
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:

This looks delicious! Can I make it a day ahead, refrigerate and then heat up at the potluck dinner?
Thanks Patrizia! Do you mean cook it the day before and then reheat it in the casserole dish in the oven the next day? If so, I haven’t tried this yet, but I can’t see why you wouldn’t be able to make it work. If I was going to try it out myself, I would probably bake it for less time on day 1 (maybe 30 minutes?) to avoid drying it out on day 2’s reheat (20 minutes?).
Hi Angela,
Could I swap almond meal for whole almonds, since I have it on hand?
Hi Ritu, I can’t see why not!
So, this is a stupid question, but there is not any actual parmesan in the topping, right? It’s a pseudo-parm with all the nuts/seeds? Just wanted to make sure! Making this for Thanksgiving!
Yes Jill, that’s correct! Thanks for clarifying! I know these vegan names can throw people for a loop sometimes…heh.
How much Parmesan??? I missed it…. Where is it written?
Oh, I just read the answer from the OTHER JILL! Thank you!
Great! Thanks
Hey Jill,
I just double checked and the Almond-Pepita Parmesan is in the recipe. :) Let me know if you see it okay!
This recipe looks great. I am curious about the “side” part. What are your suggestions
for this dish to side with?
Hi Karen, It’s really nice served with my Cheesy Lentil Bolognese Casserole or Crowd-Pleasing Vegan Caesar Salad. I just had this the other week. Sometimes I serve it with one of my soups too.
hi angela! i’ve been wanting to make this recipe and have some sage in my fridge to use up — do you think it would be good with sage instead of or in addition to parsley and if so how much would you use?
Hey Heather, I was actually thinking the other day that it might be really nice with some fried sage on top! I have yet to try it though. As for mixing it in with the parsley, I would probably start on the lighter side. I find sage is pretty strong (maybe that’s just me though!), if you try anything out please let me know how it tastes. :)
Your family’s comments crack me up! Sounds like my own household! I love one other gal’s idea on using spinach, too – my personal favorite green, although I do love how kale keeps crispy. I’ll have to try both ways!
haha glad we’re not alone, Nicole! ;) Hope you enjoy the casserole
Can i use frozen cubed butternut squash?
Hey China, I’d worry that the squash would be too mushy if using cooked and frozen squash. Is that the kind you mean?
Hi Angela,
I’m wondering about using frozen butternut squash that isn’t cooked. Just the cubed frozen kind you can buy?
Hi there! It’s fresh :) Some grocery stores have pre-chopped fresh squash in the produce area. That’s what I will buy if I’m crunched for time. I don’t know if frozen would work in this as it could turn out mushy/watery.
Do you think this could be cooked and then frozen, or would it get mushy or watery when defrosted?
Hey Tanya, I haven’t tried it so I can’t be sure, but I do think it would get watery and mushy after thawing.
It looks so delicious and beautiful. Keep Sharing!
I heard about one of your recipes that’s spiralized vegetable’s and includes an avocado sauce. Unfortunately I don’t see a search function on your site and haven’t been able to locate it. Would it be possible for you to direct me to that recipe?
Thank you!
Hey Lynn, Thanks for reaching out! Is it my Creamy Avocado Pasta by chance?
http://ohsheglows.com/2011/01/31/15-minute-creamy-avocado-pasta/
Instead of serving the sauce with pasta noodles, you can use spiralized veggies, like zucchini.
Yes…..that’s it! Thank you soooo much. Can’t wait to try it :)
Made this for dinner tonight – it was delicious!! We omitted the nutritional yeast because my husband is sensitive to yeast and it was full of flavor anyway. It would be a perfect dish for a special holiday dinner. I’ll likely make it at Easter. Thanks for the recipe!
Hey Tara, I’m so glad you tried this one out! And yes it totally works without the nutritional yeast as I’ve done it that way several times before too. I’m so craving roasted butternut squash this week…think I’ll have to make it too! When I’m lazy I buy the pre-chopped squash from the grocery store, lol. Makes it come together so fast.
Can’t wait to try it. Love your tips to swap out foods. Helpful for those w food allergies. Seems I need to buy your cookbooks! ?
Thank you Alice! :)
I just made this and it was absolutely AMAZING!!! thank you so much for sharing this beautiful recipe !
That’s so great Ciera! Thanks for trying it :)
DOes this recipe actually hve Parmesan cheese in it or do they Pepita a & almonds taste similar to Parmesan cheese
Hey there! It doesn’t have parmesan cheese in it…it’s a dairy-free play on the recipe though (however very different in flavour). Hope this helps!
I made this tonight and the only change I made was to the topping. My chopper decided to fail me tonight and made a paste with the original ingredients so I had to start over. Instead of nutritional yeast I used parmesan and added the oil at the end and pulsed it a few times to combine. It was delicious!
Hey Noël, I’m so glad you loved the casserole! Sorry to hear about your chopping troubles…happy to hear it turned out in the end :)
HI Angela
Just wondering how many cups of squash would you use, IF I were to buy it already chopped and ready to go?
Thank you!
Hi Christina, I’m not sure how many cups it works out to being but you’ll need around 2 pounds :)
Oh, Angela!
I made this two nights in a row…first time for Christmas dinner and the day after for Christmas part 2! The recipe is so fantastic, it will be in regular rotation. Thank you!
Aww I’m so happy to hear that! Merry belated Christmas Michelle :)
OMG! I am a butternut squash fan to start with but this recipe ROCKS. Great way to get healthy greens into my veggie adverse husband,