Recipes » Hasselback Butternut Squash with Bacon and Apple

Hasselback Butternut Squash with Bacon and Apple

ByJulie Menghini Published onOctober 28, 2016August 17, 2022 Modified onAugust 17, 2022

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Hasselback Butternut Squash with Bacon and Apple is sweet, savory, and smokey. This tender and delicious butternut squash recipe is delicious oven-baked or grilled.

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A metal plate holding a butternut squash that is sliced and filled with bacon and apple then sprinkled with rosemary. A fork sits off to the side.

Hasselback Butternut Squash recipe is naturally sweet and buttery. Stuffing it with bacon and apple makes it a show-stopper!

This simple recipe turns out tender and delicious whether it’s oven-baked or grilled. It makes a great side dish or a complete meal.

Our recipe is a no-fuss butternut squash recipe can easily be made vegetarian or vegan.

We love cooking squash. It’s delicious in so many ways. It’s also very versatile.

WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT SQUASH!

Any recipe that you use with sweet potatoes or other squash varieties can be exchanged with butternut squash. The density and mild flavor are very much the same.
Squash is loaded with vitamins and fiber.

Pin it now!

Butternut squash sliced and baked with apple, bacon, and rosemary on a metal plate.

How to choose the perfect Butternut Squash

You can find butternut squash in grocery stores all year long. However, the peak time is summer through fall.
Butternut squash should be a beige color and the peeling should have a matte look.
- If it’s shiny, it’s not ripe yet.
- It’s alright to have blemishes but you don’t want any punctures or cuts.
Pick a squash that feels heavy for its size and you want the stem intact. That will keep the squash fresh longer.

So many squash varieties store amazingly well. By keeping squash in a cool, dark, and well-ventilated area, they will last for 3 months or more.

Check the squash regularly. Once they start to soften or show signs of rot, it’s time to throw them out.

Grocery list for Hasselback Butternut Squash with Bacon

Butternut Squash – This recipe makes 4 side dish servings using only one squash.
Bacon – Use your favorite! We like the thicker hickory-smoked variety.
Granny Smith Apple – These apples are firm and can bake at the same rate as the squash.
- Braeburn and Honey Crisp are also among our favorite apples to bake. Resist the softer varieties.
Vegetable Stock or Broth – We use low-sodium.
Herbs – Fresh herbs go so well with the flavor profile of a naturally sweet squash. We love rosemary, thyme, sage, or marjoram. Use one or mix them up.
Maple Syrup – This does two things.
- It adds another sweet flavor to the naturally sweet butternut squash.
- It also helps the other ingredients bind with the squash.
Pepper – We like the contrast with the other flavors.

Note – We don’t salt the squash because of the salt the bacon adds. If you skip the bacon, you can salt it.

We love adding butter and brown sugar to our baked squash recipes but it’s not needed in this recipe!

Now, there is bacon…lots of bacon, and I just can’t apologize. Hasselback Bacon Apple Butternut Squash is delicious!

How to Bake Butternut Squash

We decided to cut it using the Hasselback method for a couple of reasons.

Squash is a dense vegetable. Slicing it thinly helps the whole dish cook at the same rate. It also helped to infuse more apple and bacon flavors into the squash.

Wash the entire squash. We use a vegetable brush.
- Any bacteria on the outside of the squash will be transformed into the flesh when you cut it.
Remove the stem and microwave the entire squash for 3-1/2 minutes.
- This short spurt will make cutting the squash easier to cut open.
- Handle it with a potholder or paper towel. Even though it doesn’t bake the squash, it will be hot.
Peel the squash with a vegetable peeler.
Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds.
- We use a large spoon but you can also use an ice cream scoop.
Slice the squash into 1/4-inch slices.
- Be careful not to cut through the bottom. If you do, don’t worry, it will still be delicious.
- We use this thicker slice because it is consistent with the size of our bacon and apple slices.
Insert the bacon and apple slices alternating in between the squash slices.
Combine the vegetable stock and maple syrup and pour it over the squash.
- We don’t pre-bake our squash before adding the ingredients so we use a 9×13 baking dish to catch the liquids.
- If you grill this recipe, use a dish that’s safe for the grill or wrap it in aluminum foil and set it in a grill-save pan. we open the foil for the last 20 minutes to let it gain color and crisp the bacon.
Sprinkle the squash with pepper and herbs
Bake until fork-tender, approximately 1 hour.
- We spoon the juices over the squash a couple of times while it’s cooking and will garnish it with fresh herbs after it’s baked.

One squash is a good four servings.

The first half pictured above was cooked on a grill at about 375°F using lump charcoal. This is a 25°F warmer than the oven to compensate for losing heat when we spoon the juices over the squash.

The second half pictured below was oven-baked at 350°F.

They were both amazing and as you can see no differences.

If you enjoy this recipe, here are a few more you may like

If you like this recipe, we would appreciate your comment and a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review!

Even though we didn’t add a bunch of butter and sugar to this recipe, you would never know it. It tasted sweet, tender, and buttery all by itself. The apple, herbs, and bacon gave it a great savory contrast.

Hasselback Butternut Squash with Bacon & Apple

Author: Hostess At Heart

Hasselback Bacon Apple Butternut Squash tastes like it’s loaded with butter and brown sugar but it’s all natural sweetness.

5 from 3 votes

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 15

Course Side, Vegetable

Cuisine American

Keyword: Hasselback Bacon Apple Butternut Squash

Servings:

Ingredients

1 Butternut squash
1/2 lb bacon sliced into thirds
1 Granny Smith apple cut in half, cored and sliced thinly
1 cup vegetable stock
1/4 cup maple syrup
Fresh rosemary chopped
Black pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F
Cut off each end of the squash. Place it in the microwave for 3-1/2 minutes. Remove and holding it with a towel, remove skin with a sharp vegetable peeler. Cut the squash in half and remove seeds.
Slice the squash into 1/4-inch slices. Be careful not to go completely through.
Alternating the bacon and apple, fill the slices. Place in a baking dish.
Combine maple syrup and vegetable stock. Whisk to combine and pour over the squash.
Top with a sprinkle of black pepper and fresh rosemary.
Bake for 1 hour or until squash is softened, spooning juice over squash occasionally.

Notes

Microwaving the squash makes it much easier to peel and slice.

If you grill this recipe, use a dish that’s safe for the grill or wrap it in aluminum foil and set it in a grill-save pan. we open the foil for the last 20 minutes to let it gain color and crisp the bacon.

The temperature can be increased by 25°F to allow for heat escape.

Nutrition

Calories: 401kcalCarbohydrates: 43gProtein: 9gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 620mgPotassium: 866mgFiber: 4gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 20100IUVitamin C: 41.5mgCalcium: 117mgIron: 1.6mg

Nutritional Disclaimer

This recipe was calculated using the exact brands and measurements I used to make this recipe. If you are following a strict diet please note changing anything will cause the nutritional info to change. My calculations are intended as a guide only.

Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!

We are eating so much more squash than we used to, and this is one of our favorite ways!

I’d love it if you’d leave me a comment and let me know what your favorite way to eat squash is!