Stuffed Hubbard squash recipe with rice
There is nothing quite like a blue squash for a showstopper. This stuffed Hubbard squash recipe is perfect for your holiday table, but is also right at home on the weekday dinner menu.
The filling is made from a wild rice blend, apples, onions and ground pork or sausage. You can easily omit the meat to make it a vegan stuffed hubbard squash.
We are deep into fall and all the squash is in season. Now is the perfect time to make this delicious autumn dinner.
Hubbard squash recipe
As you can see from the photo below, most of the ingredients are things you probably have on your counter or in the cabinets.
The recipe is easily customized – use brown rice or plain white rice, or even farro, if that’s what you have. You can swap out walnuts for pecans, depending upon your pantry.
I had fully intended to use sausage in this recipe and then discovered that I didn’t have any, but I did have ground pork. So, I seasoned the ground pork like sausage and voilà.
If you can’t find this blue variety, use an orange or golden Hubbard squash. You could also use an acorn squash, as those are easily available everywhere.
How to cook this beauty
A small Hubbard squash is not too difficult to cut open. If I’m going to stuff a squash for dinner, I look for the smallest ones I can find, which are still fairly big.
To cut it open, slice the two ends off and stand it up – just like you would do with a melon. Use a sharp chef’s knife to cut straight down the middle.
Once you’ve split it in half, scoop out the seeds. Now we’re ready to roast it.
Drizzle a bit of olive oil inside and season with salt and pepper. Roast cut side down (this helps trap the heat and steam to cook the flesh) until it is tender.
This squash isn’t just made for stuffing, although it does make the perfect vessel. These hubbard squash lasagna rolls are absolutely out of this world.
Wild rice, apple and pork sausage filling
This has become one of our favorite hubbard squash recipes. The flavors are a classic combination and work so well with the earthiness of the squash.
The first step in making the filling is cook your meat, if using. Cook the sausage in a large stainless steel frying pan. To use ground pork, like I did, cook the pork and use the seasoning listed in the notes of the recipe below.
Next, sauté the apples and onions together.
We’re not looking for caramelization, just a little color and softened onions.
Then, add all of the ingredients for the stuffing to the pan and cook for a few minutes to let the flavors come together.
Fill the squash with the stuffing and roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
This recipe is fall comfort food. Filled with a delicious combination of pork, apples and onions, with a little crunch from the pecans, it makes a hearty dinner that fills you up without leaving you feeling heavy.
Whether it’s on your holiday table or served for a weeknight dinner, this beautiful stuffed squash is a delicious meal that the whole family will love.
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Stuffed Hubbard Squash Recipe with Rice
Ingredients
- 2 – 2 lb. Hubbard squashes
- 1 lb. pork sausage or ground pork
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 large apple diced
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups wild rice blend cooked
- 1/4 cup pecans roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp. fresh herbs for garnish if desired – parsley, chives, marjoram, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 177°C / Gas Mark 4
- Cut squashes in half and scoop out seeds. (Reserve seeds for roasting, if desired)
- Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil over the inside of the squash halves and season with half of the salt and pepper.
- Roast, cut side down, for 30 minutes.
- While squash is in the oven, start the filling: In a large sauté pan, cook the sausage (if using ground pork, see note below).
- When sausage is no longer pink, add apples and onions to the pan. Season with remaining salt and pepper.
- Cook for 7 – 8 minutes, until onions are translucent and softened.
- Add cooked rice and pecans to the pan and stir to combine.
- Cook filling for 5 – 6 minutes over medium low heat, then set aside to cool.
- Remove squash from oven, carefully flip over, (steam will escape from under the squash) and let cool for a few minutes.
- Fill squash, evenly dividing the filling between the 4 halves, cover with foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
- Remove foil and bake uncovered for 5 more minutes to give the top a bit of color. Garnish with herbs, if desired.
Video
Notes
How to season ground pork
Add to one pound of ground pork to season like sausage:- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. rubbed sage
- 1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
- 1/2 tsp. rosemary
- 1/4 tsp. onion powder
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp. allspice
Nutrition
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ooh man, was this ever good! Could not find Hubbard squash, but used what we think is a kobachu squash. I over roasted the squash and so the sides fell in after I took it out of the oven, but I popped them back out and packed that boy with all the filling I could. Four halves did not use all the filling, but I’ve been given lots of ideas about that, too. The flavors were so fresh and clean and complemented each other so well.
Hi RuthAnn! Thank you so much!!!! Kabocha squash is a perfect substitute 🙂 I’m so happy that you liked it! <3
Did you mean 1-1/2 cups of cooked rice blend? 1-1/2 cups uncooked, then cooked which is how your recipe reads would make a lot of rice.
Corie, the recipe states “1 1/2 cups wild rice blend, cooked”, which means the rice is already cooked.
Wonderful recipe idea with ground pork for a change. I cooked the ground pork and added diced dried dates I reconstituted in apple juice, rice and just shredded and added in the apples before adding to squash. Was delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Thanks so much, Barbara! I’m glad you enjoyed it!