
I posted this story and make-ahead technique to my Instagram account recently, only to be cut off part-way through when I exceeded the word limit. As Stephanie Tanner would say: How rude, lol. Did you even know that Instagram has a word limit? I guess it wasn’t designed for Chatty Cathy’s like me. That’s when it hit me: I should post this on the blog so I can go a bit more in-depth! So read on, my friends….
The other weekend I decided it had been way too long since I had made my beloved roasted butternut squash dish, complete with vegan parmesan…kale…and lots of garlic. Have you made it? Oh my, it’s a show-stealing side I tell ya. (This dish makes all its other dinner companions give the side-eye, heh. #BUTTERNUTPLEASE!)
Here’s a little summary of comments I received when I served it to the fam:
Eric: *Burns mouth.* “Holy sh*t, that’s hot!!!” (He never learns.) Then: “Butternut squash is so much better than pumpkin.” (Lol…so random…I die.)
Adriana, three years old: “NO THANK YOUUUUUUU” (as she skips away with Arlo’s favourite toy in her grasp). Spotted 10 minutes earlier: downing a box of “circle crackers” (sigh).
Arlo, one year old: *Screams and beats his hands in protest because he has to wait for the squash to cool* then proceeds to inhale it. He was nice enough to smash the leftover squash into his hair, and even tossed some over his shoulder for good luck.
Me: *Scream and beat my hands in protest because I have to wait for it to cool* then enjoys two big servings.
You know the saying…as far as anyone knows, we’re a nice, normal family. Bahaha.


MAKE IT AHEAD!
You may have noticed lately that I’ve been on a crusade to create as many time-saving recipes and make-ahead tips as I can. In recent posts, I shared Adriana’s Favourite 10-Minute Pasta, 8-Minute Pantry Dal, and Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Panzanella, to name a few. Last week, I came up with a make-ahead version for one of my favourite side dishes: Roasted Butternut Squash with Pecan Parmesan and Kale! I’m so excited to share how I tweaked the original recipe to minimize day-of prep time. Now that we’re getting into all kinds of holiday celebration meals, my goal is to share as many time-saving tricks with you as I can. It’s making life much less hectic in the Liddon household.
I discovered that this dish can be prepped and stored in the fridge two to three days in advance—and no one will be the wiser! This is a fun trick for holiday meal prep when sanity reaches an all-time low (or is that just me?).

Here’s what you do:
1) Combine the chopped squash, minced garlic, parsley (not shown in the photo!), oil, and salt in an extra-large casserole dish. Pro tip: if I’m really short on time, I’ll occasionally buy fresh pre-chopped squash to save the hassle of peeling and dicing a large one! Sometimes you just gotta live your best life, ya know?
2) Stem and chop the kale, then place it into a zip bag or container.
3) Make the vegan parmesan, and place that into a separate fridge-friendly container.
PREP WORK DONEZO.
When you’re ready to roast this beauty either later that day or as many as two to three days later, proceed with the recipe as usual…maybe while giving an evil cackle about how you outsmarted the original instructions. I won’t mind.
One thing’s for sure, I’ll be using this trick for all of my future holiday meals, and even busy weeknights! It’s so handy to have everything prepped and ready to go. I hope this tip helps streamline your own holiday meal planning as well. If you’re looking for more crunch-time holiday inspiration, don’t forget to check out my Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Panzanella recipe—it has had some great feedback so far. Oh, and let me know in the comments if you have any make-ahead recipe requests! I’d love to hear them.

This is a handy make-ahead version of one of my all-time favourite fall and winter side dishes showcasing the best of cold weather produce. See my tips below on how you can prep the casserole ingredients a couple days beforehand, so they’re ready to come together effortlessly at meal-time (just be sure to leave yourself about an hour to cook it, though). Sometimes, when I’m feeling wild, I like to double the vegan parmesan because it’s just so good! This recipe is adapted from the original in 2012—back when I had a little more time in the kitchen, pre-kiddos! * I doubled the original amount of kale for extra green power! ** Feel free to swap in any nuts or seeds you prefer! There are endless possibilities. Pecans (which are used in the original version) are lovely, too. MAKE IT NUT-FREE: Swap the almonds for more pepitas. The total bake time your squash requires will depend on how fresh it is, how small you chop the squash, and how hot your oven runs, so you can start checking it after 35 to 40 minutes.
Make-Ahead Roasted Butternut Squash Casserole
Yield
6 side servingsPrep time
Cook time
Total time
Ingredients
For the roasted squash:
For the Almond-Pepita Parmesan:
Directions
Tip:

I for one am very happy you posted on your blog. It’s always a wonderful thing to sign on and see a new post!
I have both your cookbooks but love the extra tips and reader comments i find on your blog site. Thanks for posting!!
Thanks for the love! So happy to know you enjoy the blog. :)
I agree! It’s always nice to see all that eye popping color in a new post too. I’m not strictly vegan or even a vegetarian but am moving in that direction!!! Thrilled with butternut squash recipes now. Went to a roadside stand and bought butternut squash weighing 7-9 pounds each for just 75 cents each. I have over $100 of squash in my car trunk right now waiting to be used on recipes like this!!!
omg that’s hilarious…LOVE IT!!!
Wow that was a great buy. I love butternut squash. Can’t wait till I make this recipe. Sounds delicious?
This looks great! I’ve had my eye out for a butternut squash recipe; can’t wait to try.
I hope you enjoy it Connie!
Cant wait to make this. Yum. also, i love the bowl you have this pictured in, would you share where you got it? :D
Hey Dana, It’s from Crate and Barrel! I want to pick up a couple more…I only bought one for photography, but I really like the look of it too. :)
Cheers for Angela! I absolutely LOVE squash and this is a keeper. Lovin’ your cookbooks, can’t seem to get enough. I’m always stoked when you have new recipes and tips on your blog and newsletter. Sure makes for great coffee time in the mornings :)
Aww Cheryl, your comment made me smile! Thank you :)
This looks wonderful! I haven´t tried vegan parmesan, but I sure will:)
I hope you enjoy it if you try it out Maggie :)
Made this today for potluck. Several people wanted the recipe. It was very yum.
Hey Clara, I’m thrilled it was a hit at your potluck…thanks for letting us know!
OMG, I cannot wait to make this recipe! I have a butternut squash and was looking for inspiration to use it and now I know what I’m going to do. This looks so yummy.
I hope you love it as much as we do Geneviève :)
I did have some Kale in the freezer, but I don’t know if I ate it all or not. Do you think I could use fresh spinach instead if I don’t have any kale? I mean, after all Green is Green, right? lol I just happen to have a butternut squash sitting on my counter waiting for a recipe to come along. And here it is!!! Think I’ll make it tonight! Yum
Hey Kathy, I can’t see why not! As long as you don’t mind that the spinach will be very soft once cooked (compared to kale having a chewiness to it, even when cooked), it should be fine. Let me know if you try it out!
I used spinach in this (can’t digest kale) and it was really good!
I did have some issues with this being a bit watery, but I might have just gotten a watery squash. Otherwise it was really good! I had a happy accident when I accidentally doubled all the topping ingredients. Oops and oh well – more toppings make everything better!
Doubling the toppings is always a happy accident!
That’s too bad about the watery squash! I haven’t had that problem before (maybe ours are always on the “older” side, haha).
I was just thinking to make some squash but couldn’t find a recipe I like. This one looks really easy and delicios. I will most surely do it tonight and I bet will turn out great.
I hope you love it Christine! :)
Made this last night and was very pleased. Like all your recipes (LOVE your cookbooks), this breaks the mold of boring, flavorless vegan food. The flavor was outstanding. I found the cooking time for the squash a bit too long and would reduce that to 30 next time so it’s a little firmer. I also added about 2 cups of cooked faro for some extra protein and made the “parmesan” with pepitos and pine nuts. So glad I have a lot of leftovers!
Thank you so much Susan for your kind words!! I’m so glad you enjoyed this. And great tip about sometimes having to reduce the cooking time; depending on how fresh the squash is (and oven variation), it may need less time. I will put a note in the recipe about this. Thanks so much, and enjoy those leftovers! :)
Nice and normal family for sure! hahahah Loved it, I’ll definitely make this recipe!
hehehe thanks Diana!
This is so beautiful – I’m going to try this for my early Thanksgiving party of Saturday!
I hope you enjoy it, Alisa!
I am loving the streamlined prep/ make ahead focus on your blog! I’m a new mom (well, the babe is 9 months but I’m still learning) and having things mostly prepped well before dinner is a lifesaver (as is your 10-minute pasta recipe…I always keep the ingredients on hand just in case) – thank you!
Hey Eleanor, I’m so happy to hear that you’re enjoying these kinds of posts…they definitely reflect a real challenge in my life these days. ;) Congrats on your little one!
It looks so lovely and pictures are so eyecatching too, love of the ingredients used in it and I will definitely try it :) thanks a lot for the recipe :)
Thank you Claire! Hope you enjoy it if you make it.
We love butternut squash and this was excellent. I must say that because of the high baking temp. I use avocado oil instead of olive oil. I have also made it swapping some of the squash with yams and when I ran out of kale have used spinach. Since we’re not vegan, I have sometimes added parmesan cheese. Every time it’s a bit different and every time it tastes amazing!
Hi Lynn, Oh don’t you love when you can change up a recipe and it turns out great each time? I’ve heard from other readers who have used sweet potato and loved it. I need to try this next! Thanks for your review.
How delicious! Love me some butternut squash :)
Looks amazing! Question: have you tried freezing the leftovers? I’m trying to fill a vegan freezer for a very busy med student. She would Love this, but I’m afraid it won’t freeze well.
Hey Kathi, I’m sorry I haven’t tried freezing the leftovers before, so I’m not sure. I do find they keep in the fridge for a good 5 days though. Please let me know if you try anything out, and I’ll try to freeze a bit next time I make it to see how it thaws.
Delish!!! Easy to make and perfect for a side dish, or added to a quinoa bowl.
Thanks Alicia! I agree it’s amazing with grains for added staying power. :)
I LOVE this recipe. Delightfully tasty, easy to make, and satisfying. I more than doubled the greens, and now make the Peppita-Almond-Parmesan on its own for topping on spaghetti squash. This now moves to favorite fall recipes for me – thanks!!
Hey Lisa, I’m happy to hear you love this recipe as much as I do! And good call on adding more greens…I love to do that! I think the kale is one of my fave parts. I’ve been making big batches of the parm each week and using it on just about everything (I love it on sautéed kale especially).
I’ve got this recipe baking in the oven now! My husband is vegan, and I’ve loved using your app for new dinner recipes. I wanted to say THANK YOU for creating such an awesome website and app. I’ve made the butternut squash sweet potato stew about 4 times in the last month, and everyone (including the picky 9 year old and 18 month old) gobbles it up every time!
Aww Rebecca, I can’t thank you enough for your lovely note! So so happy you enjoy the app and blog so much!! Thanks for all your support.