47 Winter Squash Recipes You Have To Try - You Should Grow (2024)

FAQs

Can you eat immature winter squash? ›

Did you know you can eat under-ripe, immature butternut squash? They are gourd-eous! Kidding aside, knowing this fact can help reduce local food waste as Maine farmers and gardeners move forward with the winter squash harvest.

Just cut out any bad spots when you're prepping the squash and removing the seeds. If there are too many bruises to deal with, peel the squash with a potato peeler and cut it into chunks and cook it that way.

Banana squash is an edible squash, or gourd, in the Cucurbita family. developed from the butternut squash, a type of winter squash. Its name was given for its elongated shape and yellow colour.

Gardening : Acorn Squash Can Be Grown at Home Now : They can be delicious in immature stage or stored for tasty eating when full grown. Smaller is better when it comes to winter squash.

For the best-quality squash, wait to harvest all types until they are mature — at least 50–55 days after the fruit has set — and cure before storing and eating.

Acorn squash, delicata squash, and butternut squash are just a few examples of winter squash that are as nutritious as they are delicious. Try incorporating the winter squash varieties listed above into your diet this fall and winter for an easy way to care for your health from the inside out.

Most winter squash have pretty good frost tolerance, as long as they don't get exposed to a hard freeze where the temperature might get down to 28° for more than a couple hours. If a heavy frost or freeze is predicted, you can cover your squash with old blankets or a tarp to provide some protection.

Freezing raw squash is not only simple, it's preferred. You may decide to blanch the squash before you freeze it if you're worried about the taste, texture, color, and nutrients staying intact, but it is truly unnecessary, and the vegetable will last just as long whether you complete this extra tedious step or not.

Butternut squash is one of the most popular types of winter squash with its sweet, slightly nutty flavor and is usually available year-round.

But delicata squash is my favorite by far. Nicknamed the “sweet potato squash,” it has a sweet, velvety flesh that caramelizes beautifully in the oven. But that's not all. Thanks to its small size and thin, edible skin, it's super easy to work with.

Is spaghetti squash a winter squash? ›

Spaghetti squash is a winter squash that is golden yellow, shaped like a small watermelon and ranges in size from 2 to 5 pounds.

If it's no longer firm to touch, don't use it. If you're unsure, cut the squash open to take a look at the flesh and seeds. Warning signs to look for are dull flesh and seeds that are slimy and gray. Likewise, if the squash smells bad, throw it away.

Answer: Butternut squash are mature (ready to harvest) when the skin is hard (can't be punctured with the thumbnail) and uniformly tan in color. When harvesting, leave a 1-inch stem on each fruit.

You can continue to ripen unripe squash by bringing them inside, washing them off and putting them in a sunny spot. You watch them carefully, turning them occasionally until they reach the proper color for eating. About 10 of my unripe squash are currently taking the indoor sun cure.

Unripe, they taste like summer squash.

It was a little like zucchini, the sweetness hadn't developed yet, so it was definitely more savory-oriented and more firm, but not tough, just with a longer cooking time. Squash and pumpkin vines/shoots are another great part of the plant to eat.

Butternut squash (Figure 4), for example, turn their characteristic mature tan color some two-to-three weeks before they should be harvested for best quality. If harvested too early, the developing seed inside butternut squash will utilize nutrients stored in the flesh to mature, decreasing its eating quality.

Slightly underripe butternut types work well for baking or as a soup puree with stronger flavors like curry. You have it right about adding flavor and not using the squash as a stand-alone veg on the plate. Really underripe butternut types can be used like a summer squash with peels and seeds left in.