Butternut Squash Tips & Tricks
5 Steps to Easy Ingredient Prep
Recently I made a Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Vegetarian ‘Chili’, which was truly my first time cooking with butternut squash. I knew it was healthy, but did some research and turns out butternut squash is an excellent source of vitamin A, potassium, and fiber. Who knew?! Thankfully I decided to check with Google before I took a knife to the thing and I am so glad I did! Turns out this veggie can be tricky to work with, so I wanted to share a couple of butternut squash tips and tricks that worked well for me.
Just a note, the butternut squash is not cooked and ready to eat after this. It is prepared to be cut into whatever size pieces needed for your recipe.
- Microwave the squash whole, for 30 seconds on High. I read a few articles that said this would help to soften it for peeling and cutting. Note to self: Try this with spaghetti squash in the future too.
- Cut off the top and bottom, to give yourself a flat (aka safe) surface before attempting to peel or cut it.
- Peel the squash with a regular vegetable peeler, then half it down the middle the long way. I was pleasantly surprised to find this step much easier than expected.
- Scoop out the seeds.
- Cut it into small bite-sized cubes for your soup, or as directed for your particular recipe.
I hope that helps make it easier for everyone to tackle the nutritious and delicious butternut squash!! Does anyone else have tips for preparing butternut squash? Or amazing butternut squash recipes to share? I would like to try a butternut squash mac and cheese one of these days.
