Maple Pecan Roasted Acorn Squash (2024)

Maple and Pecan Roasted Acorn Squash makes a perfect Thanksgiving or holiday side dish this season! Roasted in maple syrup, brown sugar, and chopped pecans.

Looking for new side dishes is always difficult, especially during the holidays! With all the holiday treats I’ve been consuming I knew I needed a good vegetable side dish.

Acorn squash isn’t a vegetable I’ve had too many times, but I just couldn’t turn this recipe away. It’s so delicious this could almost be served as a dessert on your Thanksgiving table!

How to pick the right acorn squash

To be totally honest, this was my first experience baking acorn squash. I picked up a few different shapes and sizes not knowing what I was looking for or what was best for baking.

Of course I had to look up what to look for when finding a good edible acorn squash. Here are a few suggestions I found:

• Almost completely green in color
• Very firm
• No overly ripe or soft spots
• Blemish free
• Mold free (I feel like this one is obvious but we’ve all brought home a moldy pineapple on accident!)

Trick to Cutting Acorn Squash

Be warned, cutting an acorn squash in half is NO joke. I finally had to call in the big guns (my husband insisted I put that) to help me get the knife all the way through!

On my second squash I discovered a trick that made my life a whole lot easier when cutting through the acorn squash.

Pop your squash in the microwave for 1 minute to soften the peel and you cut right through!

A good knife set doesn’t hurt either. Here’s a set of affordable sharp knives we like to use when cutting vegetables!

Step by Step instructions to make Roasted Acorn Squash

1. Prep the squash by cutting it in half, scooping out the seeds, and scoring the middles.
2. Butter the squash, sprinkle brown sugar, drizzle with honey.
3. Cook for one hour at 400 degrees.
4. Remove from oven and spoon juices that have fallen to the middle over outside of squash and top with pecans.
5. Bake for 10 more minutes until squash is soft.

Squash Recipes on Six Sisters’ Stuff

Here are a few more delicious squash recipes!

Honey Cinnamon Butternut Squash
Maple Roasted Butternut Squash
Butternut Squash Bake
Baked Butternut Squash

Looking for more side dishes? Here are 60 of our favorite Christmas Dinner Sides to eat with Beef Tenderloin!