I am not a meticulous person. I'm moving too fast, have too much on my mind, or just too many ideas swirling around. My attention to detail is mediocre at best and I'm okay with stopping at things that are good enough. With recipes, I know many could be even better if I took a lot of time/years to craft each ingredient and while some recipes organically do this, some I've been making the same way for a decade. If a recipe tastes good (even if it could taste better), I call it and if I really like it, I don't think twice about improving it again. However, there are times that improvement, tweaking, and change are good.
This butternut squash mac and cheese came from an older version on this site that I've left up (it's still a good recipe but the way I prepare it has changed.) I love this method from White on Rice Couple that cooks the pasta in a water/milk combination. The end result is a creamy, one-pot dish and with the addition of butternut squash, it's extra creamy!
The Squash: Sweet potato, pumpkin, or kabocha squash puree all make great substitutions for butternut squash.
Add Greens: During the fall, I'm looking for every way I can stash greens in meals and Mac and Cheese makes a good candidate. Towards the end of cooking, stir in shredded spinach, chard, kale, or collards.
The Pasta: I found that whole wheat pasta worked really well because it was less likely to congeal while cooking. Use a smaller pasta like elbow, shells, penne, or fusilli.
In this case, I prefer steaming the squash- no need to turn the oven on and you can use the same pot you are going to cook the mac and cheese in. However, the flavor of roasting can be a nice addition, so use the cooking technique you prefer.
+ Recipe is a cross between my old butternut squash mac and cheese and White On Rice Couple's Stove Top Version. My instructions are paired down because I never had trouble with the recipe but I would recommend popping over to their site to read through their detailed instructions.
Just got a food processor (I know, I'm not sure how I've survived without one either) and look forward to trying this recipe out!
This looks delicious! I love the idea of cooking pasta in more than just water to add flavor. Thank you for the tip!! I'll definitely be making this once I can get to the store and get some butternut squash. ??
This is brilliant on so many levels! It looks so cheesy and creamy! 🙂
This looks so crazy good! And perfect for the chilly weather. Can't wait to try it out!
g.
A thousand times yes, girlfriend!
This looks delicious.
Love, love love this Erin! Totally hits the spot!
★★★★★
I do a much simpler version with frozen squash when I have zero time to make dinner. This sounds better!
This was really good! Hubby loved it. Mine not as creamy as yours (I did add some extra milk, but will add more next time). Excellent flavor, and will be a repeater. Made Peter Reinhart's Potato Cheddar Chive Bread to go with this. A side of broccoli rounded out nicely. I also topped the pasta with a cashew "cheese" crumb mixture from the Vegan Caesar Salad from another blogger. Thanks for a great recipe!
★★★★
I've never seen a recipe like this one before! I love mac n cheese AND butternut squash, so I'm excited to mix two of my favorite things together!!
Hi. I tried this with Organic Gluten Free Brown Rice pasta and it came out a treat! the kids loved it. Thank you for sharing.
★★★★
Absolutely. Devine! Amazing.
How long would
You say this lasts in the fridge for? Say if you make on Sunday would it be okay the Friday? I usually precook my lunches for the week.
Yes- I think Friday would be the last day I would eat it but it should last the week!
I made this a few times last fall/winter with your old recipe and absolutely loved it!
I’m curious to try this recipe but would also love your original recipe as well. The link no longer works for the original. Where can I find this?
Just updated some things- the old link should work!
Can I use canned butternut squash instead?