There’s a lot of reasons we love squash. It can be both sweet and savory, complimenting dinners and desserts. It’s one of those perfect autumn and winter ingredients, warm and buttery. It’s incredibly easy to make: just cut, scoop and bake. And, of course, it’s its own dish! How can you not love a vegetable that doubles as serving ware? Even better, you can stuff it with all your favorite goodies. In this case, we’ve stuffed it with our gluten-free stuffing alternative. Made with quinoa, ground chicken, pecans for a bit of crunch, maple syrup for a bit of sweetness and thyme for a bit of spice, every bite of this dish is filled with the best fall flavors. Each acorn half is the perfect meal size. Pair it with a salad or serve it as an appetizer at your next dinner party, this stuffed acorn squash is the definition of crowd-pleaser. Learn how to make it in this culinary course video!

Ingredients
2 acorn squash, halved crosswise and gutted
1 lb ground chicken
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 small yellow onion, small diced
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
¼ cup maple syrup
1 ½ tbsp dried thyme
1/3 cup chopped pecans, raw
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper to taste
Olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425F degrees.

2. Place squash on baking sheet, cut side up. Brush with olive oil, drizzle a little maple syrup and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until it’s fork tender.

3. While the squash is baking, cook the mixture. In a large skillet, add ground chicken and cook, crumbling it with the spatula. After about 2 minutes, add in the onion and celery and sauté until they’re both tender, about 5 minutes. Add in the thyme, maple syrup, pecans and salt and pepper to taste and cook for another minute or until thyme is fragrant. Remove from heat.

4. When squash is done, remove from oven and lower the temperature to 325F. Fill the hallowed squash halves with as much filling as it can hold. When all are filled, put back into oven and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until squash is very tender and everything is heated through.

5. Serve as is or topped with a cheese of your choice! We recommend a crumbled goat cheese.