Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash made with roasted acorn squash filled with a sweet and savory sausage stuffing, perfect for a holiday or a weeknight fall dinner!

A sheet pan lined with parchment paper with four halves of acorn squash stuffed with ground sausage and vegetables and topped with melted mozzarella cheese and fresh parsley, with a spatula lifting one up.

Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash is easy enough for a weeknight dinner, but fancy enough for a holiday main dish or side dish. Plus, there’s not a ton of prep time, and it’s ready in just about an hour. This will definitely be one of your new favorite dinner recipes!

If you loved this recipe, you’ll also love my Cheesy Spaghetti Squash Casserole, and my Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms!

Table of contents

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Comfort Food – This is naturally sweet, savory, and hearty with sausage and parmesan cheese, perfect for after a long day.

Perfect for Holidays – This is really easy to make, but looks fancy enough to serve for a holiday dinner!

Ingredients You’ll Need

Individual ingredients for stuffed acorn squash on a table.

Acorn Squash. Pick a medium to large sized acorn squash with mostly green skin (and some orange).

You also want the skin to be matte instead of shiny, which lets you know that it ripened naturally and wasn’t picked too early.

Sausage. I like to use mild Italian sausage, but you can also use spicy. If you can’t find ground sausage, you can cut off and discard the casing from regular Italian sausages.

Just make sure the one you use is gluten free, because it can vary by brand.

Onion. I like to use Vidalia onions because they are on the sweeter side and have a really nice flavor. But a yellow onion or white onion will also work.

Celery. This adds a nice savory note to the stuffing.

Mushrooms. I use baby bella mushrooms, also called cremini mushrooms, but you can also use portobello mushrooms. This adds a really nice umami flavor to the stuffing.

Granny Smith Apple. This gives the stuffing a nice sweet note that helps balance out the savory notes of the other ingredients.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Just add a small amount of olive oil to keep everything from sticking to the pan while sautéing the stuffing mixture.

Parmesan. This adds a really nice cheesy savory note to the stuffing.

If you’re dairy-free you can add nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor, but you won’t need to add as much as the parmesan.

Gluten Free Breadcrumbs. This helps hold everything together and soaks up some of the liquid released in the stuffing. You can use plain or Italian breadcrumbs.

If you’re not gluten free, just use the regular ones.

Mozzarella. I like to top the squash with some shredded mozzarella cheese just before baking. You don’t have to add this, but it’s nice for presentation. You can also use cheddar cheese or goat cheese.

Kitchen Tools

For this recipe, you’ll need a regular sized sheet pan (half sheet pan) lined with parchment paper, and a large saute pan with high sides.

How to Make Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash

Four halves of acorn squash open-side-up after being roasted with olive oil and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spray the open side of the squash halves with cooking spray and season with pepper.

Place the squash open-side-down on the sheet pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a fork can pierce the squash easily. Remove from the oven, use tongs to turn the squash over, and allow to cool slightly.

A saute pan with onion, celery, mushrooms, and apple pieces being cooked.

While the squash is cooking, add the olive oil, onion, and celery to a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Cook until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the apple and mushrooms and cook an additional 5 minutes, stirring everything together.

A saute pan with cooked ground sausage and vegetables mixed together.

Add the sausage to the skillet and cook over medium-high heat, using the spatula to break it up into pieces as it cooks.

Saute everything together until the sausage is browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Stir in the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese until well combined.

A sheet pan lined with parchment paper with four acorn squash halves full of stuffing and topped with shredded mozzarella cheese before being stuffed.

Stuff the squash halves evenly with the sausage mixture and top with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and turning golden brown.

Recipe Variations

  • Make this spicy by using spicy Italian sausage, or adding a dash of cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes.
  • Try adding more veggies like bell peppers, zucchini, spinach, kale, or carrots. Or fall vegetables like butternut squash, cubed pumpkin, or parsnips.
  • Make a mediterranean version by adding cherry tomatoes and feta cheese instead of parmesan.
  • Instead of individual seasonings, try adding Italian seasoning and marinara sauce for a pizza version.
  • Try adding a tablespoon of maple syrup for a sweet and savory fall version.
  • I add apples for a touch of sweetness, but you can also try raisins or dried cranberries.
  • For more carbs, you can add some cooked rice to the stuffing. You can use white rice, brown rice, or wild rice.
  • You can also make these with ground beef or ground turkey, but it won’t have the sausage flavor.

Recipe Tip! Take a small slice of acorn squash from the bottom of each half (where it sits on the sheet pan). This will make each half have a flat bottom, so they won’t roll around when you’re serving them.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can you make this stuffed acorn squash recipe lighter?

If you want to make this recipe a little bit lighter, you can make it with ground turkey or ground chicken. Then just add some sausage seasoning like fennel seeds, caraway seeds, garlic, thyme, sage, cloves, and nutmeg. It will have a lot of the same flavors of pork sausage with a lot less fat.

Recipe Tip! After scooping the seeds out of the squash, check to see how much space that leaves you. It can very depending on the squash, you may need to scoop out a little more to fit the stuffing.

More Squash Recipes

Storage

Refrigerate leftover stuffed acorn squash for 2-3 days in an airtight container.

Freeze leftover squash in a freezer-safe container for 2-3 months.

Cooking Tips

  • The acorn squash is finished roasting when a fork can pierce through the skin easily. At this point, remove it from the oven and use a pair of tongs to flip the squash over to cool before stuffing it.
  • If your cutting board is moving around while you work, wet a kitchen towel and place it under the board. Try to move it and make sure it’s secure before cutting anything, it should help keep it from moving.
  • Cook the sausage all the way through in the skillet. After stuffing the squash, it’ll only be in the oven long enough to melt the cheese on top.
  • We’re pre-cooking the veggies because they can release water while they’re cooking, and this way the stuffing will stay together.
  • Try to pick your squash so they’re about the same size. This helps ensure that they finish cooking at the same time.
  • I like to line the baking sheet with parchment paper, but you can also just grease it to make sure the squash doesn’t stick while it’s roasting.
  • If your stuffing is looking really dry, you can add a splash of vegetable broth or white wine. Just don’t add too much, you don’t want it to be really wet.
A sheet pan lined with parchment paper with four halves of acorn squash stuffed with ground sausage and vegetables and topped with melted mozzarella cheese and fresh parsley.

Tried this recipe? ⭐ Leave a review and share what worked best for you—your tips help other home cooks get the same delicious results!

A sheet pan lined with parchment paper with four halves of acorn squash stuffed with ground sausage and vegetables and topped with melted mozzarella cheese and fresh parsley, with a spatula lifting one up.

Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash

Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash made with roasted acorn squash filled with a sweet and savory sausage stuffing, perfect for a holiday or a weeknight fall dinner!
5 from 2 votes
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Author: Jacqui
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients
 
 

  • 2 medium acorn squash, cut in half vertically, seeds removed
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 pound mild Italian ground sausage
  • 1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped
  • 2 medium celery stalks, chopped
  • 1 medium granny smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
  • 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
  • 1/2 cup gluten free breadcrumbs, plain
  • 4 ounces baby bella mushrooms, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Equipment

  • 1 half sheet pan
  • 1 large skillet

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spray the open side of the squash halves with cooking spray and season with pepper.
  • Place the squash open-side-down on the sheet pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a fork can pierce the squash easily. Remove from the oven, use a pair of tongs to flip over, and allow to cool.
  • While the squash is cooking, add the olive oil, onion, and celery to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the apple and mushrooms and cook an additional 5 minutes, stirring everything together.
  • Add the sausage to the skillet and cook over medium-high heat, using the spatula to break it up into pieces as it cooks. Saute everything together until the sausage is browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Stir in the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese until well combined.
  • Stuff the squash halves evenly with the sausage mixture and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and turning golden brown.

Notes

Click on the time in the instructions to start a timer!
Storage
Refrigerate for 2-3 days in an airtight container.
Freeze in a freezer-safe container for 2-3 months.
Cooking Tips
  • Take a small slice of acorn squash from the bottom of each half (where it sits on the sheet pan). This will make each half have a flat bottom, so they won’t roll around when you’re serving them.
  • The acorn squash is finished roasting when a fork can pierce through the skin easily. Remove it from the oven and use a pair of tongs to flip the squash over to cool before stuffing it.
  • If your cutting board is moving around while you work, wet a kitchen towel and place it under the board. Try to move it and make sure it’s secure before cutting anything, it should help keep it from moving.
  • Cook the sausage all the way through in the skillet. After stuffing the squash, it’ll only be in the oven long enough to melt the cheese on top.
  • Try to pick your acorn squash so they’re about the same size. This helps ensure that they finish cooking at the same time.
  • After scooping the seeds out of the squash, check to see how much space that leaves you. You may need to scoop out a little more to fit the stuffing.

Nutrition

Calories: 742kcal (37%)Carbohydrates: 49g (16%)Protein: 28g (56%)Fat: 50g (77%)Saturated Fat: 18g (113%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 23gCholesterol: 108mg (36%)Sodium: 1155mg (50%)Potassium: 1480mg (42%)Fiber: 6g (25%)Sugar: 5g (6%)Vitamin A: 1005IU (20%)Vitamin C: 38mg (46%)Calcium: 301mg (30%)Iron: 4mg (22%)
Did you make this recipe?Share it on Instagram @Jacqui_DishingDelish and tag #dishingdelish!

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