Roasted hasselback butternut squash with sweet chilli and rosemary

Roasted hasselback butternut squash combines simple ingredients and just a few minutes of effort to create a stunning, delicious side dish fit for a special occasion.

Don’t you just love a dish that takes minimal effort and ingredients and looks a million dollars? I know I do!

Anything that takes a few minutes to knock together, but is guaranteed to raise an “ooooh!” when it’s brought to the table, is my kind of recipe.

New Year’s Eve dinner

I first made roasted hasselback butternut squash as part of a special New Year’s Eve dinner. It succeeded massively on looking impressive, and it tasted the business too, but it was not minimal effort. The recipe I followed involved two stages of roasting, making a glaze from scratch and reducing it down, multiple bastings…

All of which would be fine if I didn’t have to prepare the rest of the meal at the same time!

Easy hasselback butternut squash

I felt certain there was a way to produce a similar result – delicious hasselback butternut squash, roasted to perfection and full of flavour – but with a few, ahem, shortcuts. And I set out to find it.

Cutting all the corners

The original instructions I followed called for roasting my squash, slicing it, and then roasting it some more.

Instead, I simply blasted it in the microwave for a few minutes, till it was soft enough to slice, then carried on as before. Time and effort saved = 10-15 minutes.

Hasselback squash – quick glaze

Rather than making a complicated glaze from multiple ingredients, boiling them down, etc etc. I considered what I had that already combined the flavours I was after.

The original recipe used chillies simmered in a brown sugar syrup that had to be reduced and strained… I simply substituted ready-made sweet chilli sauce and we were almost done! Time and effort saved = 15-20 minutes.

Ready to slice

Of course you can’t hasselback a squash without spending a few minutes slicing!

I find the easiest way to create hasselback cuts that don’t quite go all the way through is as follows:

1. Place a chopstick on either side of the butternut squash.
2. Cut through the squash until the blade of your knife hits the chopsticks, preventing you from cutting right through to the board.
3. Move your knife along the squash and make the next cut as above.
4. Continue until your entire butternut squash is hasselbacked!

This easy little chopstick trick means you can slice more quickly, without worrying about the exact depth of your cuts, safe in the knowledge that your hasselback butternut squash will be cut perfectly.

Glaze and roast

Once sliced, it’s a simple matter of brushing over the glaze and tucking in some sprigs of rosemary before roasting.

I love the flavour of rosemary with butternut squash, but you could also use sage leaves, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, or whatever woody herbs you enjoy. 

Easy hasselback butternut squash – ingredients

This super easy recipe has only a few ingredients, thanks to my ingenious shortcuts! To make it yourself, all you will need is:

• Butternut squash – obviously!
• Sweet chilli sauce – choose a hotter or a sweeter one depending on your preference.
• Fresh rosemary – or whatever ‘woody’ herbs you like e.g. bayleaves, sage, thyme etc.
• Olive oil

And that’s it!

The recipe uses one medium squash and serves about 4-6 people as a side dish but you can easily scale up to feed more people.

Roasted hasselback butternut squash

You can baste/glaze your hasselback butternut squash again during cooking, but it isn’t essential. So if you’re busy with other things, just leave it to cook.

It will still look and taste a million dollars when it emerges from the oven!

When to eat hasselback squash

This delicious and beautiful roasted squash is easy enough for a weeknight, but I usually save it for a more special meal. It’s perfect for a Shabbat dinner, and I also like to make it as a side dish for one of our Rosh Hashanah meals, as squash is one of the ‘simanim‘ – symbolic foods for the holiday.

In my mind, I always associate butternut squash with Autumn and Winter. So any special dinner like a birthday, YomTov or any other celebration between about September and March, may well feature a hasselback butternut squash!

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📖 Recipe

Easy hasselback butternut squash with sweet chilli and rosemary

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Roasted hasselback butternut squash combines simple ingredients and just a few minutes of effort to create a stunning, delicious side dish fit for a special occasion.

5 from 4 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings 6

Calories 89 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 medium butternut squash
• 1 tbsp olive oil + plus a little extra for greasing the dish
• 2 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
• 2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary

Instructions

 

• Peel the butternut squash. Slice it in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.
• Place the two halves of squash in a glass baking dish with 1 tablespoon water. Cover and microwave on high for 4-6 minutes until tender to the point of a knife.
• Carefully remove the squash from the baking dish – it will be hot! Wipe any water from the dish and brush lightly with olive oil.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
• Place one of the squash halves on a chopping board. Using a sharp knife, make cuts at 4-5mm (approx. ¼ inch) intervals along the squash, taking care not to cut right through.

  I find the easiest way to do this is to place a chopstick on either side of the squash, which prevents the knife going right down to the board.

  Once the first squash half has been 'hasselbacked', return it to the baking dish and repeat with the other half.
• Whisk together the olive oil and the sweet chilli sauce. Brush this mixture liberally over the squash, and in between some of the slices if possible. Tuck in a few pieces of rosemary, then coarsely chop the remaining leaves and sprinkle over.
• Bake the squash at 180°C (350°F) for 30-40 minutes until tender and fragrant. You can baste it with glaze again during cooking if you like – it will give a glossier appearance but is not essential.
• Serve hot and enjoy!

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Easy hasselback butternut squash with sweet chilli and rosemary

Amount per Serving

Calories

89

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

2

g

3

%

Saturated Fat

 

1

g

6

%

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

1

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

2

g

Sodium

 

62

mg

3

%

Potassium

 

440

mg

13

%

Carbohydrates

 

17

g

6

%

Fiber

 

3

g

13

%

Sugar

 

5

g

6

%

Protein

 

1

g

2

%

Vitamin A

 

13288

IU

266

%

Vitamin C

 

26

mg

32

%

Calcium

 

60

mg

6

%

Iron

 

1

mg

6

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword butternut squash, herbs, spicy

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More deliciously easy side dish recipes

Other delicious and easy roasted vegetable side dishes for you to enjoy include:

• All-in-one-pan roasted vegetable rice pilaf
• Honey roasted root vegetables with apples
• Garlic and rosemary scalloped potato roast
• Ginger and orange roasted carrots
• Roasted scalloped sweet potatoes

Roasted hasselback squash FAQs