This hasselback butternut squash is taken to the next level with bacon brown butter and makes the perfect side dish during autumn. A great addition to any roast or special dinner, especially during the festive season.
Whether you're looking for an alternative centerpiece for a Sunday roast or an indulgent side dish for your festive Thanksgiving or Christmas meals, look no further. This hasselback butternut squash with bacon brown butter is certainly going to impress during the festivities. It’s succulent, full of goodness and drizzled with a bacon brown butter that you won't be able to get enough of!
It may seem daunting to hasselback something but with a little careful knife work you can impress your friends and family by making this delicious and beautiful dish. Fear not, we’ll show you how with all the tips and tricks in the post below. And if you love butternut squash as much as we do, check out this Wholesome Fall Grain Salad with Harissa Dressing.
This recipe is one sure way of amping up a butternut squash to really get those taste buds buzzing. It's the perfect way to complete your spread this festive season. Don’t forget your roasted rutabaga with herbs, caramelized brussels sprouts, crispy rosemary roasted potatoes too! Make sure to use the links below to get to where you need on this page to get all the information you need.
We love hearing from you so please leave a comment with how you got on and how much you love this super tasty side dish. Also don’t forget to rate the recipe!
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Ingredients
You only need very simple ingredients that are readily available for this hasselback butternut squash recipe. This is what you’ll need:
Butternut squash - the trick with butternut squash is to ensure you get one that feels heavy, otherwise it may have a holey, mealy texture. You’ll need a medium-large squash that’s roughly 2-3 pounds in weight.
Smoked pancetta - pancetta is a wonderful thing and adds a wonderful flavour to this dish. You can easily get smoked cubetti di pancetta where we live. It’s basically just cubed smoked bacon, but you can substitute for standard bacon if you prefer.
Aromatics/seasonings - you’ll only need a few of these to just enhance everything; make sure you have garlic powder, garlic cloves, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper.
Salted butter - brown butter is integral to making this a special dish for the festive season; you’ll need salted butter for this. The brown butter imparts such a wonderful nutty flavour to the hasselback butternut squash. Don’t miss it.
Customisations/substitutions
Here are some recommendations for customisations and substitutions:
Vegetable - here we use butternut squash, but you can use another type of squash if you prefer. Just make sure they are smooth and easy to peel. We don’t recommend spaghetti squash. We definitely suggest doing this with potatoes or sweet potatoes but the cooking times will vary.
Bacon - we use smoked cubetti di pancetta, basically just cubes of smoked bacon. You can switch it out with smoked bacon lardons if you prefer or even use just sliced streaky bacon. The pancetta brown butter is not cooked in the oven so you still control how far the bacon goes in crispiness.
Herbs - we highly recommend rosemary in this recipe as it pairs perfectly with the hasselback butternut squash and the pancetta. You can absolutely use sage instead though.
Glaze - you can make the bacon brown butter drizzle into more of a glaze if you prefer by adding in maple syrup or honey whilst mixing together the brown butter and pancetta.
Tools you’ll need to successfully hasselback any vegetable
A sharp knife - you'll need a sharp knife to cut perfect slices into your squash. Depending on how firm and hard your vegetable is, you might use one of a variety of knives but we would recommend a chef’s knife for butternut squash as they can be quite tough.
Chopsticks - chopsticks help you to get perfect slices without cutting all the way through your squash. We don’t recommend using any fancy ones you may have kicking around, as the chopsticks will get knife marks all along them.
Chopping board - we highly recommend getting a slightly damp tea towel and placing it underneath a large wooden chopping board to ensure it won’t slip or move. The last thing you want is to lose any fingers!
How to hasselback
These are the key steps to preparing your butternut squash:
- Secure your chopping board safely on the work surface and ensure you have removed all the skin of the butternut squash. We highly recommend a speed peeler for this task.
- Cut your butternut squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds from inside with a spoon.
- Lay your squash half flat side down on your chopping board and place the chopsticks either side ensuring they are tight to the squash so you can hold them in place with your non knife holding hand.
- Using your sharp chef’s knife make incisions ⅛th of an inch apart along the width of the butternut squash half. It’s best to hold the knife level and just slice down in one movement. The chopsticks will prevent you from cutting all the way through the squash.
- The slices you make will need to be as vertical to each slice as possible as if not you will cut wedges out of your squash instead. Repeat all the way along the squash to create your hasselback.
How to make hasselback butternut squash
This side dish is very straightforward to make and will definitely impress. Follow these steps to make it:
Roasted hasselback squash
- Mix together the olive oil with the freshly chopped rosemary, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
- Place your prepared hasselback butternut squash top to tail in a large cast iron skillet or on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the marinade on to the squash.
- Ensure you brush the whole surface of the squash including the underside (flat side).
- Roast the hasselback butternut squash in a preheated oven at 200oC/400oF for 45 minutes until tender enough to easily insert a cake tester or knife into the squash.
Making the bacon brown butter
- Sauté your cubetti di pancetta or bacon chunks in a small skillet until golden and crispy, about 6-8 minutes over a medium heat. About 2-3 minutes before you get the perfect crispiness add in the sliced garlic cloves and sauté until the bacon is perfect and the garlic is golden (not burnt). Remove into a bowl and set aside.
- In the same skillet, brown your salted butter over a medium heat for 5-7 minutes, whisking constantly until it foams and darkens in colour. It will smell nutty. You can add the bacon and garlic back into the browned butter and stir through the finely chopped rosemary. This is now ready to serve.
- Serve immediately at the table by pouring over the bacon brown butter and garnish with extra rosemary then enjoy!
Recipe tips
Here are some tips that will make this hasselback butternut squash recipe the most successful.
Picking your squash - make sure you get a heavy squash as sometimes they can be holey or mealy. The best way to avoid this is to ensure your squash is as dense as possible.
Hasselback - if it's your first time attempting a hasselback, make sure to take your time, you want to be careful and deliberate. It isn’t a difficult technique but you don’t want to hurt yourself either.
Vertical slices - make sure your slices are as vertical as possible to prevent wedges being cut out, if this happens don’t worry just place the wedge back in. Cutting at ⅛th inch between slices ensures uniform cooking but also means that your squash will be flexible to the touch when cooked which can help for serving and making it look pretty during the holidays.
Cake tester - use a cake tester or a knife and it should penetrate with ease when cooked, if there is some resistance, cook the hasselback butternut squash for a bit longer.
Preparing ahead - you can prepare most of this recipe ahead of time. Make the brown butter and let it cool in a bowl, when ready to use just heat in a skillet then add in the pre cooked bacon, garlic and chopped rosemary before serving.
The actual butternut squash can be cut in half and hasselback prepared ahead of time (2-3 days in advance) just ensure you place it in a ziploc/reusable bag or wrap it in clingfilm to stop it drying out in the fridge.
What to do with leftovers?
If you have leftovers or have made a bit too much of this wonderful side than is consumed, this makes the most flavoursome soup! Blend it all (including the bacon - trust me!) in a jug blender with some water or stock and you’ll make the best soup which you can have for lunches during the week or put in the freezer in portions! Or you could use it in our Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Soup instead.
FAQs
Some say you don’t need to peel them but we personally prefer to do so as butternut squash skin tends to go leathery on roasting and we are not fond of that texture. Peeling a butternut squash is so easy with a speed peeler (check out the equipment in the recipe card).
Yes you absolutely can, prepare the hasselback butternut squash and store in the fridge for 2-3 days in advance and you can do the same with the pancetta brown butter. Just roast the squash when needed and reheat the pancetta butter just before serving.
No, we wouldn’t recommend freezing the hasselback butternut squash as leftovers. However we would recommend repurposing the leftovers into a soup and then freezing the soup for another day.
What to serve this with
Be sure to serve this delicious hasselback butternut squash with bacon brown butter as a side with these extra dishes:
Other tasty warming meals...
If you love this recipe you'll have to check out our other dinner recipes, here are some suggestions on where to get started:
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📖 Recipe
Hasselback Butternut Squash with Bacon Brown Butter
Ingredients
For the hasselback butternut squash
- 2-3 pounds butternut squash
- 2 tablespoons olive or rapeseed oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the bacon brown butter
- 5 ounces diced smoked pancetta, or smoked bacon, 140g
- 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- ¼ cup salted butter, diced
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary, plus extra for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Line a baking sheet or cast iron skillet with parchment paper.
Hasselback butternut squash
- Trim the top and bottom of the butternut squash. Peel and cut in half lengthwise down the centre of the squash.2-3 pounds butternut squash
- Lay two chopsticks either side of the butternut halves and use a sharp knife to cut ⅛ inch slices widthways along the butternut. Take your time and be careful, hold the butternut and chopsticks to the base of the squash with your non knife hand and ensure the slices are as vertical as possible.
- In a small bowl, mix together the oil, garlic powder, finely chopped rosemary, salt and pepper. Use a pastry brush to brush this mixture over all over the “hasselback” squash halves. Place onto the prepared baking sheet or skillet and roast in the preheated oven for 45 minutes or until tender.2 tablespoons olive or rapeseed oil, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Bacon brown butter
- When you’re almost ready to serve, add the pancetta cubes to a small pan (preferably a light coloured one so you can see when the butter browns) and cook over medium heat until golden and crispy and the fat has rendered out, about 6-8 minutes. With 2-3 minutes to go until the bacon is perfectly crispy, add the sliced garlic and cook until golden brown but not burnt. Remove the pancetta and garlic to a plate and cool.5 ounces diced smoked pancetta, 2 garlic cloves
- Add the butter to the pan you cooked the pancetta in and brown: heat the butter over medium heat and whisk continuously until the butter begins to foam and darkens and smells nutty. Be very careful not to burn it! It changes very quickly when it does - so it is worth only focusing on this one thing whilst doing it. Add the pancetta and garlic to the brown butter with the chopped rosemary and cook for a further 10-30 seconds, it’ll foam up a bit. Drizzle this over the baked squash. Garnish with extra herbs and serve immediately.¼ cup salted butter, 1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
Mimi says
I made this as a Thanksgiving side, it was a hit! Love the brown butter with the rest of it, I did end up over crisping the bacon though, I'll keep a closer eye on that next time! Definitely worth making!