This recipe for stuffed acorn squash with brown rice, kale, cranberries and pecans is a delicious and creative use for acorn squash that can be prepared ahead of time and easily reheated for lunches and dinners throughout the week. It’s a perfect fall meal that can be prepared meatless or with chopped or shredded chicken or turkey.
I am in full fall food mode and have been buying up all the winter squash at the farmers market. This recipe idea came to me when I was looking for something to do with my acorn squash other than roast it and eat it. I think acorn squash lends itself perfectly to stuffing so I decided to create a filling that featured some of my favorite fall flavors like hearty brown rice, kale, toasted pecans and cranberries.
I started by roasting my acorn squash. I pre-roasted it until it was tender and nearly cooked through. While it was roasting I cooked the rice and assembled the filling.
The filling is a mix of sautéed onion, shallots, kale and garlic with pecans, dried cranberries and fresh sage.
The sautéed kale mixture is stirred into the rice. I also added some shredded cooked chicken to my filling but it’s definitely not necessary and if you’re going for a meatless meal, you won’t miss it. Looking forward to Thanksgiving, this would also be a great use for leftover turkey.
Here are the pre-roasted squash halves piled high with the kale, pecan and cranberry stuffing.
Because I think cheese almost always makes everything better, I added a sprinkle of gouda cheese to my stuffed acorn squash. You could absolutely skip the cheese if you want to keep this dairy-free.
I popped the squash back in the oven to finish cooking with the stuffing, The house smelled wonderful while it was cooking and I can promise you that the taste matches up to the presentation and aromas. This stuffed acorn squash is a simple, one-dish meal and one of my favorite fall recipes that I have ever created.
Stuffed Acorn Squash with Brown Rice, Kale, Cranberries and Pecans
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Acorn Squash Stuffed with Brown Rice, Kale, Cranberries and Pecans
- Prep Time: 45
- Cook Time: 24
- Total Time: 1 hour 9 minutes
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
Description
Stuffed Acorn Squash with Brown Rice, Kale, Cranberries and Pecans
Ingredients
- 2 acorn squash
- 2 cups cooked brown rice (or quinoa)
- 1/2 large onion
- 2 cups chopped fresh kale
- 1 small shallot, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus a little more
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans, lightly toasted
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1 tablespoon butter (optional but highly suggested)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage, finely diced
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 cup shredded cheese (mozzarella, white cheddar, gouda, monterey jack, etc)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place squash flesh side down in a baking dish and add about 1 inch of water to the pan. Loosely cover with foil and place in oven to bake until tender, about 30-45 minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare rice according to package directions. While rice and squash are cooking, sauté the onion, kale and shallots in a large pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Once onions are soft and translucent and kale has wilted down, add the garlic and cook for about 1-2 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in pecans and cranberries. Place cooked rice in a bowl and add butter and salt/pepper to taste. Add the sautéed veggie mixture and fresh sage and toss to combine. Season again to taste with salt and pepper.
- Remove squash from the oven and carefully flip flesh side up. Pour any remaining water out of the baking dish. Fill the squash with the stuffing mixture, letting it overflow a bit. Top with cheese if desired. Return to the oven and cook for another 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and everything is heated through.
Lately my favorite way to use brown rice is to put it in burritos. I cook up some spicy tomatoes, onions, and beans and add in the rice and put it all in a wrap , top with hot sauce, and deeeelicious.
I love Success rice! It makes for a very easy fried rice that is soo yummy.
I love to make a healthier version of fried rice at home with tons of veggies.
I love brown rice on burritos! They really add to the full factor.
brown rice broccoli and cheese casserole at Thanksgiving…yum!
I love the look of this recipe! I eat brown rice all of the time because I love the texture, especially when used in stir fry recipes!
I love brown rice with stir-fried vegetables… but I agree, often the long cooking time makes me avoid it.
Stir fry — or health fried rice!
I mostly use it in stuffed peppers.
I love to eat brown rice with stir-fry!
My favorite way to eat rice is in bean burritos!
This recipe looks delicious!! My mom makes a delicious beef and veggie stew and puts brown rice in it. Yum!
I love brown rice & stir fry 🙂
I love keeping brown rice simple! I just love the nutty flavor it has alone!
I have used brown rice stuffed in acron squash before but your recipe looks even better than the one I made.
I make a killer pilaf with brown and wild rice, nuts and dried fruit. Yum!
Although not traditional, rice krispies are one of my favorite holiday treats! I think little rice krispie christmas trees are the cutest!
I love using brown rice to make a quick stir fry dinner. Chicken, beef, or shrimp with some veggies- easy, healthy and delicious!
brown rice + crumbled veggie burger + salsa + parmesan
I love black bean soup with brown rice. I make the soup and rice separately then put them together just before eating. Delicious.
I love using brown rice in veggie burgers!
love putting it in salads 🙂
I love mixing rice with parm cheese and broccoli.
Stir fry is my most requested meal by the fam. I just made it last night as a matter of fact!
Oh my gosh. This looks so good!! Favorite way to enjoy brown rice? Honestly, plain!! HA I just love the nutty flavor and chewy texture 🙂
My favorite holiday rice dish is paella marinera. It’s my favorite!
I love using brown rice to make stuffed peppers and a healthy at home version of fried rice 🙂
My favorite way to use brown rice is under stir fry veggies.
My family really likes stuffed bell peppers. I mix brown rice, black beans, jalapeños, onions, tomatoes, and ground turkey together, stuff the bell peppers, cover in tomatoe sauce and bake. Add shredded cheese just before they are done. Yummy! I make mine meatless!
I’m a big fan of rice with stir fries. This recipe sounds amazing, though-I love acorn squash, but needed a change from eating it plain!
Brown rice in stuffed peppers! I would love to find a great homemade rice & beans recipe rather than the packaged recipes though.
I love making sushi rolls with avocado, cucumber, salmon, or shrimp, and brown rice. Best combo!
First, that looks absolutely delicious. I made something similar the other day and was very pleased. I am a huge fan of using brown rice as the base to my stir fry dinners. It always adds a nice touch and healthy carbs.
I would definitely do a stir fry!
This looks really good. We have eaten so much fall squash already this season too!!! We use brown rice as a base for our curries or roasted veggies.
I love brown rice in homemade burrito bowls!
Question….did you reheat the acorn squash when you got home or eat it cold? If so, microwave/oven and for how long? This recipe sounds super tasty!
I like to make chicken rice bake with brown rice
My favorite way to use brown rice is by making a veggie stir fry with all fresh local grown veggies.
I’m so basic/boring but I use Trader Joes microwave organic brown rice as a base for a simple lunch— brown rice, beans, chicken, veggies, some type of sauce– easy and healthy!
I love pairing brown rice with black bean chili!
I love topping my salads with some leftover brown rice!
My new favorite way to use brown rice is the same recipe! I made it last week and loved it!
i’m the same way… I love to have brown rice as a side with dinner, but I don’t like to wait for it to cook. I will def be checking out Success rice now that I know the bag is BPA free.
I love adding rice to chicken lettuce wraps or adding some to my salad to change things up!
I love using brown rice as a base to a delicious stir fry with a lot of veggies and shrimp.
I cook brown rice in chicken stock then add shredded rotisserie chicken for a quick chicken and rice soup.
My favorite holiday rice dish is cranberry walnut rice.
I love making a Lebanese dish called hushwee with brown rice. It’s amazing!! Rice, shredded chicken, ground beef, pine nuts and lots of ethnic spices
My favorite way is in “burrito bowls” with homemade black beans, avocado, and lots of salsa. So good!
I love putting brown rice into my homemade burrito bowls!
I love to use brown rice in stir fries!
Lately I’ve been loving homemade rice bowls with brown rice, vegetables, chickpeas and salsa as an autumn alternative to quick summer salads. So easy to bring to work for lunch!
I love using brown rice in my stuffed ground turkey peppers!
I always used to make brown rice that took 50 minutes to cook…recently started using instant and I don’t know why I didn’t sooner! I love making brown rice bowls with lots of roasted veggies, beans, and cheese. Yum!
I love using brown rice to make fried veggie brown rice. I also like to mix it with squash!
We use brown rice mostly in stir-fry dishes. Love your blog!
I love to make homemade ‘chipotle-style’ burrito bowls with brown rice, spiced chicken, veggies, beans, salsa, and guac. It is way cheaper to make the same thing at home!
I made a thai red curry beef stew this weekend in the crockpot and have been putting that over rice. soooo delicious!
I love to enjoy Brown rice mixed in wild rice soup.
I mix it with black beans, sliced avocado, salsa and cheese for a super-quick, satisfying, healthy dinner.
I use brown rice in my homemade burrito bowls and in stir fry. Rice pudding is a favorite holiday dessert of mine!
I like to use brown rice to make rice pudding. Add some cinnamon, raisins milk, eggs and some maple syrup. It’s amazing!
I use brown rice in my burrito bowls, with fried rice,, or to bulk up a soup or chiki
my favorite rice dish is a recipe my mom makes for the holidays, especially when there are a bunch of people around. It’s shrimp fried rice, but it’s got so many delicious ingredients in one pot! Shrimp, egg, bacon, green onion, garlic, rice Yummm.
Stuffed peppers with rice must be my favorite!
I love using brown rice in vegan stir-fry:)
I really like it with chicken coconut curry.
I’m going to go a different route and say I love a bowl of rice with a little cinnamon, sugar and milk – SO Good and makes me think of the holidays 🙂
My favorite way to eat brown rice is with a veggie stir-fry!
I love to mix kale, sweet potato and chicken in with brown rice.
I love serving brown rice with steamed veggies. I know this sounds random. But mashing avocado and brown rice is really delicious!
brown rice pudding w/ mangos and coconut milk……. yum!
I love brown rice with veggies of any sort, but especially spinach and butternut squash!
Love using brown rice for homemade burrito bowls!
I love brown rice in veggie stir-fries and burrito bowls!
I like brown rice porridge instead of oatmeal for breakfast.
i love using brown rice with stirfrys!
I always use the boil in bag brown rice to make stuffed peppers. It’s so quick and easy and helps so much for easy dinners that I can reheat on busy days!
Brown rice makes homemade burrito bowls that much better!
I love eating brown rice with black or kidney beans!
I like to eat brown rice mixed with ground beef and sauteed zucchini. So good!
My favorite way to eat brown rice is with a vegetable stir fry
I use brown rice to make a dish every year at Thanksgiving. It has mushrooms, onions, and beef consommé–super rich and delicious!
I am making this recipe ASAP! all of my favorites combined into one dish:) I love brown rice because it is so versatile! One thing I do around the holidays/cold weather is make a brown rice breakfast pudding made with almond milk! it’s so good and gives a little variation to the regular oatmeal. i also like brown rice mixed with winter squashes, kale, and some toasted almonds. yumm
I love to use brown rice in Hoppin’ John on new years! It is Lucky and we eat it every year!!! 🙂
I love using brown rice when I’m making a stir fry!
I made dirty brown rice with veggies, shrimp and lean ground beef the other night. It’s delish!!
Def chicken fried rice! YUM
I LOVE using brown rice for just about anything! A nice cup of homemade chicken noodle soup with some brown rice in it makes for the perfect holiday comfort meal.
I like brown rice stuffing with apples, pecans and cranberries
I’m making this for a vegetarian thanksgiving dish! Normally, I love brown rice in stuffed peppers.
I use brown rice when I make casseroles.
This will be great with leftover turkey!
Love to use it for everything, add to meat to make it go further, veggie and chicken stir fry, lots of uses. Love this idea too.
I love it with stir-fry veggies … And also just topped with hummus 🙂
My favorite way to use Brown rice is when I make my Chicken Rice Rollups with Lettuce leaves. It tastes so good!
my favorite way to eat rice is w/ saucy mexican enchiladas.
Just got some acorn squash at the farmers market can’t wait to try this!
I love to make stir fry with a wide variety of ingredients and often use couscous or quinoa because they cook so quickly. Helpful to know about this rice!
We’ll try this recipe for sure…looks delicious!
We usually have rice with chicken & veggie kebabs.
I love stuffed roasted red peppers with the stuffing mixture being made with brown rice, onions, garlic, tomato sauce, etc..
I like to make a simple “rice pudding” for breakfast the next morning! Simmer with some almond milk, nuts, cinnamon, dried fruit…a new spin if you’re tired of oats!
I love it in stuffed pepper soup == a winter classic!
I love to mix brown rice with this black bean and corn salsa I make. It turns everything into a super simple meal!
I love to add brown rice to soup. It adds such a nice texture, and it is great for making soup a bit heartier.
I like to use brown rice in a mushroom stuffing recipe.
My favorite way to use brown rice is to make roasted garlic basil brown rice dish.
tcarolinep at gmail dot com
I love using brown rice for stuffed bell peppers
I keep my meals simple. Brown rice and chicken or fish.
I love brown rice in turkey and bean chili. I love brown rice sushi too!
I love brown rice in burritos and this sounds strange, but it is awesome with poppyseed dressing!
Since I’m allergic to everything on the planet, lol, brown rice is one of the few grains I can actually eat so I use it in EVERYTHING! My favorite use is to top it with my own dairy free versions of Tikka Masala or Hungarian Paprikash but Brown Rice Bread toast comes as a close second….
I love brown rice with jerk chicken
In a stir fry with chicken and tons of veggies!
i love to make stirfries!
We love to make a creamy vanilla rice pudding!
Thanks for the chance to win!
wildorchid985 AT gmail DOT com
My favorite brown rice recipe is Salmon and Citrus Rice Bowl.
i like Baja Black Beans Corn and Rice
in fried rice
looks great cant wait to try it
I love rice pudding!
Turkey and rice soup is a great way to use up leftover holiday turkey 🙂
This looks yummy! Our favorite rice dish is chicken over rice.
fried rice!
We love brown rice with black beans and salsa.
thank you
I like chicken and rice soup. It’s comfort food when it’s cold out!
my family loves stir fry with rice
i make chicken stir fry with brown rice [email protected]
I love to add rice to my vegetables…it makes them taste better and offers a filling but healthy side dish. truckredford(at)gmail(Dot)com
After I roast a turkey or chicken, the leftovers (and any leftover veggies) go into an oniony cream sauce that I flavor with thyme or tarragon, then serve over rice, preferably brown rice, because brown rice holds up well to the sauce and adds a chewy texture. This meal is a favorite in our house!
I like to use brown rice instead of bread crumbs in holiday stuffing, or as a sub to make gluten-free recipes!
I like to use brown rice in stir fry.
I like making stuffed green peppers with brown rice.
Stuffed Peppers is our favorite. We also love rice pudding.
Thanks so much.
I love baked brown rice
I like to serve Success Brown Rice with roasted vegetables.
sausage, brown rice, broccoli and cheese!
tvollowitz at aol dot com
I love pilaf made with brown rice. I throw whatever I have in there, but onion and garlic is a must.
I like brown rice with peas and tuna in it.
I like to use brown rice in fried rice
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
We make broccoli cheese and rice casserole.
[email protected]
We love brown rice with cubed chicken breast, corn, black beans and salsa.
I like to make rice to go along with my favorite Sweet & Sour Chicken recipe. Rice goes good with so many different meals.
this looks delicious
We like broccoli cheese rice casserole.
Turkey rice soup
We like making freezer burrito’s from scratch. They are quick to heat up and delicious. We put in rice that is mixed with fresh cilantro leaves and lime juice.
I like to use their white rice and add chicken and veggie to it.
We heart tomato soup and rice!
We love rice and our favorite holiday dish is chicken fried rice !
Cheesy chicken and rice casserole!
we like brown rice as a side to steak stir fry
we love to have sweet and sour chicken and rice (and you can use brown rice just as easily as white)
we use brown rice over turkey and gravy
We just like to use it as a side.
We all enjoy Spanish rice and it’s easy to make.
I like shrimp fried rice.
Stuffed peppers are my familys absolute favorite dish with rice 🙂
I love to make Louisiana Red Beans and Rice – New Orleans style!
Stuffed green peppers are definitely a favorite here at home, especially with the brown rice. Very similar to the recipe you shared.
We do not have a rice dish at Christmas. I think the Brown Rice would be good.
We don’t use rice during the holidays, but your recipe looks really good!
Red Beans and Rice
Pork fried rice.
I love brown rice and my favorite way to use it is in chicken gumbo.
My family’s favorite holiday rice dish is our cheesy broccoli casserole. So delicious!
I use brown rice when I cook my recipe for dirty rice, yum!
My favorite is fried rice. It’s so easy to change up the flavor by using leftover chicken, pork or steak or buying a few shrimp. And the flavor change between white rice and brown is amazing.
Due to dietary restrictions we can’t eat brown rice, but we do use Success white rice in our stuffed bell peppers, which is a go to meal quite often!
I love to make brown rice topped with stir fried vegetables, it is quick and easy to make and my family loves it.
I love it in my burritos and steak stir fry so good and a hit in my house.
We love rice pilaf with peas as a holiday dish
Brown rice with a good Indian curry is my fave!
our favorite holiday rice dish is broccoli cheese and rice casserole
I love using brown rice in my burritos! SO good with lime and chipotle sauce! MMM!!!
I make Cajun red beans and rice for Christmas for my Kansas family. I have learned that finding true Cajun red beans and rice is impossible in Kansas, so i make it myself using my Cajun grandmothers recipe!!! So yummy and everyone loves them.
Honestly I’ve never used brown rice…our favorite rice dish is red rice and sausage..but some of these are good looking .
we use brown rice for a side
I like brown rice with stir-fried vegetables.
I love using brown rice in my Mediterranean wraps w/ humus and chicken.
lyndsey.rullman at hotmail.com
I like chicken curry
We love to do any type of classic chinese/japanese fried rice with brown rice!
I love using brown rice in soups, adds a real nutty flavor.
For the holidays I like to make rice pudding with raisins.
Thanks for the contest.
Spicy green chile pork stew over white or brown rice is my family’s favorite.
I like using brown rice for my gumbo recipe.
I love to mix grilled chicken with brown rice. Thank you
We eat brown rice in vegetarian burritos.
I love brown rice with black beans
we like to make rice with curried chicken
I make brown rice with cucumber and tomatoes and bell peppers. Thanks!
I’m SO boring, but I love just rice, butter, salt, and peas. SO simple and delicious.
I JUST baked up an acorn squash so this has really inspired me. 🙂
trying this recipe tonight! looks so good!!
This was delicious and really versatile for what you have on hand. I had rosemary and cashews and had to sub those for the sage and pecans. I added a sprinkle of nutmeg to the filling and the end result still tasted very fall inspired! Will make this again and hope to have the full ingredient list next time.