Take your leftover stuffing (or dressing) from the holidays, envelop it in sweet roasted winter squash and transform it into dinner! With just 6 simple ingredients, this recipe requires minimal prep time, then you sit back and relax while it bakes up into a cheesy, delightful, hearty stuffing stuffed squash. You can add a salad or other side if you like, but really you need nothing else to complete this beautiful, cozy meal.
I came home from Thanksgiving this year with my little treasure trove of leftovers. A bit of turkey, a jar of homemade turkey broth, and a dish filled with leftover stuffing and colcannon. I hope you’ve already seen the beautiful turkey chowder I made with the broth. Next up: it’s time to transform the stuffing. I don’t know why it never occurred to me before to stuff a squash with it!
What kind of stuffing to use for Stuffing Stuffed Squash?
What kind of stuffing did you make this Thanksgiving? There are so many delicious options! Cornbread stuffing, mushroom stuffing, wild rice stuffing, seafood stuffing … And yeah, I know lots of people stick with Stovetop stuffing. Luckily, any type of stuffing or dressing will do, so regardless, this just works. No matter what you threw into your stuffing or whether you stuffed it into the bird, cooked it on the side or in a separate dish. Hey, you already put the effort into making a delicious stuffing so most of the work is done! So all you have to do to make this happen is:
- First, cut open the squash and scoop out the seeds. Set it in the oven to roast it up.
- While the squash is cooking, stir the stuffing with the sausage, cheeses and egg.
- Then just scoop the stuffing into the squash shell, put a bit more cheese on top, and bake a little longer.
Once the cheese is good and melty (and a little browned on top), then you get to dive in and enjoy your stuffing all over again. In a new way. With sweet roasted squash wrapped around it. And sausage. Of course, if you already have sausage in your stuffing, you can skip adding sausage. Unless you want more sausage with your sausage stuffing. Listen to your heart and do what sounds good to you.
What type of squash to use?
I used delicata squash. Some call it Bohemian squash, sweet potato squash, or peanut squash. Whatever you call it, I think delicata is a great choice. First, delicata are small so a single squash half makes a perfect dinner for a light eater. Hearty eaters might want two halves. And, if you use delicata squash, you can even eat the shell!
That said, other types of winter squash would work well too. Acorn squash works well for stuffing because there’s a nice open cavity in the middle. Butternut is delicious, too, but you’ll need to scoop out some of the flesh to make room for the filling. Make sure to leave about 1/2 inch shell of squash to envelop the stuffing.
Sausage & Stuffing Stuffed Squash
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 min
- Yield: 1 – 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Fusion
Ingredients
- 1 or 2 delicata squash, sliced lengthwise (see post for alternative squash options)
- 1 cup leftover stuffing or dressing
- 1/2 – 1 cooked sausage, chopped (I used a chicken andouille sausage)
- 1/4 cup cottage cheese
- 1 egg
- 3/4 – 1 cup shredded Italian blend of cheeses
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Cut the squash in half lengthwise. Use a grapefruit spoon to scoop out the seeds and the rest of the stringy stuff from the middle. Brush (or spray) the squash insides lightly with oil and sprinkle lightly with salt & pepper. (If your stuffing is salty, you might want to skip salting the squash.)
- Set the squash, cut side down, on a baking sheet lined with silicon baking mat (or sprayed with cooking spray). Bake the squash for 20 – 30 minutes or until tender when poked with a fork.
- While the squash is baking, mix your leftover stuffing with the cooked sausage, cottage cheese, egg and about 2/3 of the shredded cheese.
- Stuff the cooked squash with the stuffing, then sprinkle the top with the reserved shredded cheese. Return to the oven and bake for about 10 – 20 minutes longer or until the filling is heated through and the cheese on top is melted. If the tops don’t brown like you want them, either increase heat to 425 or set the oven on broil briefly. If you do this, watch it closely and remove as soon as the cheese is browned in spots. Enjoy!
Notes
See the post for other squash options. You can also stuff the stuffing into bell peppers or mushrooms. I had enough stuffing to fill two small delicata, but it depends on the size of the squash.
RECIPE SOURCE: Sumptuous Spoonfuls – https://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/ … © Copyright 2022, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
