Roasted Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

This easy, creamy Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese recipe is packed with flavor from roasted squash and a bit of goat cheese. With plenty of tips for riffs and substitutions!

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If you’re not on the butternut squash mac and cheese bandwagon yet, please consider this your official invitation to HOP. ON. UP.

This easy butternut squash cheese sauce is rich, creamy, and slightly earthy – and we’ll show how to customize it for your own schedule and pantry!

First things first: There’s more than one way to roast a butternut squash.

In this recipe, we call for roasted squash that’s been mashed or puréed. But that’s not the only option! Here are a few of our favorite methods – use whichever technique best fits your schedule and preferences!

• Roast the squash in halves. Slice the squash in half vertically, scoop out the seeds, drizzle with a splash of olive oil + salt + pepper, then place cut-side down on a sheet pan and roast at 375 degrees F for 45-60 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork. (See how to do this here!) This is our favorite way to roast squash for recipes like this, because it’s easy to prep and keeps well in the fridge (use any extra for our Butternut Squash Risotto or a Butternut Squash Soup!)

• Cut into cubes and roast. A great option if you want some extra roasted squash cubes to throw into salads, tacos, or pastas throughout the week. Peel squash, cut in half vertically, then scoop out the seeds and cut squash into cubes. Drizzle with olive oil, salt + pepper and bake on a sheet pan at 425 degrees F for 30-40 minutes until soft and lightly browned. (See a helpful tutorial here!)

We love the flavor roasted squash adds here, but you can skip the roasting step if you need to. A few other alternatives:

• Use frozen butternut squash. Frozen cubed butternut squash is my meal prep secret weapon. You can roast it right out of the freezer if you like, or just throw the cubes into the sauce as it cooks to let them soften and then blend it all up!

• Cook butternut squash right in the sauce. Cut fresh squash into small pieces and add along with the milk. Cook until squash is easily pierced with a fork, then blend and proceed normally. We recommend reducing the flour by half if you go this route, because the squash will thicken the sauce quite a bit.

• Lighten up this recipe by using our Magic Cauliflower Cream Sauce instead of milk. Swap half the cauliflower in our Magic Cauli Cream for cubed butternut squash for a silky, lightened-up sauce.

Riffs and Substitutions

This creamy butternut mac and cheese recipe is a great blank canvas – customize it with whatever you have on hand! Some of our favorite riffs, additions, and mix-ins:

• Add fresh herbs! We love this sauce with sage (use 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon dried sage or add a few thinly sliced fresh sage leaves when you melt the butter! Bonus points if you top the mac with a few pieces of fried crispy sage *swoon*) but it’s also great with a bit of thyme or rosemary.

• Dial up the protein by topping with crispy bacon or pancetta, Italian sausage, grilled chicken, or garlicky baked shrimp.

• Add your favorite veggies. We love steamed or roasted broccoli, caramelized onions, fresh kale, peas, or spinach here. You can also swap the butternut squash for canned pumpkin puree if you want!

• Use whatever cheese you have on hand. Gruyere, fontina, and white cheddar are all excellent in this recipe in place of (or in addition to!) goat cheese.

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