18 Amazing Acorn Squash Recipes That Taste Like Fall (2024)

FAQs

What is the best tasting acorn squash variety? ›

Table Ace Acorn Squash is well-known as the best tasting acorn squash on the market.

Brown Nicely When cooking summer squash, don't be afraid of a little browning. A nicely browned surface adds great flavor. 5. Partner Strategically Finally, balance squash's milder taste with stronger flavors like chilies, curry, ginger, garlic, lemon, goat cheese and so on.

Acorn squash is not bursting with flavor, frankly speaking. The "meat" of an acorn squash has a mildly buttery flavor and is similar in palate profile to a butternut squash, pumpkin, and zucchini, albeit with an even milder taste than those and other types of squash (via Simply Healthy Family).

For instance, you can add roasted squash to a fall salad, cook it alongside chicken, or serve it up with bacon and eggs. Of course, one of the most popular ways to serve acorn squash is to stuff it. The edible bowls act as a vessel for anything from mac and cheese to sausage to taco fillings.

Hubbard Squash

Hubbards are slightly tear-shaped with dark green to pale grayish blue skins and remarkably sweet flesh with a clear pumpkin flavor.

Butternut squash have some of the best flavor of all! Butternut cultivars are pretty consistent when it comes to flavor. All have richly sweet, nutty flesh favored for all kinds of fall and winter cookery.

So when is the perfect time to harvest squash? It depends. Generally, you want to harvest summer squash throughout the summer—whenever the fruits are about six inches long. Winter squash, on the other hand, is a one-time harvest that tends to fall on or just before your area's last frost date.

If you pick too early, the flesh will not be fully developed and the squash will lack flavor and not be that wonderfully vegetal sweet that is the wonder of butternut, honeynut, delicata, acorn, pumpkin and kabocha, among dozens of other winter squash.

Acorn squash: It has less vitamin A than butternut but provides even more fiber (9 grams per cup) and potassium (896 mg).

What's the healthiest squash? ›

1. Butternut Squash. One of the most popular varieties of squash, it can be use in so many ways. It's one of the most rich in Vitamin A, boasting about 100% of the recommended daily value per cup, in the antioxidant form of beta-carotene.

This squash has a lot of antioxidants, which can boost your immunity and help your body to fight off certain diseases. Acorn squash contains antioxidants like vitamin C that help strengthen bones and blood vessels. It also has vitamin A, which helps improve the health of your lungs, heart and other vital organs.

Acorn squash is packed with both soluble and insoluble fiber. Though they have different functions in your body, both play important roles in digestive health. Insoluble fiber adds bulk to your stools while soluble fiber softens them, preventing constipation and supporting regular bowel movements ( 13 ).

Storage life varies by squash type. Acorn squash stores the shortest amount of time: 4 weeks. Spaghetti stores four to five weeks; Buttercup, 13 weeks; Butternut, up to six months; Blue Hubbard, six to seven months.

Acorn squash is rich in antioxidants, which can neutralize potentially harmful molecules called free radicals. These antioxidants can help to protect people against health issues like arthritis, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and certain cancers.

Generally speaking, White Oak acorns have the lowest tannic acid levels which provide them with a sweeter flavor over Red Oak acorns. Thus this nut is what deer prefer when available and will continue to consume them throughout the year while they are still edible.

Honeynut Squash: The sweetness and flavor made this a clear winner. Delicata Squash: This is actually tied with acorn squash and both are similar in texture and flavor which is why they are ranked at the top.

But, surprisingly, a few amazing Holm oak trees bear acorns that taste great with no trace of bitterness. These are what we call true sweet acorns, and yes, they are the real deal in terms of flavour and texture.

Although it looks quite different from the butternut squash the buttercup has a very creamy, orange colored flesh much like that of the butternut. Its flavor is not as rich as the butternut, but is still quite sweet.