What To Serve With Acorn Squash? – 7 Delicious Sides

Acorn squash is an incredibly popular and well-liked fruit that is often associated with the winter autumn months due to being deliciously sweet and warming. The acorn squash is a truly delicious and very versatile fruit that can be used for a variety of meals and prepared in an assortment of different ways. However, if not too familiar with using these veggies then may you be unsure what to pair with them. If so, don’t worry, we’ll show you what to serve with acorn squash?

Table of Contents

• What Is Acorn Squash?
• What Goes With Acorn Squash?
• What To Serve With Acorn Squash?
  • Roasted Chicken
  • Beef Stew
  • Lamb Chops
  • Taco Pasta
  • Spinach Salad With Goat Cheese And Walnuts
  • Potato Scallops
  • Pancakes
• Answered: What To Serve With Acorn Squash?
• FAQ – What To Serve With Acorn Squash?

What Is Acorn Squash?

As you can probably imagine, acorn squash is a type of squash in a similar vein to the zucchini or butternut squash. Flavour-wise it has a wonderfully mild and buttery taste that makes it perfect for both sweet and savoury seasonings. fillings and side dishes.

Due to the harder to cut and drier skin of the acorn squash, it is often considered to be more of a winter squash. At least by comparison to the softer and more moist summer squashes such as the aforementioned zucchini. Fundamentally, this makes acorn squash a more heavy and hearty variety of squash by comparison whilst still being delicately flavourful.

The result of these distinct yet subtle flavours and textures is truly versatile and often prized squash that can be used in a variety of different ways. Savoury stuffed acorn squash for example is often stuffed with an assortment of savoury ingredients including, veggies, meat, cream cheese parmesan cheese or olive oil. Meanwhile, a deliciously sweet option is roasted acorn squash with brown sugar and butter or mashed acorn squash with a sprinkling of butter and cinnamon or even something as simple as a light drizzle of maple syrup.

What Goes With Acorn Squash?

Due to how versatile the acorn squash is and therefore the wide variety of delicious recipes that can be made with it, you may be unsure of precisely what to serve alongside it. Inevitably, the answer will change depending on the acorn squash recipes you will be most inclined to cook though.

As such, when you’re deciding on what would go well with acorn squash, it is wise to consider what will best complement its pre-existing traits. As such tastes and textures that reflects or contrasts the mild buttery taste and tough but drier textures.

What To Serve With Acorn Squash?

With the above in mind, you may already have a few ideas of what will go well with acorn squash. However, you equally may still be unsure of where you should even begin. If unsure though don’t worry, Just like when deciding what to serve with butternut squash soup, there are plenty of great options for your to choose from. With that in mind, some of the best acorn squash accompaniments include the following options:

1. Roasted Chicken
2. Beef Stew
3. Lamb Chops
4. Taco Pasta
5. Spinach Salad With Goat Cheese And Walnuts
6. Potato Scallops
7. Pancakes

Roasted Chicken

A wonderfully delicious meat pairing for your acorn squash is of course some excellently juicy, tender and slightly crispy chicken. Taste and texture-wise, there is a scrumptious synergy between the roasted chicken and acorn squash as they are somewhat similar in texture wise whilst the buttery squash compliments the natural juicy and savoury flavours of the chicken.

To make the most of this pairing cut up some acorn squash cubes and season them with onions and garlic powder along with delicious herbs of your choice. The result will be a delicious and savoury acorn squash that will be perfect with your chicken. Not only that though, but this pairing also makes for incredibly convenient cooking as it can be cooked in the oven at the same time.

Another way to pair these two together though is to serve the squash alongside a simple but hearty and delicious chicken casserole. Especially since like with the prior option the cooking process is incredibly simple. This is made by mixing rice, onion, chicken broth, and chicken soup and skin up chicken thighs in a baking dish. Then after seasoning with thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper cover with foil and bake for an hour at 350°F (or approximately 175°C). Following this, remove the foil and bake for an additional half an hour.

Beef Stew

Beef stew is one of those dishes that can be made in a variety of different ways. As such many different styles of beef stew exist around the world with one of the most common versions being the traditional British beef stew. When you’re feeling under the weather or just want something warming on a cold day, there are honestly few things in the world that will hit the spot better than a delicious bowl of beef stew.

This is already an incredibly heavy and hearty dinner that oozes with an assortment of flavours and textures. These range from slightly crunchy vegetables to the thick gravy and soft and of course rich and tender beef itself. As such, it is already a very layered and complex dish that can truly stand on its own two feet.

However, a way to make this delicious stew even more heavenly rich, creamy and delicious is to incorporate some cubed acorn squash into the mix of vegetables. Doing so is incredibly simple to do and doesn’t impact the preparation time of your dish in any meaningful way. As such, the addition of acorn squash to your stew guarantees minimum effort but maximum satisfaction.

Lamb Chops

Lamb chops (or lamb cutlets as they’re also known) is a cut of lamb meat that is harvested from the ribs of a lamb. This meat is known for its wonderfully fatty and delicately gamey flavour which has a hint of sweetness long with deliciously tender, especially when compared to other red meat. As result, due to lamb being delicious and quite common in the UK is often seen as a staple meat. Meanwhile, in the United States, lamb is less readily available and as a result, is often seen as a rare treat or luxury meat in this part of the world.

That said though, the flavours associated with lamb whilst incredibly nuanced and varied are still somewhat delicate. As such, when eating lamb chops, they are best off being served alongside milder and equally delicate dishes so that these flavours are not completely overwhelmed.

With that in mind then, some mashed acorn squash will make for an excellent side when parred with some lamb chops. This is because the sweet mild flavour found in both dishes will synergise perfectly whilst the meatiness and gaminess of the lamb will provide subtle contrast. Additionally, the tender lamb and fluffy mashed squash will also contrast to create a wonderfully delicious mouthfeel for the entire dish.

Taco Pasta

A usual fusion of Italian and Mexican cuisine is taco pasta. Now, this may initially sound slightly bizarre but the combination of these to culturally distinct dishes is something that is sure to delight and have people asking for seconds.

At its most basic, this is a dish that mixes cooked pasta with ingredients that are known for being included in tacos. These include ground beef or turkey, veggies, cheese, salsa, black beans and Mexican spices such as cayenne and of course taco seasoning. The result is a dish that is quick and simple to create along with being incredibly delicious, especially if also mixed with some Italian sausage as well.

Naturally though, due to already being crammed full of an assortment of flavours, an overly potent extra component will be unnecessary. As such, the more mild and buttery acorn squash is a wonderful way to add some subtle creamy sweetness to the dish along with some extra nuance to the texture. These can be incorporated into the dish by either chopping them into cubes and mixing them into the pasta itself or by serving a deliciously seasoned and roasted acorn squash on the side.

Spinach Salad With Goat Cheese And Walnuts

If you’re wanting a lighter and fresh feeling dish to serve with your acorn squash then a simple salad consisting of spinach is an excellently nutritious, light and delicious option. This is especially so when coated in a deliciously vinaigrette or oil dressing such as balsamic vinegar or olive oil. Truly this option is great when you want something that is satisfying but not too heavy as the combination of flavours and textures will be deliciously diverse without making you want to have a nap.

When serving some acorn squash with a spinach, goat cheese and walnut salad, the best and best way to do so is to simply mix them in with the rest of the salad. The result of doing this is truly perfect as it will add that extra layer of mildly sweet and buttery goodness.

Another modification you can make to truly sell this salad though would be to add some freshly sliced apples to the mix. These will add an extra soft crunch texture along with some added sweetness and sharpness that will pair perfectly with the other elements of your salad.

Potato Scallops

If you want a rich saucy side dish that isn’t completely overpowering in terms of flavour then some scalloped potatoes make for an excellent option. These are similar to potato dauphinoise or au gratin potatoes. However, scalloped potatoes are a baked potato dish that uses layers of sliced potatoes in a herby creamy sauce to make a delicious dish for near enough any main.

The reason that this makes for the ideal side to acorn squash is that the creamy sauce is deliciously rich without being too overpowering in terms of flavour. Instead, the creamy and earthy sauce, along with the earthy potatoes will combine wonderfully with the flavours of the buttery and sweet acorn squash in a way that is a decadent and delicious treat for your taste buds.

Additionally, the mix in textures from the potatoes provides a wonderful contrast of crispy and fluffy to the soft and slightly dry squash. Meanwhile, if you decide to make cheesy scalloped potatoes then the extra sharp flavours will play wonderfully with the tastes and textures of the creamy sauce, the potatoes and of course the acorn squash.

Pancakes

Pancakes are of course a classic breakfasts staple food that can be eaten within either a sweet or savoury context. As such, pairing them with an equally versatile fruit like acorn squash is truly a match made in heaven as the mildly buttery and sweet flavours of the squash can play well with both sweet and savoury ingredients.

For a sweet and simple recipe some pancakes with unsalted butter, lemon juice and acorn squash puree make for a deliciously light, refreshing, varied and ultimately delicious. Here the zesty lemon and buttery sweet acorn squash puree will soak into the pancake and provide a wonderful contrast of flavour that is balanced perfectly with some melted buttery goodness.

For a more savoury option though, some ham or chicken with greater cheese and roasted cubes of seasoned acorn squash will provide a layered, rich and hearty dish. Meanwhile for a mix of sweet and savoury some acorn squash puree can be added to the classic combo of maple syrup and bacon in order to create a delicious dynamic of salty, savoury, sweet, buttery and slightly nutty.

Answered: What To Serve With Acorn Squash?

As shown by the array of options above there is truly a wide range of options at your disposal for pairing with some acorn squash. Truly no matter how you prepare your squash there will always be an excellent option to serve it with such as acorn squash puree with pancakes or roasted acorn squash and roasted chicken.

As such, the above should truly be a springboard for your own experimentation. As such, why not combine some of the suggestions listed above with some ideas of your own. You never know, the results may be truly heavenly and you may even discover a new go-to way for your to prepare and serve your own acorn squash recipe.

FAQ – What To Serve With Acorn Squash?