Perfectly cooked twice baked acorn squash is stuffed with crisp, pan-fried bacon, sausage, apple, and other delicious ingredients. This stuffed, baked acorn squash makes a delicious holiday side dish or meal.
If you love vegetable sides that are made with quality ingredients, you will love this sweet and savory Twice Baked Acorn Squash with Bacon & Sausage. It is jam-packed with high quality ingredients and is easier to make than you might think.
Baked Acorn Squash with Sausage and Bacon
Ingredients
- Thick cut bacon
- Granny Smith apple
- Spinach
- Onion
- Celery
- Ground Sweet Italian sausage
- Bread Crumbs
- Acorn Squash
- Light brown sugar
- Olive oil
How to Prepare Acorn Squash
Before baking your acorn squash there is some prep work that will need to be done for the best results.
- Wash and dry your squash. Using a sharp, large knife, and a sturdy cutting board that doesn’t move carefully slice your squash in half. You can cut it widthwise or lengthwise.
- Scoop out any seeds and excess flesh with an ice cream scoop. Discard seeds into the compost bin.
- Coat flesh sides of squash with olive oil. Place squash flesh side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Squash will be fork tender with a caramelized flesh and soft outer skin.
How to Prepare Stuffing for Acorn Squash
Heat a large skillet and add bacon pieces to it. Cook until bacon is crisp and a deep reddish color. Remove pan from heat and remove bacon pieces using a slotted spoon. I put mine in a paper towel lined dish.
Add ground sausage, chopped celery, apple, and onion to the pan and cook until sausage is browned and veggies are tender.
Place the spinach in the pan, and cook for about 45 seconds or until spinach is wilted. Add back the cooked bacon pieces, and bread crumbs. Stir to combine the filling.
Add about 3/4 of stuffing to each baked acorn squash. Return squash to the oven and bake for an additional ten minutes. You can add some 4C Parmesan Cheese if you please. Simply sprinkle each with about a tablespoon of cheese before baking.
Bacon & Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash
Equipment
- baking sheet
- Ice Cream Scoop
- large knife
- Cutting board
Ingredients
- 2 Acorn Squash
- 8 ounces Thick cut bacon
- 1 large Granny Smith apple peeled, cored, cubed
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 1 cup spinach
- 1 lb. Sweet Italian Sausage ground
- ¾ cup Panko Bread Crumbs
- 2 tbsps. light brown sugar
- 2 tbsps. olive oil
Instructions
- Wash and dry your squash. Using a sharp, large knife, and a sturdy cutting board that doesn’t move carefully slice your squash in half. You can cut it widthwise or lengthwise. Scoop out any seeds and excess flesh with an ice cream scoop. Discard seeds into the compost bin. Coat flesh sides of squash with olive oil. Place squash flesh side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 400° Fahrenheit. Squash will be fork tender with a caramelized flesh and soft outer skin.
- Heat a large skillet and add bacon pieces to it. Cook until bacon is crisp and a deep reddish color. Remove pan from heat and remove bacon pieces using a slotted spoon. I put mine in a paper towel lined dish.
- Add ground sausage, chopped celery, apple, and onion to the pan and cook until sausage is browned and veggies are tender. Place the spinach in the pan and cook for about 45 seconds or until spinach is wilted. Add back the cooked bacon pieces, and bread crumbs. Stir to combine the filling.
- Scoop about 3/4 of stuffing to each baked acorn squash. Return squash to the oven and bake for an additional ten minutes.
- Place stuffed squash halves back in the oven on the same parchment-lined pan and bake for 10 minutes at 350°.
This looks so good, but you listed light brown sugar in the ingredients but did not give how to use it in the instructions. Do you just add with the sausage and vegies?
Hello, sorry it is cooked with the veggies and sausage! My apologies.
Maybe you could update the Instructions to reflect the addition of the brown sugar for those folks who might not read the Comments?
What would you serve this with, please?
Hello, I would serve white rice or mashed potatoes if it were me.
Do you drain off bacon grease or cook sausage mix in the bacon grease.
Hello, yes you do for flavor. :)