I love all types of squash, but butternut squash is one of my favorites. To be completely honest with you, I have steered away from it for a while, just because I was getting sick of the plain old roasted butternut squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Not to mention it always seemed to be hard and not soft enough. I like my squash to be nice and tender and soft. I finally figured out the trick to getting them soft…and I am a little embarrassed to admit, because, well…its common sense. But if you are like me and like your squash to be more on the softer side, cut them into smaller cubes…duh!
For this recipe, you want to use a lot of spices. For any squash recipe really. In my opinion at least. Squash tastes good alone, but the taste can get kind of boring after a while. It’s nice to spice things up!
An abundance of onion powder, garlic powder, cinnamon, and sage is what makes this butternut squash taste so darn good. The maple syrup gives it a delicious sweet taste and the cinnamon and sage with the maple creates the most amazing flavors.
For the maple syrup, you want to make sure you use 100% real. Not the artificial stuff. 100% pure maple syrup is a great alternative for sugar to sweeten things up. The sugar in maple syrup is all natural, and actually good for you in moderation.
Gosh, this recipe is so so simple. Chop up your butternut squash into small cubes. Add all of your spices, maple syrup, olive oil, mix around. Add to a baking sheet, bake, and enjoy! Sounds pretty simple to me, and it is!
My mouth is watering as I write this post, and upload these close-up photos. And that sage…its beautiful in color and taste!
It’s important to make sure that when adding your squash to the baking sheet to make sure that they are all laid out evenly, and not on top of each other so everyone cooks evenly.
You may have some leftover liquid in your bowl from the olive oil and syrup when you are dumping your squash on to the pan. You don’t want to waste any of this goodness. Just drizzle it on top of your squash.
This would actually be the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving dinner. If you want to impress your guests, I highly recommend making this recipe!
Enjoy!