Delicata Squash Recipe with Black Bean Stuffing

Wondering how to cook delicata squash? This delicata squash recipe turns it into a tasty main dish, featuring black bean stuffing and a chipotle glaze.

It’s the coldest day of the year here in Indianapolis. But it’s somehow still possible to pull off a meal with local produce that brings color and warmth. Delicata squash to the rescue! This oblong squash is one of our favorite varieties to work with. Our favorite farmer at our farmer’s market convinced us to try it by assuring us it tasted sweet, almost like a sweet potato. Turned out he was right! Here we turned it into a filling fall dinner by stuffing it with rice, salsa, and black beans, and painting on a chipotle glaze. And my, oh my: you’re going to want to try this ASAP.

How to cook delicata squash

Delicata squash is not only delicious: it’s very easy to work with! Unlike butternut squash, which is a chore to clean and prepare, delicata squash is easy to cut and doesn’t need to be peeled. Yes, you can eat the skin! The taste is sweet and tender, kind of like a sweet potato. To top it all off, it also roasts pretty quickly: so it’s got many advantages over the more well-known squash varieties like butternut and acorn.

To cook delicata squash, here’s what you do:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Cut the delicata squash in half and remove the seeds with a spoon.
• Rub the squash with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and place it on the parchment paper cut side down.
• Roast until tender, about 25 minutes.

For this stuffed delicata squash recipe, we made it into a main dish by stuffing it with rice, salsa and black beans. We also added a chipotle glaze for the outside of the squash, which adds big flavor. But if you want to go simple, you can slice the delicata squash into half-moons to make fries. Here’s our Delicata Squash Fries recipe.

Making this stuffed delicata squash recipe

To create this stuffed delicata squash recipe, we had a few inspirations. First, this chipotle-glazed butternut squash is where were inspired to make the chipotle glaze for the outside of the squash. For the stuffing, some stuffed poblano peppers we made a few years ago served as our inspiration. In this stuffed delicata squash recipe, the stuffing is rice, black beans, corn, and salsa. Here are the major steps for making this delicata squash recipe:

• Cook the rice: you can use brown rice or white rice.
• Roast the squash: see the instructions above. Before you roast, rub on the chipotle glaze (a mix of minced garlic and chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, honey, and olive oil).
• While the squash roasts, finish the filling: mix green onions, salsa, black beans, corn, adobo sauce, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, shredded cheese and rice.
• When the squash is done, add the warm filling. Place additional shredded cheese on top: the heat from the filling and squash will melt the cheese. Garnish and serve.

Our secret ingredient for both the filling and glaze is a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Only 1 pepper is used for the glaze, but a few tablespoons of the adobo sauce in the can is used for the glaze and then a few tablespoons again in the filling. The adobo sauce brings a smoky flavor to the dish that’s indescribable! Make sure not to substitute for this one. Keep reading for a bit more about adobo sauce…

What’s adobo sauce?

What is adobo sauce? Alex and I love to use adobo sauce in our recipes to bring a savory, smoky flavor to Mexican dishes. Chipotles in adobo sauce are sold in most mainstream grocery stores here in the US, available next to the Mexican products. The small can includes chipotle chiles, which are smoked and dried jalapeños that then are rehydrated and canned in adobo sauce, a purée of tomato, vinegar, garlic, and some other spices.

Looking for more squash recipes?

This stuffed delicata squash recipe is a fan favorite for how to use delicata squash! Here are a few more of our favorite squash recipes on A Couple Cooks using all types of squashes:

• Instant Pot Stuffed Acorn Squash with Pecans
• Vegetarian Stuffed Acorn Squash
• Spaghetti Squash Mac and Cheese
• Roasted Butternut Squash with Pickled Onions
• Za’atar-Spiced Butternut Squash Soup
• Stuffed Delicata Squash with Wild Rice and Sage
• Roasted Acorn Squash with Wild Rice Pistachio Stuffing
• Incredible Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai
• Butternut Squash Lentil Soup

This recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten free.

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