Favorite Fall Recipes: Easy Sausage and Mushroom Stuffed Acorn Squash

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Now that it’s fall I finally get to try all of the hearty, cool-weather recipes I’ve been hoarding all summer. I just made this easy Sausage and Mushroom Stuffed Acorn Squash recipe last night, and let me just say, oh baby.

I’d planned on taking some of the leftover stuffing for lunch the next day, but it was so delicious my husband and I each had seconds and scraped up every last bite from the skillet. I’m definitely adding this one to my weeknight dinner recipe rotation because it’s so easy to make. Bonus: it also looks impressive and makes for a good entertaining recipe.

Here’s it is:

Favorite Fall Recipes: Easy Sausage and Mushroom Stuffed Acorn Squash

Ingredients

• 1 acorn squash
• ½ pound spicy Italian sausage
• 1 package sliced button or baby portabella mushrooms
• 1 22 oz. package of Reser’s Sensational Sides Home-style Stuffing
• 1 big handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly diced (you can leave this out if you don’t have any)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil

Five Step Preparation Instructions

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400°F. While the oven is heating up, slice the acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds and any stringy bits. Place both halves cut side up in a glass baking dish.

Step 2: Drizzle a little olive oil over each acorn squash half, about 1 teaspoon each. Bake for 1 hour. Go spend the next 45 minutes playing with your kids, getting a few chores done, or just relaxing.

Step 3: Fifteen minutes before the squash is done, add the sausage and mushrooms to a dutch oven or big skillet and heat over medium to medium-high heat until browned, about 10 – 13 minutes. Stir with a wooden spoon to break up the sausage. (If your sausage is very lean you may need to drizzle 1 or 2 teaspoons of olive oil over the mushrooms to help them brown.)

Step 4: While the sausage and mushrooms are cooking, microwave the Reser’s Sensational Sides home-style stuffing according to package directions, about 3 minutes. Add the stuffing and the parsley to the pan with the sausage. Stir for a minute or two over medium heat to blend.

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Step 5: Pull the acorn squash from the oven and place each half on a plate. Spoon the sausage stuffing into each squash half and garnish with a little extra parsley and ground pepper if desired.

I think this recipe is hearty enough to make a meal on its own, especially on a weeknight, but for a larger meal you could also serve it with a side salad and crusty bread.

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Additions

This recipe is pretty flexible. You could add sliced green onions, diced herbs like sage and rosemary, dried cranberries, or even diced apple to the stuffing. (If you try adding the apples, make sure to add them to the pan the same time you add the sausage.)

I had some leftover celery and onion in the fridge that I wanted to use up, so even though the Reser’s stuffing already contains both, I threw in an extra handful of each and cooked it with the mushrooms and sausage.

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If you try this recipe, I’d love to know what you think of it!

Posted by Lacey