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STUFFED ACORN SQUASH + WILD RICE MEDLEY

Stuffed Acorn Squash + Wild Rice Medley features tender roasted squash stuffed with wild rice, mushrooms, spinach, red bell pepper and white beans for a delicious fall inspired meal!

top down view of healthy roasted acorn squash with wild rice medley.

Perfect for both casual or elegant dining, stuffed squash makes a colorful centerpiece for the dining or buffet table. Hearty and filling, this is a completely satisfying meal with a good nutritional profile.

Serve by itself or with a small green salad tossed in a light vinaigrette on the side. Or serve with green beans, roasted red potatoes or mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy for the ultimate full spread!

And to top it all off, you just have to love eating out of an acorn squash – it’s pretty fun!

So without further ado, let’s get to the good stuff!

top down view of ingredients needed to make acorn squash and wild rice medley.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Here’s a quick look at the ingredients used in this stuffed squash recipe. Plus, you’ll find substitution ideas for a few of the ingredients.

  • Acorn Squash – Look for acorn squash that are uniform in size.
  • Wild Rice – Use a wild rice, a wild rice mix (pictured above) or a combo of wild rice and long grain brown rice (which I used).
  • Red Bell Pepper – Any color bell pepper will work, but the red adds a nice contrasting pop of color.
  • Mushrooms – Use your favorite mushrooms. I used baby bellas here.
  • Spinach – Change it up with baby kale, chard or a combo. You can also rough chop large leafy spinach if you like.
  • White Beans – Cannellini, great northern or chickpeas will all work great in this recipe.
  • Onion – Feel free to substitute with a large shallot.
  • Garlic – If you don’t have fresh garlic on hand, add 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of garlic powder.
  • Thyme – Fresh or dried.
  • Red Pepper Flakes – I like adding a bit of pepper flakes for a kick of heat. Feel free to adjust or omit the amount to suit your taste.

side by side photos showing the process of prepping acorn squash to roast.

How To Make Stuffed Acorn Squash with Wild Rice Medley

This stuffed acorn squash recipe is not too hard to put together. It does take three separate cooking sections, but comes together pretty smoothly. All in all it’s fairly easy, the rice and squash cook themselves, so the vegetables are the only real work, which isn’t much.

  • Cut squash and remove seeds. Start by slicing your acorn squash and scraping out the seeds. The seeds scrape out very easily with a sharper edged spoon or tablespoon measuring spoon.
  • To oil or not? Here you can either brush your acorn squash with a little olive oil or not. I go either way as I don’t find it makes too much of a difference, so it just depends on how I’m feeling if I want to add extra oil to the meal. You can also roast the squash cut side down to keep it moist.
  • Season and roast the acorn squash. Sprinkle with fresh or dried thyme leaves, mineral salt and pepper. You can even add a few fresh thyme sprigs inside each squash, just remove before eating. Bake the acorn squash until fork tender.
  • Make the wild rice medley. Cook your rice and set aside. Saute your vegetables and add in the rice once done.
  • Stuff and serve. Fill your acorn squashes with the wild rice medley and serve!

Can You Eat Acorn Squash Skin?

Yes! Once roasted the skin becomes tender and is perfectly good to eat. In fact, it’s full of vitamins and fiber, and I highly recommend it! But if you prefer, just scoop the flesh let the skin be a bowl.

side by side photo of wild rice medley and halved and roasted acorn squash.

How To Store Leftovers

  • Refrigerator: Leftovers will keep for 4 – 5 days in the refrigerator, stored in a covered container. It makes a great meal prep for using these multi-use glass containers (affiliate link).
  • Freezer: Stuffed squash freezes well for up to 2 – 3 months. Use freezer safe containers (like the ones mentioned above) or baggies to keep it from getting freezer burn. Let thaw before reheating.
  • Reheat: Re-warm stuffed squash in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 – 15, until warmed through. You can also zap them for a few minutes, checking for doneness every 30 seconds.
  • Make ahead: You can easily make the your stuffed acorn squashes ahead of time and keep stored, covered, in the refrigerator. Simply reheat before serving.

More Recipes You’ll Love

top down view of healthy roasted acorn squash with wild rice medley.

If you try this stuffed acorn squash recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.

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STUFFED ACORN SQUASH + WILD RICE MEDLEY

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5 from 7 reviews

Festive and fun, stuffed acorn squash features wild rice, beans and mix of vegetables. Great for casual dining and makes a great center piece for any gathering!

  • Author: Julie | The Simple Veganista
  • Prep Time: 10 min
  • Cook Time: 45 min
  • Total Time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 6
  • Category: Entree
  • Method: Oven, Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Vegan

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 acorn squashes, cut in half lengthwise and seeds removed
  • olive oil (to roast oil-free see notes)
  • 1 teaspoon thyme, divided
  • sea salt

Wild Rice Medley

  • 1 cup wild rice, dry (I used half black wild rice and half long grain brown rice)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil or 1/4 cup water
  • 1 medium/large red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 small onion or 1 large shallot, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 8 oz. mushrooms (about 2 cups), sliced
  • 2 large handfuls baby spinach (baby kale or chard is great too, or a combo)
  • 1 can cannellini beans (15 oz), drained and rinsed
  • 1 teaspoon thyme (dried or fresh)
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
  • sea salt and cracked pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or silicone mat. In an ovenproof saucepan, fill halfway with water and place on the bottom rack (this will give a little steam to your squash).

Prep and roast the squash: Cut and seed your squash, place on baking sheet with cut side up. Brush each half with a little oil, and season with a sprinkle of thyme, salt and pepper. Place in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, until tender, knife should easily pierce the flesh. If by chance your squash is done first, cover with foil to keep it from drying out.

Rice: Cook your rice according to package directions. Wild rice will take about the same time as the squash to cook, about 40-45 min. Set aside.

Veggies: In large pan, heat oil on medium heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes, add garlic and cook 1 minutes. Add the mushrooms, bell peppers, thyme, red pepper flakes, a few twists of salt and pepper, cook for another 5 minutes or so, until the mushrooms start to sweat and soften. Add the beans and leafy greens, stir frequently until they are wilted and warmed through (you may also want to use a cover in between stirring to help soften the greens).

Wild Rice Medley: Combine the rice and sautéed vegetables in the larger of the two pots. Taste for seasoning adding additional salt and pepper as needed.

Stuff: Scoop mixture into each acorn squash half and serve with any additional seasonings. I actually like to top mine with some sriracha for that extra heat and flavor I love so much. :)

Serves 6 (or 3 for the hearty eaters).

Store: Leftovers can be kept in an airtight container in fridge for up to 4 – 5 days.

Notes

Quinoa or quinoa/rice combo would be great too and add even more protein per serving.

To make this oil free, omit the oil when roasting the squash and roast the squash cut side down to keep the moisture in. You can still add a little salt and pepper, and place a sprig of thyme underneath so the flavor with infuse the squash a little. Use water in place of oil when sauteing the vegetables.

RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT: I love my Silpat or these parchment liners for lining this rimmed baking sheet (affiliate links).

Updated: Stuffed Acorn Squash & Wild Rice Medley originally published October 2012 and has been updated November 2019 with new photos and helpful tips. Recipe is still as good as ever, enjoy!

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25 Comments

  1. I had medium hopes for this recipe, just made it because I had an extra acorn squash.
    Wow! Blown away by how delicious this was with the thyme and stuffing. Definitely getting some sriracha as a topper next time. I’m excited to make this for guests!






  2. I made this as our main for Thanksgiving and everyone, even the omnis, we’re happy. The filling was perfect and we decided it would make the perfect meal prep lunch. It was relatively easy and it was nice spending time with my family rather than cooking all day. A definite win!






  3. made this for my non vegan family for thanksgiving, everyone loved it!! thank you for sharing this recipe!






  4. Juande Gordon says:

    One simple word…DELICIOUS! This was my second time trying to cook Acorn Squash and I am absolutely pleased with the outcome. This is a great recipe and a scrumptious dish!






  5. Candy Ann says:

    Made this for an intimate dinner for our pastors and guest of 8 people. They loved it!






  6. I’ve made this recipe several times! It is an absolute favorite for our family. I often tweet recipes to make them my own….this one needs no tweaking! Thank you!






  7. Marcy youker says:

    love your recipes, they always ssssoo good! I cooked my squash in the microwave, just 1 person, and proceed to follow your recipe, very good thanks for sharing.






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