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I love the fall because the weather begins to get cooler. It means that it is time to fire up the oven and do some baking and make some great fall meals. Living in a relatively small house in South Carolina, I avoid using the over when it’s hot out. It just heats my house up way too much! I will be the first to admit that I haven’t really done a lot of cooking with any of the winter squash. But I do love summer zucchini and yellow squash. I am pushing myself to try new things, and stuffed acorn squash sounded like a good place to start.
I have been intrigued to try some new squash recipes to see what I like. It’s always good to try new things! I had seen other recipes for stuffed acorn squash that looked really good. And so I decided that I wanted to make my own recipe. I am pretty darn pleased with how it turned out because trust me, not every recipe I work to create for this website turns out well! In fact, some of them have been downright disgusting!
Choice of meat
Some recipes call for sausage, but I really wanted to use ground beef since I have lots of grass-fed ground beef in the freezer. So I got creative and added ingredients that I really enjoy and came up with this recipe. I did not use any grains in this recipe, so it is grain-free, but there is dairy in it. That also makes it naturally gluten-free as well!
I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this recipe the first time I made it! There is a subtle sweetness to the acorn squash that complements the savory ingredients. Not overpowering, but a nice balance. This now has become a fall and winter recipe staple for me. Now that I’m alone, I half the recipe and eat one of the servings reheated the next day for lunch. it reheats wonderfully!
Stuffed Acorn Squash
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef pasture raised preferred
- 2 acorn squash cut in half and seeds removed
- 1/2 cup onion chopped
- 1/2 cup mushrooms finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese shredded and divided
- 1 egg beaten
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tbsp arrowroot powder
- 1-2 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp unrefined sea salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Spread the butter over the cut side of the acorn squash
- Sprinkle some salt and pepper over the squash
- Place the squash, cut side down onto a baking dish
- Cook at 350 for 1 hour or until it is soft
- While the squash is cooking, brown the ground beef.
- Add the garlic, onions and mushrooms and cook until the onions are translucent
- In a small bowl, beat the egg.
- Add milk and 1/4 cup of cheese.
- Add milk mixture to the beef mixture and mix well.
- Add the arrowroot powder and seasonings and stir well.
- Allow mixture to thicken for about 5 minutes
- Stuff beef mixture into the cooked acorn squash
- Top with remaining cheese
- Bake for 30 minutes
Silly question, but do you brown the beef all the way before adding the garlic, mushrooms and onions? Or do you throw it all in at the beginning while the beef is still raw?
Not silly at all! I always go ahead and add the garlic, mushrooms and onions right to the raw ground beef and let them all cook up together. They are getting fully cooked in the skillet and then also baked in the oven, so you don’t have to worry about any salmonella or similar issue. Easy peasy! 🙂
Any guess on calorie count per half?
Sorry, I don’t have a calorie count for this.
I loved this recipe. I did not have mushrooms on hand so made it without them and it was still delicious. For those who are allergic to dairy (as I am) I used goat cheddar cheese and it worked well and was very savory. Since I am only cooking for two, I had enough stuffing mix to freeze for use with my spaghetti squash portion for later.
Yay! This is one of my favorite dishes this time of year so I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I love the goat cheese substitution!