Recipe Using Ground Beef and Butternut Squash

This stuffed butternut squash with ground beef dish is inspired by Mediterranean cuisine and makes a delicious meal. The beef is subtly spiced with cinnamon and clove for wonderful depth of flavor. A topping of crispy oregano panko bread crumbs completes the dish.

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Why make this recipe?

This stuffed squash dinner is delicious, satisfying and very easy to make with pantry ingredients. Cinnamon and clove both go really well with beef and with the sweet and nutty flavor of butternut squash and make this dish special. (For more delicious cinnamon-spiced beef dishes, be sure to also check out this cinnamon clove beef Stroganoff and these cinnamon meatballs!)

Ingredients needed:

You need cinnamon, clove, panko, oregano, olive oil, salt, crushed tomatoes, onion, ground beef and butternut squash to make this recipe.

Ingredient notes & substitutions:

• You can substitute canned tomato sauce for the canned crushed tomatoes.
• You can use ground beef that's 80 percent lean or leaner than that.

How to make it:

See full ingredients & instructions in the recipe card below!

Step 1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F., then pierce the squash 2 to 3 times with a paring knife and lay on a baking sheet. Bake until soft.

Step 2. While the squash is in the oven, cook the beef until no longer pink. Spoon the grease out of the pan, then transfer the cooked beef to a bowl and set aside.

Step 3. Wipe the pan with a paper towel. Saute onion in olive oil until starting to soften, then stir in cinnamon and clove.

Step 4. Add the beef back to the pan, then stir in salt and crushed tomatoes. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

Step 5. Take the squash out of the oven and slice in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and discard, then scoop about half of the flesh out of each squash half and set aside.

Step 6. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Fill the squash halves with the beef.

Step 7. Top the beef with the scooped out flesh.

Step 8. Mix panko with olive oil and dried oregano, then spoon on top of the butternut halves. Transfer back to the oven and bake until starting to brown.

How to serve it:

Serve the stuffed squash by itself or with a green salad.

More delicious spiced dinner recipes:

• Gnocchi Beef Stroganoff Spiced with Cinnamon and Clove

• Baked Cinnamon Meatballs with Marinara Sauce

• Creamy Jamaican Jerk Shrimp Pasta

• Oven-Baked Brats with Apple, Croutons and Sage

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Full Printable Recipe

Stuffed Butternut Squash with Ground Beef

This stuffed butternut squash with ground beef makes a delicious and satisfying meal you can easily make with pantry ingredients.

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Cook Time 1 hr 45 mins

Total Time 1 hr 45 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 4

Calories (estimated) 479 kcal

• measuring cups and spoons

• knife and cutting board

• paring knife

• baking sheet

• cast iron pan with lid

• wooden spoon

• paper towels

• ▢ 1 butternut squash
• ▢ 1 pound ground beef (80 percent lean)*
• ▢ 4 teaspoons mild olive oil, divided into 1 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon
• ▢ ½ onion, peeled and diced
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground clove
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes** (~9 ounces)
• ▢ ½ cup panko
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

• Pierce the squash 2 to 3 times with a paring knife, then lay the entire squash on a baking sheet.

• Bake the squash whole until a paring knife goes through easily (about 1 ½ hours).

• When you have about 20 minutes left on the squash, cook the beef.

• Add the ground beef to a cast iron pan to which you have a lid and cook, stirring often, until no longer pink and beginning to brown (5 to 7 min.)

• Spoon the grease out of the pan and discard, then transfer the cooked beef to a bowl and set aside.

• Wipe the inside of the pan with a paper towel, then heat 1 teaspoon of the olive oil in it. Add the onion and cook until starting to soften (2 to 3 minutes).

• Stir cinnamon and clove into the onion, then add the cooked beef back in.

• Stir in salt and crushed tomatoes, then cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Take off the heat and set aside.

• Take the squash out of the oven and let cool for a minute.

• Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.

• Transfer the cooked squash onto a cutting board and carefully slice it in half lengthwise. Scoop out and discard the seeds, then transfer the squash halves back onto the baking sheet.

• Scoop about half of the flesh out of each squash half and set aside. Fill the squash halves with the beef, then top the beef with the scooped out flesh.

• Mix the panko with the remaining olive oil and the dried oregano. Spoon the mix on top of the butternut halves, then transfer them back to the oven and bake until starting to brown (5 to 8 minutes).

• Serve hot by itself or with a green salad.

*You can use ground beef that's leaner than that. If you do that you will have less or no grease to spoon out of the pan after browning the beef.

**You can substitute canned tomato sauce for the canned crushed tomatoes.

Calories: 479 kcal Carbohydrates: 33.1 g Protein: 33.6 g Fat: 24.1 g Saturated Fat: 7.9 g Cholesterol: 95 mg Sodium: 472 mg Potassium: 954 mg Fiber: 6.1 g Sugar: 8.1 g Calcium: 166 mg Iron: 6 mg

Nutrition values provided on this website are generated from a nutrition database and are estimates only. The accuracy of the nutrition information for any recipe on this website is not guaranteed. Nutrition values can vary quite a lot depending on which brands are used.

Keywords: stuffed butternut squash, stuffed butternut squash with ground beef

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