Balkan Eggplant Casserole Apple Cider Vinaigrette (< my fav make-ahead salad dressing) Rosemary Potatoes Calabacitas (< great with garden zucchini!) Beet Salad with Sumac, Yogurt & Pita Pennsylvania Dutch Green Beans with Bacon Tomato Recipes – Alphabet of Vegetables Slow Cooker Beans & Tomatoes Slow Cooker Tomato Grits Mexican Cauliflower "Rice" (< great for meal prep!)

Looking for healthy new ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of super-organized quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables. Join "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg to explore the exciting world of common and not-so-common vegetables, seasonal to staples, savory to sweet, salads to sides, soups to supper, simple to special.

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