Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash – A hearty meatless dairy-free entree with a savory filling of chickpeas, mushrooms, basmati rice, pecans, herbs, and spices. Top with an optional drizzle of balsamic reduction for layers of flavor in one pretty vegetarian package.
In our home we have always lived a “flexitarian” lifestyle. We are mostly vegetarian, with meat reserved as a treat. Lately I have challenged myself to take things a step further by incorporating vegetarian options into special occasion meals. This year, I have developed several meatless dishes for Thanksgiving – like this Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash. This entree celebrates the bounty of the season without the need for meat.
While turkey and Thanksgiving might seem inseparable, in our home we didn’t feel we would miss it this year. Side dishes are our favorite part of the holiday… like mashed potatoes, stuffing, roasted vegetables, roasted cauliflower gratin and pumpkin challah. I felt like I needed some savory meatless entrees to play centerpiece to all of these delicious side dishes. This Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash fits the bill.
This stuffed squash is beautiful and surprisingly easy to whip up. It’s far less complicated than stuffing and cooking a turkey. Winter squash is naturally sweet, so I worked hard to add lots of savory flavor to the filling. The combination of chickpeas and basmati rice makes this a complete protein, and seared mushrooms add an almost meaty depth to the filling. Pecans, spices, fresh thyme and parsley combine to create a symphony of plant-based flavors.
Acorn squash is naturally sweet, so you may like the savory filling all on its own here. If you feel you want to add a sauce, make the balsamic reduction syrup and drizzle it lightly over the finished squash. Not only is it pretty, it adds depth to the overall flavor. Enjoy!
Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash
Equipment
- Large baking sheet
- Nonstick skillet
- 2 saucepans
- Small bowl
- Pastry brush
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (optional - for balsamic reduction)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
- 1 1/2 cups diced white mushrooms
- 1/2 cup white basmati rice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- 3 whole acorn squash roughly 1 pound each
- 1/2 cup chickpeas cooked or canned
- 1/3 cup pecans chopped (substitute sunflower seeds to make nut free)
- 1/3 cup fresh chopped parsley divided
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch cayenne pepper (optional - adds spice)
- Pinch allspice
NOTES
Instructions
- If making the balsamic reduction, you can make it ahead by up to a week. Pour your balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Continue to simmer, stirring frequently, until the vinegar reduces by half and thickly coats the back of a spoon, about 4-5 minutes. Don't let the vinegar become too bubbly or dry. Remove from heat, pour the thickened vinegar into a heat-safe dish and allow to cool to room temperature. As it cools it will thicken further. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use, or keep covered at room temperature if making the same day. If refrigerating, let it come back to room temperature before serving.
- Sear your diced mushrooms. Start by coating the bottom of a medium skillet evenly with 1 tbsp olive oil. Heat over medium until hot (not smoking) Add a few pieces of mushroom to test - the oil should sizzle but not splatter. When heat is right, add the diced mushrooms in a single layer in the skillet, turn the heat to medium high, and let cook undisturbed for 2-3 minutes. No stirring yet!
- Check a few mushrooms by turning with a spatula. They are ready to stir when they are dark golden on the bottom side.
- Stir mushrooms over medium high heat for 1-2 minutes longer until they have reduced in volume by roughly 2/3.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a small saucepan, combine basmati rice, 1 cup of water, 2 tsp of olive oil, and 1/4 tsp salt. Bring to a boil, then cover the pan and reduce to low heat. Let the rice cook for 15 minutes. At the end of 15 minutes, turn off the heat but keep the rice covered. Continue to steam for another 10 minutes.
- While rice is cooking and oven is heating, slice the stem tip off of each acorn squash, slicing as close to the stem as possible. The stem end should be flat at the very end after it's sliced. This will help the squash to slice evenly into two halves.
- Slice the acorn squashes in half lengthwise. Start by placing an acorn squash on a sturdy table or cutting board. Choose a natural groove in the squash that divides the two sides as equally as possible. Use that groove as a guide for your chef's knife to slice the squash in half. If you encounter resistance as you slice, remove the knife and insert the knife tip into the slice, sawing gently to work your way through.
- When the squash are sliced, remove the seeds and thready pulp from the center of each half using a melon corer or a spoon with semi-sharp edges. If you've even carved a jack-o-lantern, this will feel familiar to you. (Note: you can roast the seeds and snack on them, just follow the same seed-roasting method outlined in this butternut squash post.)
- Pour remaining 4 tsps of olive oil into a small bowl. Brush your baking sheet with olive oil, then brush each squash half with oil on the cut fleshy side. Place the squash halves flesh side down on the baking sheet. Roast the squash for about about 20 minutes, turning the sheet halfway through cooking, until the squash is tender throughout and the edges are starting to turn golden. Check the squash around 15 minutes - if any of the halves are browning too quickly on the cut side, flip them over so the cut side faces upward for the remainder of cooking.
- When basmati rice is fully steamed and hot, take off the lid. Fluff rice with a fork, then stir in the chickpeas, seared mushrooms, chopped pecans, 1/4 cup of the parsley, thyme, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and allspice. Cover the lid again to let the other ingredients gently warm in the hot rice. Reserve 1 tbsp of the chopped parsley for garnish.
- When squash is fully roasted, remove from oven.
- Divide the filling between the 6 acorn squash halves, stuffing each half with a heaping helping of stuffing. Sprinkle the stuffed squash with the remaining fresh chopped parsley.
- If using the balsamic reduction, drizzle roughly 2 teaspoons on top of each squash half. Serve warm.
Nutrition
Not only was this delicious for the holiday but today we are having it again “just because” it was awesome!
Questions to make this a 5-star:
– How to keep dish from being dry? the balsamic reduction helped, but the rice stuffing was dry.
– How to make the acorn squash flavorble at the bottom? The top 1/4 was very tasty, but less so as dug down into the squash.
I look forward to your response because I otherwise liked the this dish and can see it as a 5-star.
All best,
alice
Hi Alice! Sorry to hear the filling was dry. It may be the type of rice you used – some types of basmati rice cook up drier than others. Stirring in a little mild olive oil – like Bragg’s – wouldn’t hurt the flavor and would certainly help the dryness. As for the squash, roasting only really affects the flavor of the top layer of the squash, the rest will taste “steamed.” If you’re looking for more flavor there, you would need to abandon the idea of stuffing the squash, and instead roast up some cubed squash (butternut perhaps?) with salt, pepper, and spices – maybe a touch of cinnamon here. I have instructions on that here: https://toriavey.com/all-about-butternut-squash-how-to-peel-seed-slice-and-prepare/ then simply serve the rice tossed with the squash. Hope that helps!
I have to tell you, this is delicious! The squash was my entree for Rosh Hashana and was a success. Rave compliments from everyone at the table. The only swap I did was exchange brown rice for the white basmati and baby bella instead of the white button mushrooms. I always stick with whole grains. This is now going to be my go-to every year! FYI: It pairs nicely with sweet potato tzimmes (I used a different recipe than yours – a staple for years) and your lovely fennel apple citrus salad with tahini dressing (also a hit).
Happy Rosh Hashana. May it be a healthy and sweet year for you and your family.
what do you think about using brown rice instead of basmati? thanks! and chag sameach!
This sounds so good, trying as a side dish for our traditional thanksgiving meal. I notice the recipe doesn’t say when to add the mushrooms to the mix, so I’m guessing when the other ingredients are added to the rice? It makes sense.
Correct. 🙂
I have been a subscriber for years and this is the first time I have seen one of your recipes with an omission.
How much water to cook the basmati rice?
Dina, you are so right! It’s one cup, just corrected it. I try to be so careful with this. I’m blaming having a newborn in the house… I think they call it mom brain?? 🙂
Wondering what I can use instead of acorn squash as it’s not found here. There is butternut squash however and pumpkin. What, if any is a good sub?
It depends – if you want to stuff, mini pumpkins or very small pie pumpkins would probably be the most similar presentation. Butternut tastes somewhat similar (less starchy), but it’s generally too big to stuff this way. The filling is actually quite nice all on its own, too! Or you can roast some butternut squash chunks and toss them with the filling and serve it that way. 🙂
I know I’m going to like this recipe. I’m thinking of modifying it a bit for Thanksgiving and instead of serving it in the acorn half, scooping out the squash and mixing it with the rest of the ingredients. I have too many people coming over to be able to make so many squash halves.
I think I understand what you’re saying… so, if you don’t want to stuff the halves, then you could roast the squash halves as written, slice the squash into C-shaped slices, peel/slice the skin off, then dice into chunks and toss with the rice mixture. The skin is edible, but not sure the texture would work here. This might give you a nicer presentation than scooping out the flesh. Alternatively, you could just roast some chunks of butternut squash (the pre-prepped ones from the market are super easy!). The taste is similar, a bit less starchy. The filling is also really tasty all on its own – very savory!
I don’t know where this post will appear but yes, I would prepare the squash the way you suggest: Roasting the squash separately, peeling, and slicing and then putting the filling on top, hopefully making an attractive platter for it. I would really rather do it your way but I know only 3/4 of the people at my table will take the squash, but I have to at least offer one half to everyone and that’s just too much. I love the fact that you didn’t just say, “sounds great, good luck!” You took the time to understand what I wrote and then gave me instructions for how to do the recipe the way I needed to. That’s extremely kind, caring, and professional of you. I love your website. Happy Thanksgiving.
Thank you Allison! I try my best, not always easy to stay on top of comments especially during the holidays… but I want to make sure everybody has success with these recipes, especially on special occasions.
Is there a substitute you would recommend instead of mushrooms?
You can omit the mushrooms and add an additional 1/2 cup of chickpeas if you prefer. The volume of the mushrooms after searing is about 1/2 cup, so if you prefer you can do a mixture of pecans and chickpeas – as long as the total combined is 1/2 cup.