How to Cut Butternut Squash
In this quick visual guide you’ll learn How to Cut Butternut Squash into cubes or slices, for use in recipes like Roasted Butternut Squash, Butternut Squash Soup, salads, and more. The key is to separate the bulb from the upper neck of the vegetable.
It may seem hard to cut a curvy squash like this into even pieces since the shapes can vary so much, but once you learn this method, you’ll get perfectly even pieces every time. This is important because if you have pieces that aren’t the same size, some pieces will be undercooked while others burn.
The key is to separate the bulb at the bottom from the neck at the top. Let’s go through the visuals.
Step by Step Visual Guide:
Start by trimming the top and bottom from the squash.
Next peel the skin off using a very sharp vegetable peeler. The skin is tough and should be discarded.
You may find it’s more difficult to remove the skin here compared to most vegetables. I use this peeler (affiliate), which is not the cheapest peeler, but it’s wonderfully sharp.
Next cut the bulbous bottom part from the longer neck portion:
Cut the bulb in half, then remove the seeds inside. I find a melon baller (affiliate) easier to use than a spoon because it can scrape the sides really well.
Lay the bulb half on its flat side, and cut into even slices:
For the half ring portions, I cut on an angle for even pieces:
For the flatter bottom and top piece, I cut that in half, then cut those two pieces into cubes:
To cut the upper part of the squash, lay it on the flat bottom section, and cut straight down in 1″ increments:
Cut a grid into each slice to get perfect cubes:
The cubes are now ready to be used for Roasted Butternut Squash, or any other recipe calling for cubes.
Feel free to keep the cubed pieces in the fridge for up to 3 days before using them. I do not recommend freezing, as the texture will be pretty bad.
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How to Cut Butternut Squash
Ingredients
- 2 lb butternut squash
Instructions
- Trim the top and bottom of the squash, and discard the ends.
- Use a peeler to remove all of the exterior skin, and discard it.
- Cut the bulb bottom portion from the upper neck part.
- Cut the bulb through the center, then scrape out any seeds and stringy stuff using a melon baller, and discard.
- Lay each bulb half on the flat side and cut straight down into slices. Cut those slices into cubes.
- To cut the upper neck portion, lay it on its flat side, then cut straight down to create slices. Then cut a grid into those slices, to create uniform cubes that are similar in size to the bulb pieces.
- Store cubed raw pieces in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
6 Comments on “How to Cut Butternut Squash”
Would like another way to use butternut squash, I did the cubing Olive oil, salt and pepper and baking: just sorta bland, not much flavor!😊. Butternut squash are sorta new for me, would like some other recipes or ideas please and thank you very much for sharing!!🤗🤗👍🏻👍🏻
A year late but it is fall again after all….
Try throwing some fresh herbs in while roasting. Thyme works great. You can also slice some red onions and add them as well.
Don’t forget the salt and pepper
Love it roasted (halved) with a little butter and maple syrup!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I have made it several times and love that the squash is cooked in the oven first. Great flavor! I have a coworker that shares the goods from his garden with us and I have 2 fresh squash that will be used for Thanksgiving with my friends.
It’s seems good,I want to try it.
Thanks it’s great I found it easy I like it very much.