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This Harvest Stuffed Acorn Squash is a delicious, hearty, sweet and savory dish. The perfect fall recipe featuring acorn squash stuffed with a mixture of pork sausage, kale, onion, and apples!
*Photos and recipes updated September 1, 2019
Happy September 1st and FALL! I can’t believe summer is officially over. It’s now acceptable to post pumpkin spice errrrything and all the fall recipes! I absolutely love fall cooking – the flavors, the herbs, the way it makes your house smell amazing. I’m here for all of it. This Harvest Stuffed Acorn Squash is one of my favorite recipes to make. It’s easy, delicious, and makes great leftovers. The filling also makes a great egg-free breakfast hash! (or you can top it with an egg as another delicious option.)
Acorn squash is one of my favorites. It’s naturally sweet, and makes an incredible dish on its own with a little ghee, salt, and cinnamon. You can cut the squash in half lengthwise or width wise – it’s totally up to you. I used Butcher Box heritage breed pork to make my own sausage in this recipe, but you can absolutely remove that step and use any compliant sausage you can find.
Honeycrisp apples are my all-time favorite. I love their flavor in this recipe!
Looking for some other fall recipes? Check out my Instant Pot Pumpkin Turkey Chili or Creamy Cashew Pumpkin Spice Latte!
Ok, let’s get cookin’!
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Harvest Stuffed Acorn Squash
Ingredients
Sausage (if making your own)
- 1 tbsp olive oil, or avocado oil
- 1 lb ground pork
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 tsp dried sage
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
Remaining Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium sized acorn squash, halved and pointy end chopped off, so it stands easily without tipping over
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 cups kale, stems removed and chopped
- 1 apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
- ½ onion, chopped
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 1 tsp thyme
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp fresh apple cider or apple juice, check ingredients to ensure it's 100% juice!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400. Place squash halves on a foil-lined baking sheet (cut side up) and spray with a bit of olive oil. Add a dash of salt and pepper and cinnamon to each half. Bake for 45 minutes or until tender.
- Meanwhile, begin making the sausage. Heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the pork, salt, pepper, sage, cloves, fennel seeds, paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and onion powder. Saute for 5-7 minutes until cooked through. Remove from the pan using a slotted spoon and set aside.
- In the same pan where you cooked the sausage, add the remaining tbsp of olive oil. Add the apples, onion, kale, rosemary, thyme, and cayenne pepper. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Saute until the veggies soften, 5-7 minutes. Add the pork back into the pan. Add the apple cider and stir, using the spoon to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- When the squash is done, let them cool for about 5 mins. You may need to scoop a little bit of the flesh out of the squash to make room - just add it to the stuffing! Spoon the mixture into the squash, dividing evenly between all 4. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
All nutrition facts are an estimate and automatically calculated. While I fact check them using My Fitness Pal, please note that they may not always be 100% accurate and depend on ingredients used. Weigh your total and divide by the number of servings for the most accurate grams per serving size.
Sooo delicious! I added about a tablespoon of maple syrup too.
Thanks Jenna!
Made this recipe and couldn’t get over how great these flavors all blend together!!! Made a meatless version as well using Big Mountain ® Lion’s Mane Mushroom Crumble in place of the sausage.
Thanks Kit!
Another hit by Mary! This recipe smells and tastes like Fall.
Oh yum! This was just the perfect fall meal. So good!
Can you use Italian sausage in this recipe?
Made it tonight- a family hit! Thank you:)
How oh how do you make kale CRAVABLE. Good work!
If you love sweet and savory, which I do, then this is a no-brainer! So good, so simple.
This is the best thing I have ever eaten! Omg sooooo good!
We made this last night and it was delicious and super easy!! Highly recommend!
Thanks, Katie! <3
This is so tasty! Loved the sausage seasoning!
Thanks Rachel! I’m so glad you loved it!