Roasted Kabocha Squash
Published Feb. 18, 2025
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 55 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1kabocha squash (2 to 4 pounds), scrubbed
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3tablespoons coconut oil or vegetable oil
- 3tablespoons maple syrup
- Flaky salt, for sprinkling, optional
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
157 calories; 7 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 568 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 400 degrees. With a large knife, use a rocking motion to cut the squash in half from top to bottom just next to the stem. Scoop out seeds and stringy flesh. Remove stem either by cutting it off with a knife or snapping it off if possible.
- Step 2
With the squash skin side up, cut wedges that are 1- to 1½-inches wide and place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper (use two pans if necessary to avoid crowding the wedges). Sprinkle salt and pepper evenly on cut sides.
- Step 3
In a small saucepan over medium, heat coconut oil until just melted, add maple syrup and mix until fully combined. Brush generously on all sides of squash including the skin.
- Step 4
Place the squash in the oven and roast for 15 minutes. Flip the squash wedges, brush on more maple mixture and roast for another 15 minutes, rotating pans if using two. Flip the wedges once more, brushing on more maple mixture and using the liquid on the pan if necessary. Roast until the squash is caramelized and tender when pierced with a fork, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Step 5
Sprinkle with flaky salt, if using, and serve immediately.
Private Notes
Comments
Macrojane I make a version of this all the time. But I use olive or light sesame oil. I use parchment paper to bake. Hurry up though because Kabocha is going out of season for spring/summer. Choose a squash with a bright orange area as that is the side that faced the sun and gets the squash super sweet. Squash that is held over out of season often is mealy and may have a gray-ish cast. So treat this and other winter squashes with abject delight when they come into season in fall and wait in anticipation for their return..
Kabocha squash has become my substitute for french fries. I use parchment paper and a spray bottle to spritz oil on the squash with a little S and P (I skip the maple syrup). I eat this with either spicy brown mustard or ketchup. It's not the same as french fries but it's a healthier alternative and it satisfies my craving.
I usually roast kabocha with just oil, salt and pepper, but tried the recipe out as is. It was good, but the maple syrup was not necessary. If it's cut to 1" as instructed, I would recommend scraping off bits of the rind (should be leopard-spotty); sometimes the skin is too tough. Cut skinnier, my kid eats these like French fries.
I honestly never imagined this could go as wrong as it did 😭 we definitely made some mistakes, so my comment is more of a warning than a question, haha First and probably most crucial error: we tried to sub out the maple syrup. At first we tried brown sugar, since the flavor profile felt like it fit better than honey. However, I guess brown sugar is not soluble in coconut oil? They were completely separate, the brown sugar didn’t dissolve at all. I added honey because I wondered if there needed to be a syrupy element, but at this point the oil was so hot it immediately began to caramelize. We attempted to drizzle (mistake 2: no brush) the ‘mixture’ onto the squash, only to get oily blobs of caramel that immediately hardened. So we started over with coconut oil and honey— they also did not combine. Is maple syrup specifically oil soluble?? i was so surprised this didn’t work In the end we scooped the mixture onto the squash slices, and completely butchered the instructions re: salt/pepper, oil mix on one side, then bake and flip before other side. We coated both sides and this was mistake 3. Of the two trays we made, by the 30 minute mark one of them was so burnt beyond the point of being edible. The second pan was okay, at this point I suspected we may not have added enough oil so i added olive oil for the last stretch in the oven. In the end, the burnt exterior was just unpleasant tasting, and the interior was fine but the texture of hard boiled egg yolk. I am tired.
Yum. Made a huge amount. After refrigerating leftovers in the fridge, a few days later I cut leftover pieces into 3/4" chunks and added them to a mixed greens salad with toasted pepitas, red grapes and shallot-y vinaigrette.
Used half butter and half olive oil. Pinch of cayenne. Very good. Tender skins. I would make again.