Things You’ll Need
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Baking dish
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Two bowls
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Squash
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Olive oil
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Salt
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Pepper
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Cinnamon
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Nutmeg
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Wooden spoon
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Applesauce
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Chopped herbs
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Alfredo sauce
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Butter
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Saucepan
Don’t thaw the squash before cooking. Image Credit: Brand X Pictures/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
When your freezer is stocked with frozen squash, the preparation possibilities are endless. Save mashed squash for soups and casseroles and use chunks of squash for roasting. Roasting gives squash a creamy texture, slight crunch and nutty flavor, and the mild flavor of squash means it can be paired with a number of seasonings. While you can roast any variety of squash, hearty types such as acorn and butternut will work better than watery varieties like zucchini. Regardless of the variety, squash should last in your freezer for up to 10 months.
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Step 1
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and select a large glass baking dish. The dish must be large enough to spread out the squash pieces in a single layer, so you may need multiple dishes if you're roasting more than 2 cups of squash.
Step 2
Place the frozen squash in a bowl. Drizzle olive oil over the chunks and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. You might also add some chopped garlic to the bowl. If you're roasting a sweet variety of squash such as butternut, try skipping the salt and pepper and sprinkling cinnamon and nutmeg on instead. Use a wooden spoon to mix up the chunks until they're all coated in oil.
Step 3
Pour the squash into the baking dish. Use the wooden spoon to spread the pieces into a single layer.
Step 4
Bake the dish for 30 minutes. Pull out one piece of squash and cut it open. If it's still cold inside, return the dish to the oven. Keep checking it every 5 minutes. The larger the pieces of squash, the longer it will take for them to roast. The chunks should be lightly browned and hot inside when you remove them.
Step 5
Transfer the warm squash to a serving bowl. If you've added cinnamon to the dish, eat it as is or mix it with warmed applesauce. For a savory squash, mix in fresh herbs such as parsley, rosemary or sage. If you prefer a creamy dish, spread alfredo sauce over the squash or cook butter in a saucepan until it's browned and nutty. Drizzle the browned butter over the squash and enjoy.
Tip
To get the best results, use squash that was blanched before freezing. This process, which involves boiling squash for a few minutes followed by immediate cooling, halts the vegetable's enzymes from breaking down, so the squash stays colorful and flavorful even after freezing.
